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.

3 tips to balance the back-to-analog edtech transition

During the “emergency teaching” era of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital resources and edtech tools were used by educators worldwide in an effort to maintain students’ continuity of learning. Tremendous investments were made by school systems in an effort to rapidly scale digital learning.

With many of the COVID-era restrictions receding, it is tempting to think that we’ve entered into a new, highly digital era of education that will be far less dependent on pencils and paper. But, in the famous words of college football insider and former coach Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend!”  

Interestingly, the post-COVID teaching environment has so far, in my opinion, been marked by a strong desire to see things done with pencil and paper. In my district, I hear from educators, students, and families alike that they wish to see what they learned online to be applied in hard copy. After a two-year period where “virtually” everything was done on an iPad, parents have a thirst to see their children bringing home papers in their backpacks again.   …Read More

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Phenix City Teacher Wins Marbury Technology Innovation Award

Phenix City, AL— Last week Central High School teacher, Tim Loreman was recognized as an exemplary educator in technology. He received the 19th Annual Marbury Technology Innovation Award from the State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric G. Mackey. 

Loreman is the television production teacher who instructs students on writing, capturing, and producing television programs. His classes regularly produce episodes of RDTV, Central High School’s news channel. Students also produce ASHAA’s coverage of the Red Devil Football Team and Softball Team. Students are given the opportunity to gain experience in planning and filming system commercials that aired on WTVM for the 2021-2022 school year.

“When I was first hired I was given the charge to bring Central High School to the forefront of the state in video production, social media, and sports broadcasting. My students have outdone themselves over the past four years and proving their capabilities in this field. Any honor I receive is a direct result of their hard work and dedication,” said Loreman.…Read More

Playing to win: The vital role of research in the future of esports

You stand, triumphant in front of a crowd cheering your name. After years of dedicated training and countless hours of practice, you’ve made it to the pinnacle of your game, the moment of enjoying the spoils of being a world-class athlete. Just a few months later, the pressure, stress, and injuries due to maintaining that top position have had a severe impact on your mental, emotional, and physical health and you’re forced to retire at 23.

While this may sound like a tragic story of a basketball or football athlete struck down as they were beginning their career, it happens for esports athletes too.

Esports–commonly accepted as “a multiplayer video game played competitively in front of spectators, by both professional and amateur gamers”–is quickly becoming a household term along with esports game titles such as Rogue Company, Call of Duty, and Rocket League. Over the last several years, schools and universities have realized that esports allows students who felt excluded from other extracurricular activities to finally find their “place” doing something they are passionate about within their scholastic environment. Research shows that students involved in an extracurricular activity are more engaged in the classroom and in their studies.…Read More

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Football Star Jonathan Jones Inspires Kids to Code and Get Active with Unruly Splats

This December, students are pushing their desks out of the way for the Get Active Coding Challenge during Hour of Code and Computer Science Education Week. Unruly Studios is partnering with Patriots football star and two-time Super Bowl champion Jonathan Jones to make computer science in K-8 education more approachable, fun, and physically active.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Jonathan Jones for a national competition combining coding with active play that will reach hundreds of classrooms across the country,” said Bryanne Leeming, CEO and Founder of Unruly Studios. “By teaching kids to code through games they might play at recess, we’re breaking down stereotypes around computer science education and bringing joy into the classroom when it’s needed most.”

For the Get Active Coding Challenge, students can build and play Jonathan’s “Playbook” of games including Race In Place, Relay Races, and the Cornerback Challenge. Students will create the games with Unruly Splats, programmable floor buttons that students code to light up, make sounds, and collect points when stomped on.…Read More

NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day keeps kids active in advance of Super Bowl LV

The American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on ensuring longer, healthier lives for all, and the National Football League (NFL), in collaboration with its 32 NFL clubs, challenge kids to move more with NFL PLAY 60™ Kids Day leading up to Super Bowl LV. Included in the weeklong, free festivities are activities and challenges culminating with NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day, a day of action to inspire kids to get moving with their classmates, teachers, and families inclusive of virtual, hybrid, and socially distant classroom settings.

On Wednesday, February 3 at 1 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. CT/ 10 a.m. PT, NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day will host an action packed, synchronous broadcast from the Super Bowl LV host city, Tampa Bay. During this broadcast, the NFL team with the winning NFL PLAY 60 exercise of the 2020-2021 season will be announced. Throughout January, kids were asked to cast their vote for their favorite team created NFL PLAY 60 exercise. Educators and families can find the resource at heart.org/KidsDay and register for the live event here. In addition, access an array of standards-aligned resources designed for wherever learning takes place on Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform. Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms worldwide.

NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day offers interactive lessons and videos to jumpstart activity at home and in the classroom. Each school can completely customize their activation. Students and teachers can access on-demand exercises from NFL teams in the digital NFL PLAY 60 library to help them reach their recommended 60-minutes of daily physical activity. Schools can implement the majority of the NFL PLAY 60 activities at their own pace to allow scheduling flexibility during this untraditional school year. Advanced registration is required to access the NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day guide and attend the broadcast.…Read More

What Are Students’ Top Interests for 2020?

What do Billie Eilish, Serena Williams, Albert Einstein, and SpongeBob SquarePants have in common? They rank among students’ most popular interests, based on responses collected by NoRedInk from millions of students in grades 5–12.

Top student interests

NoRedInk is an adaptive writing curriculum that engages students by personalizing exercises according to their interests. Below are students’ top choices from the 2019–20 school year across several categories:…Read More

Youth football league bars player for ‘being smart,’ mom says

A youth football player in Lunenburg, Mass., has been kicked off his team for “being smart,” his mother says, according to The Huffington Post. Michael Nowd skipped a grade five years ago because he was ahead of the game academically. However, he continued to play with kids his own age on his usual team, the Bengals of the Central Mass. Youth Football and Cheer Conference, WBZ-TV reports. That arrangement came to an end recently when someone anonymously complained the eighth-grader, who happens to be team captain, violated league rules for not being in the same grade as his teammates, the report says. However, Michael is reportedly no bigger than his seventh-grade teammates, and he’s younger than half of them. “I feel like they’re discriminating against a kid for being smart,” Michael’s mother, Dianne Nowd, told the station…

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