I’m pondering time. Not just the six months since I stepped down from my most recent executive role, but my chosen industry’s past 25 years. Edtech — education technology — has moved from a collegial backwater of the tech sector to K-12 and higher ed ubiquity. 

That’s changed how I think about my future in the business. It should also give newbies and other veterans pause, and encourage perspective.

It wasn’t just the pandemic that led to edtech’s popularity. Nearly three decades of changes have dramatically shifted the edtech landscape.

The Edtech Explosion: A Shift From Curiosity to Ubiquity  

When I got pulled into edtech from the consumer and B2B computing world in 1995, the transitional technology of CD-ROM for delivering multimedia on personal computers was peaking, and hot topics at NECC (the National Educational Computing Conference, now ISTE) were “hypermedia” on the internet and how to wire classrooms for networking. 

Shortly after, I noted the decade delay — that is, how it could take up to ten years for a popular consumer technology to make it into the classroom, assuming it could survive and prove itself useful due to how risk-averse and sluggish educational institutions were about jumping on tech bandwagons. No longer.

Edtech didn’t just break through into the mainstream due to the pandemic, though COVID’s impact was the accelerant poured onto a slowly heating market. Edtech’s ability to move from a single desktop computer in the back of the classroom to laptops on student desks and in homes was aided by several critical school-friendly developments over the years: handheld iPads in 2010; cheap Chromebooks in 2011; improved WiFi standards; and gigabit internet speeds. Over the same period, buyers in all roles got better at evaluating devices and software.

The pandemic forced all of this together at scale, with sometimes awful results due to poor integration, inappropriate remote learning environments, and unprepared educators. 

But there’s no turning back from ubiquity now; the concept has been tested and requires sorely needed adjustments and careful rethinking about what worked and didn’t. Edtech is now embedded into, and synonymous with, education.

Big Money Found the Edtech Industry 

Edtech, famously, was once called a “get rich slow” business. Venture capital was selective. Private equity didn’t care. An IPO? Never mind. Long sales cycles with entrenched “we’ve-always-done-it-this-way” (that is, not with tech) buyers — along with spotty infrastructure — made edtech products appeal to only the most forward-thinking, digitally connected educational institutions.

That began to change around 2015 after underlying infrastructure (devices and broadband, plus price) could support broad implementations in schools. Venture investment soared. Private equity saw sustainable business models and rollup opportunities. Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly everyone with a wallet wanted in, smart money or stupid. 

The big money has changed the edtech industry, even with a tightening of the spigot in the second half of 2022. The mission occasionally seems more about serving investors in search of high returns or an exit than educators or students, no matter what public lip service is paid. But in that way, edtech is now no different than healthcare or other public service industries. 

Money brought the upside of fueling the scale demanded by customers, and gave districts and institutions more confidence that a startup would stay in business. 

Edtech Markets Have Gone Global  

Adoption of edtech, for many years, was U.S.-centric, and tended to spread outward to other English-speaking countries. It was a rare and uphill climb for companies based outside of the states to succeed in the U.S. market, and it was considered the only appealing large market due, again, to its tech savvy, size, and dollars.

As the pandemic closed schools, first China, then India, saw rapid expansion of a kind of limited definition of edtech — online tutoring — followed by blowback in the form of government restrictions in China and regulatory false-advertising hand slaps in India. 

More significantly, companies in other countries have extended their operations or acquisitions into the U.S. The recent poster child from India is decacorn Byju’s, which has acquired U.S. firms Epic!, Osmo, and Tynker. European companies have also made U.S. inroads. 

What defines edtech to the public may increasingly lie outside of the U.S., even if that definition is sadly skewed to favor online tutoring and not the potential breadth and richness of what products have to offer, from self-paced serendipitous instruction to connected administrative tools and analytics.

Looking Forward 

Beyond these three points are a number of downstream effects to consider. Such as how ubiquity begat responsibility many edtech vendors never seriously thought was theirs directly, for cybersecurity and privacy protections. Or how the five different edtech sectors — early education, K-12, higher ed, workforce learning, and adult enrichment — are hugely different in approach even as they’re often mushed and muttered together as the same six-character word. 

I know, as Thomas Wolfe once wrote, you can’t go home again. And in education, the technology changes that picked up speed a decade ago only to be forcefully propelled during the pandemic mean that you can’t go back to — or work with — schools again and expect to find them as you left them, either.

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Digital wellness goes beyond digital citizenship, says Kerry Gallagher, JD, assistant principal for Teaching and Learning at St. John’s Prep in Massachusetts. 

“There is nothing that is problematic about digital citizenship itself, except that it leaves gaps in the concerns that teachers and parents are telling us about,” says Gallagher, who is also the education director for ConnectSafely, an internet safety nonprofit. “It doesn’t get to the kind of content our children are consuming when they're online and how is that impacting how they feel about themselves and their self-confidence and a lot of other areas of overall wellness.” 

About four years ago, St. John’s began moving from teaching digital citizenship to a more holistic digital wellness approach. 

What is Digital Wellness?  

Digital wellness is an all-encompassing approach to teaching students or young people how to interact with technology and the digital world.  “There's the digital wellness for the body, digital wellness for the brain, digital wellness for your heart, and then digital wellness for your village,”  Gallagher says. 

Digital wellness for the body. Part of a good digital wellness program is encouraging students to think about how their interactions with screens are impacting them physically. “How is it impacting your sleep? How is it impacting your eye health?” Gallagher says. “How is it impacting the amount of movement your body gets, like exercise? How is it impacting your nutrition?” 

Digital wellness for the brain. Educators should encourage students to examine how their interactions with technology are hampering or helping them cognitively, Gallagher says. They should consider aspects such as their ability to focus and avoid multitasking while still being creative. 

Digital wellness for the heart. “The heart is really emotional wellness,” Gallagher says. This encompasses elements such as helping children explore different identities in a safe manner online and discover what they’re passionate about. 

“We want to make sure we're talking openly with kids about things like FOMO that can happen when they're interacting online and body-image issues that can happen when they're interacting online,” she says. 

She adds that young people need to learn that what people showcase on their social media feeds is highly curated. “There's nothing wrong with people posting their highlight reel. Who wants to post, ‘And I also broke down and cried this afternoon’? I don't expect people to do that. But it's important for kids to understand that the person [they see on social media] is also having real emotions just like you and their life isn't perfect.” 

Digital Wellness for your village. Learning to use technology to foster relationships with friends and family, as well as professional-type relationships with teachers and experts in fields they are interested in, is important for students. 

“We want to encourage our kids to be civically active,” she says. “There are opportunities, even before you’re voting age, to engage with causes that you're passionate about, learn more about them, and post to support causes or charities that you believe in. And there's nothing wrong with our kids being passionate about things that are in the service of other people, or being passionate about causes that will help improve our society even before they're adults.” 

Implementing a Digital Wellness Program  

At St. John’s Prep, implementing a successful digital wellness program means collaborating with teachers, parents, and students. 

“An overarching construct is that you need to work with teachers first,” Gallagher says. So the first step in implementing their digital wellness program was meeting with teachers from each department and providing them with a definition of digital wellness. “Then we spent most of the time with them talking about how it integrates naturally into their curriculum,” Gallagher says. “I may be somebody who has done a lot of research on digital wellness, but my math teachers are the experts in math. So how does it fit into how they teach everyday in the classroom?” 

Next up is connecting with parents. Gallagher provides a weekly digital wellness tip that goes out to members of the school community and regularly meets with parents to talk about their concerns around their children and technology use. “I appreciate every opportunity to talk to a parent about healthy tech use,” she says. 

Student participation and buy-in is, of course, also an essential component of having a successful digital wellness program. “We have community guidelines and norms that we crafted alongside our students around what digital wellness looks like at our school, and those are posted in every single classroom,” Gallagher says. “So if there's a child who kind of goes outside those norms, it's really easy for anyone in the community, either a peer or teacher, to point to it and be like, ‘Hey, that's not what we do here.’”

This multi-pronged approach helps make digital wellness an essential part of the school day. “We want it to be something that's a part of our culture and not something that's special,” Gallagher says. “It's a part of everything that we do.” 

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Even educators are often unaware of the important role librarians play in schools, says Melissa Jacobs. 

“A school librarian is a teacher,” says Jacobs, director of library services for New York City’s Department of Education. As such, school librarians are an integral part of any education team, dedicated to providing students with the tools that are necessary for critical inquiry. “A library is about ideas and about thinking,” Jacobs says. 

Today the boundaries of the library extend far beyond the physical school building. During the COVID shutdown, Jacobs led a program that allowed students and staff 24/7 access to ebooks, audiobooks, read-alongs, and other digital materials. Her efforts to date have resulted in more than 2 million digital books being delivered to DOE students and staff. 

Thanks to this success, Jacobs was honored with the Best Overall Implementation of Technology  at the Tech & Learning Innovative Leadership Awards in New Jersey. This initiative and the vital role library access plays in equity, access, and overall educational achievement for students, is of vital importance to her. 

The Need for Library Access 

Jacobs has been a librarian for more than twenty years, the last five of which have been in her current role. During her career, she’s learned firsthand just how important school librarians are to each student’s education. Libraries foster critical thinking that helps students develop a passion for different subjects and learn who they want to be. “That’s the spark that I want this to ignite in our kids,” she says.

However, there are communities in the U.S. that do not have public libraries, resulting in underserved students who struggle with the transition to post-secondary institutions. Jacobs says having access is critical so students arrive at college prepared to function and have the skill sets for information literacy. School librarians need to actively promote that equity. 

“Take advantage of every grant, every program, every conference, and every opportunity to encourage users’ access,” she says. “Purchase titles kids want to read in addition to titles that kids must read. Practice logging in, logging out, and taking advantage of the digital tools embedded in the platform. Help students individualize the experience for themselves as a reader.”

Literacy and The Library 

Only one out of three elementary students in the fourth and fifth grade demonstrate reading proficiency according to recent research. 

One highlight of Jacobs’ career is the digital collection that she initiated, which serves over a million students across more than 1,600 schools. At that scale, providing digital content has been a real challenge, however, Jacobs and her team have built a sustainable online collection using OverDrive and the Sora app. That accessibility is especially important for students who may experience housing insecurity or other economic or financial hardships. “Any DOE student, any New York City public school student, can access this. And to me, that's equity,” Jacobs says.

Jacobs’ additional advice for managing digital collections is simple. “Remember, a library has a librarian,” she says. “That notion remains true for a digital library. Use the skill sets of school librarians to curate collections and procure titles. Have policies and procedures in place for selection and be transparent about the process with the community. The digital platform also makes a difference and there should be a focus on equitable access, the user experience, and discoverability.”

Opening Up the World  

So far, more than 1.4 million books have been circulated to New York City students this calendar year. In addition to books in multiple languages, Jacobs is especially proud of the distinctive cultural content. “This is a collection that's representative of the diversity of New York,” she says. 

That diversity also encompasses different learning styles. For example, some students are auditory learners, so there’s an extensive audiobook collection. “I think that the Citywide Digital Library on Sora is even more essential in our kids’ lives because this platform is providing different mediums for them to focus on,” Jacobs says. 

Students sometimes read words on the page but have difficulty keeping focused. Interpreting, synthesizing, and analyzing texts can be hard work. Students need every tool at their disposal to ensure that they have sound educational experiences. “They can go to the digital library and access the ebook, which has accessibility features, or the audiobook, or both, or access it in another language,” Jacobs says. 

Educators should encourage students to engage with books and stress the different formats available. “Audiobooks and read-alongs have a much higher comprehension level than just print, which many kids struggle with decoding text,” she says. “Help students identify ways and formats they enjoy reading and engage with text.”

A book can be life-changing for a young person. If a child develops a love for reading, that child goes on to be a lifelong reader and learner. “Books teach you to think,” Jacobs says. “They open up the world. They give you opportunities. And once you build that knowledge, no one could take that away from you.” 

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It’s undeniable that the pandemic changed the way we teach, learn, work, and live, but when some people returned to in-person learning and their schools, it seemed they could use some advice on digital etiquette for the new, and extremely connected, world in which we are now operating. This is a world where at any time you may be meeting or teaching in-person, via video, phone, or a combination thereof at the same time. 

While adapting was easier for some, others could use a bit of help. For those people, you may want to share or discuss these tips with them.

Digital Etiquette Tip 1: Use Earbuds / Headphones 

There is never a time when you are in the company of others that you should listen to a device through the device. Lowering the volume also doesn’t work. If you don’t wear earbuds or headphones, you may come off as inconsiderate. 

2: Multitask Mindfully if You Must 

You may think that you are not captain obvious when you are doing something unrelated to the work at hand. However, usually, you are. If you must multitask on your phone, laptop, or other device, let the person in charge and those you are meeting with know, and give you feedback if it is okay or if it is better you don’t participate. 

3: Know How to Handle Hybrid 

While remote was king in the first year or so of the pandemic, hybrid is now the norm. It’s beneficial to know how to do this effectively. Learn to use your camera to livestream and even record meetings, lessons, conversations. If your district prioritizes this, there are products such as WeVideo, Screencastify, and Flip that make this easy peasy. Having a backchannel for chat, insights, and feedback has many advantages. Have a moderator for this. They can bring any questions or comments to the attention of the presenter and/or participants as needed.  

4: Ask If It’s Okay to Pop On By 

Whether it’s a student or a staff member doing deep work it is important to respect their time. While some may not mind unexpected interruptions, others may. It’s best to ask rather than just popping over to someone. If they’re okay with that, great. If not, let them know when you plan to connect in advance and make sure that time works for them. This is true whether you’re popping by in-person or connecting via video or phone conference. Respect the time and work schedule of others, know how to use digital calendars, and determine a time that is mutually convenient. 

5: Courteous Calendaring 

Calendaring technology, such as Calendly, makes scheduling easy. Use calendars to coordinate and book meetings and events. Know how to read the calendars of others to know when they are free rather than asking. Don’t book someone when they are already booked. Staff should also know how to share their calendar so it is visible to colleagues. This can also apply in school settings. Get rid of the bells and teach students and staff how to use a calendar to coordinate where they are going when. 

6: People Over Phones 

When you are in-person be with the persons you are with and put away the phones unless it is a part of what the group is doing together. If you think you must use your phone (relative in the hospital, sick child, etc.), then explain this to others and be discreet. 

7: Conscious Camera Connecting 

How do we find the right balance between Zoom fatigue and connection with cameras on? The answer is to choose consciously. If it’s an ongoing meeting or class, you may want to discuss norms with participants. For example, you can acknowledge that having the camera on for everyone can be exhausting. Perhaps, you ask that cameras come on when folks speak. Or, cameras can be on in certain types of video conferencing and not others. Not talking about it can lead to discomfort. Instead, talk. Discuss. Create norms and figure out what makes sense for people. The organizer of the activity should share expectations up front, but be open if some folks have preferences or sensitivities. 

