MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Capstone, an innovative learning company merging children’s content with easy-to-use edtech tools for K-5 classrooms, libraries, and homes, has named Haygood Poundstone as Chief Revenue Officer. Poundstone brings over 20 years of experience in the edtech market in business development, revenue growth, sales strategies, and operations management to this newly created role at Capstone. Poundstone will oversee Capstone’s revenue generating sales including direct to schools, library, distribution, trade, and international business units in executing the publisher’s growth strategy.
Throughout his career, Poundstone has led top-tier sales teams to drive organizational revenue, performance, and profit. Most recently, he served as the Area Vice President of the East at Renaissance Learning where he led a large team of regional vice presidents, sales leaders, and direct sales professionals to reach aggressive goals.
After six years away, Poundstone rejoins Capstone where he was one of the founding employees of its business unit myON. Prior to his time at Capstone, Poundstone held a variety of leadership positions at Lightspan and PLATO (now Edmentum).
“We’re thrilled to welcome Haygood back to Capstone. He is a visionary leader with a commitment to leveraging technology and learning resources to enhance the lives of children. His insights and strategic thinking will be invaluable as we continue to expand our reach and impact at Capstone,” said Randi Economou, Capstone CEO. “Beyond his professional accomplishments, Haygood is known for his people focused leadership style. He believes in fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment, where every team member is valued and empowered. His dedication to nurturing talent and cultivating a culture of excellence will propel Capstone forward.”
“Inspiring successful and engaging learning experiences is at the heart of Capstone. That resonates strongly with me and reflects both the value Capstone brings to schools and industry partners as well as the motivation and passion of the entire Sales team. I’m looking forward to leading the effort to expand Capstone’s reach as we share the good news about what Capstone can help educators accomplish and learners can achieve,” said Poundstone.
Poundstone earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at Auburn University at Montgomery where he was an active member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Lambda Chi Alpha.
Poundstone began his new position on November 13 and reports directly to the Capstone CEO.
About Capstone
Capstone is the nation’s leading educational publisher of K-5 digital solutions, children’s books, and literacy programs for school libraries, classrooms, and at-home reading. Through print books, interactive eBooks, or the curriculum-connected learning tool PebbleGo, Capstone has a passion for inspiring students to learn and their communities to thrive. As a publisher of content for children, Capstone embraces the responsibility to celebrate and share the diverse voices and perspectives of our readers and communities. Capstone supports great teaching and learning with engaging content that values the work that educators do every day—helping students succeed. CapstonePub.com #LearningIsForEveryone
For more news on gamification, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
Students don’t have to be video game fanatics to appreciate a gamified classroom lesson. When teachers turn a lesson or tough-to-teach concept into a motivational gamed or use a fun competition to teach new concepts, students become immersed in their learning and are often more engaged–meaning they’re more likely to retain information.
Still, there’s an art to gamifying a lesson and ensuring that students are actually learning instead of just playing a game for points.
Here’s how educators across the country are using tools–from Minecraft: Education Edition to Roblox and easy-to-access online resources–to gamify their lessons and help students engage with learning.
1. Carrie Rosenberg, a fourth grade teacher at Community Christian School, notes that gamification is one of the biggest education trends right now. According to ISTE, “gamification is about transforming the classroom environment and regular activities into a game.” Many students want more than just good grades from school–they want something physical or immediate. Rosenberg uses Gimkit, Kahoot!, and Prodigy to gamify her instruction and motivate students. Learn more about her instructional strategies.
2. Games are part of many people’s lives–so why not use them to benefit students when teaching? Abigail Beran, a fifth grade teacher enrolled in a masters program in education technology, knows that her students are more likely to engage in an educational activity when it is gamified–and that they’re even more likely to do so when the activity is gamified with technology. There are a variety of reading and math apps and websites that cater to gamification, and even provide the opportunity for differentiation. Beran uses tools including Raz Kids, Dreamscapes, Prodigy English, and IXL language arts for English/language arts gamification, and uses Prodigy Math, Math Playground, Pet Bingo, Sushi Monster, and IXL math for gamifying math. Discover how she integrates these gamified tools into her classroom.
3. As an educator for more 27 years and a digital learning specialist (social studies) for the past 7 years in Atlanta Public Schools, Felisa Ford has supported educators across the district and beyond as they purposefully integrate technology in the classroom to promote engagement and 21st century skill development. While there are many tools and resources available to educators to support their efforts to create dynamic digital learning environments, one of the most engaging is Minecraft Education Edition (M:EE). Popular among students (and teachers!), M:EE is a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment. Read about five ways Ford has helped the district’s teachers use M:EE into classroom instruction.
“Fueled by teacher shortages,” we’re told in a recent article in The74, “Zoom-in-a-Room” is making a comeback.
If this is the case, although it’s better than the alternative—no teacher at all—it’s also a missed opportunity for deeper innovation.
As reporter Linda Jacobson noted in the article, online learning has long been used in schools for subjects they couldn’t otherwise offer. She cited A.P. Calculus and Latin as examples. But even courses we think of as fundamental—physics, for example—have long been glaring areas where schools haven’t had qualified teachers. As I wrote nearly a decade ago, “less than two-thirds of high schools–63%–offer physics. Only about half of high schools offer calculus. Among high schools that serve large percentages of African-American and Latino students, one in four don’t offer Algebra II, and one in three don’t offer chemistry.”
According to Jacobsen, “as districts struggle to fill teaching vacancies, they are increasingly turning to companies like Proximity to teach core subjects.” The practice is one in which the teacher of record delivers whole-class learning virtually, and an in-person monitor—often a substitute teacher—tracks behavior and ensures students do their work.
In some ways, this use of online learning could be a classic case of a disruptive innovation, which begins as a primitive innovation. As a result, disruptive innovations typically start by serving areas of nonconsumption—where the alternative is nothing at all. By outperforming this alternative, disruptive innovations can take root and improve over time until they take over.
Back in 2008 when we published Disrupting Class, we suggested that teacher shortages could represent a significant area of nonconsumption into which online learning could make its mark and begin to transform classrooms from monolithic, one-size-fits-none environments to student-centered ones that customized for the individual needs of each and every learner.
But for this to occur, the use of online learning shouldn’t just be to pipe in a virtual teacher that delivers more one-size-fits-none, whole-group instruction. It would seem that there’s not a lot of room for improvement in that model.
Instead, schools ought to be taking these opportunities to do what Heather Staker and I described in Blended—offering a la carte online courses with great digital curriculum mixed with elements of the Flex or Individual Rotation models of blended learning that match the path and pace of each individual’s students’ learning needs.
Just as Teach to One uses a mix of in-person and online teachers to deliver a personalized-learning pathway for every student in middle-school math, so, too, could schools begin to assemble blended-learning options that leverage virtual teachers but do so in formats that move beyond standardized instruction and incorporate a variety of engaging learning modalities; ranging from direct instruction tailored to a novice learner’s level to rich, real-world projects that allow a student to apply their learning of knowledge and skills in real performances, and from heads-down, solo learning experiences with software, offline work, or virtual tutors to small-group conversations and explorations.
These sorts of models would take advantage of the online format by delivering a tailored learning experience for each student rather than beaming a remote teacher into classes to do the same old, same old that hasn’t been working—and, as we saw with “Zoom-in-a-room” during COVID, was likely even less effective.
As Mallory Dwinal wrote in 2015 when she explored the opportunity for innovating where there are teacher shortages, states could also help by allowing these experiences to move away from seat-time requirements to mastery- or competency-based learning and giving districts some resources to evaluate and select the appropriate learning models.
So here’s my challenge to districts: Next time you see a teacher shortage, don’t just sub in a virtual teacher and fill the seat. Instead, get creative with a clear and smart goal of boosting every child’s learning. Spend a bit of time thinking about how this could be an opportunity, not a threat. And use virtual talent to design a much more robust learning experience for all. That would be something worth talking about.
For more news on edtech trends, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
Digital learning is a critical component of what happens in today’s classrooms. Edtech tools, connected learning experiences, and 21st-century skills all play a role in preparing students for the future.
But digital learning trends and technologies change so quickly that sometimes, it’s difficult to know where to focus or where to invest funding, time, and resources.
Here are 5 must-read stories about digital learning trends and developments to help your school leadership team determine which digital learning resources and edtech tools can best benefit students:
1. Digital learning requires digital research skills: Right now is the perfect time to start a research project with your students, as it will help them develop skills they will use for the rest of their lives. While your students, who have grown up in the Information Age and think they already know everything, any classroom teacher knows that our students need help more than they think. Our students’ belief that everything they need to know is online can, without the right skillset, leave them prey to misinformation. Let’s teach our students to steer through the online ocean of data to be both effective researchers and responsible digital citizens.
2. Digital escape rooms merge creativity with student engagement and skill development: Escape rooms are engaging for people of all ages–they require durable skills such as creativity, critical thinking, determination, and the ability to work in groups to solve challenges. It makes sense that educators would craft their lessons around the concept of an escape room–and that’s just what high school educator Lynn Thomas has done. In this Q&A with eSchool News, Thomas details how she found inspiration to create escape room learning opportunities and the benefits she sees for her students–and she offers a look at a new ChatGPT challenge she’s created.
3. Esports can engage even the youngest of students, and these programs help students develop critical skills no matter what paths they pursue: Scholastic esports is rapidly growing, and many schools are starting to incorporate esports programs into their curriculum. The benefits of esports make a compelling case for creating a program: Research shows that students who participate in scholastic esports experience social and emotional benefits, increased academic achievement, and higher graduation rates. These positive learning outcomes make esports popular in secondary grades, with both students and educators advocating for the addition and growth of scholastic esports in their middle and high schools. But esports isn’t just for the older kids, and starting an esports program in early elementary school can be an effective way to lay the groundwork for esports participation as students make their way into higher grade levels.
4. In an AI-driven world, how can students maintain their own voices? Now, more than ever, students’ future success in an ever-changing world requires that they learn how to think critically and creatively while collaborating with others to solve complex problems. But the unwritten curriculum of most schools—instilling process perfectionism through rewarding flawless performance—is probably doing more harm than good. Against this backdrop, there’s a lurking concern that AI is just going to help students find mindless shortcuts for cheating their way to good grades. But that’s only a risk if schools and teachers hold a low bar for what they expect of their students.
5. Effective digital learning means educators must know how to leverage digital tools correctly: When properly integrated, AI can amplify the work of teachers, shrink equity and accessibility gaps, and provide unrestricted access to information. But for technology to make a meaningful change in K-12 education, we need to address the true source of the problem: broken instructional models. Even though countless technology tools have been introduced into the market, classroom practice looks eerily similar to how it did a hundred years ago. That’s because educators are still equipped with an antiquated model of teaching that isn’t designed to be responsive to students’ learning styles. By leveraging AI and technology to rethink traditional teaching methodologies, we can level-set our classrooms to more effectively empower educators and personalize student learning.
For more news on digital learning tools, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
In today’s dynamic educational landscape, technology has become an integral part of teaching and learning, but it presents a paradox. While diverse edtech products promise innovation, they simultaneously pose challenges. Educators, learners, instructional technology coaches, and IT/edtech staff are grappling with the complexities of managing an ever-expanding arsenal of disconnected digital tools. It’s important to understand the challenges more closely and how an integrated, interoperable, and effective educational technology ecosystem can meet the evolving landscape of learning for more efficient, impactful, and secure learning experiences.
There are several prominent shifts that are driving the future of learning, therefore making a comprehensive and interoperable ecosystem essential. First is the permanence of a remote and/or hybrid learning structure. Solutions like interactive displays, cloud whiteboarding, screen sharing, and video conferencing tools have helped schools embrace and succeed in this new learning format. Second is the need to create a 21st century learning environment that is accessible for all students, encourages engagement and collaboration, and can be more easily tailored for different learning levels and needs. For example, smart board tools such as text to speech, translation, or word prediction can help students overcome language barriers and unique challenges. For increased engagement and collaboration, teachers are relying on new teaching methods such as microlearning and gamification. Finally, there’s also a drive toward more community and outreach.
All these initiatives have meant an increase in digital tools and apps that must be properly monitored and managed. What’s more, they need to be interoperable and accessible not only on laptops and mobile devices but also on smart boards. According to Lightspeed’s Edtech App Report, which examined the use of edtech in more than 100 school districts during the 2021-2022 school year, there is an astounding number of apps in use. It found that districts surveyed use more than 2,000 apps and that 300 of those account for 99 percent of use. It also found that much of learning time is digital, with 56 percent of students actively engaged in digital learning for more than two hours per day. This highlights that while beneficial, the digital toolbox has become more complex and essential. It emphasizes the importance for a unified and interoperable ecosystem that can blend these diverse elements into a seamless and effective educational experience.
