ISTELive 23 lands in Philadelphia on June 25, and the annual conference promises to be packed with content for administrators, curriculum directors, classroom teachers, and everyone in between.

This year’s conference theme, “Discover Your Next,” celebrates the ideas, partnerships, teaching strategies, and edtech tools that can take learning to its next iteration. Register here, for in-person or virtual access.

With more than 900 sessions, it’s hard to choose a handful to highlight—but here are five sessions that caught our eye:

1. Class Visits: A PD Model for Teachers Growing Teachers

Instructional coaches are frequently asked, “What is everyone else doing in their classrooms?” Learn how our school created a successful PD system for teachers to learn and be empowered by each other by participating in a virtual class visit. Caty Carmendy, the Instructional Coach of Mooresville High School, leads the session.

Key points:

• Digital classrooms–and their remote students–are here to stay
• School facilities face unprecedented demand for broadband across education sites

The introduction of always-connected PCs and Chromebooks continues to be the catalyst for digitally liberating many students. Now is an especially exciting time to turn to this idea as PC and Chromebook battery life innovation, as well as performance, speed, audio, and video enhancement, is finally getting to the level needed to handle the digital criteria and learning throughout a school day and beyond.

Hotspots were heralded as the rescue, but often without weighing the pros and cons, especially in relevance to long-term solutions. What’s been overlooked is the substantial amount of learning time wasted just to leverage hotspots for learning. Connected laptops are a streamlined solution as the connection is built in, flexible and fitting into the ever-changing education system without the disruption of time.

Laptops built on Snapdragon bring advanced processor technology that enable mobile features and benefits on these devices. A laptop or Chromebook powered by Snapdragon could provide up to 20 hours of battery life and enable hours of digital learning, providing enhanced performance and greatly improved battery life.

In living our organization’s mission to develop a cutting-edge new generation of always-on, always connected platforms for student devices, our team is purpose-building devices for the most optimum learning. Our focus is to create devices that:

• Uniquely provide considerably longer battery life than traditional student devices, often 15-20 hours.
• Deliver increased performance. We recognize that video conferencing is likely just the first of many processing-heavy experiences that will become the norm for digital learning.
• Offer embedded 4G/LTE connectivity to enable learning from virtually anywhere.
• Reduce the asset management demands of school officials by eliminating hotspots and other complicated connectivity accessories.

Key points:

• Size isn’t the only important part of classroom visual displays
• Brightness, contract, interactivity, and resolution are all critical factors

The transfer of knowledge is an educator’s principal concern–one that has led them, along with researchers, to ask: “What’s the best way to help transfer that knowledge and help students learn?”

Research has shown that students learn better with visuals than words alone. Visual presentations using a projector or interactive display can help to promote a much more active learning environment and more successful outcomes. However, in the last few years, as interactive displays have become more popular, there has been a significant debate on which is the best display type–projectors or interactive flat panel displays–for the classroom.

Some projector companies and organizations insist that projectors are the best for classrooms due to their large image size, while others, including interactive flat panel providers, argue that interactive whiteboards are the better choice. But the truth is: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, it’s a critical decision that requires a look at the advantages of each technology and how the room will be used. Let’s take a look at the considerations that go into that decision.

Classroom Displays Depend On More Than Size

Often the thought when it comes to displays is bigger is always better. Of course, projectors have the advantage there. Move the projector farther back, and the image size is instantly larger. However, size is only but one factor–and not the reigning factor that will deliver the best experience. It’s like buying a Lotus for its horsepower when what’s really needed is a minivan or vice versa.

Escape rooms are engaging for people of all ages—they require durable skills such as creativity, critical thinking, determination, and the ability to work in groups to solve challenges. It makes sense that educators would craft their lessons around the concept of an escape room—and that’s just what high school educator Lynn Thomas has done.

In this Q&A with eSchool News, Thomas details how she found inspiration to create escape room learning opportunities and the benefits she sees for her students–and she offers a look at a new ChatGPT challenge she’s created.

eSN: What gave you the idea to structure learning activities in an escape room-style challenge? 

LT: I was inspired to utilize this fun and challenging activity in my classes upon attending workshops and reading about the benefits and ways to gamify learning, as well as a specific Brightspace workshop about creating an Escape Room through the platform.

What do these challenges look like for students? What do students like best about them and what feedback have you received? 

In my particular case, I opted to create an around-the-world adventure. The narrative begins as follows: “You have been hired by a mysterious organization to complete a series of challenges. The details are all very vague, but you are very intrigued. All you know is that your problem-solving skills are going to be challenged and that you will have to learn along the way because, apparently, it also involves traveling around the world!”

Different students at different schools have different needs. When we analyzed student achievement data from multiple measures and through the lens of student groups, we saw an immediate need to provide additional reading intervention to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic. Yet, due to staffing shortages, we knew we could not provide the level of personalized support each student needed.

Thanks to a data-driven approach to tutoring, we have been able to help our students increase their growth and confidence in reading. In fact, in the fall of 2022, our students who participated in tutoring showed greater growth on the Renaissance Star Reading assessment than students who did not participate.

Here are five strategies we have implemented to create an effective high-impact tutoring program.

1. Use data to design an intentional program.

In 2022, we partnered with Littera Education to design and deliver a tutoring program that would work within our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. Working closely with Littera’s Design Services Team, we were able to transform our data analysis practices and evidence into actionable insights. This helped us determine which students would benefit from extra support and the best times to schedule tutoring sessions to impact achievement.

