Obviously, the past few years haven’t been easy for anybody. But the strain on school intervention specialists thrust into remote learning during group trauma has been especially great. In this conversation, Rami Tulp, assistant director of intervention for Katy ISD in Texas details some of the ways her district has catered to the needs of both students and faculty. Have a listen and scroll down for some edited excerpts.

We support intervention teachers who work with the students who are most at risk of dropping out—the students who struggle the most. And, you know, that cannot always be the most appealing job when you’re looking at teaching. So we really have been making sure that we support our intervention teachers with good resources as well as professional learning where you want to come back every year and continue to be an intervention teacher and support struggling kids…Coming out of the pandemic, some student struggles with learning have increased. And we need new strategies on how to support these kids. We need to keep building on the strategies that we already have, but also some new ideas, some new techniques. We’ve been doing a lot of campus visits, getting out to campuses and supporting teachers whenever they call, whenever they need an extra set of hands or an extra set of eyes with a class.

Some of the stories that some of our teachers shared when they were working with students virtually is that the home that the children were in wasn’t always somewhere they felt safe or comfortable. They didn’t want to unmute because in the background there might be screaming or something like that happening. We did have quite a few kids who were having to watch over their younger siblings. So there could be little screaming kids running around. We had some kids zooming from a bathtub because it was the quietest place in the house…Some kids were worried about how their hair looked because they haven’t been able to go out and get their hair fixed.

When you have all of that going on and you’re below grade level in reading or math, that just adds to it because you’re not feeling comfortable and you’re not feeling safe. So those are those things that virtually a teacher has to try and reach that kid through the screen and engage them and motivate them and make them feel safe and comfortable in a virtual setting. That’s a huge job that not everybody maybe understands. That’s more than just teaching a concept. That’s why having resources that are engaging already—prepared for a teacher can really benefit them because they have something to go off of while they’re also trying to make the kids feel safe and comfortable.

I know my big hope for our district is that we continue to inspire people to remember why we all became teachers. We are really inspiring the next generation. We’re the catalyst of what comes in our future and we have so many wonderful people in our district that are working so hard and supporting kids no matter who they are, where they’re from, and no matter what their needs are. The work we do with kids is so important and we need to keep supporting our teachers and keep having a positive outlook for what teaching is and what we’re doing.

Sometimes the most insightful interactions at events don’t come from keynotes or session panels but from random conversations in a hotel lobby or airport gate. This seems to be the case whenever I bump into Kari Stubbs. In this conversation, which was reconstructed in a Zoom recording this week, we run the gamut—from post-pandemic hybrid event models to ramifications of the ISTE-ASCD merger, to AI noise, to new ways to better balance industry involvement with instructional inspiration. Click below to listen in and scroll through some of the edited highlights. You can read and see more about her ISTE experiences on LinkedIn.

Her ISTE highlight:

All of our teams need some elevated care right now—kind of the long tail of those emotions coming out of the pandemic. We have continued teacher resignations and ed leader resignations. And then for our business partners in the education space, we also have an elevated need for team care. Our panel looked at female leadership as a potential solution for making that happen. And it was a phenomenal conversation. I don’t know that I’ve ever been a part of a panel that struck a nerve quite as deeply as this one.

On the ISTE/ASCD merger:

I had the very enormous privilege and honor of serving on ISTE’s board for six years. So I came to this event really curious about the ASCD merger. I was curious how it was going to be messaged to the crowd. I made sure I went to the opening main stage event and I prioritized reconnecting with my fellow board colleagues to kind of peek behind the curtain. The one big takeaway for me is—this is a BIG merger <laugh>. I have some optimism about the merger. I have some question marks about the merger. I don’t know that I left with as many answers as maybe I was hoping I would get.

On ways the event could evolve:

We’re trying to bring fresh ideas to teachers. We’re trying to entice the admins that have purse strings to buy stuff because the conference can’t be put on if the exhibitors don’t sell stuff. It’s a vicious circle. So I left this show thinking it feels noisy…I know in the past ISTE has played with and continues to iterate on the model of having smaller, separate, topic-specific events—like a content creation type of event and a leadership event—but they historically have been at different times of the year. 