Another challenge is security. With more and more devices being introduced into classrooms, IT administrators will have to consider how to safeguard them in order to prevent possible security risks and data leaks. Outdated firmware and apps may create security loopholes that are vulnerable to attacks and data leaks. Keeping your system up-to-date is one of the best ways to ensure optimal device performance and data security.
In the realm of modern classrooms, one of the most notable advancements is the integration of smart board technology. Over the years, smart boards have evolved significantly from the early days of interactive whiteboards. However, it’s only recently that we’ve witnessed all-in-one solutions that effectively address contemporary trends in education as well as the challenges associated with managing these tools. Their use has become so significant that they actually lie at the heart of the ecosystem topic.
The key to this evolution lies in the operating systems that power smart boards, equipped with pre-installed software such as whiteboarding apps and web browsers. Some providers even offer the flexibility to download additional educational software from app stores, catering to the diverse needs of teachers. Smart boards have proven to be invaluable tools for educators seeking to foster active participation and enhance learning retention among students, especially with those that are compatible with their favorite interactive apps.
By combining a digital whiteboard with a wide array of educational apps, educators now have the capability to conduct entire lessons using just a smart board. This integrated approach allows teachers to seamlessly access digital content from their cloud storage or local drives, or download materials directly from the internet. Even when faced with non-digitized content, teachers have the option to wirelessly share their laptop screens or connect document cameras to the board. This technology represents a significant shift in modern education, offering educators a versatile and adaptable solution to meet the evolving needs of the classroom.
Smart boards play a vital role in meeting the app management and technology security needs of schools. As educational institutions introduce a growing number of devices into their classrooms, safeguarding these assets and protecting student and teacher data becomes a paramount concern. Smart boards rise to this challenge by implementing a range of robust security measures, ensuring a safe and secure educational environment. These measures include compliance with international data privacy standards such as the GDPR and CCPA, offering regular over-the-air (OTA) updates with the latest security patches, and leveraging secure cloud services hosted on trusted servers like Amazon and Google Firebase.
In today’s dynamic educational landscape, technology presents both promises and challenges. Educators, students, and IT professionals grapple with managing an ever-expanding array of disconnected digital tools, underscoring the need for an integrated, interoperable educational technology ecosystem. This ecosystem is vital to meet the evolving landscape of learning efficiently and effectively. Interactive classroom solutions, similar to smart boards, have the potential to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education technology by seamlessly combining digital whiteboards with a wide array of educational apps. Educators can conduct entire lessons through such solutions, accessing digital content, sharing screens, and connecting document cameras effortlessly. Furthermore, data privacy and security are paramount, with a focus on compliance with international data privacy standards, timely security updates, and flexible network security options, including multi-factor authentication, password protection, compartmentalized user accounts, and secure user modes.
In the modern classroom, where technology has become indispensable, these solutions empower educators and institutions to navigate the complexities of the digital age with confidence, creating engaging, secure, and effective learning experiences for students.
For more news on AI in education, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
Aresounding 90 percent of educators in a recent survey said they believe that AI has the potential to make education more accessible.
Teachers are recognizing that when implemented ethically and with thoughtful consideration, AI can help students with special needs, learning disabilities, and language barriers, for example, and experience more effective, personalized learning methods, according to the 2023 Educator AI Report: Perceptions, Practices, and Potential from digital curriculum solution provider Imagine Learning.
With generative AI emerging as a pivotal element in the dynamic educational landscape of 2023, Imagine Learning conducted the survey to explore the perceptions, current practices, and future aspirations of educators who have already embraced technology in the classroom. The inaugural report showcases a comprehensive exploration of AI’s current and future role in K-12 classrooms.
When it comes to readiness, however, only 15 percent of educators feel “prepared” or “very prepared” to oversee the use of generative AI in the classroom, with over twice that number (32 percent) expressing they are completely unprepared to do so. What’s more, educators indicate a disparity when it comes to the likelihood of using Generative AI in the classroom, with district and school leaders perceived as less likely to embrace new AI tools when compared to educators and students.
On top of this, only one-third (33 percent) of surveyed educators feel that they have the support they need from their district and school leadership to successfully implement generative AI into their teaching.
Other key findings from Imagine Learning’s report include:
Almost half of educators (44 percent) who have used generative AI believe that its use has alleviated the burden of their workload and made their jobs easier.
Of the respondents who reported they have not used AI in the classroom, 65 percent cite a lack of familiarity as the primary obstacle to the future utilization of generative AI, with 48 percent also expressing ethical concerns.
72 percent of educators are most concerned about plagiarism and cheating due to generative AI, highlighting the need for clear guidelines for students for using AI with academic integrity.
“Generative AI is a blend of promise and prudence. Its transformative potential is undeniable, but the journey forward requires thoughtful consideration,” said Sari Factor, Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer, of Imagine Learning. “Learning is above all a human endeavor. With generative AI as a tool to simplify lesson planning, reduce administrative tasks, and enhance personalized learning, we can empower the potential of teachers and students and improve learning outcomes.”
CALGARY, AB –SMART Technologies is proud to announce the launch of the company’s latest innovation for education: the SMART Board® RX series. This revolutionary display is designed with accessibility in mind and provides teachers with the tools they need to make learning more engaging for students, while saving precious time for teachers, too. This performance display comes with optically bonded glass and a multi-color stylus for an effortless inking experience, as well as leading student device integration, putting it in a category of its own.
At the heart of the SMART Board RX series are the features and functionality, purposefully designed to help make classroom time higher quality time and engage all students in inclusive and accessible learning experiences. Most notably, the RX series comes with SMART’s exclusive Tool Explorer® technology that enables all students – including those with diverse learning needs – to actively engage with content and easily communicate with their peers and teachers.
Tool Explorer digitally recognizes blocks that come in pre-programmed sets with images such as emojis that can help enable social and emotional learning. The blocks are also programmable, giving teachers or students the ability to program any image onto a block. Tool Explorer provides a unique way for students to communicate and participate – including those students who are non-verbal, those who struggle to hold a pen or to write, and those who require or simply prefer different methods of communication. Tool Explorer is only available with the SMART Board RX series.
The SMART Board RX series is Google EDLA certified, giving users native access to the Google Play store, Google Classroom, Chrome Browser, and other Google services so that teachers can have all their favorite apps at their fingertips. It comes with a completely refreshed embedded experience – iQ 4.0. The new version of iQ is designed to simplify workflows for teachers and make lessons engaging for students.
The RX series also includes SMART’s exclusive ability for continuous differentiation of all interaction types, which enables multiple users to intuitively write, erase, and touch at the same time, without interfering in each other’s work for a truly collaborative experience.
“The SMART Board RX series represents a major leap forward in classroom technology,” said Nicholas Svensson, CEO of SMART Technologies. “Our goal was not just to create another interactive display but rather an investment that helps to create inclusive, accessible classrooms that will stand the test of time.”
The SMART Board RX series offers an array of features, including:
Android 13 for enhanced security and smooth performance, with expandable storage up to 576GB.
Optically bonded glass which provides a smooth, precise inking experience and unmatched viewing clarity.
Simultaneous Tool Differentiation so multiple students can intuitively collaborate at the display together.
An all-new multi-color LED stylus for easier color switching and simple, intuitive inking with color built right into the pen.
NFC and QR code-based sign-in with one-click sign-out for added security and convenience.
Integrated sound bar with two 20W speakers and a 15W subwoofer.
New environmental and air quality sensors including a particulate matter sensor and volatile organic compounds sensor.
All the software educators need, for free.
The SMART Board RX is designed to serve districts for years to come. The RX series has an energy-efficient design that is designed to be a sound investment for many years. Automatic over-the-air updates keep customers up to date with new features, patches, and operating system upgrades—keeping pace with market trends and new options and features without spending budget on a new display. Schools and districts can get more out of their technology investment and continue to deliver high-quality learning experiences for years to come.
About SMART Technologies ULC
SMART isn’t just a leading tech company, but a connections company working tirelessly to create and advance technology that helps teachers, learners, businesses, and teams make meaningful connections every single day. The original SMART Board® launched in 1991, and has continued to innovate through Lumio, an award-winning cloud-based learning software. With a full range of products, including an impressive selection of easy-to-use interactive displays used by millions of businesses, educators and students around the world, SMART creates connections that matter. To learn more, visit www.smarttech.com.
For more news on AI in education, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
Last spring, a few weeks after I started using ChatGPT, I challenged my high school English students: “Artificial intelligence can do any of your class assignments,” I told them flatly. “Now prove me wrong.”
I wanted to provoke them, to get them to ask questions, and to start using these tools—not to cheat—but to flip their learning on its head. I knew we needed to learn this together. And since that day, we didn’t just shift the paradigms—we sent them into somersaults.
1. Putting ChatGPT on trial
I first became aware of ChatGPT last February when I began reading mind-blowing comments of several progressive educators. As a teacher who strives to help students uncover their interests and stretch their imaginations, I wanted to ensure they were participating in this new technology. We were about to begin our unit on The Crucible and I began wondering how we could leverage ChatGPT.
Typically, at the end of the unit, I ask my students to put various characters on trial, backing up their ideas with plenty of original evidence. This time around, I wanted them to also put ChatGPT on trial. What are its strengths and opportunities, its weaknesses and threats?
So I created a project-based scenario: The students were attorneys for a law firm, and I was their client, bringing them this challenge: I was thinking about investing in ChatGPT. Based on their understanding and the research they’d conduct during The Crucible unit, should I? What would be the implications? The upsides and the down?
So the students began, first reading The Crucible, relying only on their human intelligence. Then, after a week, they opened up their understanding of the classic play through ChatGPT. And it was astonishing: ChatGPT helped students discover subtle nuances and character traits they’d missed initially, created authentic-sounding trial documents that outlined their arguments, provided historical information about the Salem witch trials, and prompted students to explore the play’s themes and messages. It also generated hypothetical conversations between characters, providing fresh insights into how characters evolved throughout the play.
At the unit’s completion, the students had glimpsed AI’s potential—and its potential problems. Many students were concerned about cheating, about bias, about invented “facts,” and about privacy. But, ultimately, the majority of students advised that I, as their client, should invest in AI, finding that it increased efficiencies, helped with workload, sped up research, improved grammar, relieved deadline stress, and more.
2. Using ChatGPT as a creative partner
When they returned from spring break, students found that I’d taken their advice to heart: I’d invested $20 on a premium version of ChatGPT and had created an AI workspace in our classroom. Now I invited them to use ChatGPT during our final inquiry unit, during which they’d ask questions, come up with a plan, leverage their research, and then go public with their findings. Soon they found they could use ChatGPT as a creative, brainstorming, spit-balling partner—with great results: generating open-ended questions, discovering and exploring their interests, creating a day-by-day calendar to reach goals, ideating original art pieces, and augmenting lyrics for songs and scripts. To say they were wowed by ChatGPT’s ability to take their own thinking and creativity further would be an understatement.
3. Considering what’s next
During that inquiry unit, I wanted to better understand—and for my students to better understand—what might be ahead of us in terms of AI. So I invited our school librarians to visit our class, presenting glimmers of what’s ahead: the good, from conducting medical research to solving complex global problems; the bad, from impersonating someone’s speech to waging war with AI; and the surprising, from saving bees to predicting earthquakes.
Impressively, the librarians also fielded questions, addressing ethical considerations of AI, detailing the importance of vocabulary when it comes to writing powerful prompts, and reminding students that they need to be thinkers themselves and not just settle for what ChatGPT generates.
4. Going from zero to hero
Just days before our fall semester started, I learned that I’d been assigned mythology—a subject I’d not taught before and one without a syllabus. But, like my students during their inquiry unit, I knew I could turn to ChatGPT as my creative partner. To begin, I wrote a thorough prompt, telling it: “You’re a high school English teacher who wants to teach an inquiry-based mythology class with self-directed learning. You have questions and you’re looking for answers. (That’s so the hero’s journey à la Joseph Campbell.) Now create a syllabus, complete with readings.” Less than a minute later, there it was, in all its mind-boggling near perfection. Next, I asked ChatGPT to create a hero’s journey chart with student checkpoints along the way. Once again, in 20 seconds, there it was. In class, I’ve stuck with these materials mostly and, so far, so good.
