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.

The future of gamification

Key points:

In the past decade, students have been inundated with more and more distractions. The internet provides an infinite amount of said distractions: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to name a few. While the environment that grows children into students–and eventually young adults–has been changing, the education system has proved less dynamic. There are ways to embrace these changes as a means of benefit to a child’s education instead of a burden.

Engagement is the name of the game here, and educators are losing. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school. This is massive, but even more impressive is that they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers. Students who are happy to come to school and who see it as an opportunity are bound to feel more self-agency and to be better prepared for their post-educational lives.…Read More

1 2

How Phys Ed and Ed Tech Can Fit

Concerns over kids and screen time versus play time are legitimate. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 17.0% of youth ages 10 to 17 had obesity in 2020-2021. That rate has increased slightly from 15.5% in 2018-19, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet it’s pretty plain that the screens aren’t going away. Educators and parents need to figure out ways to work around the devices and get kids moving.

Fit and Fun Founder and CEO, Pamela Gunther, has some suggestions. In this conversation, she breaks down the various scenarios schools face when trying to get students up, out, about and goes into some other ideas about how technology can encourage activity, not taking them from it. Have a listen and scroll through for some edited highlights: 

In the work that we do, which is to design and develop physical activities for kids, there are a couple of different ways we get inspired. And how we approach and develop our products. First of all, it’s got to be fun. It’s got to be colorful. It’s got to work and when I mean work, a lot of our products are backed by science-based movements, movements that hit particular parts of the brain.…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

1 2

Roylco, Inc Merges with MESH to Boost Social Emotional Learning in Children

ANDERSON, S.C — Since the rise of the pandemic and the isolation of quarantine, a surge of concern regarding children’s mental and social health has been the forefront for parents across the world. Roylco, Inc- an upstate South Carolina based educational toy manufacturer- has grasped these concerns in consideration for their products. With the release of their new STEAM product line alongside their additional educational classroom aids, each product provides an outlet for children to master mental, emotional, and social health (MESH) in and outside the classroom.

MESH- an acronym discovered by ThinkFun in partnership with child development expert Deborah Gilboa, MD., – confronts the escalating apprehension around children’s mental health. This concept was developed to raise awareness for both industry specific and non-specific professionals to promote resiliency through play. For more information visit meshhelps.org.

“Roylco has taken all factors of MESH into consideration to develop thought provoking, confidence boosting, teamwork building educational play for young children to build a bridge into understanding their mental, social, and emotional health” says Darby Smith, Business Developer at Roylco.…Read More

I work with struggling readers–here’s what’s standing in their way

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

I learned to love reading as a kid, spellbound by wizarding worlds and ghost stories. I wanted to share this love, so I became an intervention teacher, working with struggling readers and special education students. 

Kids love reading. I don’t care what think pieces say about screen addiction, children still gravitate towards books. If they can’t read, they like looking at the pictures in “Dogman” or listening to Junie B.’s antics. …Read More

1 2

Cybersecurity, like charity, begins at home 

Key points:

  • Cybersecurity is a risk to anyone with a device–no matter their age
  • Children are uniquely vulnerable, and strategies like password managers and open communication can help shore up strong cybersecurity practices
  • See related article: Preparing for ransomware attacks begins with education

We are living at a time when many of the most advanced, profitable, technologically-sophisticated companies in the world are barely treading water when it comes to cybersecurity. With that being the case, what chance do our children have of staving off these threats?

More than half of U.S. children now possess their own smartphone by the age of 11. And long before they have a device of their own, they’re using their parents’—to play games, to watch movies, to do their homework. That’s not to mention the panoply of devices they interact with at school, at friends’ homes, at after-school activities — on and on and on.…Read More

1 2

Bringing robots to early education classrooms in rural Nevada

Key points:

As part of our educational outreach to the community, PBS Reno createdCuriosity Classroom for preschool through 4th-graders. The program, which is free to schools and districts, uses on-air, online, and print resources to help parents, caregivers, and childhood educators prepare children for success.

As we were researching trends in STEAM education to update our program, we noticed that robots were at the forefront, but most of the opportunities only existed for middle and high school students. Here’s how we’re bringing robots to younger students in rural communities.…Read More

1 2

How asynchronous tech can bridge the digital divide

When pondering the future of education, it’s understandable that most of us will slip into Utopian scenarios. Think Garrison Keiler’s Lake Wobegon, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” The reality, of course, is always going to be different. 

So it is when discussing the idea of digital equity. Every student deserves the right to high-bandwidth, solid-state, always-on access to the Internet, right? Reality check: A 2021 report from Common Sense Media found that 15 to 16 million K-12 public school students in the U.S. live in homes with inadequate internet or computing devices. This represents around 30 percent of all public school students in the U.S.

That doesn’t mean those students can’t get the education they deserve. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ryan Ross, CEO of Olivia Technologies, about their attempts to address this issue through synching techniques that don’t require access to the Internet outside the school campus. Their solution has been deployed in schools in Texas and Hawaii, where in certain areas, over 30 percent of students do not have reliable internet connectivity. …Read More

1 2

How to use UDL-inspired technology to reengage students

Key points:

  • To improve student engagement, strive to create a positive learning environment
  • Offer multiple means of engagement using technology inspired by UDL such as voice/screen capture or different ways to present a project

While schools have largely returned to normal classroom instruction, some ripple effects of the pandemic remain. Educators are searching for a spark to re-engage students in the learning process. According to a recent survey, 38 percent of students reported decreased motivation to excel in school. In comparison, 80 percent of educators feel the pandemic made students less motivated.

In some cases, children traumatized by the pandemic struggle with mental health issues. In most cases, teachers may only need to provide different opportunities and multiple means of engagement to increase participation.…Read More

1 2

How my 5th graders are taking a stand against bullying

Unseen and often silent, the shadows of bullying loom within the walls of schools, casting a dark cloud over the lives of countless students. The PACER Center’s National Bullying Prevention Center engages and empowers kids to combat bullying in all its forms. Through the Students with Solutions contest, my 5th grade students worked together to raise awareness about bullying and encourage children to actively participate in addressing this issue. This challenge amplified their voices and empowered them to inspire and support one another, creating a united front against bullying.

The winning entry within the “Student with Solutions” national anti-bullying competition this year is a video by my two 5th grade classes within the Birmingham City Schools System. The students wrote, filmed, and edited the video. It inspires unity and support, drawing from the students’ experiences, with the main message being that bullying hurts and everyone matters.

Students enjoy technology, so being able to integrate technology in an academic setting is highly advantageous. In this instance, we were able to combine social-emotional learning and technology, which are both important in this day and age.…Read More

1 2