KidWind Offers Virtual Workshops on Renewable Energy Education

The KidWind Project, the international leader in clean energy education, has launched an additional round of virtual workshops for this spring. The workshops are topic-specific and designed to help educators teach about renewable energy during distance and hybrid learning. Through the support of the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education ( The CREATE Center), KidWind has a number of scholarships available for 6th-12th grade STEM teachers to be able to offer the workshops at a reduced rate.

“Based on the great feedback we received from our virtual workshops in the fall, we added these workshops so more educators can gain the skills needed to teach about renewable energy as they navigate hybrid learning,” said Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind. “The workshops offer educators tools and resources to create hands-on, engaging lessons whether teaching in person or remotely.”

Each topic-specific workshop is six hours long and will have the same format. Workshops will start with background on the topic followed by introducing activities for the classroom to engage students in dynamic, hands-on learning. Educators will also receive a box of materials in advance for use during the workshop and a certificate of completion at the end of the workshop.…Read More

SAM Labs Launches Successful Teacher Accelerator Program

The program includes group workshops with like-minded educators, one-on-one training with our Senior Education Consultants, training on how to implement SAM Labs, and resources to teach STEAM and coding in the classroom across various skill levels. The STAR Program is designed to expand our community of support and knowledge, while continuing our practice of investing greatly in our customers and their success. Through efforts like this, we aim to use our solutions to power outstanding STEM, STEAM and learn to code education. Future ‘STARs’ will join our growing community, have customized solutions based on their specific use-cases and learn from the foremost SAM Labs experts in the world.

SAM Labs is unified by our values, such as ‘fight to delight’ on behalf of customers. We have always taken a deep interest in our customers, sharing and implementing educators’ insights across our team. From how we design our curriculum and software to providing the right resources for educators, SAM Labs wants to be the standard bearer for educator centricity.

The STAR Program is the next step on our journey working with educators to reduce their workload, increase their confidence and strengthen learner engagement. Through this initiative, we’ll enrich our understanding of STEM, STEAM & coding initiatives in classrooms across the United States. The in-depth knowledge and implementation of the STAR Program will lead to a new level of granular insight into the impact of these initiatives. After all, we are a company whose success means and relies on the success of both educators and learners – which is why we do what we do. As a result of this initiative and others to follow; SAM Labs will further entrench educators at the center of our mission: To equip educators with the tools, know-how, and mindset to reach learners’ potential for computational thinking. Put into words by our founder and CEO, Joachim Horn; “We hope to learn from educators about best practices that we can then share with the rest of our educator community, increasing the number of students who acquire 21st-century skills through Coding and STEAM.”…Read More

Gale In Context: For Educators Launches New Teacher Learning Center 

Gale, a Cengage company, is helping educators enhance skills for virtual lesson planning and online teaching. The company has launched Gale In Context: For Educators’ new Learning Center, an on-demand professional learning hub for finding, organizing and learning how to teach – virtually or in-person – using the content created within For Educators. Now teachers can take control of their own professional learning and find support as they work to use For Educators to drive student learning outcomes.

Studies show that lack of training and ongoing support around using technology for classroom instruction is a major pain point for educators, who increasingly rely on tools for teaching in remote, in-person or hybrid learning environments.[i] With the Learning Center, educators get on-demand training that provides immediate access to support and guidance, anytime, anywhere.

“In the last nine months, we have repeatedly seen educators given access to teaching tools without the support they need or the time for formal training,” said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. “The For Educators Learning Center enables teachers to take the lead, with on-demand training built right into their workflow to get up and running fast.”…Read More

6 ways to embrace the messiness of math education

Math is not easy to teach or learn. So, teachers use a variety of strategies to boost their students’ numeracy skills as they progress through math education.

But some of those approaches could be unproductive, contended Dr. Juli Dixon, Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Central Florida, in a recent edWebinar sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Mathematics. She described standard practices that can derail rather than support mathematical reasoning, and offered alternative methods that would benefit students far more.

Embracing the messiness of math education…Read More

4 tips for blended learning success

This school year (and likely the early part of 2021) continues to look different for each and every school, and even if those schools are in the same district. Despite these differences, we all shared three major challenges: the need to teach both face-to-face and online (sometimes concurrently); collaborate and connect while social distancing; and remain fluid, flexible, and agile in an evolving learning environment.

For many, the solution to all three of these problems is blended learning, where students learn both through electronic/online media and traditional face-to-face teaching. An educational style that was gaining ground long before the pandemic entered the picture, blended learning is playing a prominent role in the K-12 environment right now.

For example, smaller districts may not be able to offer full virtual programs with full-time teachers. And even if students are back in class 100 percent of the time, there may still be students who have to quarantine at home. Responsible for keeping the learning going for these youngsters, schools have to be ready to teach both online and face-to-face.…Read More

7 resources to teach students about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

Citizens of the United States watched in shock on Jan. 6 as pro-Trump supporters, who continue to maintain that the presidential election has been rigged, stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., in an effort to disrupt the counting of electoral votes–a process mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

Many in the U.S. cite the tradition of a peaceful transition of power, despite the outcome of any election, as a guarantee in the nation–and many were stunned by the mob’s attack on a federal building and its attempt to halt democratic processes and prevent Joe Biden from becoming the nation’s next president in just a few short weeks.

