Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Vernier Science Education Names Jill Hedrick as Its New Chief Executive Officer

BEAVERTON, Oregon — Vernier Science Education has named Jill Hedrick as its new chief executive officer (CEO). With a wealth of leadership experience in the education technology industry, Hedrick will lead the 40-plus-year science company as it continues to grow as a values-aligned Perpetual Purpose Trust dedicated to helping educators build a science literate society.

“What stood out to me about Vernier Science Education is its longstanding history in serving science educators worldwide,” said Hedrick. “My arrival to the company is in support of the continuation of this journey and I am honored to join the team. The roots of Vernier Science Education extend deep into the communities it serves, and as we continue to grow, keeping the legacy of providing for educators, employees, and the community at large will be a top priority of mine.”

Hedrick is a passionate leader focused on the intersection of technology and social impact. Prior to joining Vernier Science Education, she held executive positions at NWEA, Turnitin, Edmentum/APEX Learning, and Discovery Education, among other technology companies. She has deep experience serving both domestic and international markets, and creating results-oriented, scalable, and diverse teams.…Read More

Phenix City Schools’ Beta Club Members Excel at State Convention, Advancing to Nationals

Phenix City, Ala.— Phenix City Schools have marked a significant achievement at the Alabama State JR/SR Beta Convention, with students securing 51 top placements, a testament to the district’s quality of education and student dedication. The Beta Club, emphasizing leadership and service, saw over 100 members from Phenix City compete and succeed in one of the nation’s largest junior conventions and a highly competitive senior convention.

This accomplishment comes when educational excellence and community service are more important than ever. “Our students have worked tirelessly, and their success at the state convention clearly indicates their hard work, talent, and the strong support system provided by our schools,” Dr. Weber remarked.

The achievement of Phenix City Schools at the Beta Convention is not just a win for the district but a shining example of educational excellence in Alabama. As these students prepare for the national convention, they carry with them the pride and support of the entire state.…Read More

Museum of Science, Boston releases equity-oriented engineering curricula

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Bringing public science learning beyond its onsite exhibits and programs, the Museum of Science, Boston has launched Youth Engineering Solutions (YES), a collection of preK-8 engineering and STEM curricula designed to engage students in authentic, hands-on challenges connected to their lives and communities.

YES draws on more than three decades of research and development by the Museum’s PreK-12 education division, under the leadership of founding director Dr. Christine Cunningham, senior vice president of STEM Learning at the Museum of Science. …Read More

Navigating cultural diversity in American education

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The tapestry of America’s history is arguably woven with threads of multiculturalism, reflecting a nation that has embraced diversity since its inception. In many ways, the history of multicultural education runs parallel with the history of the United States, because we have been an ostensibly multicultural nation from the very beginning.

Within the educational landscape, the concept of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) has emerged as a multifaceted approach that aims to promote equitable excellence and validate the diverse experiences of students. CRT refers to a student-centered approach that seeks to validate and affirm students’ diverse experiences and contributions. By creating bridges between students’ knowledge and classroom content, educators who employ CRT practices aim to affirm identities and values. Furthermore, educators who employ CRT extend learning beyond the classroom, thereby fostering community engagement and service learning to enhance students’ critical consciousness regarding social justice and racial inequalities.…Read More

5 things to know about high-dosage tutoring

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The benefits of high-dosage tutoring can’t be ignored. Research shows that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to increase academic achievement, including among students from lower socio-economic households–one of the groups disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

High-dosage tutoring is a crucial strategy for student advancement regardless of a student’s abilities or where they may struggle academically.…Read More

Key strategies for education leaders to boost morale

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In the current educational environment, there seems to be extremely high levels of staff stress, burnout, and generally low morale. In education, where the success of students is intricately linked to the motivation and dedication of faculty and staff to go the extra mile, elevating employees’ well-being is not only a humane thing to do, but a crucial component of improving employee morale.

As a new assistant principal, one of the tasks delegated to me was to manage the staff recognition program. The school had historically recognized one or two faculty for outstanding work at the end of the school year. These faculty were generally nominated by their department chair or one of the assistant principals. There was a need for more widespread recognition.…Read More

K-12 edtech survey notes growth obstacles attributed to insufficient leadership depth

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The latest national survey conducted by the Edtech Leadership Collective has identified a stark misalignment in expectations when it comes to emerging leaders’ readiness to reach the executive suite. For a second year in a row, very few C-level executives (9 percent) expressed confidence in their ability to hire from within for executive team vacancies. In contrast, one out of two (58 percent) of Department Heads fell they are ready for the executive suite.

