The EdTech Roundup
Connect:
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Editorials & Press
  • Ed Tech Sites
  • Lesson Plans
    • Elementary
    • Secondary
  • Former Weekly Podcast
  • About Me
  • Contact

ConnectEDU: Using Innovative Technology Tools to Help Close the K-12 Literacy Gap

10/9/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
In September, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded numerous grants for their Literacy Courseware Challenge.  The primary goal of this challenge is to provide funding to companies that will use innovative methods to help close the K-12 literacy gap.  

ConnectEDU, a technology company that is empowering students by informing their academic and career decisions and guiding them on their pathways from school to career,  was the recipient of a $500,000 grant, the highest amount awarded.

I recently had the chance to speak with Nick Franco, the Senior Director of Business Development for ConnectEDU, and discuss how the company plans to use this money to build on current innovations and create new technologies to help close the literacy gap.

If you’re not familiar, ConnectEDU is an organization that serves over 20 million users, in 5,000 educational institutions, across 40 countries.  They provide a variety of services to the K-12 sector, everything from data management, to helping schools find 3rd party resources, to assisting students with college and career planning. 

Now that ConnectEDU has received this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they will be meeting with the other award recipients in late October.  These companies, which include 3rd party content developers, and content aggregators (like ConnectEDU), will work together to develop new solutions to not only close the literacy gap, but to improve K-12 education in general.


Picture
ConnectEDU has also been working with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) in partnership with CaseNEX-DataCation to deploy a digital dashboard that will make learning resource recommendations from  EngageNY, the State's digital content repository. 

NYSED recently launched an initiative to catalogue, tag, and organize learning materials in EngageNY, which will make this recommendations framework possible. Imagine a teacher being able to log onto a digital dashboard that shows them exactly where each student stands in relation to specific content and Common Core State Standards. 

Picture
Using real-time data, ConnectEDU’s DataCation Compass does just that, alerting teachers, parents and students of progress against Common Core Standards to recalibrate and realign instruction based on individual student needs. Not only that, but this dashboard pulls from a huge variety of lesson plans (both online and classroom-based) that focus on the specific skills that their students need extra help with, providing supplemental courseware recommendations to the students, themselves, on an individual basis. 

In the big picture, this is what ConnectEDU has created, a framework for managing digital content.  Teachers, administrators, students, and districts  can use the ConnectEDU dashboard to manage and analyze student data, discover new learning material, plan and prepare for college or career paths and align learning opportunities to the Common Core Standards, and it’s all in one easy to find place. 


Picture

Overall, Mr. Franco and ConnectEDU are incredibly excited for the opportunity this grant has provided.  This funding will undoubtedly help the company build upon their current momentum and meet their goal of empowering students by informing their academic and career decisions. If your district is looking for a better way to manage student data, recommend lessons, and organize Common Core Standards-based information, I definitely recommend taking the time to check out ConnectEDU.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Editorials

    Here you can find the Round Up's collection of editorial pieces and press releases where we will discuss the latest trends and ideas in educational technology


    Picture

    Featured

    Picture
    Check out our featured review | ClassroomAPP: A Complete, K-12 Digital Platform for Online and In-Person Classrooms

    Teach.com

    Connect


    Awards

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

           
​Except where noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Picture

Copyright 2020 | Mike Karlin, Ph.D.