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.

Bringing the world to life through augmented reality

My school, located in London, is a rich and diverse community with over 40 languages spoken at the school. Affectionately known as a ‘village school in the United Nations of Brent,’ we can see the arch of the iconic Wembley Stadium from the end of our street. However, like some of our American counterparts, we serve students who have never been able to visit–let alone step inside–the iconic landmarks like Wembley, Buckingham Palace, or the Tower of London, in their own backyard. 

This fact was brought home to me several years ago when a 10-year-old student from Brazil, whom we will call Lucas, made a sobering observation on a school trip to center city London. Looking up at the glass, the skyscrapers, the abundance of wealth, Lucas casually remarked, “I didn’t know London could look like this.” 

In that moment we knew we were failing our children. If our neighborhood of Cricklewood in North London was all they knew, how could they have aspirations beyond it? It was augmented reality that began to bring the world to life for our learners.…Read More

Thorndike Press Partners with Beanstack and Mark Cuban to Sponsor ‘Level Up’ National K-12 Summer 2021 Reading Challenge

Schools Invited to Join the Challenge This Coming June 2021; Winnings Include Cash Prizes, Large Print Book Collections and Virtual Author Visit

Thorndike Press from Gale, a Cengage company, has teamed up with Beanstack and Mark Cuban to bring schools a national K-12 summer reading challenge, ‘Level Up.’ The challenge was designed to lessen the impact of summer slide and keep students engaged and reading all summer long. Schools can win cash prizes, book collections or a virtual visit from Newbery award-winning author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. The challenge is free, but schools must register to participate. It will run June 1, 2021 through July 15, 2021.

“We recognize the impact of COVID and remote learning on student literacy and want to give educators a turnkey way to support young readers,” said Felix Lloyd, Zoobean Co-Founder. “The Level Up reading challenge is a great way to keep students motivated, engaged and reading throughout the summer and we are excited to partner with Thorndike and Mark Cuban who share our vision and commitment to helping students achieve their reading goals.”…Read More

Civil Rights Activist Sylvia Mendez to be Special Guest at ALAS Linking Latina Leaders Event Feb. 19

Civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez will join the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) for their February networking event, Linking Latina Leaders [L3]. The free event to ALAS L3 members and their guests, takes place from 5:30-6:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 19, 2021 and addresses the theme: “Breaking Barriers to have an Inclusive Equitable Education.” To register, visit http://bit.ly/ALASL3Feb.

The event is facilitated by ALAS L3 members Patricia Trejo, Dr. Patricia Ordoìnez-Feliciano.

“Our Linking Latina Leaders events focus on our female members and leadership development – to connect, and for those who may be interested in joining ALAS to network with members nationwide and gain a better understanding of the ALAS vision, mission and goals in leading our most marginalized and students of color ,” said Dr. Maria Armstrong, executive director of ALAS. “We are incredibly excited and looking forward to hearing from Sylvia Mendez, an inspiring leader and trailblazer in education, at our February event.”…Read More

BlueZoo Expands into Occupancy Monitoring for Social Distancing with BlueFox Count

To better protect businesses, their employees, and their customers from the dangers of overcrowding during the Covid-19 pandemic, BlueZoo is now applying its BlueFox solution to monitor social distancing.

BlueFox sensors measure real time occupancy by using Wi-Fi probes from mobile phones to measure the presence and aggregate flow of people through a space. The company is the world’s leading provider of Wi-Fi-based occupancy measurement solutions. BlueZoo gained success by offering businesses and institutions insights into unique visitor counts, visit dwell times, and visitor recurrence rates to better plan operations, schedule staff, and manage demand, as well as track advertising effectiveness. 

Now, the BlueFox range is expanding to help prevent overcrowded conditions, without the overhead of keeping staff at each entrance, with BlueFox “Count”. BlueFox solutions notify the on-site team instantly when the number of people in a store or a public place exceeds a preset threshold. BlueFox customers can predict wait time because BlueFox knows the historical rate at which visitors leave when the space is at any occupancy level. …Read More

McGraw Hill Announces New Elementary Math Program That Increases Student Curiosity and Confidence

Learning science company McGraw Hill today announced the release of Reveal Math, a new K-5 math program that offers a unique instructional model helping teachers incorporate both inquiry-focused and teacher-guided instructional strategies to unlock their students’ mathematical potential.