I’m curious if in two or three years there are some sort of mini-events nestled within the larger event. They all happen in the same city, but they are somewhat concurrent and folks can focus on their lane while we all still go to the same parties. I just think the models going to have to be more pliable than it’s been. I think it needs to change further and I think it needs to evolve further.

The Report: 

CoSN 2023 State of EdTech Leadership Survey

Highlights:

Cybersecurity
As it has since 2018, cybersecurity continues to rank as the number-one concern for EdTech Leaders. Cybersecurity is also the topic with the greatest interest for expanded professional learning.

Digital Equity
Students are less likely to receive support for off-campus broadband access than they were in 2021. During the height of remote learning, 95 percent of districts were providing off-campus broadband, compared to 74 percent of districts this year.

Modernized Infrastructure
For over ten years, the top challenge for EdTech Leaders has not changed. Budget constraints and lack of resources were ranked the number one challenge in 2013, and still rank number one in 2023.

Professional Learning
The EdTech-related professional learning topics that were of most interest to respondents—cybersecurity, driving and sustaining K-12 innovation, and data governance/privacy—directly align with district needs.

Salaries
The percentage of EdTech Leaders earning $130,000 or more has tripled over ten years, from six percent in 2013 to 18 percent today. Those earning more than $160,000 account for seven percent, compared to one percent a decade ago.

The Report:

PowerSchool 2023 Education Focus Report 

Highlights:

Recognizing the current dynamics in education, the 2023 Education Focus Report focuses on four key areas: transforming the student learning experience; supporting educators and instruction; solving for the future with usable data; and partnering with parents and caretakers in student learning. Among the report’s topline findings, there is a collective sense among educators that personalized learning, actionable data, and artificial intelligence (AI) hold promise to shape the future trajectory of education.

The report reveals that a majority of educators believe technology helps personalize student learning so they can focus on individual needs and meet learning goals. However, when it comes to artificial intelligence (such as generative AI), there are varied perspectives between district leaders and school-level educators on the potential of AI to enhance teaching and learning. The report showcases current thinking about future use cases of AI, and how teachers and students can benefit.

Key findings include identifying the top priorities for the upcoming school year as providing teachers with actionable data and connecting data across systems. With evolving multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) and similar practices, educators often don’t have usable data to understand which tiered interventions are working.

The Report: US DOE—The State of School Diversity in the United States

The State of School Diversity report responds to a Congressional directive asking the Department to examine and publicly release information on racial and economic segregation within the United States’ K-12 educational systems using existing Department data. Report includes data that shows students of color disproportionately attend schools with majority students of color populations. According to federal data, three in five Black and Latino students and two in five American Indian/Alaska Native students attend schools where at least 75% of students are students of color, whereas about half of white students attend schools in which students of color make up less than 25% of the student population. Despite research suggesting the wide-ranging benefits associated with attending racially and socioeconomically integrated schools, isolation in schools continues.

Schools that are isolated along racial or socioeconomic lines often have less access to critical resources and funding. These conditions can perpetuate gaps in opportunity that can limit the chance for underserved students to grow and excel academically. The Biden-Harris Administration has put academic acceleration at the forefront of its agenda, with record levels of investment in K-12 schools since day one, and is committed to efforts to champion and promote diverse schools through grant funding to help fuel voluntary and legal efforts to create plans and implement strategies to increase diversity in classrooms in schools. Well-designed efforts to improve school diversity can increase access to critical resources students need to succeed, such as experienced educators and advanced coursework. Every student should have access to high-quality learning experiences, and diverse schools can help enable them to happen.

I’m still digesting all the conversations, sessions, events, and walkabouts from this year’s ISTE in Philadelphia (not to mention the July 4th barbecue in between!) However, specific themes are certainly starting to come together as I look back on my footage and notes and as I begin to read other folks’ commentary online. I’ve already touched upon some of this and intend to explore more in the next few weeks. I would also like to expand this list as most people share their thoughts and ideas. Please forward them along! (Want the full eSchool News product roundup? Buckle up and click here.) All still photography courtesy of ISTE.

