Blog Archives - The EdTech Roundup

Reading Horizons Launches New Professional Development Podcast

6/30/2018

Every episode of Podclassed will feature prominent instructional leaders sharing practical solutions to improve the future of education

Salt Lake City, UT (May 16, 2018) — Reading Horizons, a leading provider of literacy solutions for the education market, today announced the launch of its new podcast with the apt name Podclassed. The podcast is hosted by Reading Horizons’ education specialist Laura Axtell, who explores current educational topics with distinguished educators and leaders whose practical solutions will improve the future of education. To access the first episode of Podclassed, click here.

Podclassed focuses on sharing the perspectives of educational stakeholders to identify solutions to relevant issues on professional development. Episode one is the first of two parts covering teacher preparation for reading with guest Rob Rickenbrode, the senior managing director for the National Council on Teaching Quality.

Insight ADVANCE Launches Updated Video Coaching Software for Educators at ISTE

6/23/2018

Groundbreaking updates to the award-winning ADVANCE Suite allow educators to collaborate and evaluate classroom instruction best practices, all in one platform

(Encino, CA) June 21, 2018 – Insight ADVANCE, creator of groundbreaking tools for teachers’ professional growth, today announced a collection of updates to its award-winning observation, coaching, and evaluation software. Their video-based suite of products is designed to improve educators’ professional growth through collaboration and feedback.

The Insight ADVANCE Suite, including ADVANCEcalibrate®, ADVANCEfeedback®, and ADVANCElearn™, offers educators the opportunity to improve their practice and, ultimately, student achievement through video-based self-reflection, peer-to-peer collaboration, and coaching. Educators can use uploaded videos of their practice – classroom instruction, coaching conversations or professional development – to share with colleagues and coaches for detailed and specific feedback. State departments of education, school districts, and universities across the country use the ADVANCE Suite, and now will be able to network with one another to leverage a broader set of coaching resources. For example, the ADVANCE Suite supports the Empowering Educators to Excel (E3) program, which provides five school districts across the country the opportunity to grow as a networked improvement community.

A Humanoid Robot Inspires All Students to Explore STEM, Coding, and Programming

6/20/2018

For ISTE 2018, RoboKind introduces Jett and his STEM curriculum, which provides students with autism equal access to pursuing careers in technology

(Dallas, TX) June 20, 2018 — RoboKind, the creators of robots4autism and Milo, today introduced Jett, the coding and programming robot, along with the robots4STEM curriculumdesigned to teach all students, including those with disabilities, the skills they need to ignite a lasting interest in STEM.

Jett is the younger sibling of RoboKind’s facially expressive robot Milo, and provides all students, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the opportunity to explore STEM, coding, and programming.

The CDC recently announced the number of students identified as on the autism spectrum is rising, and 70–75% of those individuals are either unemployed or underemployed. Jett directly tackles one of the biggest challenges in STEM education for all students, including ASD individuals, and ultimately the workplace: the critical shortage of students who say they want to pursue careers in technology.

3DBear Challenges ISTE 2018 Attendees to Build a Martian Colony in AR

6/20/2018

At the Northern Illinois STEM Read event, teachers and students will rescue a stranded astronaut using augmented reality

(Chicago, IL) June 20, 2018 – At ISTE 2018, 3DBear is offering educators a thrilling challenge right out of a Hollywood movie: A U.S. astronaut is stranded on Mars. How are you going to save him? And as a teacher, what science could you teach your students as they try? Students and teachers will have the chance to save that astronaut in augmented reality (AR) during the Northern Illinois STEM Read Professional Development Party in Space.

The event will feature Andy Weir, author of the best-selling novels The Martian and Artemis.

Using 3DBear’s app and a virtual gallery of objects in Thingiverse, teams will develop 3D objects and create a colony on Mars. They will also consider the scientific principles behind growing plants and recycling water on their colony, and will use a Makerbot 3D printer to bring their 3DBear AR design to life.

