It’s January, and in many places, that means cold weather–and possibly some snow. It may be hard to capture students’ attention now that most winter breaks are over.

Creating a video-based lesson that explores different concepts around cold weather is one fun way to boost student engagement.

These TED-Ed Lessons cover snowflakes, the coldest place on Earth, myths about the cold, and more.

The TED-Ed platform is especially cool because educators can build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video. Once you find the video you want to use, you can use the TED-Ed Lessons editor to add questions, discussion prompts, and additional resources.

Use these TED-Ed Lessons for brain breaks, to introduce new lessons, or to inject some fun and engaging conversation into your class.

1. The science of snowflakes: One could say that snowflakes are simply frozen water — but if you compare a snowflake to an ice cube, you’ll notice a big difference. Why are all snowflakes six-sided? Why are none of them exactly the same? And how do we ski on them? Maruša Bradač sheds light on the secret life of snowflakes.

2. One day in the coldest village on Earth: In Yakutia— the coldest inhabited region on Earth— daily life is a constant struggle against freezing temperatures that can plummet to an astonishing negative 71 C. How do people live in this harsh environment? Kiun B shares a day in the life of a hardy local family in the remote and icy Yakut village.

3. Does being cold make you sick? Have you ever heard someone say, “Bundle up or you’ll get sick?” These pre-cautionary words echo around the world as the first step of prevention against colds and flu when temperatures dip. But does being cold really make you sick? In this lesson, we are going to learn more about how and why it can happen.

4. How an igloo keeps you warm: If you ever find yourself stranded in the snowy Arctic (or bored in Minecraft), you’re gonna need to know how to build an igloo. But how can building a house made of ice keep you warm? It’s Okay To Be Smart explains.

5. How does hibernation work? The Arctic Ground Squirrel hibernates by burrowing under the permafrost and slipping into a state of suspended animation. The female black bear can give birth while she hibernates. The fat-tailed dwarf lemur prepares to hibernate by storing its fat reserves in its tail – doubling its body weight. Why do these animals go to such extremes? Sheena Lee Faherty details why animals hibernate.

6. What is the coldest thing in the world? The coldest materials in the world aren’t in Antarctica or at the top of Mount Everest. They’re in physics labs: clouds of gases held just fractions of a degree above absolute zero. Lina Marieth Hoyos explains how temperatures this low give scientists a window into the inner workings of matter, and allow engineers to build incredibly sensitive instruments that tell us more about the universe.

Related:
10 TED-Ed Lessons to get students thinking
5 STEM-based TED-Ed Lessons to close out your school year

There are plenty of reasons that K–3 teachers tend to be less likely than their middle and high school peers to use technology in the classroom. From their focus on hands-on learning to a lack of district-provided devices in the lower grades, the reasons are both pedagogical and budgetary. However, by incorporating technology into their classrooms, K–3 teachers can add flexibility and personalization to their instruction—and even get some of their own time back.

That said, not all technology is created equal, and even well-made tools can be counterproductive when used improperly. Here are a few tips and tricks for integrating technology into your reading lessons.

1. Get to know the tech you already have.

For teachers who would like to use more technology in their classrooms, the first step I suggest is to get to know your existing technology as well as possible.

This was a lesson I had to learn early in my own career. When I was a new teacher, there was a program we were all supposed to use in class for a certain number of hours each week, and I made sure that my students met those requirements—but I didn’t really have any idea what they were doing.

When I finally took some time to look into it, I realized that, although it was a pretty great program, it was missing some important concepts. Also, while I thought most of the lessons were fantastic, there were a few that I just didn’t think held much value for my students. Once I understood where the program was effective and where it was less so, I was able to compensate by spending more time on the pieces I thought it didn’t handle well or missed altogether. I could just check for proficiency on the material I thought it did well to see how much additional instruction was needed, if any.

Even for something that seems like it should be plug-and-play, like an assessment, it’s enlightening to dive in and see what the program is doing. What are the items? How are they worded? What do students actually see as they interact with it? What are they asked to do?

2. Choose tech that works as an extension of you.

So much of the technology marketed to educators these days is designed to work by itself. We’re supposed to just plug it in and let it do the rest. But an iPad can’t wipe a nose, notice that a student seems distracted, or give a hug when it’s needed. As advanced as they are, computers can’t be sensitive to what children need in a given moment.

