Blog Archives - The EdTech Roundup

Guest Post | Should We Take K-12 Education Online?

3/15/2017

Author: Bob Hand

After playing a prominent role in education reform in Maryland, senior advisor of education Jason Botel now seeks to play a larger role across the nation. His support of a weighted student funding formula could greatly increase enrollment in virtual public schools. This raises a key question: when it comes to public education, are online programs a viable option?

51Talk Offers U.S. Educators the Opportunity to Teach English from Home

3/14/2017

The English-learning company is seeking teachers in the United States and Canada to provide English language instruction to Chinese students over the internet

(New York, New York) March 14, 2017 -- 51Talk, the award-winning online English-learning platform, is pleased to offer educators in the United States and Canada the opportunity to teach English to students overseas, all from the comfort of their own homes. Through 51Talk’s new American Academy program, English-speaking educators have the ability to interact with and teach students in China using a live, one-on-one video conferencing platform.

Austin ISD Is Personalizing Literacy Instruction with District-Wide Implementation of myON

3/14/2017

85,000 students now have access to thousands of digital books

(MINNEAPOLIS, MN) March 14, 2017 – myON, leading provider of personalized literacy solutions for the K-12 marketplace, today announced its partnership with Austin Independent School District (AISD) on a new district-wide implementation for 2017. The district chose myON to help fulfill its mission of providing access to multicultural, published books to support the practice of structured independent reading for all students.

Save Your Seat for the 5th Annual Ideas & Innovations Virtual Conference, March 14-16, 2017

3/10/2017

Share My Lesson is hosting its 5th annual Ideas & Innovations virtual conference, brought to you by the American Federation of Teachers, March 14-16, 2017. This free webinar series provides education professionals with “use right now” classroom content that will work in today’s classroom. From protecting our students in an anti-immigrant climate to the future of public education, and creating effective classroom assessments, this carefully cultivated series will be shared and talked about by educators across the country who need support.

Education Talk Radio Launches a Second Education Podcast for Parents and Community

3/10/2017

Education in America aims to close the information gap between
schools, districts, and the communities they serve

(Boston, MA) March 8, 2017 —Larry Jacobs, host of the long-running Education Talk Radio podcast for education professionals, today announced the debut of his new podcast, Education in America. The weekly podcast brings together the voices and opinions of guest educators, authors and members of the community. The aim is to close the information gap between schools, districts, and the communities they serve.

Guest Post | Communication Tools: Ideas for Staying Connected

3/10/2017

Author: Rachelle Dene Poth

One of the most important tasks that educators have today is to facilitate a means of communicating with students and families. There are many traditional options available ranging from paper format such as quick notes sent home, newsletters, to emails and phone calls. These are still great ways to communicate and establish connections with the students and parents.

However, with so many digital options available, these traditional methods of communicating can now be converted into much faster means of sharing information.

The act of connecting and being accessible to students and parents, regardless of a difference in schedules, can be done instantly. Depending on the type of communication that you want to have for your classroom and parents, there are many possibilities to choose from. It simply takes figuring out what you hope to accomplish and to do better through this new method of communicating.

Neshaminy School District Receives Charlotte F. Lockhart Award for Excellence in Literacy Education

3/7/2017

Reading Horizon honored Neshaminy for its renowned reading
intervention program with a blended learning approach

(SALT LAKE CITY) March 7, 2017 — Reading Horizons, a multisensory curriculum used to rapidly increase reading skills, presented the Charlotte F. Lockhart Award for Excellence in Literacy Education to Neshaminy School District. Neshaminy, located in Bucks County, PA, began its Reading Horizons implementation with a small pilot five years ago.

Since then, the dedication of the educators involved has helped transform that pilot into a highly praised intervention program that is offered to all Title 1 students in kindergarten through third grade.

myON Launches New Product: myON News Powered by News-O-Matic

3/6/2017

Exclusive partnership provides daily multimedia news articles for K–8 students
in many languages and at a range of Lexile® levels

(Minneapolis, MN) March 6, 2017 — myON, the leading provider of personalized literacy solutions in the K–12 marketplace, today introduced myON News Powered by News-O-Matic. The digital multimedia platform will serve as an interactive and fun introduction to daily news and current events for kids. myON News will engage K–8 students to help them become informed global citizens and connected to digital fiction and nonfiction books—a first-of-its-kind feature for classrooms.

Minnesota Student Broadband Expansion Grant Recipients Partner with Kajeet for Off-Campus Learning

3/6/2017

Districts Receive State Funding to Connect Students Outside the Classroom

MCLEAN, Virginia—Feb. 27, 2017--Kajeet, the industry leader for safe, mobile student Internet connectivity, announces its most recent partnerships as a result of money allocated by the Minnesota Department of Education. Minnesota appropriated $500,000 to fund broadband connectivity to students without Internet outside the classroom. Up to $50,000 was available for each recipient.

Of the 12 school districts awarded the Internet Broadband Expansion for Minnesota Students grant, six have already partnered with Kajeet to provide Internet access to their rural students.

100+ Thought Leaders from the DOD, Healthcare, Education To Share Experience Implementing Serious Games Training Programs July 18-20 at George Mason University

3/6/2017

WASHINGTON, DC - March 6, 2017 - More than100 thought leaders driving the adoption of game-based learning will gather at George Mason University's Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia, Tuesday-Thursday, July 18 - 20, 2017. Speakers include training personnel from the DOD, the Office of National Intelligence, the Veterans Administration, police departments and prisons as well as companies implementing gamification programs, healthcare providers, researchers, developers, instructional designers from higher ed and K-12 faculty using games in education.