5. Clubbing—AI style
Most recently, I’ve teamed up with a school librarian to create an extracurricular AI club. We’re not totally clear on our mission or our goals—we’re in the early days. But we do want students to understand what’s happening with AI and to be, if not prepared, at least thinking about AI and how it may impact not only their careers but their lives.
As for that first challenge I presented—the one about AI being able to do any schoolwork—unfortunately, it proved true: AI can do pretty much any class assignment. And that made us all squirm. In fact, that feels scary. But that’s all the more reason to delve into AI. As Bill Gates said last spring, “You definitely want the good guys to have strong AI.” You don’t want only the “bad guys” to be using it, manipulating it to deceive or to swindle or to gain power or to wage war. That’s why we must keep talking about AI with our students. We can’t run away.
Soon AI will be a common tool in myriad fields. That’s why we as educators need to help our students use it, become familiar with it, and think for themselves about its implications. Yes, it’s threatening. It’s also exciting. And it’s going to be their world.
As the hoopla surrounding emerging AI technologies and their impact on education endures, we need to get past whether or not to use ChatGPT—Pandora’s box is officially open—and focus instead on how best to use it. Despite OpenAI recently releasing a guide for ChatGPT in the classroom that demonstrates how teachers can use the large language model software to enhance learning, Zarek Dozda, director of UChicago’s Data Science 4 Everyone, does not think it goes as far as it should to address educators’ concerns about the growth of this emerging tech in classrooms.
In this insightful conversation, Zarek breaks down several particulars he feels need to be addressed, including:
More research – OpenAI’s guidance focuses on anecdotal evidence of ChatGPT in classrooms but has little to say about best practices when using ChatGPT as an educational tool.
Focus on mechanics – Instead of highlighting education tactics that utilize ChatGPT, OpenAI should provide a more thorough explanation of large language models and how they work.
Training for teachers – The specific teachers mentioned in OpenAI’s guidance should be applauded for embracing emerging tech, but there needs to be greater resources for teachers just trying to keep up with AI.
Data Science for Everyone is a coalition advancing data science education so that every K-12 student has the data literacy skills needed to succeed in our modern world. Equitable access to data science education is an opportunity to open doors to higher education, high-paying careers, and an engaged community. Created by the University of Chicago Center for RISC and organized in partnership with The Learning Agency and the Concord Consortium, the group supports a growing community that knows that the data revolution has transformed modern life and we need to prepare our students.
Other highlights from the conversation include:
Responsibility in AI Usage: Zarek emphasizes the importance of instilling responsible and efficient AI usage in students, preparing them for a future where digital skills are integral to various careers.
Changing Perceptions: The discussion challenges preconceived notions about AI, acknowledging shifts in attitudes among educators and students toward embracing technology as a valuable supplement to traditional teaching methods.
Educator Empowerment: Teachers are encouraged to view AI as an opportunity for professional development, using tools like ChatGPT 4 to create lesson plans and assessments, fostering a collaborative approach to interdisciplinary solutions.
Foundational Skills Remain Crucial: While AI tools advance, Zarek emphasizes the continued significance of foundational skills, asserting that students should still learn mathematics, coding, and critical thinking to understand and address AI-generated errors.
Balanced Implementation: Zarek advocates for a measured approach to AI integration, steering clear of extremes such as outright bans or complete reliance on AI for educational planning. Instead, a gradual introduction with teacher guidance is recommended.
Global Talent Race: The conversation concludes with a call for policymakers to recognize the urgency of upskilling educators, framing education as critical for future economic and international success in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
For more news on AI and creativity, visit eSN’s Digital Learning page
Nearly 40 percent of teachers expect to use AI in their classrooms by the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. This use of AI at school will impact how students learn and use their creativity as innovation, which will be increasingly necessary in the future as even higher-order thinking skills become standard. There will be long-term effects if the methods of teaching creativity are not adjusted, but if educators embrace AI mindfully, there will be long-term benefits.
In my experience observing educators and students, I started to see a need for more moments of reflection. The education space and other industries are quickly evolving because of AI, but humans, especially young students, aren’t yet hard-wired to adapt at the same pace. In response, educators need to take more time and enlist the help of tools to begin planting the seeds of mindful creativity in relation to AI, which will be a critical skill as young children grow into tomorrow’s workforce.
Moving forward, meta creativity–routines that help us engage fully with the hardest parts of creativity–and even higher-order thinking should be on every educator’s mind when building an environment conducive to both creativity and AI use.
The relationship between AI and creativity
When most people think of creativity, they relate it to the ability to ideate and express original ideas. However, the AI era we live in suggests that we should change this definition since AI can be trained on more information and has demonstrated the ability to make stronger creative connections than humans. We must evolve our definitions of creativity to higher orders to stay relevant, including successfully using AI in and out of the classroom.
One of the most challenging parts of creativity is resisting the impulse to give up when you meet failure or criticism of your ideas, which students commonly face at school when working on group projects or receiving grades. Failure and criticism can lead to students abandoning their own ideas and relying too heavily on AI to be their brains, so to speak. If this is regularly done during school, students will likely continue this habit at their future jobs or other parts of life. To avoid this dependency on AI and other technology, students need stronger self-awareness and reflective routines to engage in the full complexity of creativity.
What is meta-creativity?
Remaining creatively relevant requires self-awareness, adaptability of thinking, and impulse control during the creative process. New routines that help humans engage fully with the most challenging parts of creativity must be introduced. One example of such a routine is mindful breathing when a student faces a setback when working on a creative project. This routine will help students calm down and refocus on the task they’re working on without losing too much progress.
Routines like this are considered meta-cognitive functions, which can serve as solutions for students and teachers trying to remain creative and engaged in the classroom using AI.
How to foster meta creativity
Reflective tools–educational instruments or techniques that encourage students and educators to reflect on their learning experiences and outcomes–are an excellent way for educators to foster meta-creativity in their students. These tools are designed to prompt and support higher-order skills such as critical thinking, self-awareness, and continuous improvement, which are critical for education and life beyond the classroom.
In addition, reflective tools can help educators adapt to today’s rapidly changing world while fostering stronger attention, connection, and intrinsic motivation within their students. By using these tools, educators are taking a step to remove the stigma that schools stunt creativity with their strict rules and routines.
American society is built on the foundation of innovation–that mindset is what starts and operates businesses, creates new products, and continuously sets new standards of excellence worldwide. But where does this innovation come from? The contrast between the constraining creativity in the traditional education system and the defiant, independent culture of regular society may create this innovative thinking, which now translates to higher-order skills and meta-creativity. In addition, the ability to make something from nothing is now the baseline of creativity, and even higher-order thinking will be necessary to excel at this.
While many believe schools are one of many factors diminishing basic creativity, I think schools provide constraints that can actually build up students’ meta-creative capabilities in the long run. After years of structured school days, students are craving a freedom that they never had before. And all the creative and mindful muscles they spent 12 years building are ready to be unleashed as they enter society outside school. Their eagerness to showcase their unique skills will position them to have a positive impact in whatever sector they choose to enter.
AI and other technology have changed how humans think and live. For the education space, specifically, teachers must create a learning environment where students can reach a new level of creativity that allows collaboration with AI and requires even higher-order thinking skills to flourish. This is what will prepare students for the rest of their lives.
While it might be an adjustment at first, implementing meta-creativity and engaging with the most challenging parts of the creative process will result in the best outcomes for educators and students as the era of AI continues to gain momentum.
Editor’s note: This story on how to manage academic integrity as generative AI moves into classrooms originally appeared on CoSN’s blog and is reposted here with permission.
The rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology present both incredible opportunities and significant challenges for educational settings. Whether or not a school district is considering leveraging AI, the influence of this technology on educational ecosystems is undeniable. As AI increasingly becomes a part of our daily lives, district leaders have a responsibility to understand its impact in educational settings and make informed decisions accordingly. This is true whether the aim is active adoption or simply preparation for a future where AI tools become more prevalent in educational settings.
To ensure school districts are adequately prepared for the integration of generative AI into their instructional and operational systems, the Council of Great City Schools, CoSN – Consortium for School Networking, and Amazon Web Services have partnered to create the K-12 Gen AI Readiness Checklist Questionnaire. There are several ways in which district leadership can best use this checklist for assessing and enhancing their readiness for integrating generative AI technologies into both instructional and operational systems.
The first step should be to bring together a group of individuals that will form the district’s Generative AI Leadership Team. Who Should Be Involved?
Superintendents and District Leaders: As decision-makers, your insights into aligning AI adoption with overall goals and strategies are critical.
Chief Technology Officers and Chief Information Officers: You will be the primary users of the checklist, evaluating technical capabilities, limitations, and needs.
Cross-Functional Teams: The checklist addresses a wide array of considerations, making it essential for input from representatives of all departments involved, including academics, finance, and legal.
The Checklist covers readiness in Executive Leadership, Operational, Data, Technical, Security, Legal/Risk Management. Below are some ideas for how the Checklist can be leveraged in your school district.
Initial Assessment
Alignment with District Goals: Start by examining whether AI technologies align with your district’s mission, vision, and values. Resource Inventory: Make sure you have designated teams or individuals who will be responsible for overseeing AI adoption. Tactical Steps Legal Review: Consult the legal department to ensure compliance with state laws or district rules concerning the use of AI technologies. Policy Development: Establish clear policies around the responsible use of AI, keeping in mind to align them with existing federal guidelines and best practices. Staff Training: Ascertain the training needs for different roles within the district and prepare a training roadmap.
Operational Readiness
Procurement Standards: Set forth clear standards for AI procurement, with a focus on compliance and ethical considerations. Data Governance and Privacy: Make sure you have robust data governance policies in place and that you are compliant with privacy regulations. Technical Readiness Security Framework: Update your cybersecurity policies to include AI-specific considerations. Identity and Access Management: Implement centralized role-based data access controls specifically for AI tools. Monitoring: Develop processes to keep track of systems that use AI and how they are used.
Risk Management
Legal Remediation: Update terms and conditions to include AI-specific clauses and ensure the legal team has remediation plans. Copyright Policy: Create or update the copyright policy to include content created using AI tools. Continuous Review Iterative Approach: The adoption of AI is not a one-off event but a continual process. Periodic reassessments should be conducted.
Making the Most of the Checklist
Customization: One of the key strengths of the checklist is that it is designed to be adaptable. Districts should customize it according to their unique needs and challenges. Community Resource: The checklist is intended to evolve. Once it is made publicly available under a Creative Commons license, districts can not only modify it but also share their experiences and modifications, contributing to its value as a community resource.
The extremely rapid pace of gen AI development brings with it both great opportunities and exposure to risk. Creating a team to provide governance for the adoption of AI in educational settings is a critical step in guiding use and preventing abuse. The K-12 Gen AI Readiness Checklist provides a comprehensive framework to guide district leadership to engage in understanding a complex AI ecosystem and the numerous considerations that come with AI adoption. By strategically leveraging this checklist, school districts can navigate the complexities of AI technology while aligning with educational objectives and ensuring data privacy and security.
The goal is not just to blindly adopt new technology but to transform our education systems for the better, and this checklist is a strong step in that direction.
Get the latest news on AI in education by visiting eSN’s Digital Learning page
Educators face myriad dilemmas in the wake of ChatGPT’s explosion, with some of the most popular including teaching with ChatGPT and how to address student use of AI chatbots in assignments.
OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has released a new guide to help educators navigate the many ways AI can be used in teaching and learning. The guide contains examples of how some educators are teaching with ChatGPT, along with a series of frequently-asked questions that may help guide teachers as they seek to strike a balance between accepting AI’s presence and an over-reliance on such tools.
As outlined in OpenAI’s guide, here’s how some instructors are teaching with ChatGPT:
Role playing challenging conversations: Dr. Helen Crompton, Professor of Instructional Technology at Old Dominion University, encourages her education graduate students to use ChatGPT as a stand-in for a particular persona—like a debate partner who will point out weaknesses in their arguments, a recruiter who’s interviewing them for a job, or a new boss who might deliver feedback in a specific way. She says exploring information in a conversational setting helps students understand their material with added nuance and new perspective.
Building quizzes, tests, and lesson plans from curriculum materials: Fran Bellas, a professor at Universidade da Coruña in Spain, recommends teachers use ChatGPT as an assistant in crafting quizzes, exams and lesson plans for classes. He says to first share the curriculum to ChatGPT and then ask for things like fresh quiz and lesson plan ideas that use modern or culturally relevant examples. Bellas also turns to ChatGPT to help teachers make sure questions they write themselves are inclusive and accessible for the students’ learning level. “If you go to ChatGPT and ask it to create 5 question exams about electric circuits, the results are very fresh. You can take these ideas and make them your own.”