8: Don’t Attach. Link. 

Never attach files when sharing. Instead share links. Why? Attachments often have a variety of issues including version control, ability to access from any device, storage waste, and more. Additionally, if you mention a document when communicating, link to it. You can create links using a variety of platforms such as Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive. Simply upload your file to the desired platform and access a copy of the link. Make sure you check visibility and share the file with the correct audience. 

9: Interact

Learning and meetings are more effective when participants react and interact rather than sit back as passive participants. If you are leading the meeting or lesson, encourage the use of emojis or hand signals. Use polls to get reactions from those in attendance. Create time for whole and/or small group discussion. Use tools such as Adobe Express for folks to create and other tools to collaborate such as Padlet or a digital whiteboard. 

As we move to a new normal that values digital teaching, learning, and working, it is more important than ever to integrate digital etiquette into our work, and into our students’ work. Each of these tips will be crucial to ensure we all are as successful and effective as possible in the work we do with our colleagues and students. 

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Once upon a time there was a teacher looking for new ways to teach old subjects.

While storytelling is nothing new, it hasn’t always been applied effectively in the modern classroom. Obviously, storytelling is a great way for kids to learn to love reading and writing. But almost any school subject can be considered through a dramatic frame, from history to geography to science. Even math can be taught through narrative (word problems, anyone?). Most importantly, storytelling gives kids the opportunity to be inventive with language, graphics, and design, and to share their creations with others.

The following sites and apps for storytelling range from basic to advanced. Many are designed for educators or include guides for use in education. And while most are paid products, the prices are generally reasonable and nearly every platform offers a free trial or free basic account.

The End. The Beginning.

Best Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling

PREMIUM

• Story Xperiential
  Story Experiential offers a comprehensive storytelling curriculum based on the creative process of the renowned Pixar studios. Eight modules cover all aspects of the creative process, from the starting point, “What if?” to the final edits. No unusual equipment is required- students use an ordinary smartphone or camera and free editing software. The program is standards-aligned and can be incorporated into any subject area. A moderated community forum supports kids in giving and receiving peer feedback, while the public exhibition celebrates their work at the program’s end. Although this program is a bit more expensive than many others, it provides a professional level of guidance that few can match. A seven-day free trial will help those interested to decide if it’s worth it.
• Plotagon
  Offering professional-level animation at a deep discount to education users, Plotagon is a remarkably powerful tool for storytelling and moviemaking. Download the app or desktop software and start creating. You need only supply the story idea and text, as Plotagon’s libraries of animated characters, backgrounds, sound effects, music, and special effects cover vast territory. In fact, just browsing the libraries will help generate ideas for stories. A must-try, if not a must-have! Android and iOS: Free with in-app purchases. Windows desktop: For education users, only $3/month or $27/year, with 30-day free trial.
• BoomWriter
  Boomwriter’s unique storytelling platform allows kids to write and publish their own collaborative story, while teachers offer advice and assistance. Free to join and use; parents pay $12.95 for the published book.
• Buncee
  Buncee is a slideshow presentation tool that lets teachers and students create and share interactive stories, lessons, and assignments. A drag-and-drop interface, templates, and thousands of graphics make Buncee popular with educators and easy for kids to use. Strong support for accessibility and inclusion.
• Nawmal
  Students create imaginative videos using a wide range of animated characters who speak via AI. A great way to build communication, presentation, and conversation skills all at once. Free trial for educators. Windows 10 download (or Mac-compatible with Parallels Desktop or Bootcamp engaged).
• Pixton for Schools
  An award-winning platform that’s employed by districts from Santa Ana to New York City, Pixton offers more than 4,000 backgrounds, 3,000 props, and 1,000 subject-specific templates for creating digital comics. Plus, they’ve added features based on feedback from educators to make teaching with Pixton simple, fun, and safe. Highlights include easy logins, integration with Google/Microsoft, and unlimited classrooms.
• Storybird
  A story creation and social media site that allows students to illustrate their original text with professional graphics rendered in a variety of styles. Writing prompts, lessons, videos, and quizzes provide the support that kids need to write well.
• Storyboard That
  Storyboard That’s specialized edition for education offers more than 3,000 lesson plans and activities, while integrating with applications such as Clever, Classlink, Google Classroom, and others. It’s also FERPA, CCPA, COPPA, and GDPR compliant. Best of all, you can create your first storyboard without a download, credit card, or login! 14-day free trial for educators.

FREEMIUM

• Powtoon
  Powtoon is a presentation platform that allows users to create slide-based video animations with special effects, music, and voiceover narration. Choose from among a large collection of editable templates or upload your own slide presentation or video. With an education account, teachers can create an online Powtoon classroom and invite students to join so that resources and assignments can be easily shared. This Powtoon Lesson Plan is a practical example of how teachers can incorporate this engaging storytelling tool into the curriculum.
• Book Creator
  A powerful ebook creation tool, Book Creator allows users to embed all kinds of content, from rich multimedia to Google Maps, YouTube videos, PDFs, and more. Try a real-time class collaboration—and be sure to check out AutoDraw, an AI-powered feature that aids artistically challenged users in fashioning drawings to be proud of.
• Cloud Stop Motion
  Very cool software through which users create stop-motion video projects from any browser or device. Use your device camera and microphone, or upload images and sound files, then add text and animation effects. Try out the simple interface without an account or credit card. COPPA compliant. Free organization/school accounts with unlimited students and classes, and 2 GB storage. Buy additional storage for $27-$99 annually.
• StoryJumper
  Simple online software that allows kids to write stories, generate customized characters, and narrate their own book. Excellent for younger students. The step-by-step teacher’s guide makes it easy to integrate this platform into your curriculum. Free to create and share online – pay only to publish or download books. Try it first – no account or credit card required!

FREE

• Storyline Online
  An award-winning children’s literacy program, Storyline Online couples well-known actors with top illustrated children’s books. Each storytelling video features the actor’s dramatic narration while skillfully animated illustrations unfold to tell the tale. The extensive teacher’s guide that accompanies each book/ video includes a synopsis, standards, suggested grade levels, themes, activities and printable worksheets. Storyline Online is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers and the American Library Association.
• Pic-Lits
  A simple yet powerful tool that supports literacy through the pairing of images and text. Kids can choose from among hundreds of available images in diverse topics ranging from animals to politics, then drag and drop words from the word bank to create their “Pic-Lit.” Or choose the “Freestyle” option and start typing. Dozens of lesson plans covering ELA topics and poetry offer guidance to educators in implementing Pic-Lits in the classroom.
• Storytelling Activities with Google Tools
  K12 edtech authority Eric Curts displays his considerable expertise with Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets in this video demonstration of using Google tools to write and illustrate stories and poetry. An engaging speaker, Curts dives into “Choose your Own Adventure,” “Emoji Rebus,” “Stop Motion Animation,” and other super creative ways to excite kids about writing.
• Knight Lab Storytelling Projects
  From Northwestern University’s Knight Lab, six online tools help users tell their stories in unusual ways. Juxtapose lets you quickly make a comparison between two scenes or images. Scene turns your image into 3D virtual reality. Soundcite narrates your text seamlessly. Storyline allows users to build an annotated, interactive line chart, while StoryMap is a slide-based tool for telling stories with maps. And with Timeline, students can create rich interactive timelines about any topic. All tools are free, easy to use, and include examples. The easily accessible FAQs and examples for each tool provide excellent support while the shareable links and embed codes let users show off their work. Some projects may require a free Dropbox or Google account.
• Make Beliefs Comix
  Author and journalist Bill Zimmerman has built a marvelous free site where kids of any age can learn to express their ideas through digital comics. Mouse over the main navigation and you’ll be amazed by the number of topics to explore, from 30 Ways to Use MakeBeliefsComix in the Classroom to social-emotional learning to text- and image-based comic prompts. Video and text tutorials guide users. No special talent required!
• Imagine Forest
  Exceptional free site that offers features more common to paid sites, including story idea generator and prompts; built-in dictionary, thesaurus, and rhyming dictionary; writing tips and challenges; and the ability to produce assignments, monitor progress, and award badges. Images and customizable characters are supported as well. Awesome for teachers on a budget.

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Summer Carlton and Gina Looney, Franklin Special School District, Tennessee

In a time when districts across the nation experienced devastating student achievement losses due to the impact of a global pandemic, Franklin Special School District remained in the top ten performing Tennessee districts for literacy and math, exceeding typical student achievement results.

“Although we did have an initial dip when we returned to school in the fall of 2020, our teachers and students worked very hard to close that gap over the past year and a half,” says Summer Carlton, Curriculum and Professional Learning Supervisor. “We already had strong digital curricular resources in place, so when virtual school began, we were not scrambling. Our teachers and students were already using digital resources for all core subjects. In our most recent data from iReady math (K-8), most grade levels are back to performing where they were before the pandemic hit.”

Mind the Gap

Carlton and Gina Looney, Reading and RTI Coordinator, ensure that all teachers and students have access to high-quality digital curriculum. When gaps are found, the dynamic duo vet new resources to provide supplemental digital resources for core and intervention. The key to buy-in is often a matter of clear communication and inclusive representation.

“When we are vetting resources, we often invite representatives from the vendor to share product information with our district Teaching and Learning team,” says Looney. “This team is composed of leaders in various departments—special ed, ELL, literacy, math, and technology. Before introducing a new program, we consider its impact on both teachers and students. We also hear the voices of teachers and administrators through quarterly meetings, conducted by Summer. When we believe a tool might be a good fit, we still typically pilot the implementation on a smaller scale before going broad scale with it.” 

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

Different Keystrokes for Different Folks 

Often, finding the right solution means being open to flexible and personalized learning tailored to student needs. 

“Time is a precious resource for students and for teachers,” says Looney. “No student has time to wait for needs to be addressed. Planning differentiated support for students can be very overwhelming for teachers - What resources? When will someone deliver the instruction? What are the student's needs? Differentiated digital support helps us meet all students where they are in K-8 literacy and math.” 

For K-2 literacy, the district uses Imagine Learning. For 3-4 literacy, it iReady Reading, while for 5-8 literacy, it’s Achieve 3000. In math, iReady Math K-8 is used for differentiated pieces. 

“We are always looking at whether usage of our digital programs can be noted in student performance on other measures,” says Looney. “Most recently, we met with iReady reps to hear about our fall to winter progress. We were so excited that our results were much better than the state and nation!“

PD for the Win

Carlton and Looney provide professional learning and continual support to ensure the digital resources are being used skillfully. A major priority is ensuring teacher growth to impact student achievement in a positive way. Their layers of support include:

• Regular data conversations with providers as well as district and campus leadership 
• Invitations to program providers to share progress and share information to campus leadership 
• Preparation of district instructional coaches to support teachers in their schools 

Share the Wealth of Knowledge 

Much as they do in their own district, the team generously shares their recipe for success with the greater education community, recently presenting at the Tech & Learning conference about supporting digital resource use through professional learning. 

Here are a few highlights from their talk:

Create a High-Quality Instructional Resource (HQIR) Culture

• Institute a multiyear initiative to make the use of high-quality district resources a priority. 
• Include several professional learning sessions to a leadership team, detailing research regarding the impact of HQIR on student achievement, teacher collaboration, and equity. 
• District expectation that teachers use district-provided HQIR in the classroom. 

Supporting Digital Curriculum includes: 

• Implementing professional learning is a priority before any new digital curriculum is used. 
• Providing continual support to ensure digital resources are being used skillfully. 
• Providing additional professional learning opportunities each year for all district digital curriculum during summer and district professional learning dates. 
• Offering virtual  professional learning support with providers during PLCs to provide targeted, grade-level and content-specific support when needed. 
• Ongoing site-based support provided by district instructional technologists and instructional coaches. 
• Highlighting district digital curricular resources during leadership meetings throughout the year. 

Any success we have is a team effort from the top down, says Carlton. “Our Teaching and Learning team, led by Dr. Decker, works very hard to support our campuses and provide needed professional learning and resources,” she says. “We have strong partnerships with our campus administrators, so that we can work together for teacher and student growth.”

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As an academic subject, music is like no other. It consists not only of theory, notes, scales, and harmonies, but also the capacity to deeply move its listeners and practitioners. This mysterious influence that music exerts can be a powerful means to engage the minds and hearts of learners of any age.

The free online music lessons, activities, and apps below will bring the joy of music into any classroom or subject, whether it be language arts, history, math or science.

Best Free Music Lessons and Activities

WEB

Virtual Theremin
If you’re thinking, “Hmm, theremin, that sounds familiar – what is it?” recall classic movies such as The Day The Earth Stood Still and Spellbound. Typically employed to create an other-worldly or eerie atmosphere, the theremin relies not on touch, but rather on the operator’s hand movements through the instrument's capacitor field. Use your mouse or webcam to play this delightful virtual theremin. A user’s operation manual offers practical guidance. No account required.

Ableton’s Free Synthesizer Learning Tool
Learn to play a synthesizer, right in your browser window. Drag the circle around the square to create various sounds. For a more nuanced approach, open your game in Playground, which allows adjustment of amplitude, frequency, pitch and other properties. No account required.

The Music Lab
A citizen-science experiment conducted by researchers at Yale University, the Music Lab offers a wide selection of musical games that test your ability to distinguish sounds and rhythms as well as your musical I.Q. and style. Be a part of citizen science and have fun while you’re doing it! No account required, but players must anonymously answer a few simple questions prior to playing.

Teach Rock
Fine selection of diverse lessons and activities covering the arts to geography to STEAM topics. Each lesson is based on a rock music composition or artist whose work illuminates the questions posed. Lessons include objectives, activities, images, videos, handouts, teacher’s guide, questions, and lesson extensions.

Music Producer Masterclass: Making Electronic Music
A free course that uses the popular FL Studio software to teach students how to create, mix, and edit electronic music and songs. High-quality video instructions guide learners through the course modules, from developing musical ideas to publishing music online. Students who successfully pass the course’s final assessment will receive a certificate of completion.

Fiddlerman
An amazingly comprehensive free resource for students of any age and experience level who want to boost their violin skills and knowledge. Run by professional concert master Pierre Holstein, aka Fiddlerman, Fiddleman.com boasts an active user forum in addition to its extensive tools for learning violin, from video tutorials to sheet music to basics for beginners. Be sure to check out the annual Christmas project, in which users collaborate by uploading a recording of themselves playing or singing a beloved Christmas tune such as “White Christmas.” Super fun.

