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.

Friday 5: The pivotal role of school libraries

Key points:

School libraries have evolved from stereotypical hush-hush environments to bustling resource centers where students not only learn to locate and evaluate information, but where they develop critical skills guided by digital media specialists.

Let’s take a look at what makes libraries such critical parts of the school environment:…Read More

More than a passion project, literacy advocacy takes a village

Key points:

The most effective advocacy programs often begin with a personal passion to make a difference.

When former National School Library Program of the Year librarian Marge Cox retired, she began volunteering at Youth Haven, a shelter designed to help abused and neglected children and teens in Southwest Florida. “I got involved with Youth Haven after a former Collier County Public Schools employee contacted me and said Youth Haven needed my skill set,” Cox told me. “They had boxes of books that had been donated to them and wanted to create a library. I had retired at the end of the 2020 school year and had been praying for God to show me my next adventure.”…Read More

MackinVIA Wins The Distinctive Platinum Award Its 8th Consecutive Modern Library AwardFrom LibraryWorks

Burnsville, MN – Mackin, a leading provider of print and digital fiction and nonfiction books for PK-12, is pleased to announce it is a multiyear honoree and winner of its eighth Platinum Award in LibraryWorks’ tenth annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs). The MLAs were created to recognize the top products and services in the library industry.

Products and services were submitted in the fall of 2023 using a simple application, and then were posted on a private site with an enhanced description and attendant materials. These products were batched into small groups and sent to the LibraryWorks database of more than 80,000 librarians in public, K-12, academic, and special libraries. Only customers with experience with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge the entries resulting in a truly unbiased score.

Each judge scored the product from 1-10 on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service, etc. MackinVIA received a remarkable score of 9.598, resulting in their eighth Platinum Award from this prestigious organization. “Since its inception over a decade ago, MackinVIA has made great progress becoming the preferred digital content management system in schools around the world, and has continued its technological growth to remain one of the world’s top choices. As a company, Mackin has always been known for their ingenuity and superior customer service. It’s no surprise that these motivating forces helped MackinVIA to be recognized and validated again,” remarked Troy Mikell, Director of Marketing and Communications at Mackin.…Read More

Beyond simple search: The benefits of topic browsing in library databases

Key points:

Library databases, packed with rich and reliable content, are more than simply resources for students to reference when a research paper is due. They are also valuable teaching tools.

Databases are essential for helping middle and high school students understand the value of research, appreciate the importance of validating sources, and make connections between different topics — all of which are necessary for building information literacy skills. Databases provide full-text access to a wide range of content, including books, magazines, primary sources, images, charts, and peer-reviewed articles by credible authors representing diverse perspectives. They serve as trustworthy alternatives to internet searches, where the information surfaced can be unreliable, untrue, and unsafe. While traditional single-search functions are efficient, databases with topic browsing capabilities offer additional benefits for novice researchers and educators alike.…Read More

Capstone Names Haygood Poundstone as Chief Revenue Officer

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Capstone, an innovative learning company merging children’s content with easy-to-use edtech tools for K-5 classrooms, libraries, and homes, has named Haygood Poundstone as Chief Revenue Officer. Poundstone brings over 20 years of experience in the edtech market in business development, revenue growth, sales strategies, and operations management to this newly created role at Capstone. Poundstone will oversee Capstone’s revenue generating sales including direct to schools, library, distribution, trade, and international business units in executing the publisher’s growth strategy.

Throughout his career, Poundstone has led top-tier sales teams to drive organizational revenue, performance, and profit. Most recently, he served as the Area Vice President of the East at Renaissance Learning where he led a large team of regional vice presidents, sales leaders, and direct sales professionals to reach aggressive goals.

After six years away, Poundstone rejoins Capstone where he was one of the founding employees of its business unit myON. Prior to his time at Capstone, Poundstone held a variety of leadership positions at Lightspan and PLATO (now Edmentum).…Read More

E-rate applicants clamor for cybersecurity services

Key points:

  • Cybersecurity remains a major concern among school IT leaders, and many schools would like these services included in the E-rate program
  • Schools and libraries continue to depend on the E-rate funding for internet connections and affordable pricing
  • See related article: Will cybersecurity receive E-rate funding?
  • For more news on the E-rate, visit eSN’s IT Leadership page

An annual E-rate report reveals a strong consensus among respondents for cybersecurity services to be included in the federal program, considering their critical role in safeguarding educational institutions against cyber threats.

