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.

Envisioning the personalized edtech of tomorrow

Before the pandemic, the trend for more personalized, learner-centric experiences in education already existed—the resulting lockdowns merely accelerated digital transformation, which continues to gain momentum across industries.

Dubbed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” our entire world is rapidly digitizing, which means jobs—and the knowledge and skills they require—are changing faster than ever. As a result, the half-life of the newest technology is shrinking rapidly, and the skills gap is widening with potentially detrimental effects.

Today’s workers must continuously learn and evolve throughout their careers, making the need for upskilling and reskilling more vital. While technology continues to advance, a single degree or credential will not sustain the average worker, as today’s younger generations switch jobs and industries far more than their parents and grandparents did.…Read More

Creating support ecosystems for neurodivergent learners

Since March 2020, we have all assuredly witnessed firsthand the importance of our community – our friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones who supported us, helped us deal with the layers of adversity, and played a critical role in helping us come out of the pandemic stronger. 

While ecosystems are important to all individuals, they are especially crucial to the caregivers and families of neurodivergent learners. Ecosystems for these individuals help provide a sense of belonging for those going through similar experiences, but also serve as a community or network of confidantes and advisors who can help give families direction when time is of the essence.  

Educational professionals play a starring role in learner ecosystems and help bolster them as they provide a listening ear, a credible source of support and validate recommendations to parents. …Read More

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Are you tackling the durable skills challenge?

 A new effort to evaluate the “durable” skills that lead to success and achievement in the 21st century workforce was launched this spring by nonprofit organizations America Succeeds and CompTIA.

America Succeeds and CompTIA are collaborating on ways to integrate durable skills into education pathways – in the classroom for future workers and in employee training for individuals already in the workforce – to prepare them for success in their careers and communities.

“Durable skills are the skills that last a lifetime, the skills that you use to demonstrate what you know and the skills that employers are looking for,” said Tim Taylor, co-founder and president of America Succeeds, a national nonprofit that is committed to engaging business leaders in accelerating equity, access, and opportunity in education.…Read More

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Bringing our history to light can improve our students’ futures

In November 2021, the Institute for Education Innovation (IEI) held its Fall Superintendent Summit at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V.–one of the most stunning resorts in the U.S.

But as with many of the nation’s iconic landmarks, from The White House to Harvard University, the legacy of The Greenbrier is directly tied to the greatest stain on our nation’s legacy: the enslavement of Black people. During the Summit, we invited Toni Ogden and Janice Cooley of the Greenbrier County Historical Society to provide a historical context of our surroundings.

The original resort was built in 1858 largely by enslaved people, and as late as 1910, when the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway acquired the property, the company continued to exploit Black workers. African American staff members were expected to cater to the whims of white guests in the style of the old plantations before returning home to overwhelming poverty.…Read More

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Reimagining schools as remote employers

In 2020, working from home became “the new normal,” with workers across all sectors figuring out how to do as much of their work as possible online. Long before COVID, sectors outside of public education began embracing remote work. A U.S. Census Bureau survey from 10 years ago found that remote work was growing everywhere except the public sector, where the percentage of remote workers remained low. In public education, that changed suddenly and dramatically in 2020. But what does the normalization of remote work mean for schools?

To think about retaining employees, schools need to think about retaining women, and particularly working moms. Women represent a majority of the workforce in schools, and educational services is among the most popular career path chosen by working mothers. Yet women also exhibit a stronger preference for working from home. One recent survey found that women placed “flexibility” at the top of their list of priorities when selecting a job, and ranked both “ability to work remotely” and “flexible schedule” on their top 5 needs from a job. Over 80 percent of working moms who opted not to work say they would have continued working if there had been an option to work from home.

While some roles within schools will continue to feel very rooted in the buildings, people will be looking for ways to inject more flexibility into their jobs. Educators, administrators, and service providers evolved and adapted to a remote working environment for over a year, and moving forward we need to consider where remote work may be able to continue beyond the pandemic.…Read More

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Carousel Digital Signage Launches Express Players

Carousel Digital Signage announces the immediate availability of Carousel Express Players, a new cloud-based software media player solution designed for keeping remote workers and students informed and up to date. The players help organizations extend their digital signage beyond location-based end points, and reach people wherever they work, learn and live.

Carousel Digital Signage developed the Express Players in response to pandemic-driven changes in business, learning and healthcare environments. The lightweight players are a perfect complement to Carousel Cloud digital signage software, as both are deployable together within an organization’s existing IT infrastructure. Once live, users can extend their “classic” digital signage content to desktop computers, laptops and tablets, with each Express Player solution licensed based on the size of the organization. Larger organizations also have the flexibility to target content for different business divisions, regions or teams.

“With so many students, instructors, and businesspeople working remotely, it is more important than ever for people to remain connected,” said JJ Parker, Carousel CEO. “Carousel Cloud customers using Express Players can now easily communicate across their entire organization, and not just in dedicated spots with fixed digital signage. Carousel Express Players unify organizations at a time when being in the same building is at best a challenge.”…Read More

Remote support for any environment

NetSupport is offering its NetSupport Manager software free for 3 months (on up to 200 devices) allowing you to access any PC you want to be able to remote control.

Regardless of where your critical systems, servers, and IT users are located (and the platforms used), NetSupport Manager’s award-winning secure remote control tools make it easy for IT teams to quickly respond to IT issues across multiple sites in any geographical location. Useful in scenarios where staff are suddenly forced to work from home, NetSupport Manager also provides remote workers with safe and easy access to their work desktop.

https://www.netsupportmanager.com/usa-nsm-offer/…Read More

10 trends and predictions for STEM education in 2020

It’s clear to anyone listening that the United States needs more highly-skilled STEM workers to remain globally competitive. And STEM education–including trained STEM teachers–is critical to that goal.

The organization 100Kin10 is working to recruit 100,000 excellent STEM teachers into classrooms across the nation by 2021. 100Kin10 talks to partners and teachers and reviews research and data to understand the challenges and opportunities facing STEM education.

At the end of each year, 100Kin10 boils down its most important data and insights into a list of trends from the past year and predictions for the new year to help inform STEM education moving forward.…Read More

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Better STEM education, training needed for mismatched workers

Boeing is not bluffing about its need for skilled workers or for Washington state to commit to continuous investment in skills training and an educational pipeline that promotes many of this state’s top industries, from aviation to technology, the Seattle Times reports. Though the Machinists rejected Boeing’s contract offer Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee and the Legislature stepped up with a smart deal last week. It includes $5 million for the Central Sound Aerospace Training Center in Renton, $8 million for 1,000 new full-time community college slots in aerospace-related studies for the 2014-15 school year, and $500,000 for a fabrication composite-wing training program for current aerospace workers run by the Washington Aerospace Training and Research Center at Edmonds Community College. Additional money will go toward expanding and updating the training center…

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