Omni Online Music Maker
Are you familiar with hexany? How about hirajōshi? You may have no idea about these terms, but if I said “major,” you'd probably guess that we’re talking about musical scales. Omni is devoted to digital investigation of 40 musical scales, spanning the globe. This brilliantly simple site provides an online keyboard and choice of scale, reverb, and sustain. Use your mouse to play, and your ears to note, the differences and similarities.

Inside the Orchestra Virtual School Curriculum
Dedicated to cultivating music appreciation in children, the nonprofit organization Inside the Orchestra provides a wealth of free virtual music programs in English, Spanish, and French. Lessons and activities include STEM topics, musical storytime, outdoor musical games, and much more.

Inside the Orchestra Online Musical Games
Fine assortment of online musical games, ideal for K-6 kids. Students can test their recognition of musical instruments, create a music map, or play musical bingo. For an extra challenge, have interested students compose their own works using the built-in digital keyboard. In English, Spanish, and French.

Google Tools and Activities for Music Education
Edtech guru and Google apps expert Eric Curts dives into 12 online music tools that allow users to experiment with musical ideas right in their browser windows. Conduct an orchestra, “see” music, or create your own beats. Serious learning that’s seriously fun.

New York Philharmonic Digital Education Resources
Videos, detailed lessons and teaching guides from New York Philharmonic musicians. Arranged by grade, these lessons offer imaginative and unexpected ways to think about, learn, and practice music. Almost as exhilarating as being there.

VIDEO

Polyphonic Overtone Singing Explained
If you’ve never heard polyphonic overtone singing, you ought to check out this star of the field, Anna-Maria Hefele. She demonstrates this other-worldly sounding vocalization and provides a thorough explanation of the phenomenon. Hefele’s YouTube channel offers many other fascinating videos exploring oversinging.

Violin Lab Channel
Professional violinist and educator Beth Blackerby seeks to explain the science and art of violin playing so that all violin enthusiasts can improve their performance. Although targeted at adults, the videos are perfect for self-motivated students of any age, covering topics such as “8 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Learned To Play Violin,” “Vibrato Basics,” and “ Unwanted Bow Bounces.” Her clear, straightforward style makes it easy for anyone to grasp the concepts demonstrated.

Drumeo Free Drum Lessons
An impressive assortment of free videos aimed at not only aspiring drummers, but also advanced students. Explore diverse playlists such as Lessons for Beginners, Advanced Drum Lessons, Must-Know Drum Grooves, Electronic Drums, and many more.

APPS

Perfect Ear: Music & Rhythm
Android | iOS
Train your ear and mind using Perfect Ear’s exercises in scales, chords, intervals, and rhythm.

Piano Chord, Scale, Progression Companion
Android | iOS
Top-rated by users, this piano chords and scales “dictionary” allows budding musicians and composers to practice both musical play and composition.

• What Is Flat for Education And How Can I Use It To Teach Music?
• GarageBand: How To Use it to Teach
• How It's Done: Enhancing Music Class With Technology

Google Classroom is the most popular digital tool in education, due to its cost (free!) and the multitude of easy-to-use apps and resources related to it.

Google Education Tools and Apps 

What’s New in Google for Education?
Explore the latest updates to Google for Education, including all the exciting new AI features.

These Are The New Google For Education Features Teachers Need To Know About
From Google Classroom and Meet to Workspace and Chrome OS, these Google for Education updates are worth knowing

Best Google Tools for English Language Learners
Tech and Learning’s guide explains the best Google tools for English language learners—and the best ways to use them.

Google AI Tools

Duet AI For Teaching: 6 Tips from Google’s Workspace for Education Manager
Duet AI is integrated across many products available in Google Workspace for Education, including tools such as Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets.

Google Gemini: How Google’s New AI Can Change Teaching
Gemini has the ability to understand, combine, and work across multiple forms of data, including text, code, images, videos, and audio.

Google Learn About
Described by Google as a “conversational learning companion,” it's essentially a Wikipedia-style chatbot/search engine, and then some.

Google Classroom

The 4 Best New Features For Google Classroom
Akshat Sharma, a group product manager for Google Classroom, shares his favorite new features and discusses how teachers and/or students can best use them.

What is Google Classroom?
Google Classroom is a suite of online tools that allows teachers to set assignments, have work submitted by students, to mark and return graded papers, and more.

Google Classroom Review
Google Classroom uses the Google ecosystem of tools such as Docs and Slides, for easy materials sharing, and helps simplify student work evaluation.

How Do I Use Google Classroom?
Google Classroom allows teachers to teach remotely with features such as being able to set assignments, post announcements, share resources, communicate, and grade papers with annotations.

How to Setup Google Classroom
If you’re a new teacher looking to set up a class, a student interested in how the platform works, or a guardian looking to learn more about Google Classroom, this start-up guide will help.

Google Classroom for Teachers: A How To Guide
Everything a teacher needs to know about using Google Classroom to its fullest.

What Are Google Classroom Add-Ons? Tips & Tricks
Explore Google Classroom add-ons, which allow educators to integrate other digital tools into Classroom.

Google Docs

Google Docs Update And WorkSpace Enhancements For Educators
Learn all about the latest Google Docs and Google Workspace updates for educators, students and admins, including a new search functionality and new automated entry function.

Best Google Docs Add-ons for Teachers
A Google Doc add-on is a software addition that allows educators to expand the capabilities of Google Docs so they can be more creative in helping students learn most effectively.

Best Student Templates for Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drawings
These templates are great for students who want a quick and easy Doc, Slide, Sheet or Drawing.

Google Earth

How to Use Google Earth for Teaching
Google Earth is a powerful and free-to-use online tool that lets anyone travel the world, virtually.

Best Google Earth Tips and Tricks for Teaching
The best Google Earth tips and tricks for teaching can help turn a classroom, or remote learning experience, into a mind-expanding trip limited only by imagination.

Google Forms

What is Google Forms and How Can It Be Used by Teachers?
Google Forms is a quick and easy way to leverage a form-based system to create online quizzes, make grading faster and simpler.

5 Ways to Prevent Cheating on Your Google Form Quiz
Here are five tips for designing "cheat proof" Google Forms!

Google Jamboard

Using Google Jamboard Before It Is Shut Down in 2025
Google is sunsetting Jamboard on Dec. 31, 2024.

Google Maps

What is Google Maps and How Can it Be Used to Teach? Tips & Tricks
Google maps isn't just for driving directions. Learn how to use the free tool to teach geography, history and more.

Google Meet

How to Use Google Meet Grid View and More Tips for Teachers
Google Meet is a popular free-to-use video conferencing tool that replaces Google Hangouts and can be used to hold group or one-to-one video chats.

6 Tips for Teaching with Google Meet
A variety of lessons can be presented over video with Google Meet, from teaching the history of the Iroquois Confederation, the parts of speech, or how radioactive decay works. Here’s how to make the most of the platform.

Google Play Books 

What is Reading Practice? The Google Play Books Feature Explained
The new feature available in Google Play Books and Google Kids Space allows young readers to track reading position, hear words sounded out and much more.

Google Scholar

6 Google Scholar Tips From Its Co-Creator
These six tips will help you use Google Scholar in your classroom instruction.

Google Sheets

What is Google Sheets and How Does It Work for Teachers?
Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet tool that allows teachers to create useful spreadsheets for planning class, grading, and organizing resources, activity reviews, quizzes, and more.

Google Sites

How to Use Google Sites, Tips and Tricks
Google Sites is a free, easy-to-use website building and publishing tool that's ideal for use by teachers and students.

Google Slides

What is Google Slides and How Can It Be Used by Teachers?
Google Slides is a free and super simple presentation tool akin to PowerPoint that teachers can use to create presentations and learning resources.

Google Slides Review
Google Slides is the online presentation tool for teachers to create free resources for students, presentations and more.

How To Turn Google Slides Into An Animated GIF
Many tools to make animated GIFs are available, but it is always helpful to find one that is free and super easy to use with Google tools.

4 Best Free and Easy Audio Recording Tools for Google Slides
Four excellent, free options for recording audio right in a web browser, and then how to add that audio to Google Slides.

Grackle

What is Grackle and How Can It Be Used to Improve Accessibility?
Grackle is software designed to help make digital files more accessible. It makes sharing files easier and everyone will be able to open and see anything they're sent.

• Best Tools for Teachers
• What is Google Classroom?
• Best Chrome Extensions for Google Classroom

Benjamin Bloom was not a lone duck. He collaborated with Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl to publish a framework for categorizing educational goals in 1956 named Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Over time, this pyramid became known as Bloom’s Taxonomy and has been used for generations of teachers and university professors. 

The framework consisted of six major categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The creative commons image of 1956 Blooms includes verbs used to describe the action taking place within each category of the taxonomy.

In 1997, a new method entered the scene to help teachers in recognition of a student’s understanding. Based on his study, Dr. Norman Webb established a Depth of Knowledge model to categorize activities according to the level of complexity in thinking and stemmed from the standards movement alignment. This model involves the analysis of the cognitive expectation demanded by standards, curricular activities, and assessment tasks (Webb, 1997).

In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists, instructional researchers, and testing and assessment specialists joined forces to publish A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, a revised version of Bloom's Taxonomy. Action words to describe the cognitive processes thinkers encounter with knowledge were incorporated, rather than the nouns that were used as descriptors for the original categories.

In this new Bloom’s Taxonomy, knowledge is the basis of the six cognitive processes: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. The authors of the new framework also identified different types of knowledge used in cognition: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge. The lower-order thinking skills remain at the base of the pyramid with the higher-order skills at the pinnacle. To learn more about the new Bloom’s, check out this guide to the revised revision. 

The use of technology has been integrated into the model, creating what is now known as Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. A popular image that districts often create is the pyramid with the digital resources available and promoted in the district aligned with the appropriate category. This image would vary depending on district resources but it is very helpful to create something such as this for teachers to connect technology to the levels of Bloom’s. 

Beyond Bloom’s, teachers have access to a variety of frameworks and tools to help them construct technology-rich learning. The University of South Florida probably has one of the most robust resources through its Technology Integration Matrix. The original TIM was developed in 2003-06 through funding from the Enhancing Education Through Technology program. Now in the third edition, the TIM provides not only a matrix from low to high adoption and student engagement but also videos and lesson design ideas accessible for free to all educators. 

Each of these frameworks, models, and matrices help guide teachers in designing instruction that is beneficial and engaging to their learners. Now more than ever, the focus on high-quality technology-rich instruction is essential for increased student engagement and improved student performance.

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• Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally
• Bloom's Taxonomy in the Classroom

With millions of educators and students involved in our great national remote learning experiment, companies are listening to teachers' feedback about how to improve their digital learning platforms. 

One such company, Curriculum Associates, has recently added new features to i-Ready to meet emerging educator needs during school closures and beyond. These features include a new instructional report for educators as well as new reading comprehension lessons for middle school students. Currently, the i-Ready program serves over eight million users nationwide and approximately 25 percent of all K–8 students across all 50 states. 

“We are always listening to our educators and working to improve our programs to meet their evolving needs, especially in challenging times like these with extended school closures,” said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “We expedited the launch of our new i-Ready features to further support our educators during remote teaching so they have all the resources needed to continue to deliver timely, data-driven, personalized learning in the most efficient way possible.” 

i-Ready’s new Personalized Instruction by Lesson report for classes and groups allows teachers to view student performance on recently completed lessons and status of lessons in progress. This simplifies grouping students by pinpointing those working at similar levels in a domain, as well as identifying where students are struggling, to help facilitate timely intervention. 

New reading comprehension lessons focused on connecting ideas in complex passages will also be added to i-Ready to engage middle school students in critical thinking. Lessons for Grade 6 are now available, and lessons for Grades 7 and 8 are coming soon. Additional i-Ready features and resources will also be available this summer to support student learning in the upcoming school year. 

i-Ready was recently recognized as a 2020 CODiE Award finalist by the Software & Information Industry Association. It was recognized in the Best Formative Student Assessment Solution category of the Education Technology awards for its ability to identify the learning gaps and standards students have not yet achieved and its ability to assess and help close those gaps to improve student achievement. 

In addition to the CODiE Awards, i-Ready was also recently recognized by the 2020 EdTech Awards as a finalist in the Personalized Learning Solution category. 

About i-Ready

i-Ready supports differentiated instruction for K–12 teachers and students, combining assessments and insights with individualized instruction in reading and mathematics. 

The Diagnostic provides educators with actionable criterion-referenced and normative data to create individualized lessons. Teachers administer the Diagnostic at the beginning of the school year to chart a course for their instruction and to personalize i‑Ready instructional paths. A midyear and end-of-year Diagnostic helps students and teachers measure growth and have data chats. Teacher-led and online instruction continues throughout the year to help students address their learning gaps and access grade-level learning.

To learn more about i-Ready, visit CurriculumAssociates.com/i-Ready.

Excerpted from  "The Just in Time Playbook for Remote Learning" by Dr. Kecia Ray

The officially identified pandemic of COVID-19 is impacting more than 376 million students worldwide (see UNESCO’s website for updated reports of school closures). The number of students that will experience education disruption grows daily. 

This outbreak comes to the U.S. at the onset of state assessments and spring breaks, which means state departments of education will need to determine what guidance to offer districts related to state testing and attendance. 

This article provides an explanation of remote learning, describes the structured elements necessary for its success, and includes many resources for schools and higher education institutions to get started today.

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What Is Remote Learning? 

Remote learning is something a district should be able to switch off and on based on need; however, the efficiency of transitioning to remote learning is dependent on preparedness, technology tools, or overall student support infrastructure. It is different from virtual school or virtual learning programs that typically have gone through an official process of establishing a school, adopting an online curriculum, and creating a dedicated structure to support students enrolled in the school. eLearning utilizes electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of the traditional classroom. 

Remote learning provides an opportunity for students and teachers to remain connected and engaged with the content while working from their homes. Opportunities for remote learning are typically linked to emergency situations that pose a threat to student safety. 

Transitioning to remote learning can keep students on track so that when they return to physical school environments, they will not need to complete a lot of make-up work to be ready for any scheduled assessments. Many of the requirements in a traditional classroom environment will be in play for remote learning environments, and the goal is to adhere to as many state and local requirements as possible. 

It is important to note that in remote learning environments, versus virtual learning environments, the learner and teacher are not accustomed to having distance during instruction. This may pose a challenge to both teacher and learner that can be accommodated for through specific support structures.