AI—This time last year at ISTE in New Orleans, there was some big-picture discussion about the potential of artificial intelligence, along with a bit of fear-mongering. This year, I was hard-pressed to find a booth or have a conversation without at least a mention of it. And for good reason. I like to think my prediction that the PowerSchool announcement will be baking Microsoft’s Azure tools into its platform was in fact the biggest but not the only news in this category. Impero Software announced that it has incorporated AI and machine learning into its newly debuted “Impero Wellbeing” student safety software. When installed on student devices, the software actively and automatically monitors for harmful keywords – such as those having to do with self-harm, bullying, violence, drugs, weapons, pornography or radicalization. If the software detects a student typing potentially dangerous keywords, it then records the incident by snapping a series of screenshots and flagging them in real-time for teacher and administrator review.

The AI component is able to sort through the potentially thousands of flags and intelligently cut through false positives to give teachers immediate visibility to any concerning student behavior. ASCD intends to add AI functionality to Witsby, their new professional learning and credentialing platform featuring ASCD’s content. Designed for digital, the next-generation professional learning platform features thousands of bite-sized learning objects, courses and on-demand content from ASCD authors and experts to support the ongoing development and growth of teachers. Witsby is backed by analytics, multi-layered reporting tools and authoring capabilities to give school leaders the ability to blend their own professional development assets with ASCD professional learning content.

And then there are the AI advocates at Merlyn Mind, who announced the launch of a suite of large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for the education sector under an open-source license. Merlyn said that its LLMs, developed with an emphasis on education workflows and safety requirements, would empower teachers and students to engage with generative models that operate on user-selected curricula, fostering an enhanced learning experience. I won’t get any deeper into the weeds here, but check out this conversation with Merlyn CSO Levi Belnap on the potential. 

AR/VR—We can’t forget the other hyped education acronym that begins with A. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality were again front and center on the show floor and in the session rooms. zSpace announced the expansion of computer science and cybersecurity content on the Inspire AR/VR Laptop. As part of this development, zSpace has partnered with SurfWisely, to introduce a new application that will join the existing offerings by Mastery Coding and BlocksCAD3D. This collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive computer science offering to the existing and extensive range of K-12 STEM and CTElearning experiences already being used in over 3,700 schools and districts. Avantis Education has partnered with the Washington-based EdGate to align its 400+ immersive, virtual reality lessons to U.S. state standards in science, social studies and English Language Arts. Avantis Education’s lessons are housed in the Eduverse (www.eduverse.com), Avantis’ built-for-education online platform. The Eduverse is accessible on any device, and is also the content hub for schools using ClassVR, Avantis Education’s VR headsets. In addition to the more than 400 full lessons, the Eduverse provides access to thousands of pieces of immersive, educational VR and AR content to supplement instruction, all in a secure, teacher-controlled virtual environment. You can check out the conversation I had with Chris Klein from ClassVR just before the show. To be honest, I’m still not completely convinced of the AR/VR sector and its ultimate effectiveness in the classroom. The hardware goggles still feel clunky and disorienting, especially for younger children. The is also an equity factor to consider as well.

Robotics—They were walking around the convention center and propped up in booths, ready for construction or instruction. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, robots are back for in-person collaboration. New announcements included KinderLab Robotics and KIBO, the hands-on coding robot that teaches computer science, engineering, and computational thinking to young children (PreK-5th grade). The curriculum is standards-aligned in computer science and engineering and supports deep cross-curricular connections to science, ELA, math, and social studies. With KIBO, children build, program, decorate, and bring their own robots to life. Robotical demonstrated Marty the Robot, a humanoid robot. The unique walking mechanism means Marty can walk, turn, dance, kick a ball, etc. And, because each limb is controlled by specific motors, Marty is also more stable and robust than other walking robots. In the Sphero booth, attendees got an exclusive first look at RVR+ and its improvements for an enhanced classroom experience, as well as live demonstrations of Sphero’s award-winning robot for early learners, Sphero indi.

Up until about Thanksgiving last year, another acronym that began with the letter “A” was most popular in education circles. Like AI, it has mixed reviews on its practical effectiveness but still carries excitement in its potential. 

Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) was and is still at the forefront of edtech as evidenced by the show floor at ISTE last week. According to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s  “Virtual Reality In Education Global Market Report 2023” report, space grew from $8.67 billion in 2022 to $11.95 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $46.14 billion in 2027. Major players like Google, Microsoft Corporation, Meta, Samsung and Lenovo continue to invest major resources into its development.

