What do directing planes to land successfully on the runway and directing students to read successfully in the classroom have in common? A lot, as I found out during my transition to tutor following three decades of managing the flow of aircraft around the country.
When I joined the Air Force in 1988, I became an Air Traffic Controller. I didn’t know it then, but this job would lead me down a path that included an eight-year military career and 22 years at the Department of Defense. During my 30 years of service, I managed both the training, and standardization and evaluation departments before becoming the tower chief controller.…Read More
CARMEL, Ind. –Ellipsis Education, a leader in computer science curriculum for K-12 education, has launched the Curriculum Delivery Platform (CDP) that will provide everything educators need to teach computer science in one place.
The CDP is an online portal where teachers access and navigate Ellipsis courses. Designed to be mobile-responsive, the CDP makes the curriculum teachers know and love easier to use. Features of the CDP include:
Streamlined organization;
Increased access to resources;
Improved look and feel;
Access to a standards map on the lesson-level page; and
Easier movement between courses.
“We hope that teachers will find this delivery tool efficient to use and attractive to view,” said Dr. Whitney Dove, CEO at Ellipsis Education. “Our goal is to put the curriculum at teachers’ fingertips, so they spend less time gathering their materials and more time doing what they do best—teaching!”…Read More
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 Softwareannounced 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. …Read More
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) — In celebration of the 38th annual SIIA CODiE Awards, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) today announces the 50 winners of the 2023 CODiE Awards in Education Technology. The winners were presented during a virtual awards celebration hosted on the NewSky XR secure online platform on June 22.
The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry’s only peer-reviewed awards program. Educators and administrators serve as judges for the first-round review of all nominees. Their scores determine the SIIA CODiE Award finalists and account for 80 percent of the overall score. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products. The scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners. Details about each winner are listed at https://siia.net/codie/2023-codie-education-technology-winners/.
“The winners of the 2023 EdTech CODiE Awards serve as prime examples of exceptional products, services and groundbreaking innovation that enables learners of all types to connect with educators and educational materials,” said SIIA President Chris Mohr. “We take great pride in acknowledging this year’s honorees, who represent the pinnacle of excellence and offer solutions to the pressing challenges learners encounter today, such as accessibility, equity, personalized learning and more. Congratulations to all the deserving recipients of this year’s CODiE Awards!”…Read More
Some of my most distinct memories from high school involve struggling to grasp abstract concepts without visual or interactive tools. When I was a high school student, technology was significantly limited compared to today’s. I recall longing for resources such as online encyclopedias, interactive simulations, and virtual tutoring that would have made learning more interactive and accessible. Instead, my classmates and I were left to suffer through content-heavy, teacher-led lessons that lacked imagination or passion.
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.…Read More
NORTH BILLERICA, Mass.—The GaDOE recently named Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready Assessment as a Qualified Dyslexia Screening Tool for Grades K–3. School districts across the state can now use the program’s online Diagnostic and offline literacy assessment tasks to support with the identification and referral of students who exhibit characteristics of dyslexia. Today, the i-Ready program serves more than 11.5 million students and approximately one-third of all Grades K–8 students in the United States, including approximately 485,000 students in Georgia.
“It is so important that teachers have effective tools to identify students who may be at risk for dyslexia,” said Elizabeth Bassford, vice president of content and implementation at Curriculum Associates. “Now teachers across Georgia can use i-Ready’s single assessment along with its offline literacy assessment tasks to complete the screening and identification process, and develop individualized, data-driven instruction to support each student who will benefit from that specificity.”
All programs named to GaDOE’s Qualified Dyslexia Screening Tool list undergo a comprehensive review and demonstrate that they address—and measure—specific components. These components include phonological awareness and phonemic awareness, sound symbol recognition, alphabet knowledge, decoding skills, encoding skills, rapid naming, accuracy of word reading on grade-level text, and sight word reading efficiency skills.…Read More
SAN FRANCISCO –Swing Education, an online marketplace that connects schools and substitute teachers, announced today $38 million in Series C funding. The funding round was led by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”), a leading global private equity advisory firm, and by edtech investment firm Reach Capital. The funding enables Swing Education to invest in its growth and better address the nation-wide substitute teacher shortage.
This financing follows a 2018 Series B funding co-led by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Owl Ventures and a seed round from a consortium that included Social Capital, Kapor Capital, Moment Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Red House Education, and Edovate Capital.
Swing believes that every classroom deserves a teacher, and every student deserves to learn without disruption. Since its founding in 2015, Swing has worked to improve the experience of being a substitute teacher and made it easier for K-12 schools to grow and manage their substitute teacher pools. Swing currently works with over 2,800 school partners and in the 2022-23 school year has supported these schools in filling over one million instructional hours with substitute teachers. …Read More
Educators must support efforts that boost online student motivation
Peer mentors, change of scenery, and spending time with students are important for online students
A student’s motivation in school is a key driver of their academic success. Yet, the demanding nature of high school classes, mixed with a teenager’s natural craving for independence and individual identity, can stand in the way of that motivation. COVID-19 took a toll on student motivation, and 80 percent of educators are still feeling the effects. Following the rapid and sudden shift to online learning, parents and educators remain concerned about keeping online students motivated and engaged.
As we move past the pandemic and rethink the role of online education, it’s vital to education reform that teachers remain focused on fostering student motivation. …Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic facilitated the introduction of new learning technologies into the mainstream
Educators and students were forced to adapt to new edtech tools, which now have a permanent place in today’s classrooms
It goes without saying that the Covid-19 pandemic affected every aspect of our lives in one way or another. The world was forced to adapt to a new reality to overcome the numerous challenges and hardships brought by the virus.
The field of education was affected like no other. More specifically, online education saw massive changes and transformations that were accelerated by the pandemic. Without further ado, here’s how pre- and post-Covid education differs and how online classes changed.…Read More
