Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Education suffers the highest rate of ransomware attacks

Key points:

Education reported the highest rate of ransomware attacks in 2022, and over the past year, 79 percent of higher-ed organizations surveyed reported being hit by ransomware, while 80 percent of K-12 organizations surveyed were targeted—an increase from 64 percent and 56 percent in 2021, respectively.

These statistics come from The State of Ransomware in Education 2023, a report from cybersecurity provider Sophos.…Read More

FEV Tutor Names Two New Executive Leadership Team Members

WOBURN, Mass. – FEV Tutor, the market-leading provider of the most comprehensive virtual tutoring solution in K-12, recently announced the addition of two executives to its senior leadership team. The company has named Abhinav Ramani as chief operating officer and Aaron Osmond as chief growth officer.

Before joining FEV Tutor, Ramani oversaw regional operations for the health care provider DaVita (DVA) Kidney Care. In west Los Angeles, he led a team of managers in implementing change management and process innovation measures across 10 clinics, improving their overall outcomes until they ranked among the top 25% of clinics across the enterprise. Next, Ramani worked as a DVA group regional operations director in the state of Washington, leading three regional directors in overseeing 36 clinics in Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. There, he increased net revenue by over $1 million. Ramani holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Osmond has approximately 30 years of experience in K-12 education. Most recently, he held several business development leadership positions at Amazon Web Services. He first served as the western regional lead for the company’s Education to Workforce Team program and then led the program’s U.S. business development and program management team. After that, Osmond was promoted to global lead for the AWS Training and Certification team.…Read More

LINQ Expands TITAN Nutrition Claims Solution to Ohio and Montana

WILMINGTON, N.C. (PRWEB) — LINQ, creator of leading nutrition program solutions, has expanded its  TITAN nutrition claims submission solution to Ohio and Montana. This expansion equips more state agencies and K-12 school districts with effective nutrition program reimbursement methods.

The claims solution integrates directly with the participating states’ claims portals, allowing district administrators to easily verify, audit and submit their claims from the TITAN platform. Claims are seamlessly submitted to the state agency, expediting reimbursement and improving the accuracy of claim submissions because districts don’t have to manually re-enter information from one system to another.

“We work very closely with each state agency and K-12 school district to understand their needs and build solutions that support the effective management of their nutrition program,” said Mike Borges, President, State & Nutrition Solutions at LINQ. “Since individuals spend a lot of time on district nutrition programs, we made sure that our solution saves time and helps education leaders navigate the complexities that come with it. This is especially important given the staffing shortages that many districts are facing.”…Read More

Building a Successful Certification Program at Your Institution

In a world where competition for jobs, pay increases, and academic success continues to increase, certifications offer hope because they are a credible, third-party assessment of one’s skill and knowledge for a given subject. According to a study conducted across the state of Florida, those who earn certifications while in school are more likely to have a higher GPA, are more likely to graduate, are more likely to enroll in a post-secondary program, and are less likely to drop out. Furthermore, once the candidate is in the workforce, certification improves a candidate’s marketability and earning power, with some professionals making up to 7% more than their non-certified colleagues.

Building a certification program from the ground up often involves significant legwork from educators and administrators. Get advice below on the best ways to build a successful certification program at your school.

Research Funding Options

One of the common issues faced by many educators is a lack of funding. Asking for additional budget to grow or increase resources in your classroom can be a frustrating process.…Read More

One way to address student mental health? Bring the clinic to school

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

Many Michigan school administrators say they’ve often served as stand-in public health officials during the pandemic. So it’s no surprise that districts across the state are eager to get some backup from a program that opens clinics in school buildings.

School-based health centers make it convenient for students to leave class and walk down the hall for therapy, a medical checkup, or a dental appointment. While the first centers in Michigan opened decades ago, policymakers have renewed interest in them in the wake of COVID and the ongoing student mental health crisis.…Read More

Many educators say video is more effective than text-based content

A new survey predicts that video in education will continue to grow, as a majority of educators say they believe video content is more engaging and effective than text-based content.

The State of Video in Education 2022 report from Kaltura assesses the growth and evolution of video’s impact on education over the past year and providing insights into the coming year. This is Kaltura’s eighth annual report on video in education and the first since vaccination programs for COVID-19 enabled many teachers and students to resume in-person education.

As the use of video in education has grown greatly over the past two years, the study’s goal was to provide answers to pressing questions facing educators about the long term value of video in education, namely, what are the benefits of using video for learning beyond the pandemic and how is video transforming education over the long term?…Read More

The State of Utah Empowers Educators to Close the Career Exposure Gap for Students Across the State

AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —  YouScience, the only fully-integrated platform provider of highly accurate aptitude-based assessments, personalized career guidance, and industry-recognized certifications, today announced the results of its new statewide talent report of Utah middle school and high school students, ” 2022 Utah Talent Report.” These initial findings reveal that while Utah students possess the necessary talents needed for Utah’s in-demand careers, many students do not show interest in these areas. The results point to a potential “career exposure gap,” meaning that students who are naturally talented in areas such as computers and technology and manufacturing show little interest in these fields, often because of lack of exposure to existing opportunities and awareness of their own abilities.

YouScience analyzed the anonymized results of more than 23,000 Utah middle and high school students through its  YouScience Discovery aptitude-based career guidance assessment, which was made available to Utah schools statewide for the 2021–2022 school year. The findings showed that across all grade levels there was a mismatch between the careers students were interested in and the careers for which they had aptitudes.

Utah educators and educational stakeholders are leading the charge in working to close this gap by using YouScience Discovery, which assesses each student’s natural talents (aptitudes) and strengths and then introduces the students to a wide variety of related career opportunities. YouScience Discovery provides students with insights into how their natural talents translate to careers where they are naturally wired to perform well and find satisfaction, and can often be more successful. Natural talents can be detected as early as middle school (aptitudes solidify by age 14), providing educators and parents time to ensure students build on their natural strengths through course selection and, ultimately, college and career choices.…Read More