To help break down just where the technology is as it relates to being a true teaching tool in the classroom today I spoke with ClassVR’s Chris Klein. The company was launched at the Bett Show in London in January 2017 and has since been installed in more than 40,000 classrooms worldwide. Have a listen.

On where education sits within the metaverse:

The concept has been around for a long time, with the key factor being real-time shared experiences using avatars. The metaverse is also a sort of wild, wild west. And it’s going to get consumerized. It’s going to get monetized. There’s going to be a lot of stuff that schools are very, very afraid of when bringing that in. The EdUverse is a small component of that same functionality, but with all the security and safety features that you need for education. You need to make sure that it supports things such as any hardware, any time, and any location. Teachers also have to find pedagogically relevant, engaging content that will work on all of their hardware across any network. 

On integrating AR/VR into everyday instruction:

I don’t care whether it’s VR, I don’t care whether it’s interactive flat panels or whatever technology they are showing. The first thing educators have to say is, “Okay, I don’t want to change a lot. How does what you have mesh with what I do?” As opposed to, “What do I have to learn to be able to come into your space?” You should hold vendors accountable for that. We need to recognize these teachers know these students better than we do. A good teacher can teach with a wet paper bag and a stick if that’s all they have. I think that we need to be supporting them and providing something that is the next iteration or a better type of stick. 

On the limits of AR/VR:

I see Rosa Parks sitting on the bus in the civil rights scene in the EduVerse. Why can’t I walk up and talk to her? I think that there’s a very slippery slope because I don’t want to be the person to actually say, this is what Rosa Parks sounds like. I don’t want to be the person to vet what Rosa Parks would say. I’d rather leave that piece out of what we offer and leave the teacher to be able to drive the instruction, him or herself within the classroom, as opposed to me as a technology person saying, “Well this is what it would be.”

This month’s episode of Innovations in Education features James O’Hagan, Vice President of Education Innovation at LeagueSpot.

O’Hagan shares his insights on the continued emergence of esports as an integral part of any school’s overall education experience; how student use of tech in esports compliments and clashes with other onscreen activities; and what strategies educators can use to make the best of this phenomenon.

Just try to have a conversation about edTech these days without mentioning AI. It took about five minutes for Ryan Imbriale, PowerSchool’s VP of Education Solutions, and me before we cracked. To be fair, Powerschool’s announcement this week that it will integrate Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to use OpenAI’s large language models within the company’s Personalized Learning Cloud will probably be the biggest news to come out of ISTE next week. Have a listen and scroll down for some edited highlights:

The details:

Powerschool will use Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to use OpenAI’s large language models within PowerSchool Performance Matters and PowerSchool LearningNav, part of PowerSchool’s Personalized Learning Cloud.

According to Powerschool, The generative AI functionality will save educators a significant amount of time by providing them with AI-generated assessment items within the PowerSchool Performance Matters formative assessment solution aligned to a desired learning objective, grade level, subject, and standard, which the teacher can use to deliver more frequent formative assessments at scale. 

Instead of spending hours creating assessment items, the built-in AI-powered item creation will reduce this effort to minutes. The AI-generated assessment items will be complemented by AI-powered Adaptive Testing in Performance Matters to better understand each student’s competency and personalized instruction needs. The educator can then leverage generative AI within the PowerSchool LearningNav product to create multiple-choice questions within diagnostic tests personalized to each student’s competency level to assist in instruction and measure progress against learning goals.

Want to dive deep into what Microsoft’s Azure technology is all about? Check out this recent conversation I had with their team for our sister site eCampus news. While the focus is on higher ed, it’s applicable all around.

Going to ISTE? PowerSchool will be hosting a free happy hour event after the first full day of ISTELive ‘23. The happy hour will feature a panel of K-12 teachers, leaders, and former educators discussing generative AI, learning loss, personalized learning and other factors impacting the education space.

In addition to hosting the panel Ryan will share exclusive findings from the upcoming 2023 Education Focus Report (sourced from 1,300+ district leaders, educators, and administrators). The happy hour will be from 5:30 – 7:30 pm ET on Monday, 6/26 at The Liberty View Independence Center (10-minute walk away from ISTE/the Philadelphia Convention Center).

