Blog Archives - The EdTech Roundup

At OC Taylor Elementary, Robots Boost Autism Ed and STEM Learning

4/24/2019

The school has adopted Robon to present STEM curriculum and Milo to help students with autism disorders learn social and emotional skills

(Dallas, TX) April 24, 2019 -- STEM students and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have two new buddies at OC Taylor Elementary School, thanks to a partnership between the PTA, the school, and leading educational robot and curriculum providerRoboKind.

Milo and Robon are humanoid, facially expressive robots that stand about two feet tall. At OC Taylor, Robon will deliver the company’srobots4STEM visual programming curriculum for elementary science, technology, engineering, and math. Milo will interact with students using robots4autism, a social and emotional learning curriculum for students with ASD.

Boclips Launches Curated, Secure Video Platform for Educators

4/24/2019

With more than 120 partners, the new service offers educational video content that is appropriate for students of all ages and covers every school subject

(Boston, MA) April 16, 2019 – Boclips today launched its new solution, Boclips for Teachers, a video platform that offers safe and engaging content for students and time-saving solutions for educators. Boclips for Teachers offers an extensive library of material to bring academic topics to life for all ages while deepening students’ understanding of a variety of subjects.

Boclips for Teachers is a school-safe alternative to consumer-focused video platforms that don’t filter for age-appropriateness, can be clogged with ads or toxic comments, and are blocked by many schools and districts. With an easy-to-use platform and no video copyright issues to worry about, Boclips’ platform offers a solution that educators may not have been aware they even needed. By simply cutting and pasting links, educators can supplement lessons in any school subject with short video clips that capture and keep students’ attention.

New EdTech Resource | Boclips for Teachers: Educational Videos for the Classroom

4/24/2019

Boclips for Teachers is a new platform that provides short educational videos, teacher-curated collections of videos, and award-winning video content from a variety of different providers. The team currently has content from over 120 different educational providers, and all videos are ad-free and visible within their platform to help avoid stumbling onto distracting or inappropriate content.

In short, it’s meant to be a resource to help teachers quickly and easily find and share excellent video content for the classroom.

STEM Educators Win the 2019 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards for Their Innovative Use of Data-Collection Technology

4/17/2019

Seven educators awarded cash and technology prizes valued at $5,500 each

Beaverton, OR (April 15, 2019) — Vernier Software & Technology and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) announce the seven winners of the 2019 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards. This year’s winning educators—one elementary teacher, two middle school teachers, three high school teachers, and one college-level educator—were selected.

A panel of NSTA-appointed experts chose these individuals based on their innovative use of data-collection technology in the science classroom. Each winning educator received $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products, and up to $1,500 toward expenses to attend the annual NSTA National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on April 11–14, 2019.

Renaissance Partners with Discovery Education and Knovation to Inspire Growth Through New Test Items and Open Educational Resources

4/17/2019

Current Renaissance customers will gain immediate access to the new curated content

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (Apr. 17, 2019) – Renaissance®, a global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, today announced tens of thousands of new test items and more than 100,000 open educational resources (OERs) are being added to the Renaissance Growth Platform™.

More than 20,000 test items will be incorporated into Renaissance Star Assessments® as a result of a license agreement with Discovery Education, a global leader in standards-based digital content for K–12 classrooms. The items span subjects such as math, reading, and science.

LEGO® Education and FIRST® Inspire STEAM Learning with New Architecture-Themed LEGO sets for 2019-2020 FIRST® LEGO® League Season

4/17/2019

New LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime and new SPIKE™ Prime Expansion Set can now be used in FIRST LEGO League along with LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 17, 2019) – Today at the FIRST® Championship, LEGO® Education and FIRSTunveiled two new, exclusive LEGO sets created specifically for the 2019-2020 FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. and FIRST® LEGO® League season.

LEGO Education also announced today that its newly released LEGO Education SPIKE™ Prime with the new SPIKE™ Prime Competition Expansion Set can be used along with LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 in FIRST LEGO League. LEGO Education SPIKE Prime and the SPIKE Prime Expansion Set can be pre-ordered today in the U.S. and will be available around the world in August 2019.

Edsby Releases App to Capture Evidence of Student Learning

4/16/2019

‘Edsby Capture’ gives teachers new, image-based ways to
gather, organize, assess and share evidence of student progress

(Ontario, Canada) April 16, 2019 – Edsby®, the most comprehensive learning and analytics platform available for K-12 education, now offers a mobile device application to help educators document student progress and achievement. The Edsby Capture app, available via the App Store and Google Play, gives educators a simple way to record, tag, share and report on evidence of learning.

Typing.com Introduces Free District Accounts and Support Features

4/11/2019

The web’s most popular typing tutor, used by more than 25 million students, becomes the only typing program to offer district, school and teacher support―completely free

San Juan, PR―Typing.com, the web’s most popular typing tutor, now enables schools and districts using Typing.com in multiple classrooms the opportunity to set up a district-wide account, connecting schools and classrooms together and giving administrators access to progress reporting across schools.

School and district accounts are free of charge, making Typing.com the only platform to offer full district support at no cost with no limitations on content or administrative features.
“It’s our mission to make sure every student has the opportunity to learn the fundamental success skills of the 21st century,” said Austin Butler, Founder and President of Teaching.com, the creators of Typing.com. “Providing district support through Typing.com advances this mission by making it easier for a greater number of districts, schools and classrooms to get the most out of the program and giving many more students access to keyboarding lessons and curriculum. Most importantly, we are pleased to offer these features―and all features of Typing.com―for free, ensuring equitable access for all schools and students.”

CDI Technologies Is Awarded Expanded School Purchasing Contract By The Alabama Department Of Education

4/11/2019

School districts can now benefit from more classroom technology options from CDI

(Chicago, IL) March 18, 2019 – CDI Technologies (formerly CDI Computer Dealers) announced today it was awarded an expanded contract with the Alabama Department of Education allowing it to offer more products and services to Alabama school districts.

This expanded agreement through the state’s Alabama K-12 Joint Purchasing (ALJP) program allows schools to purchase CDI’s classroom-ready technology including recertified devices and charging carts, as well as technologies from its partners including Acer, ASUS, Newline and Google.

CDI provides schools with best-in-class products and services to support classroom-ready tech initiatives and 1:1 programs. It currently provides solutions to 84 percent of the state’s school districts – impacting over 500,000 students –through the ALJP. With this contract, CDI will be able to sell its expanding line of partners’ technologies and services to Alabama districts in addition to its own equipment and services.

Impero Software Partners with the Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council (ESUCC)

4/11/2019

Partnership provides schools in Nebraska with special pricing on Impero Education Pro

(Austin, TX) March 26, 2019 – The Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council (ESUCC) has selected Impero Software, a specialist provider of remote monitoring and management software for education, as a vendor partner for the 2019-2020 school year. The partnership allows schools to obtain special pricing on the company’s flagship product, Impero Education Pro, if they purchase it through the Nebraska ESUCC, by May 15, 2019.