The most effective technology works with you to enable or extend the instruction you’re providing. In small-group work, for example, students can do so many things with technology, such as reading aloud, practicing decoding, doing a word sort, or practicing dictation.

Related:
The phonics fix?
3 strategies we use to turn struggling students into confident readers

Technology should enable your teaching, rather than replace it. While good classroom technology can suggest the most effective activities for students who need practice in a particular area, you still make the ultimate decision.

3. Use tech to focus on your students.

These days my teaching is at the college level, but I’ve found that at least one challenge never changes, regardless of the age of the students: There is so much to pay attention to all the time! When I’m presenting to the class, I have to focus on what I’m doing and still be aware of how my students are interacting and responding.

One great use of technology is to get students engaged so that the teacher can focus on the students. For ELA teachers, simply projecting decodable text on a screen at the front of the room and asking students to read it out loud frees the teacher to walk around the room, observe students’ facial expressions, and listen to their pronunciation. Or you can reverse this by having your phone dictate a list of words for students to write down while you walk around the room; this allows you to focus on what your students are doing and thinking instead of having to read words aloud from the front of the class.

4. Take advantage of tech’s ability to track progress and suggest activities.

Teachers spend so much time outside of work doing things like grading and trying to find appropriate activities for differentiated instruction. Reliable software can do a lot of that heavy lifting for you—if you let it.

If students are using software for daily practice, for example, that program should keep track of their progress and provide you with that information. This means that you don’t have to go home to grade everything, look for common gaps in understanding revealed by the incorrect answers, and determine your next steps (such as more whole-class instruction or small-group work). Because the software has already made all of that visible, you can make data-based decisions without the need to parse and arrange all the data first—which means you can go home to your life!

And software can help with decisions on next steps as well. Many teachers find it hard to identify engaging and effective activities for specific skills practice, especially for a whole class of students. While you’re still in control of choosing differentiation activities, software is really great at making suggestions, especially very specific ones. If you can simply choose from a list targeted to the needs of each student, you’ll get a lot of your evenings and weekends back, which will be healthier for everyone in the classroom.

5. Use tech to pre-teach.

One of my favorite ways to use technology in the classroom is to prepare students whom I know will need a double dose of a particular concept. Introducing students to a new idea or skill via software is a great, low-stakes way to get them familiar with an idea so they hit the ground running when you introduce it to the whole class.

Giving these students a head start means that they are familiar with a new concept, so it feels a bit less intimidating when it’s time to work with the rest of the class. In addition, the multiple opportunities to practice these skills—before and after classroom instruction—means that they are more likely to stick in a student’s long-term memory. For example, there are a lot of technological resources that provide students with opportunities to practice reading and sorting words in a game-like manner. This type of computer-based activity can also foster automatic word recognition for students while providing teachers with student data such as words read correctly per minute and percentage of accuracy.

6. Take it slow.

Finally, I suggest that you learn one piece of technology at a time and get to know it well enough to be totally comfortable with it. Remember, technology should enable your teaching, not replace it. To do that, the technology needs to feel as comfortable for you to use as a hammer feels to a carpenter.

I wouldn’t say we should go 100 percent “all in” on technology. It is still critically important for young students to read physical books they hold in their hands. They still need a teacher to care for and guide their learning. But if teachers can get a bit of help from technology, they’ll be more available to every child in their class.

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s number 1 most-read story focuses on what’s missing from learning.

This special edition of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan, comes live from one of the nation’s largest edtech conferences. At least 15,000 educators and edtech enthusiasts are gathered in New Orleans for ISTELive 22.

ISTE CEO Richard Culatta notes that we’ve “beaten the joy out of learning” in recent years. Now is the time to inspire educators and learners. Along with inspiration comes the idea of injecting civility, kindness, and understanding into education.

“It’s OK to disagree…you need to disagree; it’s how you learn, but we have to do it in a way that’s kind and civil, and you have to model that for kids,” Culatta said.

In this special edition:

• Rethinking teaching and learning
• Modeling technology adoption
• Game-changing creative technologies
• Real-world SEL implementation
• How to honor the hero educators in your world

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 9th most-read story focuses on instructional strategies for better student engagement.

Student engagement has long been an indicator of growth and progress, and in the wake of the pandemic, it will prove essential for academic and social-emotional recovery.

Recent insights pulled from a survey of more than 2,000 identifies instructional practices that enable student engagement, no matter the learning environment.