Throughout my career as a science educator in Colorado, Washington, and now in Florida, I’ve collaborated with many tremendous educators to solve the challenge of engaging students in science. Over time and through trial and error, we’ve learned the importance of engaging students in relevant content that is meaningful to them, engaging them in monitoring their own learning, or engaging them through strategies that make learning accessible.

However, I believe the most important factor in achieving a high level of student engagement in science is providing opportunities for students to participate in active learning experiences. As the K-12 science coordinator in a medium-sized school district in Central Florida, it is a critical part of my team’s work to find and create these opportunities and share them with teachers across the district.

There are five examples of these active learning experiences that stand out as effective strategies to achieve student engagement through relevancy, self-monitoring of learning, and accessible learning for every student:

• Finding current content that students care about or could care about
• Sharing high-interest images or videos paired with an instructional strategy that helps students process their learning
• Allowing students to explore interactives with guiding questions
• Giving students the opportunity to show what they know through different ways
• Chunking experiences so students achieve bursts of achievement and feel successful, not overwhelmed

Digital learning has not always been as ubiquitous as it is today–in fact, a decade ago, the concept made many educators uncomfortable. But today, digital learning resources are embraced as tools that highly-skilled educators can use to boost student engagement and connect classroom lessons to the real world.

Digital Learning Day celebrates this evolution and highlights how educators across the country are using digital learning tools to create authentic connections and personalized learning opportunities for every student, everywhere. Check out All4Ed’s Digital Learning Day resources to find digital learning tools, hear from fellow educators about their digital learning strategies, and more.

Here, five educators share the digital learning tools and resources that have proven successful in their classrooms and in their schools.

1. Specialized digital content can support students as they learn specific and individual skills. While digital science content is abundantly available, digital science content that supports and focuses on lab skills is more difficult to come by. Cristi Watkins Sims, department chair and AP Biology teacher in Arizona, shares her three favorite digital resources that can help support ALL science teachers teaching science lab skills.

2. Mixed reality glasses can help struggling readers. Hear from two East Carolina University educators and researchers about how they created a science reading experience for 5th grade students using the Microsoft HoloLens, a mixed reality technology that merges the real and virtual worlds to produce something entirely new. Young readers wore the mixed reality glasses and then looked at a page of scientific text in the real world. The HoloLens was programmed to deliver supplementary content in the virtual world that could only be seen and heard within the glasses. Because abstract concepts can be intimidating for young learners, the focus remained on supplying additional information for difficult scientific concepts. When the students’ eyes paused on a particularly difficult word or phrase, the glasses would deliver audio-visual information to supplement the reading.

The metaverse is a tool that blends experiences typically associated with either the virtual or physical worlds. It can deliver greater immersive learning for students while also creating some new and exciting teaching opportunities. For educators, it is crucial to not only understand what the metaverse is and its uses within education but to also realize the benefits of immersive learning with the metaverse.

The metaverse is an emerging technology that is gradually becoming more mainstream within education, in part because it delivers immersive learning experiences for students. Essentially, the metaverse allows academic institutions and educators to create engaging experiences that teach valuable information, which encourages exploration and experimentation. What’s more, the metaverse itself can be accessed using a variety of devices.

With that being said, metaverse learning is a relatively new concept and one that many educators are still getting to grips with. At the same time, because the metaverse is also being used in areas like social media and the creation of video games, its use as an educational tool has not necessarily been fully understood by all.

In this article, we will cover the topic of the metaverse and its relation to immersive learning in more depth while also highlighting six specific benefits associated with teachers using the technology for this purpose.

Understanding Immersive Learning and the Metaverse

One of the very best ways to teach students and guarantee they understand and retain information is by ensuring they are immersed in the lesson. This is the basis of immersive learning as a concept. However, true immersion is not guaranteed, and issues, such as accessibility, are always important to consider. Thankfully, the emergence of the metaverse has helped to overcome some of these problems.

Broadly, the metaverse refers to the creation of virtual worlds or spaces in which social interactions can occur. The metaverse is most commonly associated with extended reality technology (virtual reality and augmented reality), as well as with social media capabilities and the use of digital avatars controlled by users.

As an article for the Digital Learning Institute explains, the metaverse has been a game changer for immersive learning because classes can both be delivered and accessed in a virtual setting. Additionally, the use of avatars within the metaverse delivers something akin to student-centered learning. This is because there is a degree of learner autonomy and independence associated with it, and students take on more responsibility for more of their own learning.

The Impact of Education’s Digital Transformation

In recent years, education has undergone a digital transformation, and this will be apparent when you consider the average classroom today compared to the average classroom 20 or 30 years ago. For instance, chalkboards have mostly been replaced by digital whiteboards, and most learning environments now utilize computers and various types of software. 

This digital transformation has had a positive impact in many areas, helping to provide accessibility, preparing students for the modern and digital world, and making life easier for teachers who wish to share information. However, it has also meant that students are expected to have more agency when it comes to controlling their own learning.

The metaverse and its ability to offer immersive learning could serve as another means of helping both students and teachers to create a successful learning environment that meets contemporary educational standards and prepares students for modern life.

Benefits of Immersive Learning with the Metaverse

Equipped with an understanding of what the metaverse is and how it works within the field of education, it is worth taking some time to explore some of the specific benefits of using this technology to deliver immersive learning experiences. In the sections that follow, we take a closer look at six of these benefits:

1) Immersive learning is very similar to experiential learning

Experiential learning is the process of learning through direct experience. As a definition published by Boston University explains, it is an example of “learning by doing,” and some of the related activities can include field trips, laboratory experiments, and studio performances. To provide an example, a group of students learning about space and the stars may be able to learn through the experience of going outside and looking at stars through a telescope.