Reducing friction for non-English speakers: Dr. Anthony Kaziboni, the Head of Research at the University of Johannesburg, teaches students who mostly don’t speak English outside of the classroom. Kaziboni believes that command of English is a tremendous advantage in the academic world, and that misunderstandings of even small details of English grammar can hold back students from recognition and opportunity. He encourages his students to use ChatGPT for translation assistance, to improve their English writing, and to practice conversation.
Teaching students about critical thinking: Geetha Venugopal, a high school computer science teacher at the American International School in Chennai, India, likens teaching students about AI tools to teaching students how to use the internet responsibly. In her classroom, she advises students to remember that the answers that ChatGPT gives may not be credible and accurate all the time, and to think critically about whether they should trust the answer, and then confirm the information through other primary resources. The goal is to help them “understand the importance of constantly working on their original critical thinking, problem solving and creativity skills.”
Washington, D.C. — Today, SETDA is pleased to announce the release of a cybersecurity resource focused on small, rural, and under-resourced districts. Developed by SETDA’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Collaborative—an active professional learning community consisting of state edtech leaders, affiliates, and corporate members—this resource is designed to identify essential resources, assess state-level K-12 cybersecurity advocacy initiatives, and craft policy recommendations to enhance cybersecurity readiness within these districts.
In collaboration with Microsoft and the K12 Security Information eXchange (K12 SIX), this initiative underscores SETDA’s commitment to providing essential tools and guidance to support state educational agencies.
The publication, titled Small Districts, Big Hurdles: Cybersecurity Support for Small, Rural, and Under-resourced Districts, offers details on how state agencies and other support organizations are empowering their smallest districts to secure their data and networks. From detailing various funding sources to providing insights into statewide and regional partnerships and offering practical examples of cybersecurity training, the document is a must-read for everyone involved in helping districts improve their cybersecurity posture. It is the newest addition to SETDA’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Collection, available for access in their OER Commons site.
“As technology continues to reshape education, ensuring the safety and security of students’ data and school networks has never been more crucial. This publication is a testament to SETDA’s dedication to supporting state education agencies’ technology initiatives and equips state edtech leaders with the resources and tools needed to guide districts, especially those facing the greatest challenges,” said Julia Fallon, Executive Director, SETDA. “The Cybersecurity & Privacy Collaborative hopes that this document will help prevent breaches of student and educator data while offering strategies to support and improve cybersecurity readiness for small and rural schools.”
“The human impact of breaches is greater than lost time and money for districts, with potential life-long consequences for young people whose data may be compromised. Microsoft is committed to increasing access to cybersecurity tools to help schools address this challenge. I commend SEDTA for this focus on small, rural, and under-resourced districts ensuring that all students—regardless of location or context—can learn in safe and secure environments,” said Paige Johnson, Vice President Education Marketing, Microsoft.
About SETDA SETDA is the principal association representing U.S. state and territorial educational technology and digital learning leaders. Through a broad array of programs and advocacy, SETDA builds member capacity and engages partners to empower the education community in leveraging technology for learning, teaching, and school operations. For more information, please visit www.setda.org.
Get the latest news on student and staff well-being by visiting eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page
Belonging is a fundamental human need. We are all searching for a sense of connection with the people and places in our lives. Students and school staff are no different, so it’s crucial to ensure learning environments foster a sense of belonging.
When students have a strong sense of belonging, they are more likely to be engaged in school and to perform well academically. Unfortunately, new data shows that only 62 percent of high school students feel connected to others at school, and nearly one-third of students experience poor mental health.
In addition, the latest federal data found that 33 percent of school leaders noticed an uptick in violence amongst students and students experiencing anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder over the last year–many attribute the increase to the pandemic and its lingering effects. There’s simply no time to waste; we must make our schools welcoming, safe spaces for students and staff alike.
Build trusting relationships with students to create a culture of belonging
Trust is the cornerstone of belonging. Students need us to be accessible, dependable, and trustworthy. When students trust us, they’ll be more willing to be honest about their struggles and help us stay in tune with what’s happening in the halls that we don’t see.
Celebrate student backgrounds and cultures
Celebrating cultures is more than just hosting an event; it’s about consistently honoring the ethnicity, background, and experiences of the students we serve. By recognizing the diverse backgrounds and cultural traditions of the school’s communities, we create avenues for students to share and celebrate their experiences openly.
Encouraging open dialogue and allowing students to lead discussions about their cultures fosters a climate of true inclusivity. Celebrating and embracing students’ lived experiences greatly increases students’–and their family’s–feelings of belonging.
Engage the community as a partner
Schools that focus on belonging recognize the power of community engagement. For example, when a community member talks openly about a challenging topic, such as their family’s experience with substance abuse, it can create a sense of belonging and validation for students coping with a similar situation. School advisory councils that involve students, families, and staff as decision-makers influence school operations and bridge the gap between students and their communities.
Empower school counselors through collaborative partnerships
Relationships take time to foster. Students need to be seen, and staff need the time to truly see them. When staff are overburdened, as many are nationwide, it hinders their ability to build meaningful relationships with students. And when a student needs care outside of the scope of school resources, staff are often tasked with finding the care they need. On average, it takes up to 60 phone calls to connect a student, family member, or staff member to the proper mental health resources.
That’s where partners providing mental health care coordination services come into play. Collaborations like this can alleviate the burden on school staff and save them countless hours of tedious work. What’s more, a third-party partner can also provide mental health support to school staff. School staff are the backbone of a school community, and their mental health and well-being are essential to a thriving school culture.
After a prolonged period of disconnection, building strong relationships is more important than ever. Dr. Bruce Perry, in his book The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook says, “Relationships are the agents of change and the most powerful therapy is human love. People, not programs, change people.” As you reflect on the practices in your school community, remember that the trusting relationships we cultivate with students and staff members are the most powerful tool we have to create the sense of belonging.
Get the latest news about digital learning by going to eSN’s Digital Learning page
Right now is the perfect time to start a research project with your students, as it will help them develop skills they will use for the rest of their lives. While your students, who have grown up in the Information Age and think they already know everything, any classroom teacher knows that our students need help more than they think.
As a school librarian for the past 11 years, my primary focus has been on helping students become adept navigators of the sea of information they live in. By the time students reach me in high school, they are already juggling multiple social media accounts and unknowingly driving many business and political decisions through their media consumption.
Our students’ belief that everything they need to know is online can, without the right skillset, leave them prey to misinformation. So how do we teach our students to steer through the online ocean of data to be both effective researchers and responsible digital citizens?
Here are 4 must-have resources for teaching high school students how to research:
Digital encyclopedias like Britannica School or Credo Referenceare still important, and vetted, sources of basic information. Each provides students with a credible resource and gives them helpful notation and citation tools. But don’t settle for just one. Take students on a tour of both databases and explore the differences. Britannica School is user-friendly and comprehensive, which makes it an ideal tool for building student confidence in their research skills. Even if your students are literal social media influencers, they may be apprehensive or overwhelmed navigating a database, and we do not want them to give up and turn to Google. They need to develop their research skills before they are ready to evaluate content from across the world wide web. The bold, colorful text features and differentiation of reading levels make Britannica School engaging and easy to use, and it is a trusted source of information.
Although both databases offer similar content, Credo Reference has a unique feature called Visual Exploration that you and your students will love. The database will retrieve your search results in the form of a mind map, which links your search term to related terms that are hyperlinked to vetted content. Articles related to the original search term appear alongside the mind map. Visual Exploration is an effective and interactive tool for teaching students about choosing search terms and narrowing their research topics. Credo Reference also has a series of short research tip videos for students on topics such as “what to do when your topic is too broad.”
Upper-level courses require students to navigate and analyze more complex sources than a standard encyclopedia entry, which can often be just a list of facts. Whether you are teaching U.S. Government or A.P. Language and Composition, your students are learning to evaluate persuasive writing and identify propaganda, because these are key information literacy skills. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints not only provides students with curated sources and all the tools of an online encyclopedia but also introduces students to well-researched writing from various perspectives. A huge part of research is thinking critically about the credibility and intent of the source, and this database provides a safe space to analyze and examine issues from multiple angles. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints is both visually appealing and has a unique feature for visual learners. The Topic Finder retrieves results as your choice of a tile or a wheel that displays terms at various sizes depending on the number of results for that term. For example, a Topic Finder search for “Artificial intelligence” displays “mental health” among the largest clusters of the tile or section of the wheel, which lets me know I can find significant content in the database related to A.I. and mental health. There is a curriculum search and an Educator Resources page with helpful tip sheets and worksheets, including one for students to create their own concept map.
Before you dive into an encyclopedia head first, you may want to go to Discovery Education Experience and gather some tools for teaching research effectively. You do not need to build a lesson from scratch. There’s a wealth of media within the platform to help you activate prior knowledge, develop assignments and create interactive lessons on any topic. The Discover Data channel, which is the result of a partnership between the Nielsen Foundation, Discovery Education, and the National Afterschool Association, has interactive, relevant lessons that you can adapt for your students. One of my favorites is the “Social Media and Misinformation” presentation. You can use it as an introduction to information literacy or assign the presentation as a self-paced lesson for students. In fact, you can use the Build an Activity feature with this or another presentation from Discovery Education to create an assignment and share it directly to Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Schoology or Canvas.
With these essentials in your toolbox, you will be able to equip your students with research skills that will help them unlock success in and out of the classroom.
When you think of education, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For some, it might be a pile of homework or a stack of books that need reading. Others may recall the flashcards they used to memorize specific formulas or expand their vocabulary. All these examples have a place in the learning ecosystem, but true education should be about so much more. Student learning should involve curiosity, discovery, and the opportunity to experiment with a variety of different solutions. To put it more simply: true education requires student engagement.
Every teacher hopes to ignite, empower, and engage the students who walk through their classroom door. Ample research has shown that student engagement is crucial to overall learning and long-term success. However, implementing this is easier said than done. To better ignite student curiosity and interest, teachers should consider trying one of these strategies that help make student engagement second nature:
Mystery Box: Start your class by bringing in a mystery box with something hidden inside. Then, have students ask yes or no questions to figure out what is in the box. To ensure this activity stays relevant, it helps to have objects in the box that loosely ties to the content and have students draw the connection. For instance, an old horseshoe could be used in a lesson about the Pony Express, or a piece of amber for a unit on fossils.
Taboo Tactics: There’s nothing more tempting than forbidden fruit—so use this strategy to make knowledge a mouthwatering apple. Before you teach new content, close the door. Tell them you don’t want anyone to find out that you’re teaching them this idea. The content should never actually be controversial, but adding an element of secrecy is enough to hold student interest.
Make a Mascot: Task students with building a character that represents something you’re learning about. Have them explain the symbolism behind their construction as a means of probing their understanding. Be sure to add constraints as well, so students will need to think critically and creatively. For example, they could construct a mascot that represents how humans impact their environment using only 5 materials provided from a table.
Build an Intellectually Safe Culture: Create a culture where students feel free to offer ideas and are encouraged to make mistakes. A simple change in the wording of a question can open up a comfortable space for students to offer solutions. Instead of asking, “What is the answer?” pose the question as “What is an answer?” This allows students to recognize that many solutions are possible.
Engage in Project-Based Learning: Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects that – in ways both big and small – make the world a better place. Consider exploring Blue Apple projects which cover everything from environmental sustainability to responsible money management!
At its heart, student engagement is about tapping into their innate curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking skills. By giving students the space they need to ask questions and pursue ideas, teachers can equip them with a mindset that allows them to tackle any challenge that comes their way – both in the classroom and beyond.
Incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) throughout the school day has risen in popularity over the last few years, especially to counteract the increasing rates of anxiety and depression in students since the COVID-19 pandemic. Lost in the discussion, however, is the importance of before- and after-school programs–the bookends of the school day.
These before- and after-school programs dedicate a significant amount of time to activities that can help students develop social-emotional skills. In fact, a 2021 survey of program providers found that in addition to academic enrichment, 86 percent of programs give young people the time to interact with their peers and build social skills. Plus, students themselves report that 80 percent of the programs give the students time to talk with peers and adults about how they’re feeling. Yet, staff may not approach every interaction with intention to foster social and emotional growth.