Using qualitative and quantitative survey data, the following five instructional practices were ranked highest for driving engagement.

1: Teacher-student relationships

With an average score of 4.6 out of 5.0, forming teacher-student relationships was highlighted as the top instructional practice for driving engagement across all grade levels and subjects. In fact, one-third of all teachers identified it as the single most effective practice for driving engagement overall—this is four times more than any other practice.

Strong relationships are foundational to creating supportive learning environments where students feel safe enough to contribute. Several survey respondents emphasized that trust built on stable relationships is the cornerstone for both teacher and student success.

Previous research indicates that students who report positive teacher-student relationships were more likely to report high engagement with their learning, and strong teacher-student relationships have been associated with higher academic performance, feelings of competence, greater attendance rates, and pursuit of secondary education.

Related:
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Creating student engagement through the power of play

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Make an active effort to get to know your students, making time to inquire about their emotional and social wellbeing.
• Provide personal questionnaires, pay attention to the extracurriculars students participate in and their behavior with other students.
• Take a genuine interest in students’ lives and passions.

2: Relevant course content

Making course content relevant was marked as the second most important instructional practice for driving engagement across all teachers, with an average score of 4.37.

Knowing students’ backgrounds and interests is an essential piece of this. Bringing parts of their personal lives into the learning process is not only motivating, but also improves knowledge retention over time.

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Identify interests of a student, and then connect that to course content.
• Incorporate pop culture, social media, sports and extracurriculars into lessons.
• Provide opportunities for students to connect their learning to everyday life—when the coursework feels meaningful, they are more willing to invest in it.

3: Clear expectations

Communicating clear expectations came in as the third most important instructional practice for driving engagement, with an average score of 4.34 out of 5. This result was consistent across grade levels and subjects.

There is a strong body of evidence supporting the use of clear expectations in the classroom for driving student engagement. One study states that when teachers first take a proactive approach in forming authentic relationships and earning student trust, they can gain a better understanding of what motivates their students, create a learning environment where students are more receptive to these clear expectations, and increase levels of engagement and participation. 

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Let students know what is expected throughout the day or on certain assignments—setting this up at the beginning of the school year is crucial.
• Revisit expectations frequently, so that they aren’t forgotten.
• Communicate routines, relationships, and expectations prior to beginning instruction, so students have understanding and ownership of what will take place during the school year.

4: Hands-on learning

Practicing hands-on learning follows as the fourth most important instructional practice for driving student engagement, with an average score of 4.27 out of 5.

This was particularly true for educators in specialized subject areas, such as visual & performing arts and computer science & technology.

Additionally, while practicing hands-on learning was commonly identified as an effective practice across all grade levels for its impact on student engagement, this held especially true for elementary school teachers coming in as the second most highly rated practice for its effect on engagement.

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in a tangible manner.
• Use music, activities, and movement to engage students in the classroom.
• Bring physical items into the classroom that relate to the subject matter.

5: Linking information and student participation (tie)

Tied for fifth place are two instructional practices: linking new information to prior knowledge and facilitating student participation. Both practices received an average score of 4.18 out of 5.

Linking new information to prior knowledge is important for fostering engagement because it allows students to form deeper connections with the material they are learning. Previous literature showcases the importance of this practice—a cross-cultural qualitative study found that the more time teachers spent introducing new content, the more academically engaged students were in the classroom.

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Open discussions and lessons with imagery or topics that activate students’ prior knowledge of a concept.
• Use prior knowledge as a base for new information.
• Find out what students already know about a subject (and related subjects), and then create or modify materials as needed.

Last, but not least, survey respondents indicated the practice of facilitating student participation as having a large or very large effect on engagement. This was consistent across grade levels and most subjects, aside from technology and computer science, visual and performing arts, theology and electives, which ranked this practice lower.

Additional research has shown that encouraging students to contribute during class and participate in decision-making has been cited as a core characteristic in classrooms that foster foundational critical thinking skills.

Tips for implementing this practice:

• Verbally encourage and allow students to share thoughts, questions, answers and comments.
• Make sure students know that their contributions are meaningful, and the lesson isn’t complete without their participation.
• Participation doesn’t always mean speaking in front of the class—give students multiple options for participation.

Key takeaways

Each of the top practices involves actively engaging students in the learning process. For this to happen, teachers must build strong, trusting, and collaborative relationships with their students.

