Sat.May 08, 2021 - Fri.May 14, 2021

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Four Questions Education Leaders are Asking to Find the Best Edtech

Digital Promise

After a year of fast-paced, high-pressure decision making, you’re now called on to figure out which edtech products will support your learners and educators. Should you continue to use the products you implemented before the rush to distance learning? Should you expand the use of new tools that educators found to meet immediate learning needs? Are there new tools to consider that address your communities’ new and evolving needs as you move to hybrid and in-person learning?

EdTech 301
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How to Assess with Respect with Starr Sackstein

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Assessment is part of what teachers have to do in school. Although it is required, we teachers can make sure we assess with respect. Today’s guest, Starr Sackstein, author of Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices That Meet Students’ Social and Emotional Needs , shares an overview of what is needed so that every student feels respected even as they are given the necessary feedback to improve and leve

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Is It Worth Teaching School Kids SQL?

Ask a Tech Teacher

I get a lot of interest from high school teachers about teaching databases. These digital tools allow users to query vast amounts of information based on specific areas of interest. They are one of the most effective ways to apply higher order thinking to the world around us. . There are simple ways to teach these in an introductory format for youngers, but by HS, kids should be learning methods that prepare them for college and career.

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Removing Barriers with UDL and Blended Learning

Catlin Tucker

Recently, a teacher posted a comment to my blog lamenting that direct instruction consumed much of the class period. Like many, this teacher felt intense pressure to teach the standards and wasn’t sure how to embrace Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and blended learning. This is not unusual. There is often a tension created by the pressure put on teachers to cover content with the student-centered approach to learning described by UDL and blended learning.

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Enhancing Higher Education with Generative AI: A Responsible Guide

Generative AI holds tremendous promise for all stakeholders in higher education. But guardrails are needed. Strong governance that empower instructors are at the core of a responsible approach to using generative AI in academia.

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30 K–12 IT Influencers to Follow in 2021

EdTech Magazine

Educators who rose to the many challenges presented this past year often did so with the aid of educational technology. Many K–12 districts adapted to new learning styles, sometimes more than once, as the year progressed. Classrooms across the nation relied on remote, hybrid and in-person learning models to continue providing meaningful educational experiences to students.

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Empowerment Through Choice

A Principal's Reflections

Agency in the classroom is about giving students more control over their learning through greater autonomy and purpose. It is driven by many factors, one of which is choice. The underlying premise is to move learners from a state of engagement to empowerment so that they exert more ownership over their learning. Consider the following in the context of the professional world of work and employee success.

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More Trending

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3 Things Educators Should Debate As We Return to In Person Learning

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. As we return to in-person learning, we should not return to business as usual. David Bott gives us three things that, based upon current research, we should rethink in schools. Show Sponsor: This summer, I’m taking my professional development with Advancement Courses. Recently, I shared the five-step process I used to select the perfect course for me at Advancement Courses.

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New Tools Support Teachers Returning to the Classroom

EdTech Magazine

As teachers begin to find themselves back in the classroom, armed with technology from a year of online and hybrid learning, it isn’t clear what tools will best benefit the future of learning. Many schools accelerated their one-to-one device programs or took the necessary steps to create such initiatives, and so many students returning to the classroom will be bringing these devices with them.

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2 hours, up to 200 people, 1 low price

Dangerously Irrelevant

[Trying something new here…]. The 4 Shifts Protocol is taking off in schools around the world. We’ve got tens of thousands of educators already using it for instructional redesign. Schools who are trying to focus on deeper learning, greater student agency, more authentic work, and rich technology infusion are finding the protocol to be helpful in their efforts.

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How To Move To Canada To Be A Teacher

Ask a Tech Teacher

Here’s a great article from an Ask a Tech Teacher contributor for those of you interested in teaching internationally–specifically, Canada: How To Move To Canada To Be A Teacher. Canada is a country that people all over the world would love to emigrate to. It has a progressive style of government, very low crime rate and lots of work. It is not easy to get there, however.

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Enhancing School Device Management for Improved Learning

Schools face increasing challenges as technology becomes integral to education. Efficient device management is essential for maximizing technology use and safeguarding investments. Our article discusses the importance of tracking devices, outlines current challenges, and suggests modern solutions that go beyond traditional methods like Excel. Learn how advanced tracking systems can streamline operations, improve maintenance, and offer real-time updates for better resource allocation.

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5 Steps to Choose Your Summer PD

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Choosing your summer PD is essential as we look forward to the fall. Just as we discuss personalizing learning for students, we as teachers have a responsibility to personalize learning for ourselves. In this post, I’m going to take you through the five steps I use to determine my own summer professional development.