Just back from the Metaverse and boy are my arms tired! This year’s CODiE awards were virtual again and while attending wasn’t as much fun as the in-person gala at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel back in the day, at least I don’t have to get my tux dry-cleaned.

Since 1986, the SIIA CODiE Awards have honored thousands of software, education, information and media products, leaders and teams for achieving excellence. SIIA is the leading association representing the software and digital content industries. The SIIA Education Division serves and represents more than 200 member companies that provide software, digital content and other technologies that address educational needs. 

Over the years the awards have become recognized as the leading peer-recognized program in the business and Ed Tech industries. Each nomination receives a detailed review by two expert judges during the first round review; each finalist product receives a second, peer review by a team of industry leaders.

There are dozens of categories and winners to scroll through, but here are a few highlights:

Lifetime Achievement Award

Avraham Kadar, M.D., Founder of BrainPOP

As a physician, scientific researcher, and entrepreneur, Avraham Kadar, M.D. has spent his life learning and educating. He began his career as a pediatrician and National Institutes of Health-trained immunologist, and founded BrainPOP in 1999 as a creative way to explain difficult concepts to his young patients. BrainPOP has since become an international, award-winning market leader recognized for the ability to engage, enrich, and delight children and teachers alike with animated movies, learning games, and more. Today Dr. Kadar continues to reimagine education by serving as CEO of BrainPOP, and supporting numerous commercial and philanthropic ventures, including the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation, which he founded with his children in 2010.

Most Innovative Ed Tech Company

https://www.ageoflearning.com/

From the company:

As a leading education technology provider, we blend education best practices, innovative technology, and insightful creativity that results in engaging, effective educational experiences that bring learning to life. Our flagship product, ABCmouse Early Learning Academy, is the leading digital education brand for young children in the U.S. Our research-based digital education programs have proven efficacy in increasing children’s learning gains, and our content is developed by an extensive team of education experts. To date, we have helped educate more than 50 million children worldwide.

Best Ed Tech Company to Watch

https://paper.co/about-paper

From the company:

From 24/7 high-quality tutoring to after-school enrichment to college and career resources, our Educational Support System empowers students throughout their academic journeys, helping them to build confidence for what comes next.

Today, Paper serves more than 3 million students from about 300 unique school districts across 41 U.S. states and Canada. Our recent statewide partnerships with Mississippi and Tennessee added about 200 additional districts to this total.

Fun fact from SIIA below:

The origin of the CODiE Awards’ name alludes to the program’s basis in the software industry, in which the word “CODiE” is derived from the word “code”. The CODiE Awards logo, re-designed in 2004, combines the word “CODE” with the symbol for information (“i”) to visually represent the CODiE Awards’ focus on the software and digital content industries.

I’ll be digging deeper into these companies and products in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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. 

Listen here to the entire conversation and scroll down for some edited highlights:

Whether a child lacks access to the internet at home or connectivity is intermittent and limited in the classroom, Olivia is designed to work offline to its intended audience. Content is delivered through a combination of teachers and a vetted curated library of videos, podcasts, and eBooks and supports existing learning management systems, adaptive learning, and social-emotional programs. 

ESN: Start off talking a little bit about where Olivia’s solutions began and where you find yourself currently when it comes to connecting—or I guess you could say not connecting—kids. 

RR: COVID really was an eye-opener because we didn’t realize—along with a lot of school districts that didn’t realize—how bad the connectivity issues were. We realized that these markets were being poorly underserved, and for a lot of different reasons—for instance, it’s incredibly difficult to run broadband out to locations in the middle of nowhere. 

The pandemic forced the greatest beta test in education history—billions of students pushed home and online. And while there were obvious devastating effects with which we are still coming to terms, there were also plenty of innovations that sprung from the experience. Many of those ideas and techniques are reflected in this year’s crop of finalists for the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) according to John Gamba, Penn GSE’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence. 

Catalyst @ Penn GSE—a global center for education innovation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE)—and the Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation announced the selections this week. The finalists’ ventures are focused on some of the biggest challenges in education, including college access and persistence, social-emotional learning, literacy, adaptive learning, and more. 

Considered the most prestigious and well-funded competition of its kind, the EBPC attracts innovative education ventures from around the world. To date, the EBPC has awarded over $1.8 million dollars in cash and prizes. Winners and finalists have gone on to secure more than $180 million in funding.