January 6, 2021 calls for more than surface-level lessons on what our nation’s democracy is, what it stands for, and where our country is headed. Discussing events like this aren’t always easy, and teaching strategies will certainly vary with students’ ages.…Read More

30 K-12 edtech predictions for 2021

When we posted our 2020 predictions on January 1 last year, we–along with the majority of the world–definitely didn’t anticipate the curveball that was (and continues to be) the global COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 has been called a dumpster fire, the worst year in recent memory, and more. Abrupt shifts to virtual and hybrid learning laid bare the vast inequities that exist in the U.S. education system. The move to online learning also made people wonder: Are there practices we can continue when the pandemic abates? What can we take from this when we return to our classrooms? And will we return to our classrooms to teach in the same manner as we did before COVID?

We asked edtech executives, stakeholders, and experts to share some of their thoughts and predictions about where they think edtech is headed in 2021.…Read More

KidWind Virtual Workshops Available for Educators

The KidWind Project, the international leader of clean energy education, created topic-specific renewable energy virtual workshops designed to help educators teach about renewable energy whether teaching in person or remotely. The one-day workshops will provide training on the fundamentals of wind energy, solar energy, and the power grid.

“Our training workshops continue to be popular among educators looking to expand their knowledge on renewable energy,” said Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind. “With virtual workshops, we’ll be able to reach more educators and provide newly developed resources and tactics for remote or hybrid learning environments and activities they can use to make lessons hands-on and engaging.”

Each topic-specific workshop is six hours and will have the same format. Workshops will start with background on the topic to help educators get a better understanding followed by introducing activities for the classroom to engage students in dynamic, hands-on learning. Educators will also receive a box of materials in advance for use during the workshop and a certificate of completion at the end of the workshop.…Read More

5 cybersecurity life skills to teach all year

If a student from your school had someone knock on their front door, ask for personal information and offer to give them a treat in exchange for that information, what would happen? It depends on the child, but what you know for certain is that your district or school has been teaching stranger danger since that child was in kindergarten, so the odds are good that the interaction would raise a red flag for the student.

Why is it, then, that students are posting videos and photos on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat without any concern that their school name or home address is displayed prominently in the background?

Related content: 10 cybersecurity must-dos…Read More

Free Thanksgiving video lessons from The Character Tree

The lessons for first and second grade students teach the character trait of gratitude through short, engaging online videos and printable resources. The lessons can be used at home or in a classroom making them a great activity for in-person learning, distance learning, homeschooling, and for parents seeking supplemental activities for their children.

To access the lessons, visit: https://www.charactertree.com/#sample-episodes. The lessons include:

  • Gratitude & Oprah Winfrey – Children learn about television personality, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey and how she cultivated an attitude of gratitude through her show and her charity work.
  • Gratitude & Veterans – Children learn about the history of Veteran’s Day, different jobs in the military and how to show gratitude for veterans and active duty military.

In the episodes, teacher and host Sara VanderWel, who plays “Miss Sara” in the videos, leads conversations with puppet characters “Katie,” “Jose,” “Bobby,” and “Sierra” as they discuss what gratitude is and how children can demonstrate it at home and at school. Both lessons include printable resources to support skills such as word recognition, handwriting and lesson comprehension.…Read More

CVS Health and Discovery Education Team Up for Substance Misuse Prevention Day of Learning

CVS Health and Discovery Education are coming together to present a Day of Learning on October 27, 2020. This event occurs during Red Ribbon Week, the largest drug-use prevention campaign in the nation, and will debut to communities across the United States the newly announced Dose of Knowledge digital education resources.

Dose of Knowledge, part of CVS Health’s Pharmacists Teach program focused on substance misuse education, offers a suite of no-cost digital resources focusing on the facts about prescription and illicit drug misuse. Designed for students in grades 6-12, Dose of Knowledge empowers pharmacists and educators to discuss the importance of healthy lifestyle choices with students.

Intended to spark critical discussions about prescription medication misuse awareness, the Day of Learning will showcase these new resources for educators, students, and families. The Day of Learning will empower youth and adults alike to more deeply engage in the topic of prescription safety and discover the tools needed to face substance misuse head on. Join in on Facebook and Twitter with #DoseofKnowlege.…Read More

Pocketalk Donates Devices To ELL Teachers Through First-Ever Back To School Program

Pocketalk, the global leader in connecting conversations and removing language barriers, today announced the donation of 100 devices to educators across the U.S. that teach English Language Learner (ELL) students as part of its first-ever Back to School program, an effort to equip teachers with the tools they need and foster inclusive learning environments for all families, at home or in the classroom. During the application process, recipients of devices answered eight survey questions to reveal the evolving language needs of the education community and its communications styles ahead of an unconventional school year due to the ongoing pandemic.

Teachers surveyed in August represented 29 states and Washington, D.C. and averaged 10.7 years of teaching experience, with 98% of teachers responding that they have taught ELL students in the last three years. Highlights from the survey results include:

  • 99% of educators stated that the current virtual environment changed the way they will plan to communicate with ELL students and their families
  • 62% of teachers use translation daily to communicate with parents of students, with 35% and 3% using translation weekly or monthly, respectively
  • Teachers are most likely to primarily use phones (38%) to communicate with parents of students, followed by email (20%) or a messaging platform (17%) like Microsoft Teams
  • Compared to all respondents, teachers who use translation daily to communicate with parents of students are more likely to communicate using phones (43.5%) and less likely to communicate using email (11.3%)

With close to one million units in service around the globe, Pocketalk has been used in a number of industries to build community and break down communication barriers when it matters most. Aligned with recent findings from Pearson’s Global Learners Survey on how government funds should be spent in education in response to COVID-19, Pocketalk saw the need for translation services in education from its own survey findings to provide tech for underserved learners, to ensure teachers are equipped to handle emergency situations with quick, accurate communication and to offer more remote learning solutions.…Read More