[How to Make a Remote Learning Lesson Plan]

The Remote Learning Experience

The structure of remote learning will determine the success students and teachers will have with the experience. Oftentimes, remote learning is evoked during a time of stress so it is important not to add more duties to teachers and students. To be most effective with remote learning, a well-defined structure needs to be in place so it can support a well-developed instruction plan.

Structure

The most significant elements of this type of learning include time, communication, technology, and lesson design. Clearly defining these elements up front helps to remove distractions from learning.

TIME

Time is the first thing schools need to consider because it sets expectations and boundaries for both students and teachers, particularly, when to start the school day and how many hours it will entail. 

First and foremost, teachers should define a set time period throughout the day when they will be available to students. Make sure these ‘office hours’ are clearly communicated so students know when the teacher will be available to respond promptly to needs. Sometimes, teachers will want to connect in real time, or synchronously, with a student or groups of students. These types of connections can be done through videoconferencing, through chat, or by phone. Apps such as FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or What’s App, can be used to provide these synchronous connections. 

Students should be instructed on how much time they need to spend working on assignments and other activities outlined in lessons. If there is an expectation for students to check in regularly, then that needs to be communicated as well. 

The ‘office hour’ concept can also be used so that multiple students can communicate in chat sessions simultaneously, enabling more touch points between the teacher and students. 

[Sample eLearning Lesson]

COMMUNICATION

Communication is another aspect that needs to be clearly determined at the onset of the remote learning experience. Students should know exactly how and when they are expected to communicate with the teacher. Is email preferred to an online chat? Should all communication be within the designated technology tool? What if that tool is not working? What is the backup plan for communication? Each of these questions should be answered in an introduction document that sets all of the expectations. 

In addition to how the student should communicate with the teacher, expectations should also be set for how and how frequently the teacher will be in touch with the student. For example, it should be made clear that assignments that would typically have a one- to two-day turnaround in a traditional classroom will have the same turnaround in a remote learning environment. 

Teachers should be provided 24 to 72 hours to complete grading of assignments, depending on length and complexity. When assignments are returned to students, comments and notes explaining the grading should be included, ideally with more detail than usual since there may be no immediate opportunity for a student to ask questions upon receiving the grade. The more feedback that can be provided during the grading process, the better the student feels about the work and more confident they feel about continuing with future assignments. 

TECHNOLOGY 

Technology can vary in impromptu remote learning environments. If schools allow students to take home devices, then the students should be ready to learn. Some schools do not have devices to send home, so students must find ways to access materials provided through technology systems. 

Districts that do not typically engage in remote learning or virtual learning in their traditional calendars need to provide alternative ways for students to receive and return assignments. For example, one technology that has stood the test of time is paper. Sending packets of materials home with a stamped and addressed return envelope (either addressed to the school, the teacher or other location), is one way to continue schooling during a crisis situation. (See more in the Low Tech Solutions section.) 

Schools need to provide very clear information on how to access any online platform during remote learning, especially if students, parents and teachers are not accustomed to using such tools on a regular basis. Technical support also needs to be provided throughout the district and not be the responsibility of the teacher, who will have enough to keep up with in the remote learning environment. Clear information describing steps for troubleshooting and contact information for additional technical support should be easily available for everyone. 

LESSON DESIGN

Designing lessons for remote delivery is a little more detailed than creating a lesson that will be delivered in person simply because in person you can read the class and determine if students are understanding and then make adjustments on the fly. In a remote environment, one must assume there will be a lack of understanding and include extensions and remediations in the lesson design. 

A typical remote lesson might include the following components: 

• Setting the lesson
  Setting the lesson provides context for the lesson and links it to previous or future lessons. It helps the learner understand what they will be doing and why.
• Define Lesson Objectives
  Objectives would be the same in a remote environment as in a face-to-face environment. But the objectives do need to be written into the lesson and it is a good practice to bold the words that emphasize the action of the learning and the outcome
  Example: Capacity to work theoretically and practically in the processes of disaster management (disaster risk reduction, response, and recovery) and relate their interconnections, particularly in the field of the Public Health aspects of the disasters.
• Assess Current Understanding
  Create a poll or checklist for students to self assess what they know. This will help them focus on content they aren’t as familiar with as they move through a lesson.
• Introduce Content
  Example: Watch video on disaster management and read pp. 158 – 213 in your text. Then log into Google Hangout at noon for teacher presentation of content
• Assign Application Activity
  Example: Create an outline for a disaster management plan that addresses risk reduction, response, and recovery. Follow link to activity rubric
• Assess Mastery
  Example: Complete 5 question quiz on disaster management planning

This lesson design template is a suggestion of how the formatting and flow of a lesson would work remotely. Teachers have already spent time and effort preparing their traditional lessons and now must transition them to a remote experience, but the transition shouldn’t be exacerbating. A simple presentation template (see Sample Template) could be provided to faculty to modify their current plans for the remote environment. 

The transition should be made as easy as possible for the teacher and student. Clearly written Learner Objectives should be provided in accessible language that is consistent with the text or other materials being referencing, and should identify an approximate total time on task. The time it will take for a student to complete a lesson will vary and depend on the grade level, subject matter, and teacher. Lesson time will be modified; for example, a 45-minute traditional lesson may only be a 20-minute remote learning lesson. 

Activities and assignments should have clear directions and a sample should be provided so that students know what the finished product should look like. A rubric is helpful, as are any descriptions/checklists that can be provided related to grading. 

Ending a lesson with reflective questions allows for students to not only reflect on their experience, but also provides valuable feedback on improving lesson design. 

Read more tips on setting up a Remote Leaning Plan in Dr. Kecia Ray’s “Remote Learning Playbook.” 

As part of Discovery Education’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a special edition of The Discovery Education Virtual Conference or VirtCon  will be held this week on Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27 between 10AM Eastern and 3PM Eastern. The virtual conference will focus on helping educators use digital content to engage homebound, remote students.  Participants will explore ways to maximize digital resources in a virtual setting and gain insight on designing differentiated learning experiences for remote students. 

Other topics that will be covered by this special event include:

• How to leverage Virtual Field Trips, virtual reality (VR), and the DEN community’s favorite apps in instructional planning.
• New strategies for using a variety of tools to create virtual lessons including Discovery Education Experience, Studio, and Google Classroom.
• Insight from longtime Discovery Educator Network (DEN) member Dennis Grice and his colleague Daniel Mendes, both digital literacy coaches at the Concordia International School in Shanghai, China, as they share their firsthand experiences with moving learning online when COVID-19 closed their campus.

To register to attend VirtCon, visit  https://form.jotform.com/discoveryed/spring-virtcon-2020 .  A full schedule of VirtCon sessions can be found here https://www.discoveryeducation.com/learn/den-virtcon-better-together/

During VirtCon, participating educators are free to drop in, and out, and then back into the program according to their schedules.  

Who: Susan Dalka, K-6 Math Coach

Where: Thomaston Public Schools, Thomaston, Connecticut

Connecticut uses Smarter Balanced assessment for the annual state testing as it aligns with our state standards. 

We had previously used another assessment program to measure growth and prepare students for the state tests. Although it gave us a data point, the information was not being utilized very well other than as a rough benchmark. We felt that we needed more than just content; we needed math practices, such as problem-solving and reasoning because these skills are part of what is assessed on the state tests and are critical for success in the 21st century. We needed a program that would support instruction, learning, and readiness for those math practices on the state assessment, and we wanted a program that would engage students in developing those skills collaboratively.

We chose Ready Classroom Mathematics as our core math program because it supports our teachers and students in learning these skills. We use i-Ready Assessment to provide ongoing and actionable data to teachers to impact instruction. Students are also using the digital tools that go with Ready Classroom Mathematics. The diagnostic suggests specific, teacher-taught lessons. We didn’t add the adaptive math piece because we wanted students to engage in the classroom discourse part of the program. We may add that down the road, but right now we want our students to learn how to strategize and work collaboratively.

The instructional routine of Ready Classroom Mathematics is focused on problem-solving and discourse. We ask students to try to problem solve with a range of different strategies and to talk about what they’re doing as they develop math skills and critical thinking. For us, this was the best way for students to learn these necessary skills.

Early Results Show Positive Student Outcomes

This is our first year with the full package of tools and technology in our math program. However, while we were ramping up last year, we saw early progress in Smarter Balanced Assessment scores compared to previous years. Each student has a target growth goal for the year. In past years, our growth goal hovered around 62% of our growth target, which is the state average. But last year, we achieved 67.7% of our growth goal target at the elementary level. Those five points are important to us. It is evidence that we’re moving in the right direction. 

Data from the i-Ready diagnostic this year shows that at mid-year, 26% of our K–5 students have already met their end-of-year growth goal. Six percent have made their stretch goal, which is significant as this goal closed achievement gaps and students have the remainder of the school year to meet their target and stretch goals. 

Our teachers are thrilled to have data that is directly linked to what they’re teaching and that they can easily understand. Even though it is a shift from the way we were teaching before, our new programs seem more teacher- and student-friendly. Teachers also feel more supported in helping students reach new levels of learning. 

Our intention was to shift our instructional practice to better help our students meet the full demands of the math standards and prepare them for their future. We aligned our math instruction and assessments with the state assessment that also addresses those same standards and skills.

It is exciting to see our new problem-solving math strategy having such a positive impact on our students.

Technology Used

•  Ready Classroom Mathematics 
•  i-Ready Assessment 

As schools across the United States implement and prepare for school closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their communities, Britannica is offering free, emergency support and virtual-learning classroom resources. 

Every school in the United States can receive free access to Britannica LaunchPacks Social Studies and LaunchPacks Science by signing up here.  

These curriculum-aligned, remote-learning enabled classroom resources are being leveraged by schools across the world who are grappling with shutdowns, conducting virtual lessons, and working to minimize the impact on students, families, and staff. 

Selecting the right digital tools for your school is never an easy task. With the wide variety of tools and products available, along with limited school budgets, making the right purchasing decision can be challenging.

Conducting a needs assessment is a necessary first step when making any decision to purchase any product, but particularly when looking at technology. When conducting a needs analysis, important questions to consider include:

- What are the needs of the school in terms of curriculum and functionality?
- What do you hope to accomplish by introducing a new tool or platform?
- Are you replacing an existing tool or product?
- Are you introducing a new opportunity for learning?
- Is the intent to substitute, augment, modify, or redefine (SAMR) what is happening in the classroom or school?

Once the need has been determined (what do you hope to do) the next step is to identify how to close the gap between the current situation and the ideal by selecting the right resources. This step involves research potential tools and products that may meet the need. During this phase, it is important to evaluate the tools and resources being considered. Here are some important questions to ask during this phase:

- What does the resource purport to do?
- Does the scope of content and functionality meet the needs you have identified?
- What are the needs of your students in terms of differentiation? Does the resource address those needs?
- Is the product accessible for ALL students and educators? Is there text-to-speech functionality? Closed captioning on videos? Transcription of audio files?
- Does the resource conform to student privacy laws and policies? United States regulations are summarized by the Office of Educational Technology, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies in the European Union.
- Is the content and interface engaging to students?
- Is the product intuitive and easy to use, or does it require extensive training?
- Is the product appropriate for the intended audience?
- Do the students and educators have access to technology (hardware and infrastructure) in and out of school to access the resource effectively and efficiently?
- How much does the product cost? Are discounts available through local or state agencies? Are there costs beyond the initial purchase? Are there additional hidden costs such as hosting or professional development for educators?
- Are there similar products that do the same thing, but in a more cost effective manner?
- How do students and teachers access the tool -- will accounts need to be created, or is there integration with existing systems?
- Are you able to “try it before you buy it” with a demo or a free trial period?
- Is support provided during implementation to answer any questions that arise?

At this stage, it may be important to gather a group of stakeholders -- educators, parents, students, administrators -- to help evaluate the options available, and to give input into whether the product would even be utilized. Incorporating all potential stakeholders in a purchasing decision helps to increase buy-in, as well as to uncover important priorities and concerns.

But What If There Isn't Time?

Despite the importance of thinking carefully about integrating technology in schools, there are times when gathering stakeholders, and thinking through decisions are just not possible. Online learning opportunities continue to grow throughout the world as schools and educators embrace digital learning opportunities by choice, however many schools and educators are finding themselves being forced to move to alternative learning options. For some, this creates a very uncomfortable question: How can students continue to learn when they can no longer go to school? 

Some schools already have a learning management system (LMS) in place, which may make it easier to move learning online as the educators and students are already familiar with the required technology. With limited time, and limited resources, for schools and educators that do not already use an LMS, taking the time to identify the right solution is not an option. While there are myriad high-quality solutions available, the options presented here will focus on services and resources that offer at least some functionality for free, that allow educators to move learning online in a hurry. 

For schools without an LMS in place, educators can create free accounts on one of the following platforms to ensure students can connect with content. It is important to note that educators should collaborate within their buildings to determine one system for all teachers to use to ensure students aren’t asked to learn a new one for every course. 

Free Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Google Classroom is available to anyone with a Google Account, even if a school does not use GSuite.

Schoology offers a basic version of their platform, with a vast array of integrations with other digital learning tools that schools and teachers already use.

Edmodo has a free learning management system that allows teacher, student, and parent accounts.

Canvas provides free accounts to educators, and a wide variety of integrations with tools educators are already using. 

In addition to learning management systems, educators and schools may wish to explore a variety of tools to help with content, lesson delivery, engagement, and assessment. What follows are some (not all) available tools to get started moving your learning environment online.

Content

There exist so many tools and platforms that offer free digital content for educators. Listed here are just a few.

CK12 offers a wide variety of content and resources to help educators meet the needs of their students including open source digital textbooks, concept based learning, simulations, interactive learning experiences, and adaptive practice. CK12 offers integration with Google Classroom, Canvas, Edmodo, Schoology and other platforms. The focus on the materials is on math, science, and social studies, though there are also resources for additional subject areas.

Hippo Campus provides free educational content for a variety of subject areas for students in middle school to college. The focus is on math, science, and social science, with some ELA content.

The Library of Congress shares a wealth of primary source documents, lessons, and presentations to incorporate into the classroom. This is a good fit for history, ELA and social science courses.

Everfi has free mini courses and lessons in a variety of content areas including social and emotional learning, health and wellness, cultural literacy, and others.

PBS offers videos, interactive activities, and more for all grade levels and a variety of content areas including math, science, social studies, and engineering. 

Lesson Delivery

Despite the myriad resources available, many educators prefer to deliver their own instruction to students. This list of resources provide some of the free options that allow educators to connect with their students from a distance.

Screencastify  is a Chrome extension that allows educators to record their computer screen for a demonstration, or to create a narrated presentation. Free accounts allow up to 5 minutes of video.

