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: How esports engages students

Key points:

Academic esports programs aren’t simply a group of students sitting in a classroom playing video games. Rather, teams and tournaments promote collaboration, critical thinking, communication skills, and offer inclusive environments that welcome students from all backgrounds and with all abilities.

How can schools create esports programs and teams?

Conversations around the benefits of esports have centered on collegiate and secondary levels, but recently, the conversation has expanded to include elementary esports, too. Like any new venture, this is something that takes time to fully understand. The beauty is that there is a room full of experts to journey alongside their teacher. It is incredibly powerful when the classroom is flipped and students have an opportunity to share their passions and expertise with their teacher. Here are 6 tips to start an elementary program.…Read More

Personalizing history for more impactful student learning

Key points:

It is no accident that the new National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) definition of social studies is focused on “human experiences and the spaces in which we interact as humans.” The culture and climate of the social studies classroom has changed, and the way teachers teach social studies has to change with it. The modern social studies classroom should now be a classroom full of student inquiry and choice. Students should be learning the contextual background of a subject and working on the skills they need to critically analyze social studies content.

Personalized paths, oral histories, and local histories are strategies that resonate with the NCSS definition to bring the human experience into the K-12 classroom, because these strategies allow  students to determine how their life fits into the story of history and to discover why the past matters to them.…Read More

Trends and challenges impacting CTE in 2024–and beyond

Key points:

In 2024, career and technical education (CTE) is not simply an alternative for students whose future plans don’t include college. It’s a fundamental part of the K-12 experience and a viable career pathway for many students.

CTE lets students understand the relevance of what they’re learning in school. It exposes them to career pathways they might not have known about otherwise. It prepares them for rich and rewarding careers in high-paying, high-demand jobs, whether they go on to attend college or not.…Read More

Two Remarkable Educators Honored with YouScience® Innovative Educator Award

AMERICAN FORK, Utah /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — In recognition of their exceptional contributions in guiding and inspiring students, Margaret Rice of Washougal School District in Washington and Kathy Peres of Blue Valley Schools in Kansas have been awarded the esteemed  YouScience® Innovative Educator Award. This honor celebrates their outstanding contributions in leading students towards successful career exploration and readiness for the ever-evolving professional landscape.

Margaret Rice: Paving Pathways for Student Success

Hailed as a beacon of excellence in the Washougal School District, Rice’s impact as the Career and Technical Education (CTE) director has been profound. Her overarching goal is to ensure every student has access to job readiness education in their K-12 educational career and every senior has a seamless transition into their best-fit post-high school experiences. Dr. Mary Templeton, Superintendent of the district, commended Rice’s pivotal role, emphasizing the importance of CTE programs in empowering students for future career opportunities.…Read More

How immersive technology can empower students (and teachers) to learn

Immersive, experiential technology is transforming how both students and teachers learn. Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR) provide deeper engagement, opportunities for collaboration, and hands-on learning that places newly acquired knowledge and skills in context.

For students, immersive technology can make abstract concepts tangible through interactive visuals. But immersive technology is useful for teachers, too, powering professional learning that helps educators translate research and theory to actionable practices through dynamic examples.

When purposefully designed, augmented reality opens equitable pathways to deep student learning.…Read More

More high school grads are rejecting 4-year pathways

Key points:

  • More than half of surveyed students say they will opt out of the traditional four-year undergraduate path
  • This decision to pursue alternative post-secondary options hints at an evolving postsecondary landscape.
  • See related article: Companies go to high schools for career training
  • For more news on career readiness, visit eSN’s Innovative Teaching page page

A significant trend is growing among high school graduates in the class of 2023, with 55 percent opting out of the traditional four-year college route, according to a new survey from YouScience, a technology provider dedicated to solving the skills gap crisis for students and employers. The findings from YouScience’s second annual national 2023 Post-Graduation Readiness Report.