Immersive metaverse learning can help students and teachers to achieve similar benefits without the need to physically experience things in this way. This means that similar learning outcomes can be achieved at any time, even if the conditions are not ideal and if observing something or traveling somewhere is not possible. In some cases, the immersive learning experiences made possible through the metaverse could provide the same benefits as experiential learning.

To stick with the same example, a group of students learning about stars through the metaverse could go into a virtual recreation of space, use an avatar to move around, see stars in close detail, and learn other related information at the same time. For instance, their avatars could be impacted by the effects of gravity, or their avatars could need protective equipment when exploring a specific environment in space.

Immersive learning makes it possible for students to reach learning objectives by activating their curiosity, and engaging with their questioning and experimentation, which ultimately helps in the development of useful problem-solving skills.

2) Immersive learning with the metaverse can be a tool for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I)

As the term ‘immersive learning’ suggests, the primary aim of this type of education is to immerse students in the learning experience as well as their environment. However, making this kind of immersion accessible for everyone, regardless of their circumstances, is a major barrier that must be overcome. Using the metaverse can assist greatly with this by providing the opportunity to invite students with different needs to participate in positive and engaging learning experiences.

Many immersive learning experiences are difficult or impossible to access for students with physical disabilities or impairments. For instance, imagine a class trip to study mountain ranges. The physical act of scaling the mountains or accessing the surrounding area could be impossible for a student in a wheelchair. If this lesson is moved into the metaverse, far more students will be able to participate and experience the mountain environment. 

This is a key reason why digital accessibility has become such a hot topic. The purpose of accessibility is to make educational experiences available to students, regardless of issues like impairments, disabilities, neurodivergence, and economic status. Crucially, equity can be achieved through metaverse learning because the obstacles faced by those with the greatest needs can be overcome, and these students can be immersed through extended reality technology.

Many educators have left the school environment to join edtech companies, seeking new ways to serve students while solving for the shortcomings they felt in the school-based workplace. How has it worked out, and what have we learned?

The experience has shifted the equilibrium in the corporate world, as edtech companies tap into a larger talent pool and it has been eye-opening for former educators as they bring their expertise to the table in new ways. It has also provided valuable insights for school administrators seeking to improve their retention of teachers.

Insights for school administrators

Educators left schools in larger numbers this year because they were seeking solutions to some of the fundamental challenges they perceived in their school careers. They turned to edtech companies with the hopes of finding greater opportunities for career progression, flexibility, and support for their personal well-being. School administrators have the opportunity to turn around retention challenges by providing solutions to these areas that educators are saying matter most to them.

School-based educators have transparent paths to salary increases based on experience, but typically have limited paths for advancement, perhaps moving between grades, obtaining certifications, or earning advanced degrees to enter into a leadership position. The corporate world offers a broader variety of paths, whether in sales, product development, marketing and more. A former special education teacher reflected after making the move to edtech, “After 10 years of teaching, I didn’t think I had the option to do anything else. Now, I have the ability to grow by moving into different roles.”

Washington, DC teachers rated ”flexible scheduling options” as the most impactful action that the district could take to reduce turnover. Many educators are seeking more control over their day-to-day, or even their minute-to-minute, work lives. The school day tends to be reactive, steered by unexpected problems to solve and excess work to cover, for instance when a colleague is absent. The appeal of choosing how to prioritize their time is strong for educators who are considering a corporate environment after years of putting the priorities of others ahead of their own in schools. A former classroom teacher thinks of it this way: “Remember that you have to put your own oxygen mask on first. You can still act on your heart of service without being in the traditional classroom. But with the transition to the corporate world, you will also have the ability to do things like sit down and go to the bathroom when needed.”

The National Education Association recently reported that 90 percent of teachers surveyed expressed burnout as a serious concern. Teachers are directly faced with the everyday challenges students are experiencing in the classroom. One middle school social studies teacher from Pennsylvania made his decision to make the leap to a corporate role after breaking up fights in the hallways became a near-daily activity. He recognized that there was more going on in the lives of the students and wanted to offer support, but through a different lens.

As a former molecular biologist turned college and 7-12 educator, I have taught laboratory science classes for the past 3 decades. I’ve seen a lot of changes in science education (especially digital content) over the last 30 years, but one challenge has remained the same: students have to learn laboratory skills.

As a science department chair at a high-performing public high school in Arizona, I can attest firsthand to the stress this component of science education places on young, new science teachers who may not have the benefit of being a trained research scientist in college and who feel intimidated to lead an entire class of 30+ adolescents through a lab that they must by themselves prepare everything for.

This insecurity can lead to many 7-12 science teachers opting not to complete many hands-on labs with their students either because they lack the resources or the confidence to do so. Add to this the fact that districts often emphasize and require science teachers to host and participate in school and district Science Fairs, and it is no wonder that good science teachers are hard to come by.