Screencastomatic is downloadable software that works across platforms including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Chrome, and allows educators to record up to 15 minutes of video with a free account. Screencastomatic also offers video editing tools and free cloud-based hosting of videos.

Educreations allows users to record interactive whiteboard presentations on an iPad. The free account is limited to basic tools, and 50 MB of storage.

ExplainEverything lets educators to record up to 3 one-minute whiteboard presentations. ExplainEverything works with iOS, Android, Chromebooks and in your browser.

FreeConferenceCall is a free web conferencing platform that allows audio, video, screen sharing, drawing, chat features, and recording for up to 1,000 participants per meeting. Participants can join by video, or by telephone. A great way to connect with students in real time, and share the recording for students who missed the call.

Curation and Collaboration

Tools that help gather a variety of resources for students to engage with are abundant. Here are three options that allow for collaboration and easy distribution of resources and materials.

Padlet allows educators and students to create interactive collaborative boards, where they can post video, audio, text, links and more. Padlet offers free accounts, as well as school level subscriptions.

Wakelet is a digital curation tool that allows educators to create collections of resources such as video, image, weblinks, PDFs, and more. Wakelet also allows for collaborative collections of resources. Wakelet can be used to create digital portfolios, Digital BreakoutEDU activities, hyperdocs, and more.

Seesaw is a digital portfolio platform that allows educators to create activities for students to complete, and allows students to participate by taking pictures, drawing, recording videos and more. A free Seesaw account allows educators up to 10 active classes.

Interactive Experiences

While delivering content is one of the key focuses of many educators, engagement, and ultimately, learning, requires a two-way exchange. These tools engage students using embedded assessments and other learning tasks that go beyond listening to a lecture. 

Flipgrid is a 100% free platform that allows educators to create interactive video discussions for their students. Educators create a “grid” for their course, and create “topics” for students to respond to via video. Videos are limited to 5 minutes each, and students then respond to each other allowing the social interaction needed in a 21st-century school environment. Flipgrid does not require students to have an email address, and there are thousands of example topics available to get you started. 

PearDeck is an add-on for Google Slides and Microsoft 365 PowerPoint that allows educators to embed assessments into a presentation. PearDeck allows for synchronous (everyone at the same time) and asynchronous (everyone at different times) presentations, and engages students through the use of embedded questions. A free Peardeck account allows for basic slide types: multiple choice, free text, number, and website, which allows users to embed a website in the presentation. When coupled with a narrated presentation, the combination allows for an engaging and interactive experience. 

Deck.Toys is a platform that allows you to design interactive lessons as quests students embark upon. Educators are able to incorporate presentations, activities, videos, links, and more. Assess student learning through activities such as drawing, short text responses, polls, and others. Embed study sets like flashcards, matching games, word search and more. 

EdPuzzle allows educators to add interactive multiple choice and open ended questions, as well as notes from the instructor in the form of text or audio to videos. Embedded assessments help educators determine if students are truly engaging in the material presented.

Playposit lets educators add a wide variety of interactions to videos including questions (poll, free response, discussion, fill-in-the-blank and more), annotations (such as additional web links), and offers templates to help get educators started.

It is also important to remember that not all students have technology, or access to the internet at home. Whatever you create for your students, be sure they will be able to access it. It is also important to consider the needs of all students. When creating audio or video files, it is important to ensure that they are accessible. This means creating verbatim transcripts of whatever audio is present, and describing images so that students with visual impairments do not lose out on important information.

Shannon Mersand is a lecturer in the fully online Information Science School Library Program at the University at Albany.  She has been working with educators PreK-University to move instruction to an online format for more than 15 years.

Read Across America Day (March 2)

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is a great day to collaborate with your school or local library. For classroom activities, check out the educator’s guide at seussville.com

You can also find plenty of tools and resources at readacrossamerica.org

Irish-American Heritage Month 

In 1991 President George H.W. Bush issued a proclamation designating March as Irish-American Heritage month. After Congress passed a number of public bills,  presidents have been issuing an annual proclamation since 1997.

The American Presidency Project page offers detailed information.

Did you Know the first NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in 1762. That’s 14 years before the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence!

According to the U.S. Census, 32 million, or 9.9% of U.S. residents, claimed Irish ancestry in 2018.

The National Education Association also offers free resources for grades PreK through 12 for teaching about St. Patrick’s Day.   

Women’s History Month

You just can’t beat the Library of Congress for historical resources about Women's History Month. Be sure to check out the tabs at the top of the page that include interviews with amazing women in all fields. At the bottom, you can meet some women in space. The For Teachers tab has resources and lesson plans chosen by teachers.

Your Dream offers 30 Powerful Quotes for Women's History Month.  

STEM month 

Rasmussen College offers 11 Engaging STEM Activities for Kids.

And here are Hands on Engineering STEM Projects for kids.

Cross posted at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com

Deborah Marshall is the Department Chair of Career & Technical Education and Lisa McKnight Ward is the librarian at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Both are Nationally Board Certified, former Teachers of the Year, who have taught multiple subjects including AP and IB courses. They have over a decade of experience collaborating on technology-based learning. Read more at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com/

Follett has released Destiny 17.5, a new version of the solution featuring enhancements to Destiny Library Manager, Destiny Resource Manager, Destiny Discover, and Collections by Destiny. 

Key Destiny 17.5 updates include:

• Destiny Library Manager. The new version will provide support for ‘Community Share’, a program that connects Baker & Taylor’s public library digital collections with schools. Students will be provided with immediate access to an expanded selection of age and grade-appropriate digital content through Destiny Discover. 

• Destiny Resource Manager. Electronic signatures can now be captured on departing and arriving transfers and warehouse orders. 

• Destiny Discover. Destiny Discover, which provides a single discovery interface for students and educators to search and access print and digital resources, will now feature a customizable homepage. Discover administrators will be able to add content such as current events and announcements related to library operations and patron needs to their home page. 

• Collections by Destiny. Administrators will now have greater control over the Collections at their site. They will be able to edit, delete, copy and share any collection as if it were their own. Administrators can restrict users from seeing collections created at another site, preventing elementary school students from seeing high school content that may be inappropriate for them.

A recorded version of Follett’s recent “What’s New in Destiny 17.5” webinar is available on demand by visiting https://bit.ly/36v49Cd. 

For a complete look at all that is new in Destiny 17.5, visit https://bit.ly/38YXdj5.

For more information about Follett and Destiny, visit www.FollettLearning.com.

Timelines are popular for helping students and researchers to understand the order or chronology of events and trends. 

Top 20 Sites/Apps for Creating Timelines (in alphabetical order)

Adobe Spark - One of the most popular sites available for making timelines, featuring an easy-to-use wizard.

Aeon - An in-depth timeline builder, ideal for project management and creative writers.

Buncee - An all-in-one digital canvas on which students can make timelines using animations, audio and video. The ideas lab offers inspiration for projects, from lesson plans to journals.

Canva - Offers an abundance of templates to help fashion eye-catching timelines.

Flippity - A simple-to-use tool that employs a Google Spreadsheets template to create interactive timelines.

myHistro - A good site/iOS app for making interactive timelines with a special section for educational uses. Also offers the ability to embed Google Maps.

OurTimeLines - Stocked with templates for building text-based and personalized timelines.

Preceden - Useful for designing layered interactive timelines and project roadmaps. Timelines can be public or private, and also can be embedded into a site or blog.

• Timeline Tools to Document and Analyze the Past
• How to Use Google Jamboard, for Teachers
• 15 Sites/Apps for Social-Emotional Learning

RWT Timeline - RWT is a free iPad app for creating stunning timelines. The app also accommodates multiple users, ideal for those schools that share devices.

Storyboard That - A digital storytelling platform with an education portal that offers a wide range of graphic organizers, such as t-charts, grids, and detailed timelines. 

Sutori - An innovative site for timelines that also supports collaborative projects. In addition, Sutori can be used for any curriculum and even to flip a classroom or lesson.

Tiki-Toki - Create great 3D timelines with images and videos. A paid account allows for collaboration among multiple users and the ability to embed timelines on other sites.

Timeline JS - An open source tool for designing timelines that include videos, maps, links, and audio. Timelines can also be integrated with Google Sheets.

Timelines.tv - A United Kingdom-based education resource for viewing timelines in five different historical categories. 

Timetoast - Create an interactive timeline that can be embedded into a site or blog. Timelines can be viewed in either standard mode or text only.

Timeline 3D - An innovative app for building three-dimensional multimedia timelines. Timeline 3D also can be exported into PowerPoint or Keynote for more options.

Timeline Maker - An easy-to-use iPad app for building timelines by stacking tiles or events.

Timeline Maker (Soft Schools) - A student-friendly site that allows users to create a timeline through text or a template.

Venngage - Make custom visual timelines or infographics from a free library of templates.

Visme - A flexible tool with a drag-n-drop interface that allows users to design custom timelines. 

cross-posted on cyber-kap.blogspot.com.

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com

Career & Technical Education Month

February is Career & Technical Education (CTE) month! Celebrate the value of CTE, achievements and accomplishments of programs across the country. In addition to manufacturing and other blue collar careers, CTE covers many different fields, including health care, information technology (IT), advanced manufacturing, hospitality and management. Looking to have your students explore careers, check out Career One Stop.

Future Business Leaders of America students are hosting a career day in the media center in which representatives from local businesses, the U.S. armed services, and two- and four-year colleges will be distributing application, scholarship, and recruitment information while answering questions about summer internships and jobs.

Safer Internet Day is February 11 while Digital Learning Day is February 27th.  

Black History Month

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting, in conjunction with the Library of Congress, offers more than 50,00 hours of digitized public broadcasting programs. Scroll through special collections to find historic interviews and newscasts.

An even larger collection of videos, images and recordings is located in the archives of the Library of Congress.

The History Channel also provides a good collection of photos, videos and articles.

Valentine’s Day

Some of the best STEM activities are on Pinterest. Even the Smithsonian has a Valentine’s Day board full of science-themed activities.

The Franklin Institute offers nerdy science valentines that can be adapted by any STEM class and then displayed outside the room.  

Good Reads has its best young adult sci-fi romances.

Leap Year

CBS News tells us about leap years in a 5-minute segment that includes a 100-year-old woman having her 25th birthday, man on the street leap-year interviews, and a piece from Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and excellent explainer of all things science.

Clean Out Your Computer Day

Clean Out Your Computer Day is February 10 this year. Time and Date has a short article and all kinds of clocks and calendars in the dropdown menus.

Finally, Norton offers some advice for cleaning out your hardware and software.

Cross posted at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com

Deborah Marshall is the Department Chair of Career & Technical Education and Lisa McKnight Ward is the librarian at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Both are Nationally Board Certified, former Teachers of the Year, who have taught multiple subjects including AP and IB courses. They have over a decade of experience collaborating on technology-based learning. Read more at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com/

HoverCam will display its family of classroom learning technologies in Booth 1133 at TCEA 2020, Feb. 4-6 in Austin. At the show, the company will demonstrate its wireless, tablet-based Pilot X digital teaching station, wireless Ultra 10 document camera, and ClassFusion, a comprehensive software platform for classroom management and presentation. 

With the HoverCam Pilot X wireless digital podium, educators can now take their teaching station anywhere in the classroom. The 13-inch Windows 10 tablet can be undocked from the mobile podium and used anywhere in the classroom. The tablet also features HoverCam's 4K, 13-megapixel document camera that folds out. A built-in wireless HDMI transmitter beams the tablet's image to any interactive flat panel, projector, or display in resolutions up to 4K. With HoverCam's ClassFusion software, it enables interactive whiteboarding and annotation for lesson recording. The notes, annotations, video, and audio of every lesson are captured in real time for students to access anytime and from any device.

The Ultra 10 document camera features 4K wireless HDMI casting, a 7-inch multi-touchscreen, true 4K@60FPS HDMI output, all-day battery life, and an Android computer. Users can cast Ultra 10's  image to any display over 4K wireless HDMI, without requiring a WiFi connection. The built-in multi-touchscreen gives users the ability to annotate over the live camera image, record lessons, scan documents, or install applications.

HoverCam's ClassFusion is a comprehensive software platform designed for a fully digital classroom. Drawing from the feedback of a network of educators who beta tested the solution, ClassFusion fuses digital whiteboarding software with a classroom management system. It features dynamic lesson and notes capture; a lesson plan builder with access to a database of over 4 million resources matched to curriculum; teachers' calendars; vector-based lesson recording to the cloud; whiteboarding with smart tools including handwriting and object recognition; online homework submission and student messaging; Hopscotch multisplit; and more.

More information is available at hovercam.com.

Glose SAS today announced the launch of Glose Education, an adaptive reading and learning platform for students and teachers. 

Glose Education, which is making its debut in the U.S. K-12 education market at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), was built with input from students and educators in middle schools, high schools, and universities. 

Glose Education is a collaborative and personalized digital reading platform for use in classrooms, schools, libraries, and at home. Offering access to more than one million e-books, Glose Education fosters a social, fun, and engaging reading experience. Drawing on the familiarity and benefits of safe social networking, the platform allows students to read and comprehend both on their own and with their peers. They can read, discover, annotate, and share text with other students.

Educators can create virtual book clubs and leveled reading groups, provide an adaptive reading experience with writing prompts and discussion starters, and see how each student is interacting with the text. With access to real-time data, school leaders can make informed decisions while creating a curated digital library that their students can access anytime, anywhere. 

Glose Education is available on iOS, Android, and the web, while also allowing for offline usage in order to ensure equitable access for all. Students and teachers can get started with access to thousands of free e-books, with more than one million titles available on the enterprise edition for schools and districts. 

FETC attendees can connect with Glose at booth #1435j in the Start-Up Pavilion.

HoverCam will showcase its family of classroom learning technologies in booth 2425 at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) 2020 in Miami. The company will demonstrate its Pilot X tablet-based digital teaching station, 16-megapixel Ultra 10 document camera, and ClassFusion, a comprehensive software platform for classroom management and presentation.

With the HoverCam Pilot X, teachers and presenters can work from an ergonomic and mobile teaching podium featuring a slide out keyboard. The 13-inch, 10-point-touch tablet can be unlocked and used anywhere in the classroom. With multi-touch technology, the tablet has the horsepower of Windows 10 OS combined with the intuitive hand gestures of a mobile device. 

The Ultra 10 document camera features a 7.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, true 4K HDMI output, a 16-megapixel sensor, and a powerful Android computer. The built-in multitouch viewing monitor allows educators to see exactly what their students see without having to turn their backs. Users can connect a display, IFP, or projector — via wired HDMI or a wireless 4K transmitter without a PC — to record lessons, capture images, and show live video.

