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.

eSchool Live@ INSTRUCTURECON 2023

Breaking news out of day two at Instructure‘s professional learning event for educators and edtech users in Denver. The company announced a partnership with Khan Academy to integrate Khanmigo, Khan’s AI-powered student tutor and teaching assistantCanvas, into Canvas, the market-leading learning management system. We caught Instructure CEO Steve Daly just after the announcement to provide some context and provide a timeline for when Canvas will be updated with Khanmigo. Scroll down for more details and look for more in-depth conversations With Daly and other senior executives on the Innovation Insights podcast next week.

From the press release: This integrated solution will put the transformative power of generative AI into the hands of students and educators using the Canvas learning environment.

Generative AI represents an opportunity to enhance the role of technology in supporting educators and creating efficiencies in their day-to-day instruction. This new solution will harness this transformative moment by enabling educators with an integrated Khanmigo experience that supports human-driven, technology-enhanced essay feedback and grading, lesson planning and rubric creation. This solution is a large step forward in delivering personalization for each student while allowing busy educators to scale their excellence and impact in ways unimaginable a few short months ago.…Read More

Is generative AI a new secret weapon, or just another gadget?

Key points:

  • Generative AI can provide consistent, personalized feedback to students
  • It’s crucial to remember that AI is a tool, not a replacement for teachers–it’s there to enhance the educational experience
  • See related article: The importance of teaching generative AI

Today, we’re going to take a peek behind the curtain of edtech to examine the developing phenomenon that’s on all of our lips: Generative AI. The question, of course, is whether this fancy newcomer is the secret weapon educators have been waiting for or just another high-tech toy with a lot of hype and little substance. Spoiler alert: It might just be the former.

A brief primer on generative AI…Read More

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Indiana’s Vigo County School Corporation Adds New, High-Tech Tools Supporting Teaching and Learning to Students’ Digital Book Bags

Charlotte, NC — Students across Indiana’s Vigo County School Corporation (VCSC) will add new, high-quality learning resources to their digital book bags this Fall thanks to a new partnership with worldwide edtech leader Discovery Education. In this new collaboration, Discovery Education will provide district students in grades K-12 exciting new digital and print services that will help them explore their curiosity about all subjects. In addition, district educators will receive in-depth professional learning opportunities that will help them integrate their new resources into instruction and create engaging lessons that prepare students for success beyond the classroom.

VCSC is one of Vigo County’s largest employers, serving nearly 14,000 students across three traditional high schools, five middle schools, 15 elementary schools, an alternative school, and a virtual school. VCSC works to build upon the strengths of their diverse community to create a comprehensive and engaging learning environment that supports the lifelong success of all students.

The VCSC community sees educational technology’s potential to advance relationships between teachers and their students, shrink long-standing accessibility gaps, and increase the depth of learning experiences for all children. So, to support district goals in the sciences and other academic disciplines, school administrators sought high-quality digital resources that featured hands-on components and could easily be integrated into teaching and learning. Following a thorough review of available solutions, VCSC’s administration selected the following Discovery Education resources for K-5 classrooms:…Read More

How managed services empower edtech in small schools

Key points:

The ever-present issue with technology is its inevitable obsolescence. No matter how groundbreaking an innovation may be, there always seems to be a superior alternative just a few steps away. This perpetual evolution presents a significant challenge for enterprises and large companies, forcing them into a costly predicament. For smaller companies operating on limited budgets, keeping pace with technology often necessitates making sacrifices elsewhere. This is where the concept of managed services proves invaluable.

Similarly, many not-for-profit organizations, like school districts, can’t afford to stay on top of the latest technologies. Even before a fiscal year starts, administrators have already earmarked the district’s limited funding for necessities like operation budgets, salaries, and health and nutrition programs.…Read More

3 simple ways educators and families can accelerate math learning

Key points:

  • The latest assessments have made it clear that math achievement has plummeted
  • A combination of home-school communication and play-based activities can help students struggling with math
  • See related article: We can teach math better–here’s how

As the most recent nation’s report card made painfully clear, American students are struggling in math. At the same time, administrators, teachers, and parents are finding new ways to help these students address learning loss.