While digital science content is abundantly available, digital science content that supports and focuses on lab skills is more difficult to come by. Here are my 3 favorite digital resources that can help support ALL science teachers teaching science lab skills:

1. Discovery Education’s Pivot Interactives: This is my number one super recommendation! Whether it is supporting junior high, high school, or undergraduate college labs in physics, chemistry, biology or earth science, Pivot offers lab experiences that are real (not cartoons) and truly interactive where students can analyze real data (depicted through videos) and even select their own data to collect. The auto-graded questions embedded along with the open-ended free response questions allow for immediate feedback to students about what they are doing and if they are on the right track or not (something that even in-person labs do not have.) The scientist-generated questions are all designed to not only provide verification that students are learning what they are supposed to be learning, but also help model how a lab should be executed for newer science teachers who may not already be comfortable doing so on their own.

Though schools are closed on Presidents’ Day, discussing topics related to the holiday is a great way to engage students in their learning, taking historical processes and events and linking them to the present.

Use these short videos from TED-Ed Lessons to introduce concepts and activities related to the presidency–and the history and process behind it.

Teachers can use TED-Ed Lessons to liven up long days and highlight students’ different personal interests. On the TED-Ed platform, educators can build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video.

History vs. Richard Nixon: The president of the United States of America is often said to be one of the most powerful positions in the world. But of all the US presidents accused of abusing that power, only one has left office as a result. Does Richard Nixon deserve to be remembered for more than the scandal that ended his presidency? Alex Gendler puts this disgraced president’s legacy on trial.

The oddities of the first American election: How did George Washington become the first president of the United States in 1789? Who got to decide–or vote–who would become president, and how did they decide the winner? Kenneth C. Davis unveils the surprising story behind America’s first presidential election.

Inventing the American presidency: When the founders of the United States gathered to create the foundations of the country, they decided on three branches of government, with a president central to the executive branch. Kenneth C. Davis explains why this decision was not necessarily inevitable and what variables were up for debate.

This year’s Future of Education Technology Conference landed in New Orleans, and the conference was abuzz with post-pandemic learning recovery tools, solutions to promote equity among students and parents, strategies for digital access, student mental health, social and emotional learning tools, and more.

Here’s just a glimpse of what we learned about during FETC 2023:

AVer Information Inc. USA, announced the launch of the A30, the world’s first All-in-One Camera with AI Audio for the Classroom. The A30 is a multi-functional classroom tool that enhances the teaching experience by combining a document camera, web camera, microphone, and speaker. With easy-to-use plug-n-play connectivity, the A30 speaker connects to computers, IFPs, and monitors to provide clear classroom audio up to 20 feet away. 

Beanstack, an edtech platform that helps schools encourage kids to read through gamification, demonstrated the importance of engaging readers. Beanstack helps educators and librarians encourage reading by making it easy to create and promote reading challenges for their communities. It motivates people to reach reading goals by tracking when, how much, and what they read. The company has built several tools to do that, including a customizable reading challenge platform and a mobile app, reading challenge templates, and diverse book recommendations.

BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, delivered a demonstration of all the features and benefits of its BenQ Boards. Teachers from Citrus County Schools highlighted the ease of use and intuitiveness of the BenQ Board smart boards. BenQ also highlighted its family of BlueCore laser education projectors and InstaShow WDC20E education wireless presentation system (WPS).

ClassVR/Avantis World ensured that educators know that everyone can come to Eduverse.com. Eduverse.com is a revolutionary online learning environment providing a safe and secure ‘metaverse’ for K-12 schools. Eduverse allows teachers and students to harness the power of the metaverse and explore immersive virtual worlds in a safe and inclusive environment. Eduverse offers a new way to learn, enabling students to collaborate in engaging virtual spaces where the impossible becomes a reality.

The Cook Center for Human Connection facilitated discussions about the importance of student mental health awareness and youth suicide prevention–and the critical role parents play in these efforts. The organization partners with ParentGuidance.org, which offers education and therapeutic support to empower and give parents hope as they support their child’s mental health. The mission of the Cook Center for Human Connection is to bring together the best organizations, programs and products to prevent suicide, provide mental health support, and enhance human connections essential for people to thrive.

FEV Tutor explored what it means to truly engage students and make virtual tutoring equitable. To counter ongoing unfinished learning, many districts are seeking evidence-based interventions such as high-impact tutoring programs. But what is high-impact tutoring and how can administrators find the right program for their district and schools? Lisa Wills, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Ector County Independent School District (ISD) in Odessa, Texas, answered these questions and more in a 45-minute session at FETC. In her 34 years with Ector County, Wills has worked in all areas of education, from classroom teacher, curriculum specialist, assistant principal, principal, and director of literacy to executive director of curriculum and instruction. In her current role, she works directly with the district’s online tutoring programs, including FEV Tutor, to accelerate learning for students.

FTW Robotics displayed its drone technology in booth #518 that is currently in 1K schools throughout the United States. For The Win Robotics focuses on fostering critical thinking and lifelong curiosity through the power of experiential STEM and computer science education through drone technology. FTW reaches more than 1,000 schools across the United States with its drone-centered STEM and computer science programming that is available for every education setting — from K-12 classrooms to college campuses, afterschool programs to summer camps.

Impero showcased Impero Wellbeing, a holistic view of student safety and wellbeing that provides cloud-based keyword detection tools to capture, record, and identify early warning signs of harmful online behavior. Combined with Impero Backdrop’s free digital safeguarding tools, Impero Wellbeing allows schools to manage and record student concerns in online and offline environments from a single, safe, and secure interface.

