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.

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

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Investing in classroom collaboration tools? 3 things to know

Key points:

  • Flexibility and ease of use should be important parts of decision making
  • Meet today’s needs, but keep tomorrow’s needs in mind

Modern technological advancements affect virtually every area of daily life, and today’s educational institutions are looking to new digital tools to help improve student achievement and engagement while fostering collaborative learning environments for both in-person and remote learners.

To maximize a system’s effectiveness and ensure investments pay dividends for students and instructors, decision makers and school technology managers must maintain a strong understanding of all the available solutions, devices, and platforms that can meet their needs. While differences in location, age range, and budget naturally affect technology decisions and opportunities, there are several key factors central to any successful implementation.

Keep It Simple, Schools…Read More

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MDM solutions and gamification make perfect interactive learning partners

In the era of mobile devices and tablets, interactivity has become the norm for schoolchildren. To facilitate effective teaching and learning, modern schools must equip every classroom with interactive touchscreens and utilize gamification techniques. As these modern education tools require management and security, integrating MDM solutions has become imperative for every organization.

Understanding the Basics of Gamification in Education

Gamification means adding interactive gaming elements to processes such as learning. Everyone loves games, and competition motivates people to perform their best. So, by adding gamification elements during teaching sessions, schools can significantly increase their participation and engagement levels.

In addition, gamification can improve student skills such as active learning, problem-solving, and critical thinking. It also helps students enhance teamwork and collaboration.…Read More

Lightspeed Systems’ New ‘Digital Equity’ Module Provides Actionable Insight Into Students’ Internet Connectivity And School-Issued Device Health When Learning Outside of School

AUSTIN, TX –  Lightspeed Systems, the leader in safe, secure and equitable education technology, announces  Digital Equity—a module that provides robust and real-time connectivity and device health data on students’ school-issued devices. Digital Equity helps school and district leaders understand the challenges students experience while trying to study outside of school so they can ensure all students stay connected to learning. 

According to the  2022 Student Home Connectivity Study from the Consortium for School Networking (COSN), gaps remain nationwide in network performance and internet speeds at all grade levels for students connecting from outside a school, with approximately one-third of high school students experiencing “Far Below” or “Below Guidelines” for connectivity from home. In addition, large disparities exist among student subgroups, particularly by ethnicity and socioeconomically disadvantaged students.  

Empowering school and district leaders, Digital Equity provides a complete, real-time view of each student’s school-issued devices, including a device’s overall health, operating system, internet speed, service provider and more. Leaders can drill-down into specific data on each individual student and their devices, as well as view overall district-wide usage to help identify local communities that need additional support and resources. Digital Equity is customizable, giving leaders the option to turn on specific data and usage stats.  …Read More

With greater access to devices, teachers are folding more tech into instruction

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

Before the pandemic, U.S. history teacher Travis Malekpour hesitated assigning his students work in the classroom that required a computer. He knew not every student had a laptop or tablet.

Three years later, Malekpour, who teaches in Queens, doesn’t think twice about assigning and grading in-class work that requires a device. …Read More

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Discovery Education Launches New Digital Citizenship Resources in Partnership with Norton 

Charlotte, NC – Discovery Education, in partnership with Norton, a leading Cyber Safety brand of Gen™, recently launched a new digital citizenship resource center – My Digital Life – on the award-winning Discovery Education K-12 platform. The My Digital Life resource center offers standards-aligned resources designed to empower students and educators with activities about digital citizenship. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. 

Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology by anyone who uses computers, the internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any level. By developing digital citizenship skills, students will become inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced, and alert while in digital spaces. 

“Equipping educators and families with digital citizenship tools helps students develop the critical skills to stay safe online early,” said Kim Allman, head of corporate responsibility for Gen and its family of consumer brands including Norton. “With the Norton resources created in partnership with Discovery Education, students will learn how to best conduct themselves in the digital environment.” …Read More

4 ways school leaders can target the homework gap

While the homework gap has existed for some time, the massive virtual learning spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic shed a bright light on the challenge of ensuring all students, no matter their geographic location or socioeconomic status, have access to the right learning devices and to reliable, high-speed internet access.

During a CoSN 2023 session, edtech stakeholders convened to discuss innovative strategies around closing the homework gap and how schools—at the local, district, and state level—can ensure home connectivity for all students.

“During the pandemic, the [homework gap] really gained the awareness of a much wider audience, because all students and families were impacted by the need to be online simply to be in school during the day,” said Michael Flood, SVP and GM, Public Sector at Kajeet.…Read More

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6 benefits of immersive learning with the metaverse

The metaverse is a tool that blends experiences typically associated with either the virtual or physical worlds. It can deliver greater immersive learning for students while also creating some new and exciting teaching opportunities. For educators, it is crucial to not only understand what the metaverse is and its uses within education but to also realize the benefits of immersive learning with the metaverse.

The metaverse is an emerging technology that is gradually becoming more mainstream within education, in part because it delivers immersive learning experiences for students. Essentially, the metaverse allows academic institutions and educators to create engaging experiences that teach valuable information, which encourages exploration and experimentation. What’s more, the metaverse itself can be accessed using a variety of devices.

With that being said, metaverse learning is a relatively new concept and one that many educators are still getting to grips with. At the same time, because the metaverse is also being used in areas like social media and the creation of video games, its use as an educational tool has not necessarily been fully understood by all.…Read More

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