Before- and after-school programs offer critical support, including caring and supportive mentors, as well as safe spaces where students build confidence and a sense of belonging. They also provide opportunities to work collaboratively, problem solve, and think critically. SEL skills are not separate from those activities–SEL is not sprinkled on the cupcake; it’s part of the cupcake. Before- and after-school programs must make every interaction more intentional to complement classroom learning.
These programs help children develop strong social skills, gain self-control and confidence, improve work habits and grades, and build healthy relationships with peers–all the things we want young people to have to be successful. But to ensure that these programs are set up for success, there are two essential questions every program coordinator should ask: “How well do I know my students?” and “How can I ensure my program meets their needs?”
Running an effective program
SEL should be embedded throughout every program, starting with students’ arrival. How do you greet students when they show up? When a student hears a caring adult say their name, it instills a sense of belonging, supporting self-awareness.
An overview of the schedule at the beginning of the program is important. Kids need to learn how to self-manage and regulate their emotions. For a young person who is excited for the craft part of the program, understanding what else is on the agenda is key to them mastering the skills of self-management and self-awareness.
The actual activity is when the rubber meets the road. As program directors and administrators, we need to analyze the activities–how much time are they alone, in small groups and in large groups. It is important to outline the program activities so students have an opportunity to participate in all three options and balance between them. As students develop, they must know how to interact at all three levels. If you find that some students don’t perform in large groups, you may have to reevaluate how well you know your students. For example, if behavior problems spike when you do large groups, maybe the answer is that you have too many students in these groups.
Finally, do you have a clearly defined dismissal policy? This is an ideal opportunity to introduce students to social awareness. When your program has an established system of welcoming and dismissing students, it demonstrates consistency. It also helps young people see how their individual behavior fits into the overall success of the program. This is a key component of social awareness, where students understand how they fit into the larger community in various ways. Additionally, it’s a way to model other ways they use social awareness for example while leaving a store or restaurant. It’s a reminder that the SEL skills developed in school are useful in all aspects of life.
For students, SEL is not just limited to the classroom. Before- and after-school programs play an equally important role. With every interaction between staff and students, these bookends to students’ days provide the opportunities to hone these competencies and grow, if there is consistency and intention in programs’ approach.
Study.com released new survey data last month that sheds light on parents’ evolving attitudes towards the role of schools as students head into the third school year post-pandemic. The education platform surveyed parents in California and Texas to understand their perspectives on their children’s education. Notably, 55 percent and 47 percent of parents in California and Texas, respectively, support extending the school year to provide students with increased learning time, and 46 percent of California parents and 43 percent of Texas parents favor the use of A.I. tools like ChatGPT for academic help in schools.
Across both states, a significant number of respondents believe in a shared responsibility between parents and schools to foster academic growth. Over a third assign a major or complete responsibility to schools in this regard. However, a large percentage of parents in California (28 percent) and Texas (27 percent) feel that schools are taking minimal or no responsibility post-pandemic to help their child catch-up academically. A significant number of parents demonstrated dedication to improving their child’s education through the utilization of district and schoolwide resources as well as support in the home:
37 percent of California parents and 41 percent of Texas parents have sought external educational support, such as tutoring or counseling, for their children.
In California, most parents have sought tutoring or study sessions (26 percent), homework help or after-school programs (23 percent), or educational online platforms (20 percent).
In Texas, most parents have sought tutoring or study sessions (31 percent), homework help or after-school programs (19 percent) educational online platforms (16 percent).
The enduring consequences of academic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic underpin the motivations driving parents to seek additional support tools for their children’s education. In both states, more than a third of parents reported a substantial negative impact on their child’s academic performance due to the pandemic and related social-emotional challenges.
46 percent of California parents and 40 percent of Texas parents say their child faced social-emotional challenges impacting their academics.
65 percent of California parents and 69 percent of Texas parents are very or somewhat concerned about the long-term impact of learning loss on their child’s academic, career, and socioeconomic success.
The third school year post-pandemic emerges as a pivotal moment for parents to incorporate effective learning resources into their children’s academic journeys, such as A.I. or tutoring, to help mitigate the wide-ranging negative effects of the pandemic.
“Despite most parents feeling like they have the resources available to assist their child, the majority of them struggle with specific subjects, especially math,” said Rachel Mead, Director of Tutoring at Study.com. “The start of the school year is an ideal time for parents to implement additional learning supports such as supplemental online resources or the formulation of a structured home learning plan.”
Teachers across Canada say it’s time to embrace new teaching models to better align with the realities, opportunities and challenges of today’s classroom and tomorrow’s workplace. In a new survey from Microsoft of over 500 Canadian teachers and school leaders, most said schools need to do more to adapt to the evolving needs of students. Teachers are calling for changes that make classrooms more engaging, inclusive and relevant for a new digital era.
New models for a new era of digital innovation
From AI to interconnected smart devices, teachers recognize that the rapid pace of technological innovation is changing the workforce students will be joining, but few classrooms are teaching the skills students need to succeed in the new digital world. In fact, ninety percent of teachers surveyed agree it’s important to teach students the digital skills they’ll need for modern life, but only half of teachers (52 percent) say students are taught in ways that are relevant to the skills they need for the future.
Strikingly, the survey revealed an overwhelming majority of teachers (79 percent) felt data literacy and digital citizenship were essential skills for today’s students, but these topics were only taught in 22 and 53 percent of classrooms respectively. While teachers have just begun to consider the implications of AI in education, 41 percent of teachers believe that students should learn about generative AI to better equip them for life outside school and in their careers. That number rose to 50 percent among teachers of grades 7-12.
“It’s crucial that we listen to teachers so we can better empower students in their learning and be prepared to contribute to Canada’s economic future” said Elka Walsh, Associate Vice President, Learning & Teaching, at Microsoft Canada. “We have a responsibility to address these gaps, reignite a love of learning, and help students thrive in a digital world.”
Digital tools more prevalent since the pandemic, but not used effectively
For many teachers, the pandemic spurred the adoption of digitally enhanced learning in the classroom. Eighty-two percent of teachers surveyed said their school’s use of digital tools started or increased with the pandemic. But only 35 percent of respondents said most teachers are equipped with the best digital tools to help them teach and a similar number (34 percent) said teachers receive the training needed to use these tools effectively. Six out of ten respondents said teaching methods should change to make the most of these tools. Among the most promising use cases for teachers, according to the survey, was time management. Eighty percent of teachers agree they need more tools to help them manage their time more productively – an unsurprising stat given that 86 percent of teachers rate their workload as high or very high.
The results also indicated a clear difference in approach to technology in the classroom between those schools with an established sustainable digital strategy and those without. When asked if students were more engaged when digital tools are used in the classroom, three quarters of respondents with a digital strategy agreed. Among teachers in schools without a digital strategy, fewer than half agreed technology helped to increase engagement.
Engagement and inclusion need a boost
It is apparent that teachers are struggling to keep students engaged, particularly when faced with the emotional and wellbeing challenges related to the pandemic. Only half of teachers surveyed (51 percent) said students are taught in ways that engage them and keep their interest and only a third (35 percent) agree schools are succeeding in helping to address students mental and emotional wellbeing.
Today’s teachers know inclusion and accessibility is crucial to help every student reach their potential. Ninety-five percent said inclusive and accessible teaching resources are somewhat or very important. But only 48 percent say current teaching methods are inclusive and only 46 percent feel students are taught in ways that are responsive to their individual needs. Teachers also want schools to do more to address the mental and emotional wellbeing of students (74 percent) and feel students are still emotionally challenged by the disruption of the pandemic (72 percent).
“Canada’s teachers are telling us we need revitalized learning models so their students don’t get left behind” said Marc Seaman, Vice President, Education Segment for Microsoft Canada. “New models are critical to improve outcomes for all students and prepare them for the digital future.”
The objective of this report is to inform and inspire the EdTech community – including educators, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and investors – by synthesizing the views of innovators who are active across a wide range of EdTech segments and educational institutions.
This report aims to provide insights and guidance for EdTech companies seeking to achieve product-market fit in a post-pandemic blended learning environment. It does so through a combination of qualitative interviews with EdTech leaders and quantitative data analysis to address the challenges and opportunities in the EdTech sector.
The report emphasizes the importance of EdTech in nurturing the intellect and character of future generations and highlights the significant impact it can have when it succeeds in its mission. Achieving product-market fit in EdTech is not just about creating a successful app or platform; it’s about equipping learners with the tools they need to thrive, understand the world critically, and face life’s challenges with resilience.
By providing a holistic understanding of EdTech’s transformative potential and the dynamics of the sector during the pandemic, the report aims to help EdTech companies make informed decisions and execute thoughtful strategies. It underlines the need for strategic planning and execution to ensure that EdTech products are aligned with the needs of learners and educators.
EdTech innovators must also navigate various challenges, including diverse educational needs, institutional norms, and cultural considerations. The education sector operates differently from the tech world, leading to potential tensions among stakeholders. Aligning timing and planning is essential to ensure that EdTech products meet the evolving needs of both learners and the broader community.
Practicality often trumps high-end features in the EdTech industry, as schools seek tools to address everyday challenges like grading and classroom management. As classroom sizes increase, there’s a growing demand for solutions that can manage larger groups and ease teacher workloads. The focus is on technologies that integrate seamlessly into education to enhance the learning process.
The shift to online and blended learning models, accelerated by the pandemic, is likely to continue. Institutions see these models as opportunities to reduce costs, increase enrollment, and provide flexibility to students. However, maintaining the quality of education and socio-emotional skill development remains crucial.
Accessibility, flexibility, and inclusivity are key considerations in EdTech. Accommodating diverse learning styles, facilitating asynchronous learning, and ensuring equitable access to tools are priorities. Personalizing education to individual student needs is a prominent trend.
Collaboration with educational institutions and the public sector is often essential for EdTech growth. Navigating bureaucratic procedures and bridging gaps can lead to successful partnerships.
EdTech should enhance the learning experience rather than replace it. While technology can amplify effective teaching, it cannot compensate for poor teaching. The human element, including social connections and mental well-being, remains vital in education.
Balancing analog and digital content is an ongoing conversation, but the pandemic emphasized digital access as a fundamental right. A surge in funding has led to the launch or expansion of many new platforms and tools, requiring those in the EdTech industry to assess their position in education budgets.
Preparing for profound changes in the EdTech ecosystem is crucial. Supporting educators, upskilling deployment teams, and ensuring organizations have the resources to sustain digital progress are integral to future growth. Additionally, the potential of AI to drive alternative assessment methods could reshape educational practices and outcomes.
This report will provide answers to the following questions:
How can EdTech providers best achieve product-market fit?
What are popular views on blended learning environments?
How has the pandemic impacted the reputation and viability of EdTech?
Which areas of EdTech are being overlooked?
What are the benefits and risks of gamification and other digital trends?
What strategies and trends signify potential growth trajectories for EdTech?
BEAVERTON, Oregon — Vernier Science Education recently launched new resources to help science and STEM educators leverage the two upcoming eclipses—the “Ring of Fire” annular eclipse on October 14, 2023 and the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024—to create engaging learning experiences for students. In addition to sharing tips and best practices for collecting data during the celestial events, the company is offering certified eclipse viewing glasses so educators and students alike can safely observe the eclipses taking place.
“The eclipses provide a perfect—and rare—opportunity for educators to teach students of all ages about real-world, scientific concepts related to light, temperature, electromagnetic radiation, and more,” said David Vernier, Co-Founder of Vernier Science Education. “During the eclipses, educators and students can use our glasses to observe the moon pass between the sun and earth, and they can use our technology to collect data and better understand what is happening in the world around them.”
The CE-certified eclipse viewing glasses can be purchased in class packs of 50 glasses (EC-GL50) on the Vernier website for $25.
Vernier Science Education is offering an array of helpful tips on how to collect data during the eclipse. This includes information on how to use applicable sensors, such as the wireless Go Direct® Light and Color Sensor, Go Direct Weather System, Go Direct PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) Sensor, Go Direct Pyranometer, and Go Direct Surface Temperature Sensor, as well as a number of wired sensors designed specifically for the LabQuest® interface.
Educators are encouraged to share data and pictures from their eclipse experiences on social media using the hashtag #VernierEclipse.
Educators can also access a compilation of reference materials about the eclipse from respected organizations such as NSTA and NASA, as well as safety recommendations and more on the Vernier Science Education website.
For more than 40 years, Vernier Science Education has been committed to using our experience, knowledge, and passion to create the best and most reliable solutions for STEM education. Our comprehensive solutions include hardware, software, content, assessment, professional development, and technical support. At the heart of Vernier is our deep commitment to being an authentic and trusted partner to STEM educators. We are dedicated to partnering with educators and communities to build a STEM-literate society where students grow up to become knowledgeable citizens who can solve problems, fully contribute to their communities, and drive innovation. For more information, visit www.vernier.com.
