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.

Level Data, Inc. Acquires GlimpseK12

KALAMAZOO, Michigan – Return on Investment (ROI) is one of the leading financial measuring tools for businesses and industries everywhere, including school districts. But another ROI is even more important to schools, Return on Instruction.

Level Data, Inc., North America’s leading school and student data validation software provider serving more than 7 million in student population, announces it has purchased Glimpse K12, a school curriculum measurement tool that shows district leaders which education programs are being utilized, and their effects on student progress, so data-based decision making can occur by school leadership in both forms of ROI.

“We optimize school spending around what works for students,” said Nicole Pezent of Glimpse K12. “The Glimpse platform strategically aligns everything the district is doing to raise student achievement, captures how they are implementing it, and measures these activities versus student outcomes. Administrators receive return-on-investment and return-on-instruction reports to guide future decisions.…Read More

Texas Education Agency Names Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready® Assessment as an Approved Grade 7 Reading Instrument

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass. — The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently named Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Assessment to its Commissioner’s List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments. Starting this coming school year, districts and open-enrollment charter schools can now use the online program to assess all students whose performance on the Grade 6 STAAR Reading assessment did not demonstrate reading proficiency. Results from the reading assessments will help inform additional reading instruction and intervention for students.

“To increase literacy achievement throughout the state, it is essential that Texas educators have actionable data to help students, especially those who may need extra supports,” said Claudia Salinas, vice president of English Learning at Curriculum Associates. “With the recent approval by the TEA, teachers can now use i-Ready to quickly and efficiently collect—and utilize—important student data. This will help teachers personalize their instruction to support reading success while saving them time.”

TEA conducted a comprehensive review of submitted assessments. To receive approval, assessments must be based on current, published scientific research in reading, be age and grade-level appropriate, valid, and reliable, identify specific skill difficulties in word analysis, fluency, and comprehension, and assist the teacher in making individualized instructional decisions based on the assessment results.…Read More

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

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CENTEGIX Posts Record Demand for Its Wearable CrisisAlert Solution

ATLANTA /PRNewswire/ — CENTEGIX, the leader in incident response solutions, announced that new customers of its award-winning CrisisAlert™ solution were the highest in company history and that demand in the first half of 2023 has exceeded the 2022 full-year result.

School districts nationwide overwhelmingly select CENTEGIX’s CrisisAlert wearable panic button to protect staff and students. Now with more than 600,000 badge users, CENTEGIX is by far the industry leader and largest solution provider of wearable incident response technology for K-12 education, representing over 95% of the wearable safety technology market.

“We have six years of experience with wearables and have built a large and rapidly expanding suite of software applications and integrations that protect close to 10 million people for everyday and extreme emergencies. Customers tell us that CENTEGIX is the standard in wearable safety, and because all staff wear our badge, it builds a culture of safety at the location and in the community,” said Brent Cobb, CEO of CENTEGIX.…Read More

3 tools that foster gamification in my 4th grade classroom

Key points:

Gamification is one of the biggest in education trends right now in education. According to ISTE, “Gamification is about transforming the classroom environment and regular activities into a game” (Haiken, 2021). Many students want more than just good grades from school–they want something physical or immediate. “Gamification empowers students with the ultimate in choices when setting goals for what badges and achievements they want to complete, which leads to learners building skills for self-reliance and self-control” (McCarthy, 2021).

Embracing gamification in the classroom will lead to students taking responsibility for their learning while also enjoying their time in class.…Read More

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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

BenQ Education Partners With ANTON Learning App

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, announced that the ANTON learning app is now available on BenQ Boards. Trusted by over 15 million learners and teachers in over 60,000 schools, the ANTON learning app features learning material across a multitude of subjects, with the goal of making learning fun for students and easy for teachers to create and deliver engaging lessons. This partnership strengthens BenQ’s commitment to providing direct access to the apps and learning software that educators use daily from their BenQ Boards for a more streamlined, future-ready classroom.

“We’re steadfast in our mission to make it as easy as possible for educators to use the BenQ Board while helping students achieve great outcomes,” said Bob Wudeck, senior director of business development at BenQ Education. “ANTON is widely used by thousands of teachers. This is a great addition to the many resources now available in our BenQ Boards and is another step in bridging the gap between traditional teaching methods and cutting-edge technology that will help teachers shape the future of learning.”

The ANTON learning app and online learning portal are part of a standards-aligned curriculum available in multiple languages. Boasting over 100,000 exercises and 200 exercise types, it contains interactive elements, feedback, games, and explanations aimed at supporting and engaging young people in learning. It covers English, math, science, social studies, languages, and music, following set lessons with exercises in each topic. Users are able to select the subject that they wish to focus on and then follow scaffolded exercises developed to help them understand the material. Students can earn coins through their learning to spend on fun games and avatars.  Teachers are able to create classes, assign homework, and track the learning progress of their students. This information can then be used to personalize any learning or to bridge the learning between school and home.…Read More

How to redefine learning in the digital age

Key points:

  • ChatGPT-4 enriches curriculum, fosters collaboration, and prepares students for the challenges of the digital age
  • As higher learning institutions embrace ChatGPT-4 and AI technologies, they contribute to shaping a future-ready generation of learners
  • See related article: At ISTELive 23, balancing humanity with AI

In an era defined by technological innovation, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has become a game-changer in higher education. ChatGPT-4, developed by OpenAI, presents an extraordinary opportunity for higher learning institutions to revolutionize education. By incorporating ChatGPT-4 as a required part of the learning experience, institutions can unlock a new realm of innovation, critical thinking, and personalized learning.

The integration of ChatGPT-4 enriches the curriculum, fosters collaboration, and prepares students for the challenges of the digital age. Dr. Ryan Watkins, a professor of education at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development, said he plans to have his students use ChatGPT to write outlines for class presentations: “I might have my students use it as a starting place, and then they can add their content in and comment about how useful or not useful it was.”…Read More

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3 reasons creativity is essential for the future of education

Key points:

I like to say I was raised by a combination of nonprofits and the arts. At 15 years old, I moved into Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, a nonprofit group home in Chicago, and attended an independent arts high school in Illinois, a unique model where there was a minimum requirement of three hours of art a day.

I’d leave in the late afternoon and walk to my after-school arts program, The Marwen Foundation in Chicago, where I practiced digital art making – including photography, design, or other creative tracks – until late into the evening.…Read More

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