By applying these strategies in the classroom, educators can meet students where they are—driving outputs that address the whole child creatively, cognitively, and emotionally.

Some years ago, when I was still working as a teacher, I had a student come to me in a state of distress. Like many young people her age, she was having trouble fitting in. Everything from her hair to her clothes to her overall demeanor made her stand out, and as a result, some of her fellow students had taken to calling her a “weirdo.” I am not proud of everything that I’ve done in education, but I am proud of what I told her next. I told this student the truth.

I told her that she WAS weird – and that all of the best people are. I told her she was one of my favorite students because of what made her unique. I told her I would do everything I could to make the school safer for weirdos like her, and that in the outside world, all the great advancements came from people who didn’t fit in.

Every educator knows that weirdness is what makes our students grow. After all, curiosity, creativity, and critical thought don’t bloom in a stagnant mind. So instead of wringing our hands over the social ecosystem, let’s encourage our students to think weirder.

Here are just three benefits to letting students embrace their inner weirdness:

• Innovation: Innovation requires weirdness. All creativity is, by definition, different from everything else that’s out there. One method for promoting innovation in our own classrooms is by encouraging students to find alternative pathways to answering a question. For instance, once they know that 35+17=52, see how many other ways they can come up with the exact same sum (35+20-3, 35+10+7, etc.). Or, if you really want to shake things up, ask students to think of the best wrong answer to a question — the answer that is the most incorrect or which highlights a common misconception. This approach teaches students to seek out new perspectives and approach ideas with an outside-the-box mindset. 

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School models are, for the most part, outdated–and very overdue for replacement. When students reach high school, research shows that close to 66 percent of students are disengaged. But even students who do successfully navigate their schooling emerge with only a specific (and often narrow) skillset that may or may not match their strengths or interests.

Conventional schooling often leaves students disillusioned, questioning their intelligence and value as it is framed by a system that needs an overhaul.

Learner-centered education can play a critical role in reshaping education systems, offering a more holistic approach to meeting learners’ needs and helping students find fulfillment in their academic accomplishments.

K-12 Value Networks: The Hidden Forces That Help or Hinder Learner-Centered Education, a new report from the Clayton Christensen Institute and authored by CCI senior research fellow Thomas Arnett, offers insight into understanding why schools struggle to change their instructional models, along with tips to establish and support learner-centered education models.

Program leaders, sponsors, learners and their families, staff, community partners, and funders are all critical to the success of these learner-centered education models.

The report describes how five different learner-centered education models–The Met, Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, Iowa BIG, Village High School, and Embark Education–were able to launch and grow their models by assembling value networks congruent with their vision for learner-centered education.

1. The Met: The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, known as The Met, is a network of six small, public high schools located in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island. The hallmark of The Met’s learner-centered model is that its learners go out in their communities for two days out of the week to lead real-world projects as interns for partner organizations. For example, learners might work with a local bakery, a law firm, a tech company, or a recording studio.

When learners join the Met, they and their families work with an advisor to identify their strengths, needs, and interests, and then develop an individualized learning plan with an internship as its centerpiece. Learners are responsible for researching potential internship opportunities and communicating with partner sites to arrange their internships. Advisors coach them as they do their research and outreach to ensure that internships match their needs and interests.

2. Virtual Learning Academy Charter School: The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) is a statewide virtual school created in 2007 that serves K–12 learners throughout New Hampshire. The concept for the school came from the superintendent of the Exeter Region Cooperative School District, who saw an opportunity to take advantage of a new charter school law to apply for a statewide charter. Rather than create another conventional school, however, the superintendent recognized the distinctive value of using a virtual school model to offer a wide array of flexible, part-time and full-time learning options unavailable through brick-and-mortar campuses.

VLACS’s competency-based model is highly adaptable to learners’ needs and interests. It offers a range of options for learners to earn credits: through online courses, learner-designed projects, and out-of-school learning experiences such as internships and travel. Learners who take online courses move through those courses at their own pace and earn credit whenever they’re able to demonstrate mastery of designated competencies. For projects and other learning experiences, VLACS aligns these experiences with state learning standards and then measures learners’ mastery of standards using performance-based assessments.

