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.

Public Television’s Instructional Learning Series Let’s Learn Returns with New Episodes

New York – Let’s Learn, The WNET Group’s instructional learning series for children ages 3 to 7, has launched new episodes on public television stations nationwide (check local listings) and letslearn.org. The series debuts 20 episodes, additional content partners and added accessibility features. Let’s Learn has also launched a new website, making it easy to stream all episodes on any device at any time. In the New York metro area, Let’s Learn airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on THIRTEEN and 4 p.m. on WLIW21.

Let’s Learn serves as a supplemental resource to support children’s learning at home and in the classroom. Featuring a dynamic and diverse group of educators, episodes offer age-appropriate content focusing on foundational reading, writing and literacy skills, with literacy coaches modeling best practices for using science of reading-based pedagogy. The series also focuses on math, science, social studies, arts and social-emotional learning. Content partners include Education Through Music, Memphis Zoo, National Dance Institute, New Victory Theater, New-York Historical Society, New York City Children’s Theater, Studio in a School, University of Connecticut’s Feel Your Best Self program, and WUSF’s Meet the Helpers.

“Let’s Learn stands out because it features teachers who speak to kids directly, inviting them to learn,” said Sandra Sheppard, Director and Executive Producer of Kids’ Media & Education for The WNET Group. “Families, caregivers and educators rely on Let’s Learn as a trusted resource that supports children’s academic and social development. We’re thrilled to bring new episodes and an enhanced digital experience to young learners in the tri-state area and beyond.”…Read More

5 things to know about ChatGPT in education

ChatGPT has commanded the world’s attention in recent weeks, and it has educators and policymakers discussing its implications for education, academic honesty, accessibility, and more.

OpenAI’s chatbot can compose poems, can write an essay about global warming as a Taylor Swift song, and can call up HTML code instantly–the possibilities are nearly endless.

ChatGPT is not the only AI-powered chatbot available to students and educators (0ther options include Google’s Bard and the latest version of Microsoft’s Bing), but it certainly seems to be the most discussed.…Read More

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Riverside Insights Wins Excellence in Equity Award for Accessibility Features

ITASCA, Ill. – Riverside Insights®, a leading developer of research-based assessments and analytics, today announced that it won Best Accessibility Solution in the inaugural Excellence in Equity Awards program presented by the American Consortium for Equity in Education. The Riverside Insights’ solutions were selected because they are designed to serve learners of all ability levels – from those with physical or cognitive difficulties to gifted students seeking to challenge themselves . All of the Riverside Insights products are designed to maximize accessibility for all learners, including assessments with the options of large print, audio directions and braille, as well as creating versions to accommodate English learners.

“Equity is foundational to our mission of elevating the potential of all learners,” said Dr. Sarah Holman, a former special education administrator and bilingual evaluator who now serves as a marketing director for Riverside Insights. “We live out our commitment through our people, our processes, our products and our professional development to ensure each learner has the chance to lean into their strengths.” 

“This category is particularly meaningful to us. Across our portfolio, accessibility, translation, adaptation, as well as local, regional and national norming, are core tenants of our product development roadmap as we seek to ensure that teachers, learners, families and communities are not left behind,” said Anna Houseman, former elementary school teacher and assessment director, who now serves as a product director for Riverside Insights. …Read More

Best School District in El Paso, Texas Partners With BibliU to Secure Universal Learning Benefits for Dual-Credit Students

NEW YORK and LONDON – BibliU, the EdTech innovator democratizing content accessibility, announced today that the Ysleta Independent School District has implemented its Universal Learning solution.

Ysleta ISD, which was recently named the best school district in the El Paso, Texas area for the second consecutive year, is adopting the BibliU solution to provide first-day content access for its Early College Academy and dual-credit students. Universal Learning is projected to reduce the school district’s administrative overhead and operational burden of maintaining and distributing print inventory costs by more than $500,000 in the first year. It will give students and instructors seamless access to content through the Clever digital learning platform. 

While BibliU is currently providing a percentage of books online, it is working with the Ysleta ISD to expand the booklist and increase the number of students using BibliU in the spring semester. …Read More

NWEA Shares Progress on Using AI to Identify and Remove Barriers Within Mathematics for Students with Visual Impairment

Portland, OR –   NWEA, a not-for-profit, research and educational services organization serving K-12 students, today announced progress it has made toward creating an accessible and equitable math assessment for middle school students with visual impairments.

Last October, NWEA was awarded an  AI for Accessibility grant from Microsoft. The project, led by research manager, Dr. Elizabeth Barker, in collaboration with  Perkins Access  Digital Accessibility Consulting, the Governor Morehead School, and two key local experts: Sonja Steinbach, a math educator who works with students with visual impairments, and Neil Soiffer, an accessibility mathematics developer, aimed to create accessible assessment formats. NWEA has chosen to tackle this important challenge, wanting to ensure students with visual impairments benefit from accessible math and have equal opportunities in their studies.

Seventy-five percent of students who are blind or low vision are at  least one grade behind their peers. This is due to many access barriers that contribute to the lack of accessible math education. Classroom materials are not always adapted to formats such as braille, large print, materials suitable for a screen reader, auditory input, or a combination of these designs. Creating accessible formats for students with visual impairments is important for their learning and success, which is why NWEA is committed to addressing such barriers through the work of this grant.…Read More

ReadSpeaker Announces Text-to-Speech Integration and Certified Partnership with Moodle, the World’s Largest Learning Platform

ReadSpeaker, the most trusted, independent digital voice and text-to-speech provider for educational institutions and innovative brands worldwide today announced that it is now a Certified Integration Partner with the world’s largest learning platform,  Moodle. With this partnership, students can listen to content on the Moodle LMS anywhere, any time and on any device and they can select from hundreds of different voices in over 50 languages.  Tweet this news.

As of September 1, ReadSpeaker’s accessibility and engagement tools are fully integrated into Moodle LMS, expanding learning opportunities for more than 200 million learners. ReadSpeaker is the first text-to-speech provider to become a Certified Integration Partner with Moodle. 

“Text to speech is a great equalizer and force multiplier for online learning, opening new and exciting pathways for engagement and mastery for millions of students, not just those needing accommodations,” said Roy Lindemann, Chief Marketing Officer for ReadSpeaker. “This partnership is extremely significant to the institutions and students we both serve, including those needing accommodations and those who simply want added capabilities to engage with learning materials.” …Read More

Curriculum Associates Updates i-Ready Personalized Instruction and Assessment to Help Accelerate Student Learning for the 2022–2023 School Year

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass. —To help accelerate teaching and learning this coming school year, Curriculum Associates has updated its award-winning i-Ready Personalized Instruction and Assessment program with new reports, lessons, accessibility features, and more. These new resources are designed specifically to help educators support grade-level work, monitor progress, and motivate every learner on their path to success.

“i-Ready continues to be a standout in the edtech space, in part, because it is always improving to meet the changing needs of educators and students alike,” said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. “This coming year, accelerated learning will be a focus for schools nationwide and these new updates will provide educators with the timely resources and data-driven supports needed to help students make continued gains.”

To help inform school- and district-level administrators’ planning, i-Ready now features a new dashboard that displays real-time data of student growth and performance in a single view. Additionally, administrators now have more robust data with expanded 5-Level Placement reporting, a new Overall Reading Comprehension score on Diagnostic reports, and improved export data.…Read More