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The Case for Increasing Investments in Technology Professional Development

EdTech Magazine

During widespread adoption of interactive whiteboards more than a decade ago, many teachers walked into their classrooms one day to find the new technology. Yet, few understood how to tap the full potential of the devices to improve teaching and learning, using them more like simple dry erase boards, according to Wes DeSantis, director of educational technology for Ridgefield Public Schools in Connecticut.

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New National Survey Analyzes Impact of COVID-19 on Teaching and Learning

Digital Promise

“ Learning in the 21st Century: How the American Public, Parents, and Teachers View K-12 Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic, ” a national survey (conducted in January 2021) produced for Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project by Langer Research Associates, documents the broad range of difficulties in K-12 teaching and learning as perceived by the American public, public school teachers, and parents.

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8 Ways surveys help school leaders make better decisions

Neo LMS

School leaders have to make crucial decisions all the time. Some of these may have short-term effects, but others have a lasting impact on future generations of students. While there’s no denying that the school staff is aware of the institution’s challenges and strong points, any decision-making process is biased. For example, if we hear the same complaint from three different parents, we’re more likely to listen, but what about the other hundreds of parents?

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Quickly Create Personalized Learning Experiences that Work

How can we actively engage learners 24/7, on their level and according to their interests, while respecting their learning styles? It’s not impossible. In this guide: Explore how to transform traditional, one-way videos into two-way interactive learning experiences Understand different types of artificial intelligence (AI), including - Generative vs.

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Out of Gas: The School Year Isn’t Over Yet!

The CoolCatTeacher

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter. Well, in addition to the interesting school year we’re having, now we have a gas shortage caused by a cybercrime syndicate. If I wrote a movie about the last few years and shared it with a Hollywood Studio in the year 2010, it would have been laughed out as “unrealistic” and “impossible.” Well, impossible is here.

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End of the Year THRIVE-al (Not Survival) Guide

Ditch That Textbook

The end of the school year is a unique animal: extra time, review time, not enough time, etc. Here are some ideas and tools to help you thrive.As I write this, my kids have a little less than three weeks left of school yet. It’s the time of year when attention spans get shorter and […]. The post End of the Year THRIVE-al (Not Survival) Guide appeared first on Ditch That Textbook.

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12 Tech Tasks To End the School Year

Ask a Tech Teacher

Wrapping up your school technology for the summer is as complicated as setting it up in September. There are endless backups, shares, cleanings, changed settings, and vacation messages that — if not done right — can mean big problems when you return from summer vacation. If you have a school device, a lot of the shutdown steps will be done by the IT folks as they backup, clean, reformat, and maybe re-image your device.

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How Skills-Based Classes Bring Students Together For Future Success

EdNews Daily

Skills-Based Classes For Young Students Before the pandemic, many schools didn’t offer classes that focused on entrepreneurship, marketing, acting, communication or leadership. When funds are low in schools, most of the time, classes such as music, art, and drama are the first ones to be pushed aside. Given the rapid changes in education, especially with online learning, many valuable skills that students gain from the creative side of education were either put on hold, lost due to lack of

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Can Brain Science Actually Help Make Your Training & Teaching Stick?

Speaker: Andrew Cohen, Founder & CEO of Brainscape

The instructor’s PPT slides are brilliant. You’ve splurged on the expensive interactive courseware. Student engagement is stellar. So… why are half of your students still forgetting everything they learned in just a matter of weeks? It's likely a matter of cognitive science! With so much material to "teach" these days, we often forget to incorporate key proven principles into our curricula — namely active recall, metacognition, spaced repetition, and interleaving practice.

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Protecting Valuable Data from Cyberattacks

EdTech Magazine

It’s impossible to put a value on the data K–12 districts collect and store, so it’s important to treat it as an asset and defend it with the protection it deserves. Whether stored on-premises, in the cloud or with a hybrid strategy, data is always vulnerable to attack. Cybercriminals are revising their attack techniques as quickly as new security tools are being developed, and reports show that K–12 educational institutions have been a primary target for these bad actors.

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How LMSs are facilitating growth for students and educators

Neo LMS

A version of this post was originally published in District Administration , on April 15, 2021. Since March last year, schools, colleges, students, and teachers have been on a roller coaster. They have seen traditional education methods turned upside down with school closures. As a result, everyone had to quickly adapt to the new remote learning environment and teaching practices.