You may have heard of ChatGPT. According to Google, about 350,000 articles have been written on the subject, and a significant percentage are related to education. With so much publicity, it is reasonable to assume that all students from middle school through post-secondary are aware of its power. Whether you like it or not, we have a new partner in the classroom.
Many primers on ChatGPT are available, but I want to focus on teachers’ and students’ concerns about using it in the classroom. Some schools (such as the entire NYC public school district) have attempted to ban it entirely, while others such as Yale have taken the opposite approach. In my opinion, attempting to ban anything in the world of ubiquitous cell phones is a waste of time and effort. Students are ingenious, especially when it comes to getting around the rules. From a search of articles, both scholarly and in mainstream media, the approach I am suggesting has not yet been proposed. I came upon it while thinking about the eternal pedagogical problem: how to grade group projects.
It is well-documented and often repeated in teachers’ professional development that the right type of co-learning can deepen understanding and long-term knowledge gains. The critical question is, “What is the right type of co-learning?” Sometimes group projects work well. Sometimes one partner does all the work and another just coasts along for the ride. How are teachers supposed to grade these efforts? Give everyone the same grade? Let students grade each other’s contributions? Try to guess how much time each student put in? There is no perfect solution.
And that, in a nutshell, is where we find ourselves with ChatGPT. From now on, every assignment must be explicitly graded as a partner project with ChatGPT. Individual essays, science fair partner projects, group programming assignments, digital and physical art pieces–every single assignment from now on has a silent partner.
Of course, this does not mean that every student will use ChatGPT on every assignment. What it does mean is that we must assume that they might. We must transfer the responsibility of evaluating how much of the work is original from the teacher to the student, and we must explicitly teach students how to take on that responsibility. ChatGPT might be the partner that did everything, the partner that didn’t show up, or somewhere in between. Despite many efforts, there will never be a tool that can evaluate how much of an assignment was influenced by AI. I will even double down by saying not only will there not be such a tool, there should not be such a tool.
This leads to the most important question: If no such tool exists, how can educators know how much help the students received? How do we evaluate their knowledge? The answer: we ask them. We need to give that responsibility back to the students. We are their partners in learning, not their masters, and it is our job to help them understand what they are learning and how, not to police and punish them for using tools we don’t fully understand or feel comfortable with.
It is time for educators to treat ChatGPT as an unreliable partner in all assignments and to provide a way for students to let us know how much help they received. I specify an unreliable partner because there is no way to know where ChatGPT got its information for any single response. It uses a mathematical model of likely words, not research. It’s basically auto-complete on steroids. ChatGPT is like a classmate who has read extensively and is really confident about everything they say but can’t remember exactly where they got their information from. It could be an academic publication or it could be a conspiracy website. And that is how we should treat it – a partner who sounds like they know what they are talking about but still needs to be fact-checked.
I would like to propose the following sample rubric based on how partners might rate each other in real life:
Category
Student-Driven
Moderate ChatGPT Help
ChatGPT-Driven
Topic Selection and Thesis Formulation
Student independently selected the essay topic and formulated the thesis. ChatGPT input (if any) was limited to guidance, suggestions, and corrections.
ChatGPT assisted in refining the essay topic or thesis statement, but the initial idea was student-generated.
The essay topic and thesis statement were primarily or entirely suggested or formulated by ChatGPT.
Research and Data Collection
Student conducted all research and collected supporting evidence independently or with minimal ChatGPT consultation.
ChatGPT assisted in finding sources or evidence but did not do the research for the student.
ChatGPT conducted the majority or all of the research and data collection.
Analysis and Argumentation
Student independently analyzed data and evidence to build arguments supporting the thesis. ChatGPT may have provided guidance on analytical methods.
ChatGPT assisted in the analysis and argumentation but did not build the argument for the student.
ChatGPT primarily or completely analyzed the data and constructed the argument.
Writing and Structure
The essay’s structure, including the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, was formulated by the student. ChatGPT involvement was limited to feedback and suggestions.
ChatGPT assisted in structuring the essay or improving its readability, but the content and organization were student-generated.
The essay was primarily or entirely structured and written by ChatGPT.
Final Draft and Editing
Student independently revised and edited the essay. ChatGPT may have provided minor suggestions for improvement.
Student utilized ChatGPT for more significant revisions and editing but maintained original thought and structure.
ChatGPT conducted the majority or all of the revisions and editing.
This rubric could easily be modified for any assignment, from a programming challenge to a play. It requires no technical knowledge about ChatGPT. In fact, we could substitute the word “ChatGPT” with “Parents,” “Wikipedia,” “Google Search,” “Tutor,” or “TA.” It takes no more than a few seconds to fill out and read. And it still allows the teacher to specify how much ChatGPT is permitted for any given assignment. Even if the rule is “none at all,” the rubric is still valid. The student must still write down that they did not use the tool. It takes it from “I’m just tricking the teacher to save some time” to “I am explicitly lying about what I did.”
The value of this rubric is that it places the responsibility for learning back on the student’s shoulders. This proposal is not about making less work for the teacher or taking away their authority. It is about helping students develop their own moral compass. As CS Lewis so famously said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking,” which is especially critical in the world of online learning. This rubric gives students the opportunity to show us what they did when we weren’t looking. It allows them a chance to have their integrity reinforced through practice. And if we treat this opportunity with understanding instead of punishment, it has the possibility of helping the students who need it the most.
You will notice that this rubric has no points attached. What if, instead of using it simply as another entry in the grade book, we took it as an opportunity for discussion with the student? If they are not afraid of getting a 0 for admitting that they used ChatGPT, it opens up a whole world of possible discussions, depending on their answers:
“I didn’t really understand the question, but once I did, I was fine.”
“I work every day after school and then look after my siblings…. I just didn’t have time.”
“I thought my essay was really good and didn’t know what changes to make.”
If we allow students to self-evaluate without grade-based consequences, we can learn what supports they need as well as how we can improve our curricula. We can even use it as a perfect opportunity to teach students how to support themselves using tools like ChatGPT properly without resorting to plagiarism. We could boost the equity in our classrooms immensely if students can individualize the help they are getting at the time, place, and pace they need.
It is no use burying our heads in the sand and banning AI-based tools. These tools are becoming more and more powerful and are being used in new ways every day. We have a real chance to help students understand their own responsibility, take charge of their own learning, and use this amazing technology to improve their self-efficacy, their knowledge, their outcomes, and ultimately their lives.
BILLUND, Denmark — To celebrate the second annual World Play Day, LEGO® Education is inspiring teachers to experience purposeful play firsthand by giving students and teachers Permission to Play.
Play is not just for the playground. It is a powerful tool for teaching that naturally engages students in the learning and builds the skills they’ll need in and outside the classroom like creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration.
A new survey of K-8 teachers and students from LEGO Education found that nearly all (98%) of students say purposeful play helps them learn and the majority (96%) of teachers believe it’s more effective than traditional methods like lectures or textbooks. On top of that, almost 80% of students want more playful learning experiences in the classroom.
Despite these benefits, 40% of teachers are incorporating play only once a week or less, and nearly half (47%) think they spend too much time on it.
“Many teachers feel they can’t easily incorporate play into the classroom, so LEGO Education created the Permission to Play kit as that first step. Once you see students engaged and learning through play, it clicks and the question goes from how to how do we add more?” said Dr. Jenny Nash, Head of Education Impact, U.S. for LEGO Education.
Whether you are a teacher, administrator, or parent, get Permission to Play by visiting Rebuild The World, where you can:
Take the Pledge: Commit to adding purposeful play to your own classroom or encourage teachers you know to add more play.
Download free activities: Bring purposeful play into your classroom with activities for you and your students to join in on the fun (can be used with or without LEGO Education products).
Track your play: Get your student(s) involved to see how much progress you’re making with a Color-By-Number template and “Learning in Progress” poster.
“For nearly three decades, I used purposeful play in my classroom and have seen firsthand the impact it has on both students and teachers,” said Alicia Miller, a retired elementary school teacher from Evans, GA. “There are a lot of trends and products that have their place, but the biggest gamechanger for education is hands-on, playful learning. I encourage every teacher, principal, and parent to try a play-based learning activity with their students and see what joyful and meaningful learning should look like. Our students and teachers deserve to love learning again.”
*The LEGO Education Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 1,000 US K-8 students and 1,000 US K-8 teachers, split between those who teach/are enrolled in grade K-5 (500) and those who teach/are enrolled in grades 6-8 (500), between Sept. 13th and Sept. 19th, 2023, using an email invitation and an online survey. Data has been weighted. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
About
LEGO® Education offers a range of playful, hands-on STEAM learning experiences based on its comprehensive learning system for students in early learning, primary and secondary education, as well as through after-school programs and competitions. From the Early Learning portfolio to the LEGO® Learning System, these solutions create an active and collaborative environment where learners of all levels and abilities build their confidence, future-proof their skills and spark a lifelong love of learning.
Some of my most vivid school memories involve teachers struggling to use overhead projectors: placing a printed sheet on the glass and fumbling to align it properly to project an image onto the wall. Students would laugh as the teachers mumbled about the annoyances of technology. Now think about how far the classroom has come since then–schools stocked with iPads and tablets, interactive touchscreens, and even virtual reality headsets.
Undoubtedly, the pandemic accelerated the shift to technology adoption in schools. However, this push to digitize doesn’t just involve remote learning technologies, but also tools for in-person learning. As a result, the classroom is modernizing, and pixels are replacing pencils. But the tech is also much easier to implement and operate than that of days of yore. No more fumbling with transparent sheets and overhead projectors.
Let’s break down how these new technologies are working in practice and the ways they can support better educational outcomes.
Engagement and experimentation
Technology demonstrably helps keep students engaged in their lessons and facilitate better learning in a digital world. While some argue technology is a distraction in the classroom – which can certainly be true if it’s not implemented properly – it also helps students to be focused and engaged in lessons.
Some prominent tools include interactive touchscreens in classrooms that promote and support active learning, a strategy for engaging students in classroom activities with more hands-on activities. These touchscreens help bring learning alive, off the page and into the actual world. These touch screens can facilitate engagement across subjects, even in unlikely places.
One noteworthy example is science education, specifically anatomy. In traditional lab classes, dissecting frogs and other animals can be challenging due to animal-welfare concerns and resource limitations. Interactive touchscreens, however, offer an alternative. Students can virtually dissect organisms, providing them with a deep understanding of anatomy without the need for physical specimens. This approach not only enhances engagement but also aligns with ethical considerations in education.
Why is engagement important? One study found that active learning significantly increases student performance in the classroom: Students were 1.5 times more likely to fail a class that was primarily lecture-based as opposed to interactive. When students can touch things and interact, as opposed to watching a teacher write notes on a chalkboard and copying it into their notebooks, test scores improve.
Information retention
What’s more, technology can help students retain information for the long term. Touchscreen and tablet technology enables students to actively explore and manipulate digital content, transforming abstract concepts into tangible and comprehensible experiences. The tactile nature of touchscreens allows learners to engage with subjects in a way that textbooks or traditional teaching methods cannot replicate, and that engagement also boosts retention.
Consider this: Research shows that an average learner forgets 70 percent of what they learned after 24 hours and 90 percent of what they learned after a week. But research demonstrates that students who engage with interactive content retain information more effectively via enhanced information processing, contributing to improved performance and better test scores.
Interactive learning can also elicit emotional responses, which in turn impacts retention. When students are emotionally engaged in a lesson or activity, it has been shown to enhance memory consolidation. Interactive technologies have the capacity to create emotionally resonant experiences, whether through gamification, simulations, or immersive storytelling. These emotionally charged experiences are then more likely to be remembered.
So, whether it’s complex mathematical concepts, historical events, or scientific principles, digital technologies offer a dynamic platform for enhancing memory retention and ensuring that learning extends beyond the classroom.
Adaptive learning
Adaptive learning technologies are another transformative aspect of accessibility in education and have the power to revolutionize the traditional classroom experience. This approach leverages artificial intelligence and data analysis to customize educational content for students, recognizing their unique strengths and weaknesses.
Adaptive learning technology provides insights into data to help teachers understand students’ learning processes and patterns. Adaptive learning systems can track data from a variety of sources, providing insights into student progress, engagement, and performance. Educators can then leverage those insights to create tailored, personalized learning experiences.