The 2023 EBPC finalists were selected through a democratized judging process that includes practitioners, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and more. The finals will take place Wednesday, October 4, and are open to EDTECH WEEK 2023 participants with free live streaming also available (registration required).

The following ventures are the 2023 EBPC finalists:

• College Guidance Network is a unique content platform with live programming plus on-demand resources designed to support school counselors, helping students and families navigate high school to post-secondary.
• EdVisorly, Inc. is building a nationwide community college-to-university transfer platform, empowering aspiring community college students to connect with universities to boost enrollment success.
• Skizaa Education helps education leaders make real-time data-driven decisions by collecting and analyzing data from last-mile schools, saving more than 90 days.
• Story Shares is a mission-driven publisher focused on building a relevant, culturally inclusive, reflective, engaging, and inspirational global library filled with choices that transform striving readers into avid ones.
• Taleemabad is an all-day learning ecosystem that improves student learning outcomes, upskills teachers through digital training, increases admissions for low-cost private schools, and standardizes classroom experience through structured pedagogy.
• ThinkHumanTV is a social and emotional learning platform that leverages streaming media on sites such as Netflix and Disney+ to teach young people the science of emotions.
• Unlocked Labs empowers and employs justice-impacted individuals to design and build technology that promotes human flourishing and enables decarceration.

The finals will take place Wednesday, October 4, and are open to EDTECH WEEK 2023 participants with free live streaming also available (registration required).Find more on educationcompetition.org or follow the conversation on Twitter: @CatalystPennGSE and #MilkenPennGSE.

5 Sessions to Bookmark

Innovating Education with Esports: A Forum for Sharing Ideas

Sunday, June 25, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Franklin 1/2

Join leaders from the Pennsylvania Scholastic Esports League and Garden State Esports for discussion, collaboration, and networking for all those involved in scholastics esports. Discussion will range from beginner level topics to deep dives into the impact esports is having on social emotional learning and career and technical education.

Building the Future of 5G Innovation for K-12 Education

Monday, June 26, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Pennsylvania Convention Center, 201C

Top education leaders from suburban, urban and rural school districts will share their thoughts on immersive technology solutions harnessing the power of 5G to enhance the K-12 learning experience. Attendees will hear how education leaders across the country are creating access to future workforce opportunities for underrepresented student populations.

CTO Forum

Tuesday, June 27, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Liberty Ballroom

Join CoSN, ATLIS and ISTE to convene the CTO Forum at ISTELive23. This session is designed for school and district leaders to explore essential abilities for successful leadership. This interactive session will allow participants to share best practices and also learn from colleagues through rich discussion. If you are a CTO, superintendent, head of curriculum, technology, finance or a building leader, this is where you need to be during ISTE.

The new normal for post-pandemic classrooms continues to be a mixed bag. There was a ton of learning loss and missed experiences, especially when it came to hands-on lab time. At the same time, there was a surge of teacher innovation, student agency, and new remote tools and processes to compensate. 

For the past 13 years, Ann Woo, Head of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung, has been paving the way for students at US public middle and high schools to embark on solving real-world problems with STEM-based solutions through Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow national STEM competition. This year’s contests concluded with three national winners who created inspiring STEM solutions tackling their community issues of pollinator collapse, veterans’ PTSD and heat stroke in sports. Their projects should be an inspiration for any STEM educator. Click through for the whole conversation. Below are some edited highlights:

ESN: How has the topic and mission of STEM changed post-pandemic?

AW: During COVID, it was really challenging for students to deeply engage in STEM classes—there was no lab period or any hands-on engagement quite in the same way. Virtual lab time and real lab time, hands-on learning was a very different paradigm for them. And so teachers have really had to make up for that time in different ways. 

There’s no avoiding it. Artificial intelligence is here: in your classrooms, in your front office, on your phone. And while the topic can be overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be a burden. One of the best pieces of advice regarding managing AI in schools so far came during a conversation yesterday with Melissa Hortman, a senior industry executive at Microsoft, for our sister publication eCampus news, but her advice applies to all levels of education: First, learn how it works. 

That being said, the amount of information out there can be overwhelming and getting worse by the day. Don’t worry, we’re here for you. The following resources should fill up your weekend reading queue quite nicely. And be sure we’ll be diving in deeper as this phenomenon progresses.