Intelitek’s learning solutions have provided learners across the globe with the competencies needed for in-demand careers in production. Driven by its pedagogic commitment to students’ career readiness and lifelong learning skills, the company develops state-of-the-art tools and technologies for engineering, manufacturing, automation, and robotics technologies. These technologies, along with Intelitek’s programs, empower instructors and inspire students to pursue careers in cutting-edge businesses.  The emergence of new industrial technologies has caused such rapid changes in manufacturing that employers are in constant need of workers who are technically advanced, process savvy, and natural problem solvers. To help develop this workforce, Intelitek, a worldwide CTE leader, has released SmartCIM 4.0, a modular training environment featuring industrial working components for computer-integrated manufacturing education.

Kajeet introduced Kajeet Private Wireless, its next-gen, cloud-based, private 5G and LTE platform delivering fast, secure, and reliable broadband connectivity for students in remote areas and communities underserved by public wireless options.

KinderLab Robotics‘ KIBO connects the arts with computer science – without the need for screen time. With KIBO, educators bring lesson plans to life, while kids use their own creativity and self-expression to bring KIBO to life. They investigate their world, trade and share discoveries, develop their computational thinking and STEAM skills, solve problems, and so much more.

Learning.com, a provider of digital skills and computer science curriculum, has acquired Codesters, an online platform and coding curriculum. The purchase bolsters Learning.com’s position as a provider of comprehensive digital literacy and computer science curriculum for K-12 schools. “Across the country, there’s a growing movement to provide computer science education to every student, in every school, at every grade level,” said Learning.com CEO Keith Oelrich. “Our strategic acquisition of Codesters accelerates Learning.com’s expanding presence in the K-12 computer science market.”

Lenovo announced new hardware, software and services solutions designed to inspire and enable learning anywhere. The latest Lenovo Education portfolio includes new laptops, running Windows 11 or ChromeOS, built to help students and teachers embrace next-level hybrid learning. The latest enhancements to the Lenovo VR Classroom solutions create an immersive educational experience through engaging visuals, meaningful content, and explanatory audio that sparks a connection with each student. Lenovo also introduced a new collaborative feature for its LanSchool Air classroom management solution. Co-teaching allows teachers to share their classes with other educators such as paraprofessionals, student teachers, counsellors, and school administrators to provide more cohesive lessons.

Leo, Tutor.com’s soon-to-come new academic support platform, is purpose-built from the ground up by learning experts, teachers, and web developers in collaboration with K-12 and higher-ed leaders. It is designed to meet online learning needs in K-12 and higher-ed schools, from scheduling, management, and delivery of academic services to a virtual classroom experience that inspires students and drives learning outcomes.

LG Business Solutions spotlighted a full range of education-focused solutions, headlined by the new LG CreateBoard (model TR3DK), a purpose-built solution to address a variety of needs for in-person, remote and blended learning. LG also unveiled its expanded training programs through the LG Academy, with a new course set to launch specifically for LG CreateBoard line in the first quarter. The CreateBoard course will be followed by additional comprehensive training resources released in coordination with a third-party provider.

Linewize announced that Qustodio, its new parental control app, is now available for all School Manager and Classwize customers. As part of Linewize’s broader Community platform, Qustodio extends visibility, reporting and controls to parents and guardians into how their children are using school-issued devices, both at school and at home. Qustodio provides parents with access to a variety of tools and resources, including a CIPA-compliant content filter enabled for school-issued devices at home, ongoing visibility and insights into their child’s online activity and device usage, and expert advice and guidance from digital safety experts.

Malwarebytes, a global leader in real-time cyber protection, today announced the upcoming Malwarebytes Mobile Security for Business, extending its award-winning endpoint protection capabilities to professional mobile devices. From corporate organizations to educational institutions, the increasing number of connected mobile devices introduces security risks to users and networks. Over two-fifths (42 percent) of SMBs who said that their organization had experienced a mobile-related compromise in 2021 said that the effects were major—the other half said that the repercussions were lasting.

Navigate360, provider of holistic safety and wellness solutions, demonstrated its model that spans the full spectrum of safety, including threat detection and prevention, mental health and wellness, and safety management and preparedness – backed by research and developed by industry experts.

OverDrive Education announced that the Sora student reading app is piloting a new Sora Extra that connects students to interactive reading resources from TeachingBooks.net. This new feature provides easy access to engaging learning materials that can deepen conversations about favorite books among students, educators, and families.

ParentSquare, developer of a unified school-home engagement platform for K-12, has acquired Gabbart Communications, a website and content management system (CMS) business. With the acquisition, ParentSquare provides K-12 schools and districts with expanded offerings to elevate family and community engagement experiences, including the ParentSquare platform’s new integrated school website module, Smart Sites. With the integration of Gabbart Communications’ school website tool, the ParentSquare platform now offers Smart Sites, a new module that enables educators to publish posts and alerts directly to website pages and social media channels from ParentSquare. Smart Sites users can add information to ParentSquare and have the module automatically furnish the new information on their website and in social media posts and messages to families and community members, ensuring content consistency.

Presence, provider of online therapy solutions for children with diverse needs, demonstrated how Kanga, its all-in-one therapy platform, helps schools, districts, independent practitioners, and agencies reimagine the work of their clinicians. With Kanga, clinicians have access to award-winning technology to provide engaging, best-in-class, and personalized therapy to each student, either onsite or remotely. Presence believes that technology should enhance, not replace, the human connections between educators and students. Built by clinicians, for clinicians, its therapy platform is designed with this vision in mind. With features like a collaborative workspace, customizable games and activities, and digital tools for documentation, it is built to enhance the therapy experience.