There are various new adaptive learning platforms, including Smart Sparrow and ScootPad. Teachers merely sign up and input data, or provide access to it, in order for the technology to do the more difficult analytical work. In other words, these platforms don’t necessarily require more time or effort from already overburdened teachers. Educators can also integrate adaptive learning with a centralized device management platform to collect and process all that data from multiple technologies. Teachers can then monitor how students are actually using their devices and how well they are performing.
Of course, it’s important to strike a balance between technology and traditional teaching methods, ensuring that technology supports educational goals rather than replacing human interaction and critical thinking. Technology is a powerful tool in education, but it is not a replacement for human teachers.
Pittsburgh, PA – In a groundbreaking move set to revolutionize elementary math education in the post-pandemic era, Carnegie Learning has launched ClearMath Elementary, its first core elementary math solution. Throughout four years of research in classrooms across the US, ClearMath Elementary has delivered exceptional results and, as it becomes widely available, is poised to become the most effective elementary math solution on the market today.
Play-Based Learning Develops Math Confidence
At the heart of this innovative blended learning approach is a simple yet revolutionary idea – play is central to learning. Through digital and print resources with highly engaging hands-on lessons, game-based software like the 2023 SIIA CODiE Award-winningMATHia® Adventure, and ready-made centers for collaboration, ClearMath Elementary empowers students to develop positive mindsets towards math, learn from each other, and focus on the journey of mathematics rather than just the solutions.
Helps Students Keep Up, Not Catch Up
A departure from the traditional “catch-up” approach, ClearMath Elementary uses a revolutionary “teach-teach-pause” method, giving students an opportunity to keep up with the material from the start and teachers the time to meet each student exactly where they are. Students are at the center of the learning process with classroom discussions, reflection prompts, and assessment check-ins, so teachers can monitor their progress in real time. With creative problem-solving and mental math routines, and imaginative MATHia Adventure digital games, mathematical thinking is intentionally interwoven throughout the day to make meaningful learning happen anytime – not just when it’s scheduled.
Tools Tailored to Teachers Makes Planning Easier
ClearMath Elementary offers a built-in comprehensive suite of instructional materials for teachers, so they can focus on teaching and student success, not planning. This “one-stop shop” was designed with teachers’ needs in mind, including implementation notes, interactive activities, embedded supports, hands-on learning materials, pacing guides, assessments, and more, all designed to empower teachers and boost their confidence in delivering high-quality instruction with ease.
“ClearMath Elementary is a continuation of our award-winning math solutions and a critical step in our ongoing commitment to redefining math education,” said Barry Malkin, CEO of Carnegie Learning. “Building on our 25 years of developing research-based instructional solutions, ClearMath Elementary is the most effective math solution for K-5 students on the market today. We are tapping into the power of play to foster inventive math thinkers and help students develop conceptual and procedural fluency, so they don’t just know what the answer is, they understand why it’s the answer.”
Carnegie Learning is celebrating 25 years as a leader in AI-driven technology, curriculum, and professional learning solutions for K-12 education. Our award-winning math, literacy, world languages, professional learning, high-dosage tutoring, and MATHstream products deliver real and lasting results. Born from cognitive science research at Carnegie Mellon University, we are known for harnessing the power of data to improve student performance. Our range of products allows us to support more than 2 million students and educators in all 50 states and Canada. Named a Top Place to Work for seven years in a row, our employees are passionate about partnering with educators in the classroom. For more information, visit carnegielearning.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
ITASCA, Ill. –Riverside Insights®, a leading developer of research-based assessments and analytics, today introduced www.CogAT.com, a new microsite to support Riverside’s CogAT® in the Classroom initiative. This online portal provides resources to transform Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) assessment data into tailored classroom instruction that enables all students to thrive. Designed for teachers, administrators and parents, CogAT.com’s tools support a positive learning environment by encouraging differentiated learning through a strengths-based lens.
“Data collected as part of the CogAT is extremely powerful, yet most school districts are not optimizing its use to better understand how all students learn, then applying that in the classroom,” said Dr. Joni Lakin, professor at the University of Alabama and co-author of the CogAT. “Riverside’s CogAT in the Classroom initiative is making it easier than ever to use CogAT data effectively in the classroom to maximize student growth. On CogAT.com, we provide the tools that teachers, administrators and parents need to better understand the abilities of each student coupled with actionable strategies that will benefit every learner in the classroom.”
Using CogAT ability data and CogAT in the Classroom resources, educators can evaluate student potential using both abilities and achievement data and differentiate instruction based on students’ cognitive reasoning strengths. Infusing ability data into the classroom environment helps teachers build a holistic understanding of each student’s potential and create tailored classroom instruction to provide more opportunities for all students to excel.
CogAT.com includes resources for:
Teachers – The Ability Profile Finder offers instructional recommendations and strategies for each unique Ability Profile. Sample lesson plans show how to infuse CogAT data into differentiated instruction. Teachers also can access resources that outline proven strategies for easily grouping students of like abilities, while providing best practices, case studies and on-demand mini-modules that show CogAT in the Classroom in action.
Administrators – A Gifted Coordinator Toolkit highlights best practices for using ability data in a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), supporting emerging bilinguals in gifted education, and clustering and grouping students to maximize their learning. A Local Norms Tool enables administrators to calculate local norms in their district or school, giving more students the opportunity to receive advanced placement services. And an Ability and Achievement Tool combines multiple measures to identify gaps in student potential and performance.
Parents – Articles on how to understand ability data, as well as what parents can do to support learners at home and foster student strengths.
“CogAT traditionally has been used to identify gifted students, but by assessing all students, we can understand their verbal, quantitative and non-verbal reasoning abilities to better target strengths and opportunities in a more equitable way,” said Monica Simonds, M.Ed., Director of Advanced Learning Programs and Services for the Richardson (Texas) Independent School District. “CogAT in the Classroom is helping us flip the script and move from deficit-based to strengths-based instruction, creating a more positive and effective learning environment for students and teachers.”
To learn more about the CogAT in the Classroom initiative, Riverside Insights has developed a series of on-demand webinars. CogAT.com will be home to a growing resource library designed to support teachers and leaders with actionable insights, make teachers’ lives easier and help educators understand the power of using CogAT data in the classroom for all learners. Visit www.cogat.com for more details.
About Riverside Insights
Riverside Insights, one of the nation’s leading and most long-standing developers of research-based assessments, is led by a powerful mission: to provide insights that help elevate potential and enrich the lives of students, clinical patients, employees, and organizations globally. For more information, visit www.RiversideInsights.com.
Editor’s note: This story on how to manage academic integrity as generative AI moves into classrooms originally appeared on CoSN’s blog and is reposted here with permission.
With AI dominating conversations among education leaders, the importance of managing expectations and academic integrity is now more critical than ever as the new school year commences. Most districts are realizing that straightforward banning of ChatGPT and other tools only keeps the students without home access and data plans from using A toolsets. Certainly, none of us want to create additional digital inequities. However, as students leverage generative AI for assignments and “Cheat detectors” prove ineffective in detecting AI-generated output, school administrators must take proactive measures to safeguard the authenticity of student assignments and promote ethical use.
Since AI-detection tools are being shown to fall short in detecting AI-generated output, it becomes crucial for school administrators to be proactive to ensure ethical use and safeguard the authenticity of student assignments. The best way to manage assignments and ethical use is to set expectations and put them front and center in the assignments themselves. Teachers need training on how to rework assignments to incorporate and evaluate the AI generated output. Academic Integrity Statements are a good place to start with districts setting expectations for students. Academic Integrity Statements allow educators to put ethics first and teach essential tenets to students up front. They should be integrated into the framework of every project and report while emphasizing the importance of honest work and original thinking. By encouraging students to pledge their commitment to academic integrity, we instill in them a sense of responsibility and respect for the academic process. Can students just give this lip service? Yes, of course, But that does not reduce their importance. We also have a board approved RUPs (AUPs) that set expectations on tech use that may get circumvented. They set the standard, much like a speed limit sign does on a city street. As educational leaders, we must emphasize the significance of academic integrity, not just as a set of rules but as a core value that fosters a positive learning environment. By making it a focal point, we reinforce the notion that authentic learning experiences and personal growth come from genuine effort and creativity.
This may beg the question of the need for school board policies around Generative AI. Although this may initially seem like a good idea, The rapid pace of change in AI and the slow change of policy may indicate otherwise. I think that it may be better to couch AI management under administrative guidelines and let them fall under the RUP (AUP) or other existing policies. We found this to be true in our district as well with Social Media several years ago and issued Guidelines under our RUP.
The concerns surrounding Generative AI’s impact on academic integrity, among larger issues, have not gone unnoticed in the tech industry. Prominent voices, including Sam Altman of OpenAI, have urged AI regulation to ensure ethical and responsible use. As educational leaders, we must lead the call for action to protect the integrity of our academic institutions.
With at least 15 states already considering bills related to Generative AI and its potential impact on various industries, it’s not far-fetched to envision education as the next area of focus. As pioneers in the educational sector, we should proactively engage with policymakers and advocate for responsible AI usage that aligns with our values of integrity, fairness, and inclusivity. As we anticipate the evolving landscape of AI in education, it’s crucial to equip our schools and educators with the necessary knowledge and resources. Professional development programs should include training on identifying AI-generated content, how to adjust assignments to encourage prompt development/ evaluation, and best practices for fostering academic integrity.
As we embrace the digital age with Generative AI, promoting and managing academic integrity is a shared responsibility among our educational communities. We are taking steps like these to help ensure that our schools remain beacons of authentic learning in the digital age.
Washington Depot, Connecticut – Slooh, the pioneer in offering live online telescope feeds of the universe and an NGSS-aligned curriculum for school communities worldwide, recently launched the next generation of its online learning platform to make space exploration even easier and more engaging for students and educators alike. The upgraded platform includes enhancements to allow for more interactivity, personalization, and student-driven learning this school year and beyond.
“Slooh provides students, particularly those in Grades 4-8, with a one-of-a-kind experience centered around hands-on, age-appropriate experiential learning,” said Michael Paolucci, founder of Slooh. “From new learning activities to a more intuitive dashboard, the new enhancements flatten the learning curve for new users and emphasize creativity and self-directed learning as students discover the wonders of the universe and collect and analyze astronomical data in real time.”
For students, the platform allows for more interactivity and personalization as students complete Quest learning activities. This includes the ability for students to create custom posters depicting what they discovered using Slooh’s fully autonomous online telescopes. Also, students are now able to participate in independent study programs – focused on citizen science, science communications, and workforce development – designed by Slooh.
For educators, the platform features an improved, more intuitive dashboard and new support resources. This includes on-demand training and onboarding videos, situational awareness of Slooh’s live telescope feeds, and easy search and browse navigation to Slooh’s learning activities. Additional improvements allow educators to easily assign these learning activities and monitor student progress, as well as integrate Slooh with popular learning management systems including Schoology, Brightspace, and Google Education.
This fall, a third observatory in Australia will be coming online to provide 24/7 viewing access to the night sky. It will join Slooh’s two other user-controlled robotic telescopes in the Canary Islands and Chile, which provide the ability for students to view celestial phenomena, capture and analyze observational data, and participate in gamified learning through the company’s patented technology.
“We know studying space can open students’ eyes to potential STEM pathways and careers, so we want as many students as possible, regardless of their location or demographics, to have access to space observatories,” said Paolucci. “We look forward to supporting students across the nation and beyond this school year and can’t wait to see the different stars, planets, moons, nebulae, and celestial events they discover.”
Slooh brings the wonders of space exploration to the public, at school and at home. For almost 20 years, the company has provided the ability to view space phenomena, capture observational data, and engage in gamified learning through its patented user-controlled network of online telescopes and standards-aligned curriculum for upper elementary through post-secondary students around the world. Slooh is funded in part by a National Science Foundation grant. To learn more about Slooh, visit https://www.slooh.com.
It’s October, and for many students, that means pumpkins, scary decorations, and trick-or-treating on Halloween. What better way to celebrate October than to incorporate some fun and spooky videos to engage students, while also teaching them some fun facts?
Teachers with students of all ages can use TED-Ed Lessons to leverage October’s fun events (Friday the 13th in October, anyone?) and speak to students’ different interests.
The TED-Ed platform lets educators build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video. Once teachers find the video they want to use, they can use the TED-Ed Lessons editor to add questions, discussion prompts, and additional resources.
