Blog Posts - The EdTech Roundup

edCircuit: 5 Students Share Successful Remote Collaboration Strategies

10/1/2020

Alumni from the Conrad Challenge reflect on how they succeeded from a distance

Registration is now open for the 2020-21 Conrad Challenge, a global innovation and entrepreneurship competition now in its 15th year. As with so many things, 2020 will be a year like no other for the Challenge, as the student teams (each team is composed of 2-5 students, ages 13-18, plus a coach) will mostly be working remotely and collaborating from a distance.

Fortunately, the Challenge has a long history of teams collaborating from around the world and, given that the 2019-20 event wrapped up with the first-ever Virtual Innovation Summit in May, recent alumni gained perspectives on remote success.

edCircuit: Q&A: Previewing a Free Educator Summit on Student Empowerment

9/25/2020

Matt Miller, creator of Ditch That Textbook, explains what educators can expect to learn at the Soundtrap EDU Summit, September 28 - October 7

The first-ever Soundtrap EDU Summit, beginning on September 28, is a free online experience dedicated to helping educators learn how to empower their students. Presenters for the event will include music and STEAM educators, student storytellers and digital media creators, discussing topics from creativity to music, podcasting and storytelling ― among many others. Educators who register will have access to a new session each day of the event.

edCircuit: Experienced Online Teachers Share Top Tips for Success

9/23/2020

In this piece, you’ll hear from three experienced online teachers from EdisonLearning, a K-12 digital learning provider that works with more than 350 schools and 150,000 students to support a variety of virtual, blended, and alternative learning programs with proven success. The teachers have been supporting online learning for years, working remotely with students to close gaps and increase equity.

edCircuit: Taking Remote Teaching from “Zoom to Boom”

9/18/2020

In a recent webinar presented by Curriculum Associates, Dr. Anita Archer shared recommended remote learning strategies to use in the 2020-21 year. Dr. Archer highlighted the importance of utilizing evidence-based practices to optimize learning, several of which she describes further in the presentation. She emphasized the importance of creating an environment where learning is always the goal, and quality instruction is the path.

EdCircuit: Mind the Gap – Episode 5 Featuring Starr Sackstein

9/16/2020

This episode of Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe,
was originally published on edCircuit

This episode of Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe begins with “On Our Minds,” a popular segment in which co-hosts Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner discuss pressing, relevant issues. In this episode, they give their thoughts on how we can get more people to enter the teaching profession, as well as how to keep teachers in the profession once they join.

KinderLab Robotics Announces New Activity Cards to Support Playful Learning with KIBO in Any Learning Environment

8/12/2020

This new addition to the curriculum suite provides young learners with out-of-box activities and inspiration for self-directed STEAM robotics

(Waltham, MA) August 12, 2020 – KinderLab Robotics today expanded its KIBO™ curriculum suite by announcing the availability of their reimagined KIBO Activity Cards, adding to KIBO’s existing 160 hours of curriculum covering programming, STEAM, and the engineering design process. Designed for professional educators and parents alike, these activity cards provide 15 activities with big, colorful images and easy-to-follow instructions.

The cards can be used independently by students in a classroom activity station, as the basis for teacher-guided lessons in remote learning, or when playing and learning with KIBO at home.

Kansas’ Topeka Public Schools Partners with Discovery Education to Expand Innovative Online Educational Opportunities

8/11/2020

Silver Spring, Md. (Friday, August 7, 2020) Kansas’ Topeka Public Schools (TPS) today announced it is partnering with Discovery Education on a new initiative supporting the expansion of innovative equitable learning experiences for all students. Through this new partnership, TPS is investing in Discovery Education to provide TPS’s approximately 1,300 teachers dynamic, digital resources that improve their capacity to provide the district’s almost 14,000 K-12 students new, more personalized lessons and activities. The new lessons and activities will serve as the foundation for more equitable learning experiences for all students at home, in the classroom, or wherever learning is taking place. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms.

TEA Will Offer Free Learning Management System to Texas Schools for Two Years to Help Bolster Remote and Classroom Instruction

7/30/2020

This new offering will save school systems up to $40M, and reduce total taxpayer cost up to $22M

AUSTIN, Texas – July 30, 2020 – The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has officially launched Texas Home Learning 3.0 (THL 3.0), a comprehensive initiative to support school systems, teachers, parents, and students during the public health crisis and beyond with high-quality instructional materials, technology solutions, and professional development resources.

As part of THL 3.0, TEA announced this week that it will offer all Texas school systems a world-class Learning Management System (LMS) from PowerSchool’s Schoology for two years at no cost. Like other THL 3.0 offerings, use of the Schoology LMS will be optional for Texas school systems. Currently, Schoology is used in schools representing more than one million students across Texas (1 in 5 students statewide).

Student Innovators Share Their Journey to Entrepreneurial Success at the Conrad Challenge: Q&A Session

7/30/2020

Opioid use and addiction are serious issues facing the health and wellbeing of communities across the United States. According to CDC stats, nearly 67,000 people died from overdoses in 2018, and of those deaths, almost 70 percent involved a prescription or illicit opioid. In recent years, efforts have been made to reduce the number of cases, but undoubtedly more needs to be done to address the epidemic.

STEM Careers Coalition from Discovery Education Debuts New Video Series Spotlighting Corporate Community Responses to COVID-19

7/24/2020

Careers Content Supports Student Understanding of the Critical Role STEM Plays in
Global Problem-Solving

SILVER SPRING, MD (Friday, July 24, 2020) – To help students connect the dots between the application of STEM skills, innovating solutions, and important real-world challenges, the STEM Careers Coalition launches “COVID-19 Solution Seekers,” a video series spotlighting how non-profits, corporations, and industries pivot to meet the needs presented by COVID-19.