Students To Be Able To Create Their Own Augmented Reality (AR) Content

6/19/2018

CoSpaces Edu launches first AR creation feature for schools

On June 24-27 at the ISTE conference, Delightex – the makers of CoSpaces Edu will launcha pioneer AR content creation feature for education, giving students the ability to build their own Augmented Reality experiences for the very first time - an addition to their successful Virtual Reality (VR) creation platform and an unprecedented development in the field of EdTech.

CoSpaces Edu, the leading platform for VR creation in education, will be launching its first Augmented Reality (AR) mode at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) EdTech conference, taking place June 24-27 in Chicago.

GreyED Accepted into Prestigious SETDA Emerging Partners Program

6/11/2018

The partnership allows for companies to work together in improving education through technology policy and practice, and to take action on issues facing public education

(Minneapolis, MN & Alexandria, Va.) June 7, 2018 — GreyED Solutions announced today their acceptance into the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Emerging Private Sector Partners Program, which launches this month. The partnership allows companies to benefit from opportunities to showcase their products and services, receive feedback and advice, and engage in thoughtful dialogue with educational leaders.

“We are deeply appreciative to SETDA for selecting us to be a part of their 2018 Emerging Partners Program,” said Julie Carter, EdD, the co-founder and CEO of GreyED Solutions. “We look forward to sharing FilterED with SETDA members, including state educational technology directors, and state and regional curriculum and instruction, assessment, and professional development leaders, at the 2018 SETDA Emerging Technologies Leadership Forum in Chicago.”

IXL Learning Releases Continuous Diagnostic for English Language Arts

6/7/2018

Integrated Continuous Diagnostic now assesses math, language arts and reading levels

(SAN MATEO, CA) June 5, 2018-- Today, IXL Learning announced the release of its Continuous Diagnostic for English language arts (ELA). Available on IXL, the K-12 personalized learning program used by 1 in 9 U.S. students, the Continuous Diagnostic simultaneously analyzes students’ language arts and math abilities and provides teachers with specific next steps to help learners advance.

By expanding to English language arts, the IXL Continuous Diagnostic now offers an accurate picture of each student’s proficiency in language arts, as well as his or her overall reading level.

Eight US pupils become finalists in global competition to develop new computer game that will help 1.5 millions kids worldwide master school subjects

6/5/2018

Award winning edtech firm Quizalize engaged with school children globally to design a new game that will help kids enjoy subjects and learn more effectively

Eight students from five different US states (including Texas, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania), have become finalists in a worldwide competition to develop a new computer game, held by award winning edtech firm Quizalize, that will help 1.5 million children globally master school subjects.

The children, aged between 9 and 16, beat off thousands of entries nationally and worldwide from 12 different US states and eight countries to create an interactive game that will make formative assessments more fun and engaging for children but also more useful and informative for teachers. Entries include a Monster Catcher game where students tame monsters by answering correct questions.

If a question is answered incorrectly, the monster attacks. Another is inspired by a UFO attack; children must answer assessment questions correctly otherwise their avatar gets beamed up and abducted by an alien spacecraft that hovers over the entrance of a safe house. A judge’s favourite also includes Diversity Hospital – a game developed on coding website Scratch – which entails navigating an artery or vein safely while dodging nasty viruses and germs.

Amgen Foundation And Harvard Team Up To Offer Free Online Science Education Platform

6/1/2018

LabXchange Will Provide Virtual Lab Experiences Integrating Digital Instruction With Collaboration and Mentoring Opportunities

(THOUSAND OAKS, CA) May 30, 2018 – The Amgen Foundation and Harvard University today announced plans to launch a free online science education platform uniquely designed to level the playing field for aspiring scientists. The LabXchange platform, which will launch with a focus in biology, will offer digital instruction and virtual lab experiences to high school and college students, enabling them to gain meaningful exposure to the scientific process. It will also include online networking focused on collaboration and mentoring.