From: eCampus News

Open AI is an incredibly powerful technology that has the potential to transform the way we think about teaching, learning, and research. Used properly, faculty and students can explore new ways to approach complex problems, gain insights into data, and make predictions that were previously impossible. Sounds great right? But there are still many questions and reasonable concerns about how to make this potential practical. This conversation cleared up a lot.

Key points:

• Smarter systems can help protect students
• AI technologies continue to proliferate
• Online learning platforms now support millions of students

ZeroEyes, creators of their AI-based gun detection video analytics platform announced a strategic partnership with AEGIX, a Utah-based provider of industry-leading resources, technology, equipment and training for first responders. Through the partnership, ZeroEyes’ AI gun detection and situational awareness software will be integrated into the AEGIX AIM active incident management platform to create a sole-source solution uniquely built for Utah public schools.

The system enables individuals in an organization, such as a school, to notify others of a crisis with the touch of a button. In a worst-case scenario, such as an active shooter, teachers simply push a button in the app to let administrators and first responders know if they are “safe” or “unsafe.” AEGIX AIM can be operated from a desktop, laptop or smartphone. 

Everyone on the system, including key law enforcement and first responders can utilize the dynamic interactive maps of a school campus, buildings and individual classrooms. This instantly provides room-by-room situational awareness. Users know exactly what the emergency is and where they need to direct their efforts. It also enables real-time communication within the patented chat feature. 

RedCritter launched its groundbreaking AI innovation, CritterCoin, a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) suite for schools powered by ChatGPT from OpenAI. The new AI capabilities automate PBIS on a school-wide level. The suite now offers adaptive and personalized student tutoring and engagement, along with automated recognition and rewards. 

Key points:

• Social emotional learning looks to evidence-based classroom practices to support a critical development in children
• Educators can employ several strategies to deal with the politicization of social emotional learning
• See related article: 3 key parts of this district’s student mental health support

The concept of social emotional learning​​ (SEL) has been around for 30 years—a bit of esoteric, if well-meaning, academia intended to improve the way kids are taught. Post-pandemic, the phrase has somehow entered the culture wars leaving educators with a delicate balance between implementing these essential concepts without becoming politicized. 

If the pandemic taught us nothing else, it’s that the mental health of students is the first and foremost concern to successful teaching and learning—not to mention their parents, teachers, and everyone else associated with that student’s learning experience. So how can educators and admins cope? We sat down with Justina Schlund, Vice President of Communications at Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) to bang out some specific strategies for schools to employ if this becomes an issue in your district. Scroll down for some of the transcribed and edited highlights:

ESN: It’s best to start at the beginning. What is CASEL’s definition of SEL?

JS: You can look on our website for the official definition but basically, social and emotional learning is about developing all of the skills that last a lifetime. Things like staying motivated, communicating really effectively, understanding other people, and making decisions that are good for ourselves, and the community around us. So it is a sort of developmental process that happens from the time we were born, and now throughout our adulthood.

One of many post-pandemic truths exposed and emphasized is that learning outcomes suffer without proper student mental health measures.

In this episode of Innovations in Education, host Kevin Hogan has a conversation with Sonny Thadani, CEO of Robin, to explore how SEL can be integrated into district policies and school curricula. The key? Get everyone involved.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has long been a popular acronym in education circles. Providing teachers with the tools and techniques to deliver these subjects to students has never been more important. In this podcast, Lauren Tarshis, SVP Editor-in-Chief & Publisher, Classroom Magazine Division, Scholastic Magazines+, and Patty Janes, Vice President, Science, Math, and Art at Scholastic, break down how one of the world’s great curriculum providers approaches STEM subjects and provide insights on how teachers can integrate these concepts into everyday teaching and learning.

While many think of high school students engaged in mechanical engineering or robotics competitions when they hear the word “robotics,” the subject naturally lends itself to learners of all ages—including very young students.

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan, you’ll hear from Jason Innes, Director of Curriculum, Training and Product Management at KinderLab Robotics, Inc., discuss why robotics is an excellent way to introduce young learners to coding, computational thinking, and design principles.

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• What is computer science education lacking?
• Why educational robotics is a critical STEM learning tool
• STEM Lessons Straight from the Classroom