Project10Million, from T-Mobile, is an initiative aimed at delivering internet connectivity to millions of underserved student households at no cost. Partnering with school districts across the country, the program offers free high-speed data and free mobile hotspots–and access to at-cost laptops and tablets.

Promethean showcased its new ActivPanel 9 with ActivSync and the Symphony Classroom digital assistant by Merlyn Mind. Promethean’s latest ActivPanel powered by the company’s patented ActivSync technology responds to an evolving educational environment by breaking down barriers between devices, enabling increased connectivity and collaboration, and supporting hybrid and in-classroom learning. Promethean also highlighted Symphony Classroom with Merlyn, a complete education technology solution from Merlyn Mind that includes an AI hub, software platform, and remote control. This unique AI-powered digital assistant enables teachers to use voice commands or a remote to control their devices, browsers, apps, and more. 

Propello announced its launch, offering a way to empower all schools with access to high-quality instructional tools, curricula, and teacher support. As educators face the looming challenge of closing learning gaps that grew during the pandemic, the Propello platform helps school districts provide teachers with the comprehensive curriculum, scaffolding, and insights they need to support wide-ranging student needs. 

Qualcomm discussed with attendees how educators can and should embrace AI–and what platforms like ChatGPT mean for education. Thought leaders also chatted about why school districts like LAUSD are partnering with Qualcomm to shift to LTE-ready laptops for its students versus solely Wi-Fi-based laptops and hotspot solutions. The importance of enhanced cybersecurity for schools as the FCC considers modifications to the E-rate program also emerged as a must-know.

Reading Horizons shared how its education customers are using its solutions to target pandemic-related learning gaps and reading deficits at all grade levels. The company is committed to partnering with educators to eradicate illiteracy, and in November it launched the Science of Reading Collective, a free, online community designed to help teachers confidently and effectively implement the science of reading.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. provided a first look at the new Samsung Education Community Platform. The free-to-join platform will offer educators an online discussion forum, access to peer and expert coaching, and free, self-paced professional development courses, enabling them to develop new strategies for leveraging technology that can enhance classroom engagement and learning outcomes for all students.

Savvas Learning Company showcased its newly enhanced Savvas Realize learning management system (LMS) and other new PreK-12 learning solutions. Savvas Realize was updated for this school year with enhancements that deliver greater simplicity, shareability, and seamless interoperability with more than two dozen major edtech tools that school districts use most. The platform recently won the 2022 Supes’ Choice Award for best LMS from the Institute for Education Innovation. New Savvas products highlighted at FETC include: Savvas Now Literacy, a K-5 supplemental digital resource library; Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading, a K-2 supplemental program aligned to the Science of Reading that targets key foundational skills; Magruder’s American Government Interactive, the new edition of the premier high school program, now with continuously updated digital resources complementing a foundational textbook; Civics Interactive, an all-digital civics curriculum for grades 6-12; and enVision Mathematics, the nationally recognized math series for grades K-12 that has been updated to engage students with even more hands-on, problem-based learning.

SchoolStatus demonstrated how its solution integrates all student data into a digital student card so teachers can learn about historical assessments, benchmark data, disciplinary issues. SchoolStatus helps Accountability Directors visualize benchmark and state data in one platform, and often in one report.

StickTogether showed attendees how its inclusive activity helps students relax, be themselves, connect with others, and be part of creating something special. Students can create colorful Pixel Art with a free tool, download a coded worksheet, and use stickers to bring their vision to life. Sticker poster kits begin as a mystery and become more clear as everyone works together. StickTogether’s Virtual Stickerboards accommodate a handful–or hundreds–of participants as they work together on their own devices or an interactive whiteboard (for free) to create an image together.

Spectrum Enterprise educated attendees about recent federal legislation that includes funding for K-12 schools and districts to support connectivity. Spectrum has eligible solutions that support long-term technology plans–no matter where learning takes place.

TutorMe partners with schools and districts to provide 24/7 online tutoring that increases equitable access to personalized learning, supports teachers, and addresses learning loss. Researchers and assessment experts have said catching students up academically from the pandemic will be a multi-year effort that lives well into 2023 and beyond. Tutoring is an intervention strategy many schools are implementing in response, and TutorMe discussed the demand for evidence supporting online tutoring as an effective instructional intervention.

VEX Robotics demonstrated its VEX GO and VEX 123 solutions. VEX GO is an affordable construction system that teaches the fundamentals of STEM through fun, hands-on activities that help young students perceive coding and engineering in a fun and positive way. VEX 123 is a programmable robot that teaches real programming without a computer through the use of the VEX Coder and physical cards. 

Wacom spread awareness about the importance of using industry-standard equipment in CTE programs. Making connections from K-12 to higher ed and industry is critical for students, and when students are exposed early to the tools and skills they’ll rely on in their careers, they’ll enter education programs and the workforce at an advantage.

zSpace, a Silicon Valley education company, announced the expansion of math software offerings to include a new application, Martian Math, and an update to the Let’s Cook application on its augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) laptop, Inspire. The zSpace Inspire is an AR/VR laptop that does not require a head-mounted display or 3D glasses. A broad range of STEM and Career and Technical Education applications is available on the Inspire, as well as applications for esports, modeling, and simulation. Learning these skills with the power of augmented and virtual reality from the zSpace Inspire brings education to life, allowing students to better understand hard-to-visualize concepts and practice navigating situations that would be difficult, impossible, counterproductive, or expensive in the real world.