Reveal Math for K-5 joins Reveal Math for grades 6-12, which is currently used in hundreds of schools nationwide, creating a comprehensive K-12 curriculum.

For more information about Reveal Math, visit:  https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/microsites/MKTSP-GIP20M0/elementary.html…Read More

Free Veteran’s Day video lesson from The Character Tree

The Character Tree is providing teachers and parents with FREE access to a Veteran’s Day video lesson about gratitude. The lesson, for first and second-grade students, includes a 7-minute video and printable resources and can be used at home or in a classroom.

In the “Gratitude & Veterans” video lesson children will learn about what gratitude is, the history of Veteran’s Day and how it’s celebrated in different countries. Teacher and host Sara VanderWel, who plays “Miss Sara” in the video, leads the conversation with puppet characters “Katie” and “Jose” as they discuss different jobs in the military and ways children can show gratitude for veterans and active duty military.

To access the lesson, visit https://www.charactertree.com/#sample-episodes.…Read More

Simplify student health care management

Frontline School Health Management has expanded their offering to include COVID-19 training, tracking, data analytics and reporting for students AND staff to support and ensure the physical, mental and behavioral health, well-being and regulation compliance of the full school community as they develop plans to address social distancing, COVID-19 case tracking and more in addition to their existing responsibilities.

  • Comprehensively and easily collect health data on students, their families and school staff (e.g., symptoms, testing, immunity and other data)
  • Educate, implement and enforce practices to increase safety and reduce risk
  • Provide comprehensive tracking, reporting and oversight
  • Support mental and behavioral health issues among students

For additional information visit Frontline Education

…Read More

Augmented reality science flashcards

While the current COVID-19 virus lock-down continues, many children across the world are unable to attend school. Parents and teachers alike may need to come up with creative ways to keep the children occupied and also provide them with education from home.

During these hard times, Octagon Studio would like to support those who are currently at home with our #LearnFromHome campaign. We are giving away 3,000 serial numbers and digital markers for users to enjoy our educational Augmented Reality experiences for free. This campaign shall be ongoing until the pandemic is over or until the 30,000 quotas have been met.

To get a free serial number, users can simply visit our website at https://octagon.studio/ and scroll through to find the #LearnFromHome campaign banner. By clicking the CLAIM NOW button and fill in their details, users will receive an email from us containing a free serial number and the digital markers of the product of
their choice. Each serial number can be used on one device, and each email address can be registered to claim one product out of five available 4D+ series: Animal 4D+,
Octaland 4D+, Space 4D+, Dinosaur 4D+, and Humanoid 4D+.…Read More

CERTIFIED 2020 virtual is now open

CERTIFIED 2020 is moving to a FREE virtual conference due to the difficulties of holding a large event as a result of the COVID – 19 pandemic. Join us online for the only education conference dedicated to exploring the full promise and potential of certification in the classroom. Visit certified.certiport.com to see more information about the first-ever CERTIFIED Virtual Conference. CERTIFIED 2020 is moving to a FREE virtual conference due to the difficulties of holding a large event as a result of the COVID – 19 pandemic. Join us online for the only education conference dedicated to exploring the full promise and potential of certification in the classroom. Visit certified.certiport.com to see more information about the first-ever CERTIFIED Virtual Conference.

WHAT IS CERTIFIED?

CERTIFIED is the only education conference dedicated to exploring the pure potential and promise of certification in the classroom. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen, learn, and collaborate with a community of educators who share your passion for using certification to improve education and change lives.…Read More

STEM @ Home

Pitsco Education is offering five STEM/STEAM activities perfect for K-5 learning at home. Using a few readily available household items and some creativity your students can learn while making 5 projects.

For older students, Pitsco Education has made its SySTEM Alert! publication available which includes STEM fast facts, trends, related topics, and much more.  A quiz and answer key is available for each as well.

For more information and many more resources visit Pitsco Education’s STEM @ Home website.…Read More