HoverCam's ClassFusion is a comprehensive software platform designed for a fully digital classroom. Drawing from the feedback of a network of educators who beta tested the solution, ClassFusion fuses a classroom presentation system with a learning management system. It features dynamic lesson and notes capture; a lesson plan builder with access to a database of over 4 million resources matched to curriculum; teachers' calendars; space-saving, vector-based lesson recording to the cloud; enhanced whiteboarding with smart tools including handwriting and object recognition; online homework submission and student messaging; Hopscotch multisplit; and more.

More information on HoverCam and their full line of products is available hovercam.com.

Digital Learning Resources for January 2020

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King Day in January 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the day of service. Find out about the day and volunteer opportunities for you and your students. 

The History Channel explains the origin of the holiday and highlights its namesake with archival photos and more. 

The NEA offers activities and resources for grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12. 

See 10 essential books about Martin Luther King Jr. from the Archive.

Digital Scavenger Hunt
Try a digital scavenger hunt created using Goose Chase EDU. Create teams and watch the fun begin.     

Random Team Maker
Type the names single-spaced with no formatting, first in Word, then paste into the random team maker site.  TIP: Make sure there's no space between names else the site picks that up as a name and creates too many groups.  

Cyber Patriot’s Competition
Do you have any students interested in hacking or cyber security? Introduce them to the Cyber Patriot’s competition, presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation.

February 2020 Upcoming Events:

Digital Learning Day
Get ready for Digital Learning Day February 27, 2020. 

Career & Technical Education Month  
This year ACTE and NASA HUNCH are hosting a student video challenge celebrating Career and Technical Education (CTE) and project-based learning programs. The Video Challenge Theme is Living and Working on the Moon and Beyond.  

cross posted at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com

Deborah Marshall is the Department Chair of Career & Technical Education and Lisa McKnight Ward is the librarian at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Both are Nationally Board Certified, former Teachers of the Year, who have taught multiple subjects including AP and IB courses. They have over a decade of experience collaborating on technology-based learning. Read more at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com/

Sharing Lessons, a SMART Solution

One district in Georgia is using SMART Learning Suite to enhance their education goals and share lessons amongst students, teachers and parents. A bonus of the tech is that it can incorporate content in PDF or PowerPoint form, so teachers do not need to redo their projects to match a new formatting system. Lessons are shared using Microsoft Sharepoint and SMART Exchange, putting a copy of the lesson in the hands of every student.

Who: Bobby Brian Lewis, Instructional Technology Coach

Where: Bibb County School District, GA

What: Sharing Lessons using SMART Learning Suite

In an attempt to become a SMART Notebook District, we are in the process of training over 3,000 teachers in the tech. We are training teachers through three sessions per school, then requiring them to create artifacts to demonstrate what they have learned in the training program. They then upload their artifact to SMART Exchange (a place to share and locate resources for SMART) to help educators in our district and beyond. To include the whole school community, we held a Showcase Day for students, principals, and teachers to share their progress and artifacts with each other online, using SMART Learning Suite. 

Positive Results

This helped our students by provided a digital copy that could be viewed at home 24/7. We now can upload any pdf, power point, or SMART Notebook file to SMART Learning Suite Online and then share a digital copy to students, parents, and other teachers. This puts any paper document in the hands of all stakeholders with a digital copy that can be used 24/7. SMART Learning Suite is a great way to provide personalized learning to ALL students.

The Biggest Challenge

Our biggest challenge is having to time to train teachers with their busy schedules, but in the long run we are able to show them that SMART learning Suite can save them time. Our Instructional Technology department was able to share SMART Learning suite this past June with Principals, District coaches and assistant principals at our Leadership conference. We were able to show and share how Smart learning suite could be used. Buy-in was almost immediate because students, parents ,and teachers have a digital resource that can be viewed by all. 

Finding Funding

Right now the SMART Learning Suite is free.  We purchased a license for various software used.

Pro Tip

The best tip is to always bring the students in on the discussion for implementing anything. With this in mind, we trained a group of students on the tech so they can be on-the-ground support in the classroom for educators and other students. 

Tech Used in the Classroom

• SMART notebook
• SMART learning suite
• Microsoft Sharepoint
• SMART Exchange
• Clear Touch Interactive Display
• iPad

A new year is around the corner, which is a great time to encourage students to create a vision board where they visualize their personal, academic and professional goals. Vision boards are collages of inspirational people, quotes, and visuals to inspire an individual to pursue their dreams and passions. Several extremely successful people and celebrities have vision boards. This was an idea inspired by the book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne that I wrote about in 2014 and included in my book, The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators: Small Steps to Transform Your Teaching. I’ve been encouraging students to create digital vision boards. See student examples here. This is one free Buncee template I created for any teacher or student to copy and edit as they wish. Below are tools, apps, and ideas to get your students started setting goals and accomplishing great things in their lives!

Templates, Tools and Apps for Creating Digital Vision Boards

I have tried creating vision boards with different digital tools. This year I’m most excited about trying this idea with Wakelet, a free curation tool where students add videos, photos, quotes, and more collected from the web! Students can also record themselves and create a Flipgrid video stating their goals and passions. Vision boards are meant to be revisited daily by students so they keep their goals in mind. To ensure students do this print out the QR codes automatically created for each Wakelet collection and post these on a bulletin board or wall where students can scan them and revisit their goals often. Since this is a curation tool, students can easily and quickly add to their vision boards whenever they are inspired.

The following are additional tools for creating student vision boards along with some examples:

• Padlet and LinoIt are other ways to create a vision board or set goals with learners. Check out this example of my class goals here and an inspiration board here!
• Buncee is an educational web tool and iOS app where students add digital content (free images, audio clips, YouTube video, videos, voice recordings, stickers, etc.) to a board to create presentations, collages, posters, and so forth. See my student Buncee vision boards here.
• Pinterest is a free and popular curation web tool and app for older learners above the age of 13 years-old. Easily pin inspiring posts, documents, videos, and images to a board.
• Genial.ly is a free multimedia tool for creating dynamic digital presentations and interactive images like the digital calendar below.
• Canva is a web tool and app with a free library of stock images, stickers, and graphics.
• EduGlogster is a web tool and app similar to Buncee. With a free account teachers can set up a class of  30 students to create multimedia projects that combine their own images, graphics, audio, video and text.
• Smore is a web tool to create digital flyers with videos, icons, and images.
• Pic-Collage is an app for creating visual collages that can include video. Also, find a library of stickers, frames, and templates.
• Google Slides and Google Draw are also options.

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is a Technology and Computer teacher, education consultant, and author of books including Hacking Digital Learning Strategies: 10 Ways to Launch EdTech Missions in Your Classroom. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.

Educational Leaders from various US districts gathered in New Orleans, LA on December 2019 to discuss current trends in education and technology and share how each of us have been working to solve some critical problems. At the top of the list was digital equity.

Leaders from urban, suburban, and rural districts were challenged to consider what digital equity looked like and discuss pain points and solutions. 

Home access

Access at home was a pain point for several districts, however, this included both ends of the spectrum:  

Pain point: Home WiFi

• Teachers perceive students DON’T have internet access at home, but they do. 
• Result: They are not integrating work that includes the internet.
• Teachers perceive students DO have internet access at home, but they don’t.
• Result: They are integrating the internet even though many students don’t have access.

Possible solutions: 

• Survey students so expectations are based on reality rather than presumptions.
• Determine ways to provide home internet for students who need it. 

Technology Integration

Across districts, even when there is digital equity, adults often get in the way of student learning because they are not integrating the technology students know and want to use. Ensuring teachers are comfortable using digital content was a challenge for several reasons:

Challenges

• Time is not allocated to provide professional learning opportunities
• Teachers are not evaluated on tech integration
• Veteran teachers are resistant to change 

Possible solutions

• School and district leadership must be intentional about providing time for teacher learning
• Work to include tech integration in teacher and leader evaluation
• School and district leadership can model effective tech integration
• Ensure veteran teachers understand real benefits and provide them with in classroom coaching and support
• Include technology leadership in the central and cabinet level

Device damage

Another issue for districts is intentional damage to devices. This was most likely to happen in cases where devices are not being used in meaningful ways. When teachers don’t integrate technology or understand it’s value the students respond accordingly and are not respectful or responsible with their devices. 

Access points

In rural communities, access points are a pain point. Ways this is being addressed ranged from hotspots on activity buses to mifi and other hotspots to take home, some points;

• On buses, many start with activity buses and then expand
• Buses can be parked in neighborhoods
• Provide Verizon hotspots
• Should added costs be pushed to families?
• It needs to be metered so you know how it is being used 
• Companies provide grants for this 
• Access must be filtered, otherwise it becomes mom and dad’s device for the household

Digital Accessibility for Families

Urban districts discussed the problem of families not understanding anything that is happening in schools because they are unable to access content due to language barriers or disability. This led to a discussion of the importance of ensuring staff understand how to create accessible content written in plain language so it is easily translatable by a machine and can be perceived by those with disabilities. Most districts have yet to take on this challenge. However, the Office of Civil Rights is approaching more and more districts requiring them to ensure content adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.  Many website platforms are not up to the challenge. However, companies like eChalk and Edlio do support content accessibility. There is a desire for eRate funding to help cover the cost of using such solutions. 

Resources

• Kajeet provides innovative WiFi solutions.
• Waterford Upstart provides four-year-old children access to the highest form of academic support in their early education at no cost to participants: personalized family education and coaching, a new computer and Internet if needed, and adaptive educational software.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

Today, PBS announced the launch of Ken Burns Classroom on PBS LearningMedia – an online destination for free teaching and learning resources inspired by Ken Burns’s renowned documentaries. Created for 6-12th grade educators, the new hub houses a full library of classroom-ready content – aligned to state and national standards – to help students further explore the complex historical events and issues illustrated in Ken Burns’s films. 

Ken Burns Classroom features hundreds of video clips, lesson plans, activity suggestions, discussion questions, handouts, and interactives to help educators integrate the films into their classroom instruction. This will include important historical events, people and moments-in-time such as international wars, the Roosevelt family and the Industrial Age. The hub will kick off with documentaries including “Country Music,” “The Vietnam War,” “The Central Park Five,” “The Dust Bowl,” “The West,” “The Civil War,” “Jackie Robinson,” “Lewis & Clark,” “Prohibition,” “The Roosevelts,” and “The War,” and more will continue to be added in the coming months. 

PBS LearningMedia, a partnership between PBS and WGBH, is an online destination that offers free access to thousands of resources from partners and PBS stations who work to make them available to teachers in local communities across the country. 

All Ken Burns Classroom resources and content are publicly available and can be accessed by visiting PBS LearningMedia at https://pbslearningmedia.org/kenburns. 

Content in Ken Burns Classroom was funded in part by members of The Better Angels Society.

HoverCam has announced that its new Pilot X digital teaching station is now shipping. The teaching tool enables teachers to interact with and share content to displays in the classroom without being tethered to a computer or display.  The Pilot X combines a tablet computer with an Intel CPU, wireless 4K presentation capabilities, microphone, and a fold-out document camera in one  wireless station.

With the HoverCam Pilot X, teachers and presenters can work from a mobile teaching podium featuring a slide-out keyboard.  The 13-inch, 10-point-touch tablet can be unlocked and used anywhere in the classroom.  The system includes HoverCam's 4K 13MP document camera that folds out.  A built-in wireless HDMI transmitter beams content to any interactive flat panel, projector, or display in resolutions up to 4K, while HoverCam's ClassFusion software enables interactive whiteboarding and annotation for lesson recording. 

More information on HoverCam and their full line of products is available at hovercam.com.

Can you ever have too many maps?

The obvious answer is no. You can never have too many maps.

So when I ran across some very cool old maps last Saturday at the Wichita Flea Market, there really wasn’t any question about whether or not I would buy them. The question was how many will I buy.

I settled on two. Which means my wife helped me decide that I should settle on two. There are quite a few maps already in my house and I was gently made aware of that fact. Which means semi-gently.

Both of the maps I walked away with are almost 100 years old. One is a 1924 map of tourist Rome published in Italian, the other a map highlighting the 1924 British Empire Exhibition with suggested mass transit options from around the London metro area. So cool.

Perfect for displaying, reading, primary source analysis, (the Empire Exhibition and its various colonial pavilions is just asking for some in-depth conversation) or just wafting in the 100 year old smell.

But while we all can agree how cool old maps are, new maps are nothing to sneeze at. I love the ability of digitized maps to allow access to all sorts of data in all sorts of very visual ways. Take a look at these two new atlases from the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond.

The first collection of digital maps, the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, is based on an atlas that was original created in 1932 by Charles O. Paullin and John K. Wright. Many of those beautiful maps have been enhanced:

. . . in ways impossible in print, animated to show change over time or made clickable to view the underlying data – remarkable maps produced eight decades ago with the functionality of the twenty-first century.

Like the original, there are 14 different chapters and almost 700 maps. All based on older maps but digitized and edited to make them more accessible and richer in content. And like the original, the atlas addresses a broad range of issues.

Beginning with a chapter consisting of 33 maps on the natural environment and a second containing 47 maps documenting the evolution of European and later American cartographic knowledge about North America, the atlas mapped an exhaustive number of historical topics: exploration and settlement of the continent, the location of colleges and churches, disputes over international and state boundaries, voting in presidential elections and in Congress, reforms from women’s suffrage to workmen’s compensation, transportation, industries, agriculture, commerce, the distribution of wealth, and military history.

For twenty-first-century audiences, it’s probably no surprise that it’s missing a few things as an historical atlas. Besides the fact that it’s now more than eighty years out of date, it is primarily focused on Americans of European descent – though, to be fair, it certainly contains a significant number of maps showing the geographic distribution of people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Yet whatever the atlas’s shortcomings, browsing through its many thoughtful and often beautiful maps one can’t help but be impressed. Anyone interested in American history before 1930 is almost certain to find many maps in the atlas that are both interesting and useful.

So if you’re teaching any US history, the newly updated digital version is a no-brainer. Head to the About page to jump start your time in the Altas.

But wait. There’s more the people at Digital Scholarship Lab weren’t finished. They’ve also created American Panorama, an historical atlas of the United States for the twenty-first century. “It combines cutting-edge research with innovative interactive mapping techniques, designed to appeal to anyone with an interest in American history or a love of maps.”

So . . . I’m listening.

It’s a smaller collection of just eight maps so far but the maps move closer to the present, with one map focusing on electing the House of Representatives from 1840 – 2016 and another on America’s foreign-born population up to 2010, for example.