Related:
What data tells us about student-centered learning
5 ways peer networks lead to better student support systems

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• Using data insight platforms to improve SEL strategies
• 5 tips to help students master foundational skills
• Teacher Shortages: Viable Solutions to Meet Immediate Needs

Related:
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Sharing best practices

English language arts (ELA) standards identify a set of foundational skills students must master in their progression to becoming skilled readers. These skills include alphabet recognition, concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, and fluency.

To effectively teach foundational skills within the classroom, educators need access to engaging materials that offer the right level of challenge for students and provide ease of usability. Unfortunately, only 7 percent of K-5 teachers use one or more high-quality ELA material for their classroom instruction due to common roadblocks like long adoption cycles and costs associated with the materials. But that statistic may soon change.

The pandemic left a lasting, negative impact on the American education system. K-5 student test scores plummeted in math and reading nationwide this year, erasing two decades of progress. Now, many teachers, schools, and districts want to reassess their foundational skills instruction.

To start, teachers should follow these five tips:

1. Consider a new curriculum

Certain red flags signal that it’s time for a new foundational skills curriculum to support students.

• One-letter-a-week alphabet instruction: Children with low alphabet knowledge benefit from faster alphabet introductions because it allows more time for repeated exposure and more opportunities to practice and reteach letters as needed. Letter knowledge should also include letter-sound correspondence.
• Phonetic awareness neglect: Reading success depends on phonemic awareness, including isolating, segmenting, and blending phonemes. Children as young as preschool age can (and should) engage in phonemic awareness activities. Students do not need to master phonological awareness tasks to begin work in phonemic awareness.
• Little to no spelling of decodable words: Spelling helps students with orthographic word mapping. Students who succeed with spelling early are also more likely to develop into stronger readers. Spelling should be linked to phonics skills being taught, and there should be increased opportunities for students to write words with their new phonics skills.
• No connected decodable texts: Decodable texts provide an excellent opportunity to apply new phonetic patterns. Reading books with most of the phonetic elements taught supports fluency skills as well.
• Lacking a scope or sequence or a spiraled review cycle: Teachers need an opportunity to place students at their instructional points of need and educate them in a systematic way. An effective scope and sequence will also include a review cycle, as students need many exposures to new concepts and skills to affirm mastery.

These red flags indicate a need to reconsider a reading program because beginning readers require a solid foundation on which to build vocabulary and comprehension.

Related:
K-12 staffing shortages threaten reading instruction–AI can help
How our reading platform changed our instruction

When we built a new 3-story high school building on our former baseball field, we knew that we wanted to incorporate spaces where students could learn and teachers could teach in a very collaborative manner.

So, along with our new classrooms, in most areas of our school there are now two hallways with resource classrooms running down the center. Those are our collaborative spaces, and they’re where we got to be creative in terms of planning and design.

We didn’t want to just order 200 of the same chairs and hope for the best, so we worked with MiEN to select furniture designs and other elements that would best define and complement our new collaborative spaces. Here are four other steps we took to achieve our vision:

1. Match the space with the learning content. I wanted each area to include furniture that would best fit the students’ needs as they came in to use those spaces. In our English literacy content space, for example, the collaborative learning spaces need more of a “library feel,” complete with sofa-type furniture and soft seating. The vision was for students to come in and have Socratic seminars and maybe discuss a passage. The collaborative spaces focused on math, on the other hand, are tech-friendly with high tables, soft seating stools and large interactive whiteboard monitors for students working in groups. Science spaces combined the two concepts and included soft seating plus semi-circle high-top tables where students could congregate to solve complex science problems.

Related:
How outdoor learning spaces lead to STEM engagement
How to create engaging active learning environments

Making higher education the norm for everyone in the nation—and ensuring that people have not just access to higher education, but also the support to complete that education—is paramount to the nation’s future success, said Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

Duncan, who is a distinguished senior fellow at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, sat down during an EDUCAUSE 2022 session and discussed some of the biggest challenges higher education is facing—and college access and completion dominated the conversation.

Questions came from Michael Berman, retired CIO, California State University, Office of the Registrar; Brian Baute, industry principal for education with RingCentral; and Jessie Minton, vice chancellor for technology and CIO of Washington University in St. Louis.

“We’ve seen tremendous innovation and adaptation over the past couple of years. How do we [create] the chance to not just go to college, but graduate, for folks across the country the norm?” Duncan said. “The truth is that less than half the nation has a college degree. If we’re going to close the gap between the haves and have-nots, the challenge for all of us is how we start to education exponentially more young people. It’s not about access, but completion.”