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Why Summer Learning Programs Are Pushing More Fun Than Academics

Edsurge

The weather may be warming up, but this year more than ever, “school’s out for summer” won’t be true for thousands of students across the country. After more than a year of teaching under quarantine, school districts have big plans for summer learning. It’s a time to bring kids back together in person, try to address at least some academic stagnation due to COVID-19, and maybe most importantly, have fun.

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Twenty-six studies point to more play for young children

The Hechinger Report

What if one of the answers to reducing inequality and addressing mental health concerns among young children is as simple as providing more opportunities to play? A growing body of research and several experts are making the case for play to boost the well-being of young children as the pandemic drags on—even as concerns over lost learning time and the pressure to catch kids up grow stronger.

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Reimagining Chickering & Gamson's Principles Post-Pandemic: Technology's Central Role in Modern Edu

This white paper examines and proposes revisions to the "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" introduced by Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson in 1987 for today's technology-driven world.

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2021 EdTech IT Influencer List Badges

EdTech Magazine

Congratulations! If you’re on the list of 30 K–12 IT Influencers to Follow in 2021, spread the news and grab our influencer images for your social media pages or websites. Below you will find a header image for your Twitter profile and a social object to share on your social media pages. Please be sure to tag @EdTech_K12 when you post!

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6 Instructional Strategies That Challenge And Support Students

TeachThought - Learn better.

A teaching strategy is anything the teacher does to help students learn. From reciprocal teaching to clarity, here are 6 to get started. The post 6 Instructional Strategies That Challenge And Support Students appeared first on TeachThought.

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Educators: When It Comes to DEI, We Can’t Be Silent

Edsurge

There are certain experiences in life for which there are no words, and certain conversations that can leave a lasting impact. Here I was, a Pakistani-American woman and the new director of school operations, charged with leading our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, checking in with the principal when we started talking about the previous director’s departure.

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OPINION: We should not leave Black students out of any debate to reinvent schools

The Hechinger Report

With schools being pushed to reopen after a year of Covid-related shutdowns, many people have challenged stakeholders to reimagine education. The Learning Policy Institute, for instance, recently released a report laying out 10 priorities for state and district leaders to “rethink school in ways that can transform learning opportunities for students and teachers alike.”.

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Behind the Bell: The Underlying Impact of Tardiness in K-12 Schools

Managing a K-12 campus with constant pressure to meet performance metrics is challenging. And tardiness can significantly limit a school from reaching these goals. Learn more about why chronic lateness matters, and key strategies to address the following impacts: Data errors caused by manual processes Low attendance and graduation rates that affect a school’s reputation Classroom disruption, which leads to poor academic performance High staff attrition and “The Teacher Exodus” Unmet LCAP goals t

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Keep Students on Grade Level in ST Math, Even if They’re Behind

MIND Research Institute

This article features contributions from MIND's Chief Data Science Officer Andrew Coulson. Teachers often ask to move a student down one or more grade levels in ST Math, based on the student’s state test performance or a universal screener that indicates the student is below grade level in math. While this practice isn’t new, it’s a tempting “easy button” as students return to classrooms and schools everywhere strive to mitigate the effects of the COVID slide.

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Keen- Google's Tool for Curating Digital Content

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

Keen is a social networking and web curation platform provided by Google. Keen, as MakeUseOf stated, is Google's alternative to Pinterest. Keen allows you to curate content online and share your.

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How Research-Informed Games May Result in Deep Learning Experiences

Edsurge

Time and again, there have been education techniques and pedagogy developed that challenged conventional teaching and learning methods. As new approaches are tried, it is important to also analyze the reasons why children may be apprehensive about learning. Games can be particularly effective for engaging learners, promoting active participation and motivating students, both in and outside of the classroom.

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Blackbird Announces First Ever Educational Version of JavaScript

eSchool News

First Educational Version of a Programming Language Enables Middle School Code Education – Bridging the Middle School Gap. PORTLAND, May 12, 2021 – Blackbird today announced the official release of the world’s first educational version of JavaScript. Blackbird’s Educational Version of JavaScript, for the first time, makes it feasible for middle school students and teachers to learn to code – and forms the foundation of Blackbird’s online system for middle school-focused code education.

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The Battle of the Authoring Tools: A 10-Point Comparison for Picking the Right One

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

There are plenty of great authoring tools for developing eLearning, but the one you select could directly impact your course's outcomes. Depending upon your learners’ needs and your organization’s performance goals, you could be overlooking considerations that impact the both effectiveness of your courses and how long it takes to finish them. From general capabilities to specific workflow structures, some aspects are critical when it comes to learning objectives and deadlines.