But all of the maps give you tools to help kids actually see history and begin to make sense of events in ways that simple text cannot. The Mapping Inequality map that highlights the redlining of home loans by the Home Owners Loan Corporation during the 1930s and 40s is a powerful way to jumpstart and deepen a conversation around civil rights and racism in the US.

Used together, these two updated versions of cool old maps like the ones I uncovered at the flea market give you powerful tools to hang on your teaching tool belt.

(And don’t forget to use the Library of Congress and National Archives map analysis worksheets to help kids unpack all the goodness.)

cross posted at glennwiebe.org

Glenn Wiebe is an education and technology consultant with 15 years' experience teaching history and social studies. He is a curriculum consultant for ESSDACK, an educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas, blogs frequently at History Tech and maintains Social Studies Central, a repository of resources targeted at K-12 educators. Visit glennwiebe.org to learn more about his speaking and presentation on education technology, innovative instruction and social studies.

FETC has announced a partnership with Future Ready Schools (FRS), whose framework for supporting the visioning, planning and implementation of digital learning is aligned to more than a quarter of the 600-plus sessions and workshops throughout the 2020 conference. FETC has also increased support of its partnership with Future Ready Librarians and Coaches, an expansion of the Future Ready initiative aimed at raising awareness among district and school leaders about the valuable role librarians and coaches can play in supporting the Future Ready goals of their schools and districts.

“Like FETC, Future Ready Schools has made a clear effort to design content relevant to all the important roles across school districts. This creates a natural synergy between our organizations and, looking at the program for our upcoming conference, it’s evident that there are numerous new learning opportunities that will inform and inspire FETC attendees,” said Dr. Robert M. Avossa, Senior Vice President & Publisher, LRP Media Group. 

Discovery Education announced the addition of new assets to its digital services. New content recently added to Discovery Education’s services include: 

Resources to understand combat hatred: In collaboration with Discovery Channel’s global premiere of the six-part docuseries WHY WE HATE, Discovery Education introduces a collection of instructional resources that connect the important themes of the docuseries to classroom instruction. Available in Discovery Education Experience and Social Studies Techbook, the WHY WE HATE collection of resources includes videos focused on the origins of hate, the biology of hate, and tribalism; classroom activities; an educator guide; a family viewing guide; and related first-person video testimonies from USC Shoah Foundation's Teaching with Testimony collection. 

New MLB STEM Career Profiles: Five new STEM career profile videos are live in Discovery Education Experience, Science Techbook, and STEM Connect. The clips highlight a variety of MLB STEM careers in fields like data analytics, building construction, video production, nutrition program management, and sustainability. 

Guide to Constitution: Discovery Education produced “Constitution Day 2019: Find Your Voice” in partnership with iCivics. The event was designed to help students learn how their Constitutional rights give them a voice, how those rights are protected, and how they can use their voices to speak up about the issues they care about. The program and teacher guide are now available in Discovery Education Experience and Social Studies Techbook. 

Resources from the 9/11 Tribute Museum: Discovery Education has partnered with the 9/11 Tribute Museum to share the video testimonial series, 9/11 Personal Stories of Transformation. Available in the September 11 channel in Discovery Education Experience and Social Studies Techbook, the series profiles first responders, survivors, and witnesses to the September 11 terrorist attacks. An accompanying instructional resource guide provides lesson plans and discussion questions. 

New Conservation channel featuring resources from World Wildlife Fund: A new Conservation channel in Discovery Education Experience features videos and images from World Wildlife Fund’s collection, offering students and educators an inside look at WWF’s efforts to support conservation along six goals: climate, food, freshwater, forests, oceans, and wildlife. 

World of animal adaptations with Animal Planet: How do electric eels not electrocute themselves? Why don’t penguins’ feet freeze on ice? Why do dogs wag their tails? These questions and others are explored in the Animal Planet series How Do Animals Do That?, now live in Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook. 

Students bust myths with MythBusters Jr.: Students will use ingenuity and STEM skills to bust myths alongside Adam Savage and six of the nation’s most talented kids in Science Channel’s MythBusters Jr. Students will tackle myths similar to those seen in MythBusters, ranging from driving, explosions, chemistry, physics, popular culture, and more. The 10-episode series is now available in Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook. 

Overview of key financial concepts: A new series of videos for middle school students from Discovery Education and Discover Financial Services provides a basic overview of key financial concepts, including budgeting, saving, using credit wisely, and growing and protecting your finances. The Pathway to Financial Success in Schools program is now live in Discovery Education Experience.

Spice up science with new programs from the Cooking Channel: Alton Brown explores the science behind common cooking techniques like searing, baking, and frying as he prepares traditional and brand-new recipes in Good Eats: Reloaded. The series is now available in Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook. 

Virtual Field Trip helps students develop Social Emotional Learning skills: Discovery Education, Wings for Kids, and The Allstate Foundation premiered a new virtual field trip, Bringing SEL to Life, in Discovery Education Experience. The program introduces students to the pillars of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. Student viewers meet other real-life students who share a pledge called "Words to Live By.” The program follows these students throughout their day as they explain and model how the words of the pledge help them better understand themselves, control their actions, and strengthen their relationships. 

Users of Discovery Education’s digital services can find the new content here. 

For more information visit www.discoveryeducation.com.

Gale, a Cengage company, has partnered with Mackin, distributor of K-12, print and digital resources, to make its database content available on the MackinVIA digital content management platform. Now MackinVIA customers can search Gale databases using MackinVIA’s new Deep Discovery™ tool to find authoritative content.

MackinVIA’s Deep Discovery™ makes it easier to search through Gale’s educational databases on MackinVIA. Entering a search term on the MackinVIA databases page directs the system to simultaneously submit that query to all participating database products in a school’s MackinVIA account and displays the corresponding results count. 

Gale’s digital, curriculum-aligned solutions cover:  

• Business & Economics
• Humanities & Social Sciences
• Law & Government
• Literature & Drama
• Technology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Environmental Science
• U.S. History & World History

For more information, visit Gale’s MackinVIA webpage.

PBS offers a variety of free online educational resources for Pre-K-12 grade educators including the media literacy certification program, PBS LearningMedia and PBS TeachersLounge.  

Educators can access free resources online from the following PBS websites:

• PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification by KQED (Pre-K through 12th grade) – PBS and KQED offer a set of free media literacy micro-credentials that validate and help to build media literacy skills and classroom implementation practices. These competency-based micro-credentials provide the pathway to earning certification as a PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator.
• PBS LearningMedia (Pre-K through 12th grade) – PBS LearningMedia is the destination for direct access to thousands of classroom-ready, curriculum-targeted digital resources. Resources are aligned to state and national standards, and include videos, images, interactives, lesson plans, articles, primary sources and more. Teachers can browse by standards, grade level, subject area, and special collections, and favorite and share resources with their class and colleagues.
• PBS TeachersLounge – PBS TeachersLounge is a collection of online blogs on a variety of topics including trending news, PBS in the classroom, tech tools, virtual professional learning and voices in education.

Discovery Education has added immersive new assets to Discovery Education Experience, the Math, Science, and Social Studies Techbook, and STEM Connect. New content recently added to Discovery Education’s services include:

• All New Shark Week 2019 Content: In Expedition Unknown: Megalodon, explorer Josh Gates and a team of paleontologists study ancient shark teeth to uncover why giant mega-sharks went extinct. In Extinct or Alive: The Lost Shark, biologists explore the Indian Ocean to find out if the rare Pondicherry shark has returned. And in “Return to Shark Island,” shark scientist Dr. Craig O’Connell examines the sudden increase of bull sharks on Achill Island. All programs are now available in Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook. 
  
• Step Up to the Plate: Students will explore their impact on the environment, learn about the importance of environmental stewardship, and discover how sustainability plays a role in Major League ballparks around the country in six new videos and activities developed in partnership with Major League Baseball. Now available in Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook, each video and activity introduces an MLB club and presents a different conservation effort including recycling, local food sourcing, water conservation, and energy efficiency
  
• Engineering and biology programs from Science Channel: More than 50 new programs from Science Channel have been added to the Discovery Education Experience and Science Techbook. Incredible Engineering Blunders: Fixed travels with journalist Justin Cunningham as he documents, and tries to fix, some of the worst engineering mistakes in history.
  
• New Short-Form Videos from CheddarK-12: More than 50 original, short-form videos have been added to the collection of CheddarK-12 series available to Discovery Education Experience and Techbook users. Discovery Education Experience users can find all new programs in the CheddarK-12 channel. 
  
• Investigation and Conservation Content from Animal Planet: In Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers, biologist and extreme wrangler Jeremy Wade helps students using Discovery Education Experience and Social Studies Techbook answer questions about the health, sustainability, and hidden depths of our most important waterways, including the Amazon, the Ganges, the Yangtze, the Mississippi, the Danube, and the Zambezi. 
  
• History Content from American Heroes Channel:  Through Tuskegee Airmen: Heroes of World War II, former pilots from the famed African American unit share their stories of flying some of the most dangerous missions of the Second World War.  This content has been added to Discovery Education Experience and Social Studies Techbook.
  
• Math Videos and Interactives Now Available in Spanish: Math Techbook and Discovery Education Experience users now have access to more than 50 core-concept video clips and interactives in Spanish. The programs cover such topics as functions, Pythagorean theorem, similarity and congruence, and probability. Students will apply their math knowledge to solve real-world problems from biologists, urban planners, and emergency rescue teams. 

Users of Discovery Education’s digital services can find the new content here.

In addition, a new Conservation channel for Discovery Education Experience users will aim to inspire students to take informed action on large-scale issues impacting our planet. The channel will feature videos and images directly from World Wildlife Fund’s vast collection, offering students and educators an inside look at WWF’s efforts to support conservation along six goals: climate, food, freshwater, forests, oceans, and wildlife. 

For more information about Discovery Education’s digital curriculum, content services, and professional learning opportunities, visit www.discoveryeducation.com.

826 Digital

Popular after-school program shares its resources with teachers

Pros: Writing activities have creative age-appropriate topics that'll connect with students.

Cons: Some activities use web videos but don't include links, so teachers have to search online. There's not much on offer for primary grades.

Bottom Line: This is a worth-bookmarking resource thanks to relatable writing lessons and motivating examples of actual student writing.

Read more.

Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed byCommon Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

GooseChase EDU

Digital scavenger hunts provide dynamic, fresh learning experiences

Pros: Highly engaging and fosters collaboration in any subject area.

Cons: Video recordings are a maximum of 15 seconds; devices must maintain internet connection.

Bottom Line: Students and teachers will enjoy the powerful learning of a modern scavenger hunt.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

One of my SUBSTITUTION steps in going paperless (see SAMR Model) is to convert meaningful paper-based activities and use them as a digital resources with products like Kami. Kami is a PDF annotation tool.

When I post a PDF in Google Classroom, my students open it in Kami and make a copy for themselves. The next class period I have had them go to Google Drive, locate that file, open it and continue. However, one of my students shared with me that she has bookmarked this page: https://web.kamihq.com/web/viewer.htmland she simply goes to recents each time to pull up the previous day’s activities. This may not seem like much but it saves my students a few clicks each time and means one less webpage to load on those slow internet days (yes, they are a real thing). A pretty cool tip!

NOTE: For the past two years I have been a paperless teacher. In my five sections of social studies I distribute activities through Google Classroom. As a result of going paperless, I have saved myself 42 hours of standing at the photocopies each year (yes, literally 42 hours)… that time does not include paper jams. This blog post is a tip I hope will help you in your transition to paperless.

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice   in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think,   and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through   the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for the K-12 Classroom, a new book from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), explores digital equity in depth and provides teachers and coaches concrete strategies for addressing this dilemma.

Authors Nicol R. Howard, Sarah Thomas and Regina Schaffer rely on this definition of digital equity: “Equal access and opportunity to digital tools, resources and services to increase digital knowledge, awareness, and skills.” Their book includes the latest research and approaches to digital equity challenges tied to the ISTE Standards for Educators and the ISTE Standards for Students. The book shares vignettes from teachers who have encountered and conquered some of these challenges, and from edtech coaches who have implemented equity-centered innovative professional development.

• To combat the digital divide, teachers in today’s classrooms must address issues such as connectivity, limited resources and the homework gap.  The book focuses on the following:  How to resolve problems of practice, including assembling a team, identifying and analyzing the problem, and implementing a plan to attack barriers to digital equity.
• How teachers can help to promote digital equity, looking closely at three common themes: lifelong learning, communication and transforming learning.
• Professional learning, including questions for self-evaluation. The authors also discuss options for self-directed professional learning.

Closing the Gap is an ISTE book series designed to reflect the contributions of multiple stakeholders seeking to ensure that digital equity is achieved on campuses, in classrooms and throughout education. The first book in the series, Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies for Teacher Prep Programs, shares examples and recommendations for educational technology leaders and educators on moving toward digital equity in K-12 and teacher education.

Digital Public Library of America

Organized digital library features piles of useful primary resources 

Pros: Makes centuries of American artifacts and media accessible with helpful filtering and topical collections.

Cons: Students need parameters and guidance to prevent searches from being wide but not deep. More closed-captioning and transcripts would be helpful.

Bottom Line: DPLA is at the top of the list of high-grade, online primary source collections if teachers make effective use of what's on offer. 

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

ALEKS

Strong adaptive learning makes traditional math curriculum more useful 

Pros: Provides tons of data to teachers and students, and competency-based progression is far better than grades.

Cons: Math content is mostly traditional, decontextualized, and dry.

Bottom Line: For kids who crave a traditional mastery-style math learning experience and have good self-regulation skills, this is a great option. 

Read more here.

Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed byCommon Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Good.iWare marks GoodReader’s 10th birthday with the launch of GoodReader 5, bringing a fresh look and improved document security for iPhone and iPad users.

GoodReader 5 delivers a new interface that makes viewing documents on an iPhone or iPad easier, including a split-screen view for iPad which enables users to view two documents or different sections of the same document simultaneously. This feature is especially useful for comparing documents such as drafts of contracts or researching for homework assignments.

GoodReader 5 offers a new user interface designed to be faster and more intuitive. 

Usability improvements include: 

• A redesigned PDF viewer with smoother scrolling, zooming, and page turning.
• A new way to read PDFs, featuring continuous "pageless" scrolling.
• A new pictures viewer, including a more modern look and feel, smooth and fast image loading, and a quick preview bar of all pictures in the folder.
• Split Screen (iPad only), enabling viewing of two files or different parts of the same file side-by-side.
• A new PDF Reflow mode with a continuous "pageless" scroll of pure text extracted from a PDF, with a graphical preview of actual PDF pages shown at every page break.