Education is traditionally slow to change, often trying to do more in the same manner. Instead of transformation, it’s incremental progress. So how can higher ed move the needle forward? Part of the answer is found in new learning modalities and extending learning opportunities to students who don’t have the luxury of moving to a school and living there while they earn a degree.

Related:
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No, it’s not “the end of going to college”

Over the past decade, industries across the world have voiced their concern over the lack of tech skills among high school and college graduates. At the end of 2020, there were an estimated 1.4 million unfilled computer science jobs; this figure continues to rise.

However, the education sector’s response is that currently less than half of high schools teach, and only 5 percent of students go on to further computer science study.

It’s not just about educating our students to take a computer science career path. Today, computer science skills are used and applied across all areas of the curriculum and a broad range of careers.

Therefore, in Humble Independent School District, we decided to address this issue by giving more students the opportunity to experience the excitement of computer science.

It wasn’t easy.

The challenges

As all schools recognize, teachers find it hard enough to fit a high-quality education of the core curriculum subjects into each day. A lot of students, especially girls, believe that CTE “isn’t for them” because “it’s too hard,” “too complicated” and “only involves sitting at a computer screen.” Added to this, there is no defined curriculum to teach to and, as with the gap in skills in the workforce, there is also a lack of teachers either qualified or wanting to teach computer science.

Something for everyone

So, in Humble, we wanted to offer enough courses to attract a wider range of students.

We started by painting a portrait of a graduate and the skills they need. Two of the most important attributes of a global citizen are having problem solving and critical thinking skills. To be a good critical thinker and problem solver, people need to be able to take any one task and structure it into manageable chunks, one of the main skills that is developed in computer science. Students who are problem solving orientated will always be able to adapt and thrive in this ever-changing world.

Through this initiative, we started offering our students 170 different CTE course; from cosmetology and cyber-security to automotive and robotics. Our belief is that if we offer them a wide range of opportunities, we’re more likely that they will elect to embark on a learning pathway and develop a deep understanding of an area of CTE.

Starting early

The next step was to introduce this from the early years.

In most elementary grades coding lessons start with game development, which is seen by many, including me, as the ideal way to introduce students to computer science. For the early years, Scratch is a popular option. The use of block-based programming gives these young kids an easy, visual entry into developing games. Many studies have shown that the simplicity of the Scratch environment may be the reason for higher engagement in the early years.

Related:
How to fund your CTE program
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Edtech is the combination of IT tools and educational practices aimed at facilitating scalable individualized learning. It comprises the whole world of computer-aided education and training, along with the use of digital tools and resources.

There are numerous advantages to educational technology. Students learn at different rates, and from diverse ways. Efficient reading is best for some students to gain knowledge, while others rely more on audio visual materials.

These tools deliver personalized learning and training that can automatically adjust to an individual’s learning competence. Edtech combines educational theory and technological innovation to meet the learning needs of students. 

The use of edtech allows students to increase their level of technological literacy. It also encourages learning outside of the classroom environment.

Edtech has expanded from early usage in elementary school to college degrees online. This technology equalizes standards, and enables access for all, resulting in the democratization of education. (1)

Digital learning tools include any program, app, or technology that can be accessed via an internet connection. (2) These tools make use of a broad range of technology-enhanced educational strategies. Digital learning encompasses online learning or e-learning. (3)

Online resources are available on the web, and will allow a student to proceed with studies off campus. Student should make a schedule for these studies, and find the appropriate websites. Self-motivation and persistence are requirements for online learning. It is important to create a working space, and reduce distractions. This will allow one to readily focus on the work to be done.

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The pandemic saw countless education institutes scramble in a bid to offer remote learning, which just highlighted how ill-prepared they were for future learning.

But in this transition, we also learned something vital: Edtech learning helps to level the playing field for those who are unable to join regular classes due to location, illness, or financial constraints. It offers access to courses that many could only have dreamed of, and it allows for education to be consumed on the students’ own terms, around work, family commitments, or other appointments.

It suddenly opened the door to those with young children or those working in low-paid jobs who wanted to learn more skills and fit them around their working hours. Entrepreneurs could learn vital skills such as business strategies, investments, marketing and more, enabling them to pivot to a digital business plan in an ever-changing world.