The gap in confidence regarding management depth comes at a time when 78 percent of C-suite leaders consider the work of their non-executive leaders to be critical to their company’s success. However, C-suite leaders also acknowledge they have fallen short on providing mentoring, constructive feedback, and clearly defined paths to advancement.…Read More

TCEA24 Roundup

At the TCEA Convention & Exposition, thousands of educators from various parts of the world get together to connect, gain knowledge, and improve their craft while becoming familiar with new advances in education technology. The event’s focus is not only on ed tech but also on good teaching, good learning, and good leadership with ed tech. The TCEA event has the goal of setting up educators to become curious and to discover education technology through the on-trend sessions, leading speakers, and an exhibit hall full of exhibitors. This year’s event featured more than 800 sessions on various topics such as leadership, mathematics, STEAM, digital citizenship, literacy, English language arts, and more. Scroll down for some highlights as pulled from the newswire:

Lumio by SMART Technologies, a cloud-based learning platform that effortlessly makes learning fun and engaging on student devices, unveiled a new plan, ‘Spark’. The Spark plan offers new, additional capabilities and features designed to support schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, and other organizations with enhanced instructional consistency and more flexible lesson creation and delivery. New features include an Organization Library, Shared Libraries, Co-Editing, and Learning Management System Integrations.

Dan McMahon, VP of Product at SMART Technologies, says: “We’re excited to reveal Lumio’s Spark plan at TCEA this year, giving customers access to their top-priority organization-level features. Our new multi-tiered offering continues to set Lumio apart from other tools, providing highly requested features and functionality today and in the future, at a really competitive cost. The organizations we talk to are very eager to get access to these features, and we’re proud to support even more schools and educators with keeping learning fun and engaging.”…Read More

Educational leaders must leverage collaboration for success

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculated global economic output loss will total $28 trillion dollars between 2020 and 2025 as the result of the COVID-19 virus that impacted businesses and education. Our schools are still pivoting to serve students and families who are figuring out life in the space of no longer and not yet.

The pandemic has changed us all.…Read More

Vivi Expands into a Whole-School Communication Tool, Launches New Features

Today, Vivi, the only wireless screen mirroring and digital signage solution purpose-built for education, announced it has expanded into a communication tool that can connect an entire school. Vivi, which currently helps over 2,000 schools, introduces new Announcements features that extend Vivi’s reach beyond classroom walls. 

“Schools are communities, but too often students and teachers feel disconnected from school leadership and each other. Existing public address systems can be disruptive and in-person assemblies are not always feasible. Text and video announcements give schools effective and scalable tools for communicating with students and staff throughout the school day,” said Natalie Mactier, Chief Executive Officer, Vivi. 

With Vivi Video Announcements, a school leader can deliver morning announcements, ad-hoc messaging in response to incoming news, or any other messaging made more powerful with video. Vivi Text Announcements enable a school’s administrative team to send concise, non-disruptive yet noticeable messages, directly to classrooms, common areas, or groups of displays to relay any message to students and staff, without interrupting the flow of instruction.  …Read More

Leading is learning

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There was a time when we believed that once you knew how to do something then that was it. Mission accomplished. The skill set was learned and the only thing to do was to put it into practice. It could be improved or mastered through repetition and habit, but the general consensus was that skills were finite.

This was – perhaps still is – true for our students as they check through the content boxes of historical facts, algebraic formulas, and the periodic table. And it was also true of our school leaders. Once they learned the skill set and content knowledge needed to be a principal – let’s call it School Leader 101  – then that was it. Completed and let’s move on. The learning came first and then the leadership began.…Read More

The looming threat that could worsen the digital divide

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In an era where technology plays a pivotal role in education, the expiration of the E-rate program’s Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) funding poses a significant threat to underserved schools and libraries. This funding, which was crucial in bridging the digital divide, now stands at a crossroads, potentially leaving many educational institutions grappling with outdated technology and hindering access to the digital resources necessary for effective learning.

While the stakes are high and a potential crisis may be looming, there are several solutions to mitigate the impact on underserved areas as we transition to a post-ECF era.…Read More