For the full list of new features, visit http://www.goodreader.com/update_history.html

GoodReader 5 locks down documents with military-grade AES-256 encryption, making it nearly impossible to read stored documents should a device be lost or stolen. Even should the hacker unlock the stolen device, the documents stored inside GoodReader will remain protected.

Another new document protection feature is Secure Photocopy which blocks others from copying redacted text from a PDF. Secure Photocopy guarantees the total elimination of all redacted text and images, hidden and deleted pages. 

Key new security features of GoodReader 5 include:

• Total document protection with military-grade AES-256 encryption for files and folders.
• For users requiring the ability to export a sensitive document outside GoodReader, where GoodReader's own file encryption doesn't apply, there is now the ability to add password protection with strong AES-256 encryption to PDF files and ZIP archives.
• Secure Photocopy, eliminating all traces of invisible, hidden or redacted information in a PDF file
• Secure options for individual PDF pages: email, extract or export pages as a separate password-protected file, as a secure photocopy, or both

GoodReader is currently available on the App Store for US$5.99 while users may purchase the Pro Pack as an in-app upgrade for the introductory price of US$5.99.

For more information, visit GoodReader.com.

Nearpod today announces the release of new platform features and enhanced curriculum offerings made in partnership with Desmos, Common Sense Education and other partners. With these additions, teachers can now access over 7,000 lessons that complement core content areas and expand the ways that supplemental curriculum, including College & Career Readiness and Digital Citizenship & Literacy, align to state and district initiatives. 

Desmos is an interactive tool with over 100 interactive graphs for multiple categories.

In addition to new math content, the company is adding new virtual reality (VR) Career Tours to its library of VR college tours. 

Nearpod has also added support for additional timed formative assessments and boosted classroom size support for its free offering. Teachers can now use the new timer feature on polls, quizzes and open-ended question activities. With increased classroom size support, silver edition users can now engage up to 40 students in a single session.  

Beginning February 2019, Nearpod’s content offering will include:

• 25 Nearpod math lessons that incorporate Desmos for grades 6-12
• 18 new Common Sense digital citizenship lessons for grades 3-5
• VR Career Tours for 16 career pathways
• 200 Cricket ELA lessons featuring leveled texts for grades K-5
• 18 lessons from Participate on the United Nations Sustainable Development goals for grades 6-12

Nearpod was recently named EdTech Digest’s Company of the Year 2018. The platform integrates with popular learning management systems like Canvas, Schoology, Blackboard, and productivity apps like Google Classroom, Apple Schoolwork, and Adobe. 

To explore the full Winter Release, register to access the live webinar recording. 

HoverCam will showcase its Pilot Series of digital teaching stations; wireless Ultra 10 document camera; and ClassFusion, a classroom presentation and learning management system in booth 1673 at TCEA 2019.

At its booth, HoverCam will showcase the Pilot X a tablet-based, battery-operated wireless digital teaching station that's designed for ultramobility. The Pilot's wireless transceiver instantly beams the podium's screen and touch annotations to any interactive flat panel, projector, or TV in HD resolutions up to 4K. The tablet can be charged while docked in the station or be removed to grant teachers more flexibility around the classroom. At the end of day, users simply remove the tablet and store it in the base for security.

Also at the show will be the Pilot 3, a fully integrated wireless digital podium teaching station. Featuring a Windows PC, 13-megapixel document camera, and 21-inch touchscreen with wireless HD mirroring functionality in a mobile podium, it  combines the most important elements used in today's digital classrooms.

HoverCam's Ultra 10 is a document camera  that features a 7.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, true 4K HDMI output, 16-megapixel sensor, and an Android computer. The built-in, multitouch viewing monitor allows educators to see exactly what their students see without having to turn their backs. 

Attendees will also have the opportunity to see a demonstration of ClassFusion, HoverCam's software that integrates a classroom presentation system with a learning management system.

More information on HoverCam's full line of education solutions is available at thehovercam.com.

Follett has released Destiny 16.5, featuring enhancements to Destiny Library Manager, Destiny Discover, and Destiny Resource Manager. Destiny solutions serve more than 65,000 schools and libraries and are used in 23 of the 25 largest U.S. school districts.

A “What’s Coming in Destiny 16.5” webinar is set for 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (Jan. 16). To register, visit https://bit.ly/2GZNek0. Registrants can either view the webinar live or later at their convenience.

Destiny 16.5 features include:

• Collection Playlists With Destiny 16.5, and as part of Collections by Destiny, classroom teachers will be able to create favorite playlists (similar to music playlists) and  share them with their students. 
• Genrefication Improvements Follett continues to increase its genrefication support to help librarians and media specialists flip their libraries to more of a bookstore-like model.
• Revised Job/Report Manager Functions Allows both Destiny Library and Resource Manager users to navigate directly to the report output without the need to manually refresh the page.
• Assess Fines for Resource Components Users will now be able to quickly and easily assess a fine when a component is lost or not returned.
• Global Renew Enhancements  Users can save time and effort by batch updating renewal dates on items based on a variety of criteria, including the patron’s graduation year, grade level or patron type.

For a complete look at all that is new in Destiny 16.5, visit https://bit.ly/2QC75VZ.

For more information about Follett, visit www.FollettLearning.com.

I have been working with my Social Studies students to create critically sourced and clearly written work related to our course content. Research has always been near and dear to my heart, but I recognize the same enthusiasm does not always exist for my students… it turns out they have minds of their own. In an effort to best meet my students’ needs at their own pace, this school year I have been using Google’s Applied Digital Skills program. The Applied Digital Skills program allows me to serve as a guide on the side (rather than the sage on the stage) to provide on-demand, in the moment help when my student need it… I have been using a genius bar system to provide this help.

One lesson I have used is the Research and Develop a Topic Lesson with some course requirement modifications and additions.  In fact, for my classes, I only used Lesson 1 and 2 with modifications (below) for Lesson 2 and additional requirements for source citations. Lesson 1 included a fun activity for students to understand (through creation) credible sources. Lesson 3, which I did not use, is an excellent extension activity for students who moved through the directions at a faster rate.

Lesson 2 Modifications and Additions

Notes for Video 4: Write a Paragraph About Your Topic

CREATE A GOOGLE SLIDE DECK with ONE SLIDE PER HISTORICAL FIGURE (rather than the Google Doc the video asks you to create) to complete your research on the following four historical figures:

• John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil
• Andrew Carnegie – Steel
• Henry Ford – Automobiles
• Cornelius Vanderbilt – Railroads

Include sources as the video instructs but also add one image of the historical figure as well. 

The project must only include 4 slides, one per figure. All content must fit on the slide. Each slide is required to have:

• Title (name in any font and color)
• Photo or Painting (face)
• 5-8 sentence paragraph that has been edited at hemingwayapp.com*
• 3 Sources cited using Apogee 2**
• Paragraph and Sources are in Size 11 font ARIAL in Black. On a WHITE BACKGROUND slide.

A few notes about my additions:

First, I have found the Google Slides format to be super clean for inserting images and it looks good in the Google Classroom Grading screen. Next, the website http://hemingwayapp.com takes you to the Hemingway App (a website not necessarily a downloadable). The Hemingway App is a personal favorite of mine as it allows you to gamify editing. Editing your own work can be rather difficult since when we read our own work we often autocorrect in our brain adding punctuation and words where needed. This website will help us to take steps toward writing more clear messages. This screenshot shows the main page:

Students will cut and paste their text into the Hemingway App where the Readability will be assessed (1). I encourage my middle school students to aim for a Grade 6 – 9 readability level (2).

This can be a bit frustrating when students see they are writing at a post-graduate level according to the Hemingway App, but the reality is they have often copy-pasted too much of someone else’s work or that the student’s writing is just not clear. I want to help my students write clear messages in their own words, the readability tool can help with that. Further, in the Hemingway App adverbs, passive voice, and difficult to read sentences are highlighted. I tell my students it’s like playing a game, their job is to make all the colors/errors go away.

**Apogee 2 Citation Creator

The fast citation tool available through Google Docs “Explore Button” is great for quickly citing work, but it does not always provide the more rigorous citation that I require of my students. Apogee 2 Citation Creator (3) is an excellent tool to bridge this gap. This free extension will allow students to quickly generate a citation for any page they visit. The citations will provide a “credibility score” out of 10. This score is based on the amount of information in the citation. No Author (n.a.) and/or No Date (n.d.) of publication will reduce this score… students can, of course, enter this manually.

Sources

1. “Hemingway Help – Hemingway Editor.” http://www.hemingwayapp.com/help.html. Accessed 14 Dec. 2018.
2. “This Surprising Reading Level Analysis Will Change the Way You ….” https://contently.com/2015/01/28/this-surprising-reading-level-analysis-will-change-the-way-you-write/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2018.
3. “Apogee2 | Citation Creator – Google Chrome.” 16 Jul. 2018, https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/apogee2-citation-creator/gbbpnkefafembhibompejknmjndilgaj. Accessed 18 Dec. 2018.

cross posted at micahshippee.com

Micah Shippee, PhD is an out-of-the-box-doer, a social studies teacher, and a technology trainer. He works to bridge the gap between research and practice in the educational sector. Micah explores ways to improve motivation in the classroom and seeks to leverage emergent technology to achieve educational goals. As an innovative "ideas" person, Micah likes to think, and act, outside the box. Micah is motivated and energetic, taking a creative approach towards achieving goals. As an Educational Consultant, and Keynote Speaker, he focuses on the adoption of emergent technology through the development of an innovative learning culture. Micah believe that innovativeness is the pedagogy of the future.

Top Tech Trends in in K12  

Supervisor of Instructional Technology Brandon Lutz identifies five top trends in K-12 education: 

Digital Citizenship

Be Internet Awesome - Amazing internet safety program for kids

Common Sense Media - Internet Safety resources for Teachers, Parents and Students

NetSmartz - Internet Safety resources for Teachers, Parents and Students

Makerspaces / Maker Mindset

Maker Ed

Curiosity Machine

Instructables for Teachers

Virtual Reality

Google Tour Creator

Insta One Camera (Product)

Oculus Go (Product)

The Death of Flash - 2020

PHET - Simulations for Science and Math using HTML 5

Digital Portfolios

Google Sites - Easily make student portfolios within your google domain

Cirkledin - Student created portfolios they can take with them to college

Brandon Lutz is the Supervisor of Instructional Technology in Cheltenham School District, Founder of the 60in60® Presentation, Past President of PAECT and program Chair of PETE&C. 

Nearpod today announced an initiative to provide premium access to members of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Nearpod is committing up to $10 million in premium digital content to lSTE members and expands access to webinars, articles and other resources designed to instruct and support teachers on how to best use technology for learning and teaching. The initiative will also connect ISTE and Nearpod members with edtech experts through exclusive ISTE Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) that offer topic-focused learning opportunities and online discussions.

The partnership combines Nearpod’s library of 6,500 standards-aligned, Ready To Run k-12 lessons and professional development workshops with ISTE’s expert content and resources in professional development.

[What's New in Google - September 2018]

Teachers who are ISTE members get Gold Level Access to Nearpod and $100 voucher to spend in the Nearpod store. Nearpod users can gain access to a discounted ISTE membership here.

The CoSN Meeting the Needs of Students Without Home Internet Access webinar on September 19, 2018 reflects the growing concern and call to action for school districts, business communities and state and federal government to address what has been termed as the homework gap. The Student Access to Digital Learning Resources Outside the Classroom Report, by the Department of Education, identified the three main causes of digital inequity as access and cost of high speed broadband and the lack of understanding by school families as to the importance of internet to support their students’ education.

As stated by the moderator of this webinar, CoSN’s new Chief Innovation Officer, Susan M. Bearden, “There is no silver bullet for addressing digital equity in school communities.” However, three passionate digital equity school leaders, Steve Langford, Chief Information Officer, Beaverton SD Oregon, Diane Doersch Chief Technology and Information Officer, Green Bay Area PS Wisconsin, and Rob Dickerson, Executive Director of Information Management Systems Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska, shared their own digital equity action plans that became their silver bullets.

The Perfect Storm

In 2014, Beaverson PS passed a bond with significant amount dedicated to technology and by 2016, Beaverton had 32,000 Chromebooks and 10,000 iPads being used in the district. Green Bay Area PS had a laptop cart model until 2017 when they established the Ninja Deployment initiative that resulted 1:1 devices at the secondary level and 1.5:1 at the elementary level. Nebraska’s two historical bonds, one in 2014 and another in 2017 that positioned Omaha PS to take total advantage of the modernization of E-Rate. Now that the districts had devices in students’ hands, strong reliable infrastructure and curriculums rich with digital content, Rob Dickerson identified this influx of technology as “a setting for a perfect storm.”

The Brick Wall

Steve Langford described how ”digital equity came to us” when students began advocating for themselves, expressing their frustration over accessing their education at home. Green Bay Area PS realized that, while the district had more classrooms using digital resources, they had not addressed the ISTE Standard for Education Leaders that ensured “all student have access to the technology and connectivity necessary to participate in authentic and engaging learning opportunities.” Omaha PS began to understand that, now that they were technology rich, they needed to develop the strategic plan frameworks that would “increase access and digital equity to transform learning.”

On the Road

The three school districts took different paths though they all had the same digital equity prize in sight. As articulated by Diane Doersch, all three districts had the desire to improve student learning by modernizing & differentiating with technology. Beaverton PS started by establishing a Digital Equity Brown Bag, a team of passionate stakeholders, to tackle the digital inequity in the district. These Brown Baggers established partnerships with the 1Million Project by Sprint and the Kajeet Homework Gap Grant that provided low-cost internet and wifi hotspots for student in need in their district. After much research, Green Bay PS decided on Kajeet SmartSpot which provided daily WiFI check out options for students in the district that expanded access to families across the district. Omaha PS took an approach of pushing digital literacy and digital citizenship with a five year public service grant from Cox. The district renovated a bus into a flexible learning space that provided free Internet, digital literacy and digital citizenship across the community.

To Infinity and Beyond

All three districts are looking to the future. Steve Langford conveyed that he is looking at how schools are using these devices by asking the difficult question of “Does usage look different across our schools?” Diane Doersch underscored that, for true digital transformation, district equity policies changes are needed that include digital equity. Rob Dickerson emphasized that Omaha continues to focus on partnering with local business to provide students with safe and welcoming learning environments as well as continuing to educate school parents on “where their student is coming from and how they can engage with them around the idea of digital citizenship and digital literacy.”

Teachers, principals, librarians, and other educators are invited to start planning for DLDay 2019 on February 28, 2019.

The eighth annual celebration of great teaching paired with technology will feature events in classrooms, libraries, schools, and districts across the country. Learn more at digitallearningday.org/about-dlday.