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The Museum of Science, Boston is making its first move into the world of immersive online education with its launch of “Mission: Mars,” an educational experience on Roblox, a global platform connecting millions of people through immersive 3D experiences.

Developed in partnership with Filament Games, “Mission: Mars” challenges participants to engage in the Engineering Design Process, developing and iterating on vehicles ready to navigate the mysterious red planet and complete exploratory missions with friends to survive on Mars.

The Museum of Science is the first Roblox Community Fund (RCF) recipient to launch their experience since the fund’s introduction in November of 2021. Through the initial $10M fund, RCF has been offering grants to educational organizations to develop innovative learning experiences and curriculum leveraging the platform in immersive and compelling ways. 

The immersive 3D “Mission: Mars” experience focuses on engaging students of all ages in the Engineering Design Process, providing a high-quality, entertaining, and Next Generation Science standards-aligned digital experience for both formal and informal learning. It enables individuals to step into a Mars survival suit, navigate terrain in a hi-tech Mars Rover, help their team in specific level-based missions to discover past evidence of water, collect samples of water ice, and rescue fellow explorers from certain doom. Participants also design and create vehicles to help them in their missions and will be able to earn experience points and rewards along the way.

Museum of Science President Tim Ritchie said: “The Museum’s entry into the metaverse is part of our aspiration to reach 100 million people in museums, classrooms, and online by 2030, breaking down barriers to engagement and creating greater equity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. It’s not enough for the Museum to be the most popular destination for families in New England and to share hands-on curricula with educators and millions of students around the world­–we also want to leap into the metaverse to meet students where they are with top-quality STEM content.’’

Filament Games CEO Dan White said: “The in-game mechanics and environmental design in ‘Mission: Mars’ are all based on true scientific principles, powered by actual data collected by NASA on Mars.’’ 

“The Roblox platform offers developers like Filament the opportunity to deliver the kind of compelling deeper learning contexts that students and educators alike crave when exploring hands-on topics such as the engineering design process,’’ said Rebecca Kantar, Vice President of Education at Roblox. “Mission: Mars is a great example of putting the core learning objective, building and iterating for specific mechanical tasks and conditions, at the center of fun, rich experience design.”

The Museum of Science is also home to EiE®, the award-winning PreK-8th grade curricula division that reaches over 2 million students per year across the country and world. “Mission: Mars” will also include a full suite of instructional materials and supplemental support for teachers to use it for engineering and science education in classrooms, all designed to

• Support both engineering newcomers and experienced engineering educators;
• Highlight the engineering design process within missions;
• Explicitly link gameplay to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and EiE Habits of Mind;
• Support student analysis of in-game designs through engineering discussion guides;
• And point teachers to outside support for getting started in Roblox and organizing a class.

Please go to mos.org/Roblox to learn more and here to access “Mission: Mars” directly on Roblox.

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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.

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the launch of the free invention education resource, EquIP HQ.

EquIP HQ is a contracted effort created and maintained by Second Avenue Learning. The site is available for grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. The platform provides educators with access to free tools to teach students real-world skills and intellectual property (IP) literacy.

EquIP HQ enables students to personalize exploration of solving real-world problems through innovative design, prototypes and iterative tests and improvements towards real, inventive solutions.

When invention education is implemented at a large scale, it intends to significantly reduce barriers to both STEM and STEAM education for students across the country.

“I teach a course in entrepreneurship, and I’ve been wanting to take it to the next level with intellectual property,” said Brian, a twelfth-grade teacher in Western New York. “EquIP HQ activities and resources will enable me to do that.”

EquIP HQ introduces new entry points and pathways to inventing. The platform’s ready-made lesson plans and materials are thoughtfully crafted to inspire student choice. Activities encourage students to identify real challenges that are relevant and meaningful to them.

“EquIP HQ will allow for authentic, real-world opportunities for students,” said Victoria VanHoorhis, CEO of Second Avenue Learning. “Sometimes we call them problems. Sometimes we call them challenges. They’re really opportunities for students and kids of all ages to realize the inventor that exists within every one of us.”

EquIP HQ aims to reach all students—especially those who may be underrepresented or under-resourced—to inspire a new generation of contributors to society who improve modern inventions through diversity in perspectives and ideas.

This press release originally appeared online.

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Defining digital curriculum in a new era of learning

Over the span of my 22-year career as South Carolina public school educator, I’ve taught in self-contained classrooms and I’ve been in departmentalized settings.  Although I love teaching all subjects, I always choose English/language arts and social studies, in part because I love the challenge of engaging young leaners in these important subjects.

As a fourth-grade English/language arts and social studies teacher in an elementary collaborative learning magnet program–which is also a NASA Explorer School–I get the challenge of unlocking the minds of 9- and 10-year-olds who are more at home in the STEM subjects than in exploring literature or our country’s history.

In my quest to engage my students in social studies, I’ve found that, after a few rounds of trial and error, the social studies textbooks belong on the shelf. Instead, I’ve turned to a host of exciting digital resources that would engage the students and connect their lessons to the “real world”, enhance my delivery of instruction, and expand students’ knowledge of our country’s history.

However, the digital resources are not enough—they need to be applied within the context of effective, classroom-tested strategies. Among the most effective strategies I’ve used are the following:

Direct Instruction – Game Show Style…Quizizz!