During my 20+ years in K–12 education, I’ve seen technology play a growing role in making learning more accessible and effective. As schools explore edtech solutions to improve learning outcomes, I want to bring to light three evidence-based learning methods that have withstood the test of time. Regardless of the resources at their disposal,  educators and families alike can benefit from these simple and effective strategies.…Read More

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Swivl Launches Engageable, a Real-Time Attention Management Tool That Empowers Educators and Students to Navigate AI Transformation

MENLO PARK, Calif. (Newswire.com) – According to Gloria Mark, Ph.D., attention spans are declining,  averaging just 47 seconds on any screen. This is making it harder than ever for educators to develop their students’ interests in learning. Now AI is about to make that even harder by putting the cognitive challenges that used to require sustained attention a click away.  Swivl, a future-ready edtech company with a suite of reflective tools, is addressing this challenge with its latest offering,  Engageable, a real-time attention management tool with embedded mindfulness.

“AI’s impact on education will be 10x larger and faster than the internet,” said Brian Lamb, CEO and co-founder of Swivl. “We believe that creating an intentional process for how students manage their attention is a necessary part of the education community’s response to AI.”

Engageable helps users take on the attentional resistance of developing new interests in a more mindful and measured way. In the classroom, when a user starts the Pulse timer, they are prompted to take a deep breath and constructively recommit their attention in short intervals, tracking the ensuing time spent by activity. This helps build awareness of attention and how they are developing interests. Then, Engageable provides options to Recharge whenever stress or anxiety gets in the way, or to Record actions and reflections when it makes sense.…Read More

Students and Teachers in Maryland’s Prince George’s County Public Schools Set to Return to Classrooms this Fall with Engaging New Tools from Worldwide Edtech Leader 

Charlotte, NC — Students and teachers in grades K-8 across Maryland’s Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) will return to their classrooms this Fall to find new resources in their high-tech pencil cases thanks to a deepened collaboration with worldwide edtech leader Discovery Education. In the latest phase of this more than 20-year partnership, Discovery Education will provide district elementary and middle school students exciting new digital science textbooks that will help them explore their curiosity about the natural world. In addition, Discovery Education will provide teachers with stimulating professional learning experiences that will help create engaging lessons that prepare students for success beyond the classroom. 

PGCPS is one of the nation’s 20th largest school districts and has 198 schools and centers, more than 131,000 students, and nearly 20,000 employees. The school system serves a diverse student population from urban, suburban, and rural communities located in the Washington, DC suburbs. PGCPS is nationally recognized for college and career-readiness programs that provide all learners with unique learning opportunities, including dual enrollment and language immersion. 

PGCPS seeks to provide all PreK-12 students equitable access to exemplary teachers, science curriculum programming, instructional practices, and standards-based assessments that are reflective of research and best practices. To support this effort, the district’s science curriculum team sought a digital K-8 science resource aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and supportive of improved student achievement and heightened career and college readiness. Following a thorough review of available digital resources, PGCPS selected the  Discovery Education Science Techbooks for use in elementary and middle school classrooms. …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

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Why education leaders should prioritize asset-based edtech

Key points:

  • In schools, an asset-based approach encourages partnership by celebrating progress and growth
  • Shifting away from this deficit-based approach requires leaders to change the way they see their students
  • See related article: How to focus on classroom accessibility

Since the pandemic began, the number of technologies districts use has nearly tripled, but not all of these tools have been effective. As education leaders review the utility and effectiveness of those solutions, an asset-based approach is an essential criterion in the evaluation process.

Leaders should be wary of products that convey urgency and impact through deficit-based design. A deficit-based approach emphasizes the weakness of groups or individuals, calling attention to negative outcomes such as falling behind or missing out. Although it is a pervasive advertising tactic, studies show that a deficit-based approach can affect students’ long-term resilience and lead them to feel isolated when they are seen as “the problem.”…Read More

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