And now, as we embark on Society 5.0, the age of collaboration and the balancing of economic advancement with the resolution of social problems, we are beginning to see edtech and digital learning becoming embedded in our lives.

Children and adults alike learn better when engaged, and in this virtual world, engagement can be driven via gamification and by encompassing forward-thinking technology such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). By utilizing AI, we will also see a more personalized and varied curriculum that will enable more students to find their purpose. In this scenario, fewer students will be left to fall through the gaps–a problem that we see time and time again with traditional education.

Related:
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Successful edtech impacts more than just teachers and students

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• 3 reasons instructional audio is a must-have in classrooms
• 4 tips for using data to differentiate instruction
• Modernization of K-12 Financial Operations: Increase Transparency, Improve Control and Compliance, Mitigate Fraud

While the effects of COVID-19 may have diminished for many thanks to widespread vaccine- and infection-induced immunity, the pandemic continues to have a significant systemwide impact and exacerbate social gaps. Students still experience elevated levels of pandemic-prompted emotional trauma, anxiety, isolation, and psychological distress due to schedule interruptions, remote learning, the deaths of family and friends, inequitable access to health care, and job insecurity.

Throughout history, the underprivileged, oppressed, and marginalized communities are often the most severely impacted, as our societal infrastructures and systems have shown. Those who are marginalized, and in some cases deliberately oppressed, often must navigate unjust and inequitable policies. This problem defines so many of our systems, and in an educational setting it is compounded by the pressure to learn, get good grades, avoid discipline, and graduate.

The dire ramifications of the pandemic and its effect on our young learners is tantamount. Learning loss is at an all-time high, and most students, especially those whose families can’t afford small-group or private tutoring, are behind academically. We all remember being in school: it’s not just grades and tests; it’s your social life, it’s where you see your friends, and it’s where you better understand your identity and your role in society. Being in school provides so many important identity-forging, character-building and developmentally significant opportunities. Today schools, with heightened focus on mental health and self-care, provide a safe place for youth to be vulnerable and talk openly about what they’re feeling.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “37 percent of high school students reported experiencing poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44 percent reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless [during 2021].” Data collected prior to the COVID-19 outbreak also indicated that mental health, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, was getting worse among high school students.

Youth who identified as LGBTQIA+, female, and BIPOC reported greater levels of poor mental health and attempted suicide than their peers. The CDC reports that “almost half of lesbian, gay, or bisexual students and nearly one-third of students who aren’t sure of their sexual identity reported having seriously considered suicide – far more than heterosexual students,” and “the number of Black students who reported attempting suicide in 2019 rose by almost 50 percent.”

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Designing fair and inclusive tests for non-native speakers

When I conduct training for school employees, I like to start my presentations speaking in a “normal” voice. About halfway in, I turn on the instructional audio solution that is set up in the room.

I love the “wow factor” as teachers hear firsthand what a difference instructional audio makes. This reveal proves the technology’s effectiveness as they all understand how a similar setup could help in their classrooms.

Most teachers, principals, and paraprofessionals instinctively know that instructional audio helps amplify their voices, allowing their instruction and directions to reach every student, but instructional audio offers much more than that.

Here are three key reasons why instructional audio is crucial for today’s classroom.

1. It’s Not Just Amplification

Instructional audio provides even distribution of sound, not just amplification. This means that no matter where students are in the room, they can hear their teacher clearly. Often, teachers boast of their “teacher voice,” but speaking louder doesn’t always mean clearer. For certain words, such as ones that include an F or TH sound, speaking louder can have the opposite effect, making these words harder for students to understand.

There is a benefit for teachers, too. Teachers who speak loudly to be heard report being more tired and that can lead to more teacher absenteeism, according to one study. Teacher absences are not only costly for schools, but also disrupt students’ learning.

2. All Students Benefit

Instructional audio is proven to offer benefits not only to students who are hard of hearing. Decades of research, including the federal Mainstream Amplification Resource Room Study, known as the MARRS Project, prove that instructional audio helps those with learning differences, those in the back of the classroom and non-native English speakers.

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AI has untapped potential in classrooms, from preschool through higher education. Digital assistants can transform how educators teach, giving them the freedom to teach from anywhere in the room.

When digital assistants are used in classrooms, the outcomes can be overwhelmingly beneficial.

Join eSchool News as a panel of experts shares the benefits of using AI digital assistants.