Comparatively, for graduates spanning the 2019-22 classes, this figure stood at 48 percent, signaling a noteworthy transformation within the education landscape. This paradigm shift highlights a growing sentiment among recent high school graduates, who are increasingly questioning the value of pursuing a conventional four-year college degree and exploring alternative pathways.…Read More

“Ambitious growth” is needed to accelerate learning recovery

Key points:

  • Students who follow ambitious yet attainable pathways to grade-level proficiency that go beyond typical learning trajectory can recover learning
  • Learning loss is still profoundly felt even as schools move back to a “post-pandemic normal”
  • See related article: Finding the learning loss data needed to drive learning recovery

A new report from Curriculum Associates demonstrates what happens when educators set ambitious targets for students–and what happens when they meet them. The report comes at a time when students continue to struggle academically in the wake of the pandemic and as efforts turn to learning recovery.

Findings from Pathways to Success: How Stretch Growth Goals Support Learning Recovery are based on data from more than 2.4 million students who completed the i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading and more than 3 million students who completed the i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics in Grades K–7 in 2021–2022 and in Grades 1–8 in 2022–2023. The report evaluates trends in growth patterns and grade-level placements for students who may require the most support to get to grade-level or develop essential prerequisite skills for later grades.…Read More

Building pathways to successful STEM careers for ALL learners

The journeys that children take through education are not as straightforward as most people think.  

In recent years, close to 70 percent of students went straight from high school to college, with those going to four-year universities typically outnumbering those enrolling in two-year colleges by roughly two to one. But a growing number of young people are forging new paths that involve a detour around college altogether.

College-going rates have been trending down since before the COVID-19 pandemic. And a national survey conducted in 2021 by ECMC Group found that less than half of high school students said they planned to attend a four-year college or university–a decrease of more than 20 percentage points from 2019. …Read More

The critical link between scholastic esports and career pathways education

When I first approached my administration back in August 2021 about implementing a scholastic esports program at school, I had imagined facing significant opposition to the idea, and, in preparation, had rehearsed my talking points and done my research in order to be persuasive.  I was prepared to talk about the connections to STEM learning, the opportunity to engage otherwise disengaged students, the inclusive nature of gaming, the research behind gamification and game-based learning, and more. 

None of that was necessary, however, as my school principal was extremely supportive in my effort to implement scholastic esports at the school and, more importantly, to use the program to teach students transferable skills while simultaneously encouraging them to explore related career pathways.

I began my esports program with a focus on social-emotional well-being using resources from NASEF to structure initial lessons.  Before jumping into the competitive aspects of esports and gaming, we spent three weeks discussing the importance of positive mental health and the negative effects associated with some online gaming cultures.  This included discussions of toxicity and online “trash talk” of opponents, as well as the impact on one’s emotional well-being and overall confidence as a result of being repeatedly subjected to such toxicity. …Read More

Mississippi Partners with AIM Institute for Customized Literacy Training

CONSHOHOCKEN, PA [JULY 28] – The AIM Institute for Learning & Research is excited to announce a new partnership with the Mississippi Department of Education and the North Mississippi Education Consortium to provide 1,600 Mississippi teachers and education leaders with customized literacy training to help schools support a culture of literacy and provide teachers with tools, resources and support to implement new techniques into classroom practice.

“The opportunity for AIM Institute for Learning and Research to collaborate with Mississippi teachers and leaders as they continue on their path to reading excellence is thrilling,” said Dr. Cynthia Hadicke, Director of Client Success and Implementation at AIM. “AIM Pathways courses have extensive opportunities for teachers to apply their knowledge of the science of reading with their students. Knowing the science of reading is important, but its application is critical.” 

AIM will offer AIM Institute for Learning and Research’s Pathways Professional Development courses to assist teachers and leaders in furthering their ability to apply the Science of Reading in the classroom, while supporting Mississippi’s mission to prepare students to compete in a global community.…Read More

Are you tackling the durable skills challenge?

 A new effort to evaluate the “durable” skills that lead to success and achievement in the 21st century workforce was launched this spring by nonprofit organizations America Succeeds and CompTIA.

America Succeeds and CompTIA are collaborating on ways to integrate durable skills into education pathways – in the classroom for future workers and in employee training for individuals already in the workforce – to prepare them for success in their careers and communities.

“Durable skills are the skills that last a lifetime, the skills that you use to demonstrate what you know and the skills that employers are looking for,” said Tim Taylor, co-founder and president of America Succeeds, a national nonprofit that is committed to engaging business leaders in accelerating equity, access, and opportunity in education.…Read More