Use these TED-Ed Lessons and videos for brain breaks, to introduce new lessons, or to give students some fun and age-appropriate spooky experiences into your classroom:
1. Where do superstitions come from? Are you afraid of black cats? Would you open an umbrella indoors? How do you feel about the number 13? Whether or not you believe in them, you’re probably familiar with a few of these superstitions. But where did they come from? Stuart Vyse shares the weird and specific origins of some of our favorite superstitions.
2. Why is being scared so fun? At this very moment, people are lining up somewhere to scare themselves, be it with a thrill-ride or a horror movie. In fact, in October of 2015 alone, about 28 million people visited a haunted house in the US. But you might wonder: What could possibly be fun about being scared? Margee Kerr examines the biology and psychology behind what makes fear so fun.
3. The fascinating history of cemeteries: Spindly trees, rusted gates, crumbling stone, a solitary mourner: these things come to mind when we think of cemeteries. But not long ago, many burial grounds were lively places, with gardens and crowds of people — and for much of human history, we didn’t bury our dead at all. How did cemeteries become what they are today? Keith Eggener delves into our ever-evolving rituals for honoring the dead.
4. What can you learn from ancient skeletons? Ancient skeletons can tell us a great deal about the past, including the age, gender and even the social status of its former owner. But how can we know all of these details simply by examining some old, soil-caked bones? Farnaz Khatibi examines a fascinating branch of science known as biological anthropology.
5. A video that terrifies while it teaches? There’s a TED-Ed Lesson for that: Pick your poison: Blood hungry vampires. Zombies on a mission for your tasty brain. Creepy crawlies. No matter your (fictional or real) fright of choice, TED-Ed has a lesson for all of your Halloween needs. So pick out your favorite candy (more on that later), choose a few videos, and have a very happy Halloween.
Ninth-grade English was a paradox for me—both the best and worst year for helping me learn to write.
Every month, my Advanced English teacher, Mr. Johnson, assigned our class one of the classics of English literature and expected us to demonstrate what we had learned with an accompanying essay. He set a high bar for clearly articulated theses, well-structured paragraphs, well-crafted sentences, and supporting quotes from the text. I credit Mr. Johnson’s class for eventually helping me pass the AP Writing exam my senior year without ever taking an AP-level English class.
However, that same 9th-grade English class also planted the seeds of debilitating habits and mindsets in my writing process. Mr. Johnson was willing to provide feedback on drafts. But the demands of all my other classes and activities rarely afforded me the time to take him up on his offer. Consequently, I found myself in a pressure cooker each month, drafting essays in the final days and hours before they were due. The ticking clock and the weight of a looming grade forced me into a mindset where every sentence had to be near-perfect in my desperation to maintain my academic record. Writing became less of an exploration of ideas and more of a high-stakes gamble.
Fortunately, schools and society seem to be entering an era in which AI could completely upend the dysfunctional part of my 9th-grade English experience.
The damaging mindsets forged by conventional grading
The pressure I felt to craft near-perfect drafts on the first attempt is hardly unique to me—it’s symptomatic of a broader issue common across US K–12 education. In most classrooms, students don’t iterate on their work. With all the volumes of content to be covered, there just isn’t time in either the class period or the school year for cycles of feedback. Instead, teachers give assignments, students complete those assignments, teachers grade students’ work, and each assignment grade leaves an indelible impact on a students’ final grade for that class. Grades from individual classes then get averaged together, semester by semester, into GPAs that permanently carry the marks of any prior failures and shortcomings in a students’ learning.
I suspect these norms of practice are major cultivators of what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck would term a ‘fixed mindset.’ They create a stifling atmosphere where failure is a brand to be avoided rather than an experience to learn from. The binary of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ prevails, leaving little room for trial and error, an invaluable aspect of the learning process. The emphasis on the end product over the process perpetuates the fear of failure, curbing creativity, curiosity, and the potential for new discoveries. The outcome? A learning experience that prioritizes safe choices and known paths over innovative thinking and problem-solving.
Now, more than ever, students’ future success in an ever-changing world requires that they learn how to think critically and creatively while collaborating with others to solve complex problems. But the unwritten curriculum of most schools—instilling process perfectionism through rewarding flawless performance—is probably doing more harm than good.
The threat and opportunity of AI
Against this backdrop, there’s a lurking concern that AI is just going to help students find mindless shortcuts for cheating their way to good grades. But that’s only a risk if schools and teachers hold a low bar for what they expect of their students. Wharton professor, Ethan Mollick, made a compelling argument in his ASU+GSV talk last April that ChatGPT should really mean the end of lousy student writing. “I don’t accept papers that aren’t good anymore because the minimum you can do is turn in a good paper. So, why am I going to force you to write a bad one? … [With AI] we can increase our standards of what we can accomplish.” Knowing the minimum bar that tools like ChatGPT can produce, he expects students to prove that they’ve developed their ideas beyond what the AI can generate.
Journalist Adam Davidson noted on a recent Freakonomics podcast episode that he’s taken to calling ChatGPT “the ‘B-minus at everything’ program.” If schools set low expectations for the quality of students’ essays, then AI will enable those who so desire to cheat their education. But if schools and teachers want to elevate expectations for their students, AI can be a powerful tool for rapid feedback and iterative prototyping.
Breaking 9th-grade writing mindsets and habits
I think my 9th-grade self would have loved having a tool like ChatGPT to help with my essay assignments. But the real reason why is probably not what you’re thinking.
I relish the first part of writing—coming up with ideas worth sharing—and I find satisfaction in the final part of writing—polishing my prose for persuasive power. But the middle part—hammering out a lousy first draft—is a painful process given my bad habit of perfectionistic editing as I write. But over the last few months, I’ve found two amazing things that ChatGPT can do for me as a writer.
First, ChatGPT allows me to do what my colleague, Bob Moesta, calls “rapid prototyping.” I feed the AI my ideas—often through verbal dictation using its mobile app—and then it hands me back an outline for organizing those ideas into a blog post. We do some back and forth on the outline, then I ask it to write me the first draft, one headings-worth at a time. I’m not giving it a topic and then asking it to do the work of coming up with what to say on that topic. I’m doing the thinking, then it’s doing the initial writing.
Are the first drafts written by ChatGPT up to par with what I expect of my own writing? No. They look like they were written by an average high school student following all the formal conventions they’ve been trained to mimic. The structure is so predictable that it’s boring, and the sentences are full of cliche turns of phrase.
But with this leg up from ChatGPT, a process that has typically taken me around four to six hours gets cut down to about an hour. What’s even more important is that this collaboration between me and the machine has been easing my dread of writing the first draft.
Second, ChatGPT gives me quick and convenient access to an outside perspective on my work. When I’m not sure if my structure is working, or I’m struggling to come up with a concise and catchy way to convey my ideas, outside feedback is often the best remedy. Unfortunately, the turnaround time for collegial feedback is typically a day or more, and when my colleagues are pressed for time, asking for feedback can feel like an imposition. Meanwhile, ChatGPT can often give me just what I need: a little bit of new insight to break me out of the rut I’m stuck in. Are its insights as good as those of a colleague? No. But what it lacks in quality it compensates for in on-demand responsiveness.
In short, while AI can handle the ‘how’ of writing, it falls short in understanding the ‘why’ and ‘what’—the substance that gives a piece of writing its rigor and depth. Nonetheless, I’ve experienced first hand how tools like ChatGPT can facilitate cycles of writing, revising, and refining, all while helping me foster low-stress, fail-forward mindsets.
Harnessing AI’s potential to revolutionize educational feedback
I think we’re on the verge of a future where AI dramatically reshapes how students experience learning to write. With the help of AI, students will be able to see more clearly that the most important part of writing isn’t what happens when your fingers hit the keyboard—it’s the learning and the thinking that happens before you ever pull up a blank page. Once they do their thinking, AI can help them translate what they’ve discovered into written text. Then, as they learn to work with that text to hone in on what they really want to communicate, sophisticated algorithms can help them sharpen their intuitions for that medium by providing real-time feedback on not only grammatical errors but also argument coherence, evidence use, and rhetorical strategy.
When schools and educators see AI as an ally rather than an adversary, I suspect they’ll discover an unprecedented opportunity to both raise the bar on what they expect from their students as well as make the learning experience more enjoyable and meaningful. Did I mention that I used AI to write the first draft of this piece?
This post was written with assistance from ChatGPT. For anyone interested in how the post was crafted, here’s a link to the ChatGPT conversation that helped produce this post.
When did October become awards season in the world of edtech? This week’s newsfeeds are stuffed with announcements for finalists and honorees for both educators and vendors on the best and brightest developments for teaching and learning.
The winners:
Of course, we need to start with the most prestigious! The eSchool News Hero Awards, honors educators for their exemplary use of innovative edtech to support student learning:
John Arthur, 6th grade teacher at Meadowlark Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah
Dr. Jesus Jara, superintendent of Clark County School District (CCSD) in Nevada
Tom Lamont, painting and design technology instructor at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School (BVT) in Massachusetts
Winners were chosen for their commitment to education despite obstacles–including achievement gaps, teacher burnout, and funding–and their creativity and innovation in helping all students continue learning while ensuring students felt safe, empowered, and engaged.
Nominations were judged by a panel of education experts, including Laura Ascione, eSchool News editorial director, and Eileen Belastock, CETL, Belastock Consulting. I look forward to interviewing them in the coming days for the podcast. Here’s one of my favorites from years past.
The Institute for Education Innovation, a national school superintendent think tank that serves as the bridge between district leaders and the K-12 industry to develop solutions to the greatest challenges in education, also this week announced the finalists for the third annual Supes’ Choice Awards. The Supes’ Choice Awards honor the most innovative education products and solutions, and are the only education industry awards judged exclusively by school district superintendents.
“Now in its third year, the Supes’ Choice Awards have become known in the education industry as one of the top honors recognizing forward-thinking edtech companies,” said Doug Roberts, founder and CEO of the Institute for Education Innovation (IEI). “Judged by the country’s most innovative superintendents, the awards provide edtech company founders and CEOs with valuable insights to help them create more meaningful and impactful learning experiences for students. In fact, students and teachers alike benefit the most when edtech companies partner with administrators on the front lines of K-12 education to perfect their products and solutions.”
Finalists for the Supes’ Choice Awards are chosen based on a demonstrated commitment to student outcomes, innovation and ingenuity, client support, interactivity, and engagement. The finalists for each category include:
Literacy Instructional Solution: NoRedInk, Phonics, Reading, and Me, Read Naturally
Math Instructional Solution: TouchMath, Magma Math
Most Innovative PD Solution: Lexia LETRS, Lexia Aspire Professional Learning and thinkLaw
Operations/Finance/HR Solution: Operoo, Upbeat and iiQ Facilities
SEL Solution of the Year: Sown to Grow, Care Solace
STEM/STEAM Instructional Solution: Kide Science, ExploreLearning Gizmos
Virtual Instructional Experience: Proximity Learning, Tutored by Teachers
Winners will be revealed at the 2023 Supes’ Choice Awards Gala taking place on Friday, December 8 in New York City. The Gala is a celebration honoring the finalists and winners that includes dinner, an awards ceremony, and live entertainment.
ClassLink celebrated the exceptional achievements of individuals and teams during the closing session of their annual ClassLink Learning Analytics Summit, CLAS 2023, on October 5th.
THE CLAS Awards of Excellence celebrate the innovative ways individuals and teams use data to better serve their district’s learners, recognizing the educational impacts of institutions, leaders, and experts.
Data Storyteller Award
Winner: Connie Chin (Bibb County School District, GA)
This award recognizes an individual who expertly uses data analysis to inform strategy and drive teaching and learning in their organization.
Data Bridge Builders Award
Winner: Tonja Brun & Team (Savannah Chatham Public Schools, GA)
This award recognizes an organization that excels at collaborating and building toward a data-driven culture to improve teaching and learning.
Data Security Champions Award
Winner: Keith Price & Team (Vestavia Hills Schools, AL)
This award recognizes an organization using analytics/security insights to inform their data security strategy implementation.
“We established the CLAS Awards of Excellence as a tribute to the remarkable individuals and teams leading the charge in advancing digital learning through innovative data utilization. All of us at ClassLink are deeply honored to witness the inventive applications of our Analytics tools by the showcased winners. Their efforts inspire us all!”
Login
, Capstone has a passion for inspiring students to learn and their communities to thrive. As a publisher of content for children, Capstone embraces the responsibility to celebrate and share the diverse voices and perspectives of our readers and communities. Capstone supports great teaching and learning with engaging content that values the work that educators do every day—helping students succeed. CapstonePub.com #LearningIsForEveryone 