You’ll learn:

• What an AI digital assistant is
• How “technostress” is defined and how it can be reduced for teachers
• How teachers can efficiently control the apps and tools they are already using in classrooms
• How to bring simplicity into the classroom with artificial intelligence
• How edtech tools are working together to increase classroom productivity and support innovative teaching

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Roughly 20 percent of U.S. residents, which is approximately 67.3 million people (equal to the population of France), speak a language other than English at home, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. When it comes to taking tests not in their first language, these groups can be at a notable disadvantage – especially for tests that influence a test-takers’ future. 

Language is a significant barrier to fair and inclusive testing, particularly if language fluency is not relevant to the skill being measured by the test. This is why designing fair and inclusive tests for non-native speakers is a key component of equitable testing.

Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that migrants, on average, get significantly lower literacy and numeracy test scores than native speakers. About half of it relates to the language of the test, meaning that if the migrants were tested in their own language, about half the difference would disappear.

As globalization and migration increase, it’s become critical to make tests fair for those whose native language is different from that of the test language. Passing a test is often a gateway to life chances, so all takers should be given the chance to demonstrate their capabilities.

Use simple wording for questions and instructions

One of the most straightforward ways to solve language barriers and increase test accessibility is by using simple wording throughout the test. For example, use “with” instead of “in conjunction with.” Some top practices include:

• Write simple, clear and concise questions. Similarly, use clear and unambiguous instructions on how to complete the test.

• Avoid colloquialisms, idioms, slang, irony and sarcasm, – i.e., words and phrases that only native speakers understand.

• Also avoid long sentences, complex grammar, double negatives and metaphors – phrases that complicate understanding.

Simple language allows for less room for misunderstanding for a reader, and it makes translating easier. These practices also help improve the test for all test-takers, regardless of their native language.

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Finding ways to help all students grow academically – regardless of where they are starting from – can be challenging. From my experiences teaching special education, general education, and English Learners, I can tell you there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works.

In order to meet the unique and individual learning needs of each student, teachers have to find ways to differentiate instruction, and data is critical to doing so.

Teachers often have a lot of assessment data at their fingertips, but they have to know how to use it in order to be successful. An administrator once said in a meeting, “Data by itself is useless. Data is only useful if you apply it.”

To help guide your own informed data-driven differentiated instruction, here are some things to keep in mind.

Data should be collected consistently over time. It should not just be a one-and-done approach. You must be able to collect data pre- and post-lesson, as well as after any intervention.

Data should be organized by standards. As a math teacher, I appreciate being able to get a detailed look at data that is specifically organized by standards. This helps me better understand what areas students are mastering and what areas they may need more help in.

In Florida, our standards are linked through the grade levels, so the data also allows me to see if students are below grade level and why. For instance, perhaps a student missed a benchmark in a previous year and that is preventing them from moving forward. It’s like building blocks –each grade level prepares you for the next step.

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More than half of the teachers in the US are seriously considering leaving the profession earlier than planned. A number of factors have led to this, including Covid-19 learning interruptions, lack of resources and support for teachers, and more.

Right now, teachers are also experiencing burnout at an all-time high. This has shown to impact our students’ learning and future success. In fact, both teacher burnout and constant turnover have serious negative consequences for students. Teachers who are highly dissatisfied with their job and have intentions of leaving can impact their effectiveness and disrupt students’ academic progress.

While the burden to improve teacher conditions lies with school districts, communities, and legislators, both teachers and students benefit when teachers intentionally reflect on and connect with the current that moves them to be a teacher. Every teacher has a reason that drives them to teach–whether it is connecting with learners, sharing content you feel passionate about, believing that every learner deserves a high-quality education, or something else. Every teacher has a “why,” and school districts, departments, and teachers can intentionally build in opportunities for teachers to reflect on their why and connect with colleagues who may share that “why.”

Creating Reflective Routines

The original reason you chose this profession is typically the guiding principle that forms your “why.” It might have been the influence of a great teacher you once had, a passion for a particular subject, your love of children, or something else entirely.

It’s easy for everyone’s “why” to become obscured amid the daily grind; however, building in purposeful routines that allow teachers to reflect on and connect with their “why” can positively impact school culture, job satisfaction, and clarity of purpose. As this school year gets underway, administrators, department heads, and teachers can keep the “why” in front of them by intentionally including collaborative conversations and reflective activities into staff meetings, common online landing spots, and staff learning environments.