The 13th annual E-rate Trends Report from E-rate compliance services firm Funds For Learning is designed to understand how the program can best serve schools and libraries. School and library input is compiled and delivered directly to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to inform program administration.…Read More

5 tech tools for kinesthetic learners

Key points:

  • It’s key to remember that students need to move–and that’s OK
  • There are a number of edtech tools that encourage students to move around while reinforcing important learning concepts
  • See related article: 5 edtech tools to save time this year

Educators often share a useful mantra: “The mind can only absorb what the bottom can endure.”  This is a great phrase to remember as districts, schools, and educators increasingly rely on technology tools to support student achievement. Although many teachers (and too many school administrators!) believe quiet students seated in front of computer screens is indicative of good classroom management, remembering that our students need to move is always sound instructional strategy.

I have a vivid memory of a co-worker visiting me in the library at school to mention that my older son Gus had fallen out of his desk in class. When my calmer younger child Flynn began high school, I asked what he thought at the end of the first week, and his comment was, “High school hurts my butt,” directly echoing the above quote about “bottom endurance!” As an adult, I personally struggle to sit through presentations or professional development lasting longer than 20 minutes. Additionally, many schools are emphasizing longer learning blocks where students are expected to be seated for over an hour.…Read More

Gale and SirsiDynix Announce Partnership That Will Expand CloudSource Index by More Than One Billion Records

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. & LEHI, UT – Gale, part of Cengage Group, a global provider of research and learning resources, and SirsiDynix, a global leader in library technology solutions, are excited to announce a strategic partnership that will deliver more than one billion records to CloudSource, SirsiDynix’s premier content and discovery services platform.

The collaboration is a natural fit for the two companies, whose missions both emphasize the importance of libraries as hubs of discovery and whose software and services are dedicated to helping libraries demonstrate their value and ability to empower their communities. Working together, they aim to offer a seamless search experience for Gale and CloudSource subscribers alike.

The integration displays Gale’s wide range of online databases—including full-text journal articles, newspapers, archives, and eBooks—into a single discovery index.…Read More

BookmarkED Addresses the State of Challenged Books with Industry-First Technology to Enable Parental Choice in School Libraries

DALLAS, Texas – BookmarkED, the industry-first technology solution to personalize libraries with parental choice, has announced its official launch in Texas. With the passing of  Texas House Bill (HB) 900, school districts face a pressing need to meet the changing requirements for parental engagement on library books that children have access to. BookmarkED is a Texas-based company that enables parents to make individual decisions on literary options for their children and protects school districts from liability by ensuring compliance.

Library book challenges are increasing across the US. The  American Library Association (ALA) documented 2,571 unique library books and resources challenged in 2022, nearly double the number of challenges reported in 2021 and the highest since ALA began compiling data more than 20 years ago. BookmarkED’s technology addresses the current state of challenged books by fostering parental choice to decide what books their children have access to, based on their family’s values and interests. 

“BookmarkED is an innovative solution that fosters parent’s choices for their individual child so that decisions are one-to-one versus one-to-all. Our platform puts the power into the hands of their parents, so that they can decide the literary path for their children by setting parameters over what books their children have access to. We are driven to first empower Texas school districts with this technology, and then move to a national level,” said Steve Wandler, CEO and Co-Founder of BookmarkED.…Read More

Epilepsy Foundation Partners with Vector Solutions to Offer Seizure First Aid Trainings to Educators

BOWIE, MD. — The Epilepsy Foundation announced a five-year collaboration with Vector Solutions, the leading provider of training and software solutions for K-12 and higher education institutions, to offer the Epilepsy Foundation’s Seizure Recognition & First Aid Certification training in the Vector Safety and Compliance Course Library. This agreement will provide an easy and convenient way for educators and school personnel, who are already contracted with Vector, to take the seizure first aid training to better serve their students.

There are 470,000 children living with epilepsy in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the opportunity for academic success is increased when students with chronic health conditions have a safe and supportive learning environment.

“Our collaboration with Vector will give school personnel — who are required by state laws to take seizure first aid training — a place to do so easily and effectively through a familiar learning portal,” said Brandy Fureman, Ph.D., chief outcomes officer, Epilepsy Foundation. “In addition, it will expand access to our seizure first aid training to school systems around the country using Vector’s platform. Our end goal is to have a seizure safe nation where everyone who has a seizure feels safe, no matter where they are. This partnership is a stepstone toward that goal.”…Read More