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.
4 ways admins can support teachers’ technology use
Key points:
- Teachers need to know they won’t be penalized for trying new tech-based instructional strategies that may not be successful
- Administrators are instrumental in supporting teachers whether these attempts do or don’t reach success
- See related article: With greater access to devices, teachers are folding more tech into instruction
Technology is quickly changing the way we learn and teach. To keep up with these changes, administrators need to support teachers in using technology in the classroom.
Following are three ways administrators can help teachers become successful with technology in the classroom and help student engagement.…Read More
Will, skill, & thrill: How learner agency accelerates innovation
Editor’s note: This blog post originally appeared on CoSN’s blog and is reposted here with permissions.
When it comes to students in the classroom, they want to feel ownership and control of their learning. According to the American Institutes for Research, encouraging student agency is beneficial because:
- students who believe their knowledge can grow over time perform better on IQ tests,
- those with a growth mindset are more likely to set academic goals focused on mastering content versus studying for a test score or course grade,
- students who set mastery-focused goals tend to process information in a deeper and more organized fashion, and
- the skills and behaviors that learner agency fosters are positively related to higher education and career outcomes.
During CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation 2022-23 cycle, our esteemed Advisory Board of about 100 educators and technologists agreed that learner agency is, indeed, one of the top three accelerators in education today. Download the 2023 Driving K-12 Innovation Report: Hurdles + Accelerators to learn more.…Read More
First Look—Discovery Education Back To School ’23
Discovery Education today announced a slate of new services and curricula to coincide with the fall semester. eSchool snuck a sneak peek with Lance Rougeux, Senior Vice President of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Engagement, on some specifics. Click below to listen and scroll down for details and selected edited highlights:
Creating Curious Classrooms is a free professional learning series for school and science curriculum leaders that takes a fresh approach to how the latest digital resources and tools can be integrated into instruction to drive engagement. Live and on-demand sessions will provide participants with examples of how teachers from across the country can create and deliver science lessons that unlock student curiosity in grades K-12 and inspire exploration of the world around them.
It’s new professional learning pathway that focuses on practical strategies. We know we have a lot of new teachers and teachers coming in from other fields, whether it’s from the military or from business careers. This really dives into ideas that ultimately are research based, but that also get kids interested and excited —LR.…Read More
Debunking common myths about AI in education
Key points:
- Many educators are unsure of the role generative AI will play in their classrooms
- Despite this hesitation, there are some compelling reasons to use AI to augment teaching and learning
- See related article: How ChatGPT made my lessons more engaging
Artificial intelligence is not a completely new concept in education; it has been used for years. Consider spelling and grammar checks that are built into word processors and autofill suggestions in search engines. What has become new to us this year is easy access to generative AI models, which can generate text and images with simple prompts.
In response to these new tools becoming available to the public, many teachers found themselves resisting AI, considering the ways in which it could complicate verifying academic honesty in student writing and artwork, acknowledging the inaccuracies that AI can generate, the human biases that impact the dataset AI uses, and more. …Read More
Digital tools are a vehicle–not a standalone solution–for trauma-responsive care in schools
Key points:
- Investing in mental health training, resources, and digital tools supports students’ immediate needs and creates a foundation for the long term
- By leaning into the power of human connection and leveraging digital health tools, schools can proactively enhance student well-being
- See related article: Using tech to combat trauma
Schools play a vital role in nurturing the well-being of their students. And, as the primary setting where children spend a significant portion of their time, schools are well-positioned to be an additional touchpoint in the mental healthcare continuum. This additional touchpoint is particularly critical amid mental healthcare provider shortages, enduring access challenges, and the stigma associated with these illnesses.
As a result, schools can help bridge the gap to treatment through a trauma-responsive environment, which has shown to improve student well-being, reduce chronic absenteeism, and raise student engagement. But in my experience, it will take a multipronged approach that centers relationship building, integrates digital tools, and invests in the long-term to make a difference for a school community.…Read More
This key strategy can help boost teacher well-being immediately
Key points:
- Teachers have juggled so much during the pandemic and the return to school–it’s no wonder they’re burnt out
- High-quality substitutes are key to teachers’ ability to take breaks, and technology can aid in recruiting subs
- See related article: Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues
In the wake of the pandemic, student mental health is a top concern for K-12 leaders, as it should be. But teacher wellness is also at crisis levels, and this has important implications for the quality of education that students receive.
When education shifted online in spring 2020, teachers had to learn new technologies and instructional strategies in a very short amount of time. Many endured the loss of friends and family members to COVID-related illness. When school districts returned to in-person learning, several teachers worried about their own safety. Teachers have had to deal with a sharp rise in behavioral issues and address a growing number of social-emotional needs among their students. They’ve worked long hours to facilitate learning recovery.…Read More
Top edtech at ISTELive 23
With more than 18,000 attendees, this year’s ISTELive 23 in Philadelphia had a little something for everyone, from AI and esports to security solutions and engaging visual displays.
Here’s a look at some of the top edtech the eSchool News editors saw at ISTELive 23:
Acer America and the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF) announced their alliance to help schools launch or expand their student esports program. Through this alliance, NASEF and Acer America will provide the training, coaching modules and course certification for schools to structure, implement and maintain an esports program. Plus, Acer America, the premier hardware provider for NASEF, is paying the $499 esports coaching certification fee for eligible K-12 schools and universities initiating programs in the 2023-24 school year. The coaching certification for the award-winning NASEF platform prepares teams to participate in the program; having Acer America pay this fee could potentially save a school district thousands of dollars.…Read More
Making the grade: How to spur achievement after NAEP declines
Key points:
- Alarming declines in NAEP scores are prompting educators to look for ways to increase academic achievement
- Understanding each individual student helps educators design supplemental educational programs
- See related article: What do superintendents really think of the NAEP?
For decades, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has pursued a mission to monitor student academic performance, providing insights into educational progress and long-term trends. It’s a record of consistency that has earned NAEP scores a reputation as “the nation’s report card.”
Recently, that report card revealed some worrying trends. In May, NAEP reported that eighth grade students’ U.S History and civics scores declined significantly between 2018 and 2022. Only 13 percent of eighth graders were at or above the level that NAEP categorizes as proficient in U.S. history—and only one in five were at or above the proficiency level in civics.…Read More
We gave AI detectors a try–here’s what we found
Key points:
- AI detection tools are skyrocketing in popularity–but how efficient are they?
- A look at different AI detectors offers an eye-opening look at whether or not AI-generated pieces are identified as such
- See related article: Is AI the future of education?
Nearly every school or university faculty is having at least a few conversations about how to address a world rich in easy-to-use artificial intelligence tools that can generate student assignments.
Multiple AI detection services claim efficacy in identifying whether text is generated by AI or human writers. Turnitin, ZeroGPT, Quill, and AI Textclassifier each represent this ability and are in use by higher-ed faculty and K-12 educators.…Read More