Platforms such as Google and Microsoft provide variations of this digital tool known as a slideshow. Slideshows allow you to embed text, images, video clips, and animation all in one place to make the flow of your lesson seamless. Using this digital tool is a great way to deliver an engaging social studies lesson. However, if you want to take your slideshow to another level, you must try Quizizz!  Quizizz allows you to take an ordinary slide show and turn it into an interactive lesson/game. Not only does Quizizz make learning history fun, but it also helps you to stay focused and manage your instructional time.

Preparing a Quizizz lesson is super easy! You simply upload a slideshow or create one from scratch, then add questions, video clips, or polls to keep students engaged.  With lessons in Quizizz, you check for understanding using a variety of question types such as multiple choice, reorder, match, fill-in-blanks, open ended, video response, and audio response.  

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we must invest in educational technology. When schools use technology to improve the quality and quantity of educational content, learners will thrive. Amid this technology-driven educational environment, 3D printing offers students the following: helping to facilitate differentiated instruction, increasing student engagement, expanding practice opportunities, and scaling up standardized instruction.

No More One-Size-Fits-All Teaching

Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach that tailors instruction to all students’ learning needs. Most students are unlikely to get much from “one-size-fits-all” instruction. Instead, it should vary based on students’ interests, preferences, strengths, and struggles.

According to educator Carol Ann Tomilson, there are four different ways to differentiate learning: 1) Content: figuring out what a student needs to learn and which resources will help; 2) Process: activities that help students make sense of what they learn; 3) Projects: ways for students to “show what they know;” 4) Learning environment: how the classroom “feels” and how the class works together. 3D technologies can help support a differentiated approach to instruction.

Integrating the 3D design process allows students to synthesize different pieces of knowledge and apply what has been taught to them by designing their own creations. This spurs student creativity and improves learning and collaboration. In addition, students can bring objects out of textbooks and off computer screens to provide hands-on learning opportunities. As a result, students can be creators rather than just consumers.

Increased Student Engagement

When school curriculum is adaptive to a student’s unique needs, it’s more likely to promote student progress because each child can move at their own pace. 3D printing engages learners in a way like never before – it creates comfortable, personalized equipment, promotes hands-on, tactile learning, and makes learning fun and engaging.

In fact, a recent report found that while many schools were closed over the past year, respondents were still able to use 3D printing to support their lessons and drive student participation and engagement. For example, 57 percent of respondents stated that they used 3D printing for student-designed prototypes for problem-based learning projects, while 36 percent used 3D printed parts for specific lessons as a way to increase engagement. This is important as 48 percent of the respondents noted that low student engagement was a significant obstacle for virtual learning.

Even after the events of the past two years, the definition of what constitutes digital curriculum is still a source of disagreement for some. Misalignment among educator roles regarding curriculum has far from disappeared, and in some cases, the gap has grown even wider, according to new research.

While the majority of educators are more optimistic about the state of their curriculum this year than before COVID-19, the theme of misalignment persists in several areas, including:

Quality of Curriculum

Perhaps intuitively, roles closer to the students (teachers, IT staff, school leadership) find it easier to measure curricular efficacy compared to other roles since they interact with students regularly. District leadership and curriculum or team leads tend to measure curriculum more quantitatively, based on numbers reflected in test and exam scores.

For the second year in a row, roles farther from the classroom (district leaders, school leaders) rated their own curriculum higher than those closer to the classroom (teachers and IT staff). Teachers were the most pessimistic about their materials, rating them at an average of 6.43, roughly 10 percent lower than the district leaders, who ranked their materials the highest.

When teachers and school/district leaders lack alignment on curricular quality, students suffer. This discrepancy is a testament to the fact that district and school leaders need better data and insight into the classroom. The first step towards addressing this issue? Believing in the power of digital. Districts must house their core curriculum in a manner that enables them to collect data on adoption, usage, and pacing. Dynamic digital curriculum management gives school and district leaders immediate access to key data around student performance and curricular fidelity.

Curricular Fidelity

What do we mean by curricular fidelity? When teachers follow their curriculum and its resources to the letter, they are implementing it with the highest fidelity. When teachers introduce outside resources into the curriculum, they implement with lower fidelity.

As the old expression goes – you never know if you don’t try. This principle also applies when it comes to federal grants, through which billions of dollars in relief funding are available to help U.S. K-12 schools with recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many school districts have yet to take advantage of these resources.

Educators who spend time in classrooms interacting with students will be the first to admit that their needs are as wide-ranging as they are numerous. From making classrooms safer to providing high-quality instructional materials to ensuring schools leverage the most current digital tools, grant money can make all the difference.

And for school librarians in particular, these grants represent a unique opportunity to establish future-ready libraries with strong digital book collections. But when it comes to applying for the grants, finding out what kind of funding is available is only the first step.

Keys for one district’s successful grant application

After a school year full of turmoil – and during a time when educators may be feeling the effects of burnout – adding a task like applying for grants to an already long list of to-dos is a tough ask. That’s why it’s critical for educators to lean on the external resources available to them for help when seeking these funds.

Returning to school after winter break brings with it a variety of emotions–excitement, anticipation, and hesitation prompted by concerns around potential COVID-19 outbreaks. And because schools may move to hybrid or virtual learning despite starting in person, digital learning tools that work in the physical or virtual classroom can prove invaluable.

Recent research from Texthelp shows that teachers believe students were significantly less engaged this past school year, but that digital tools were a bright spot in their classrooms. In fact, 90 percent of teachers say they plan to use edtech tools this upcoming school year.

Through using these tools, teachers say they experienced increased efficiency across the board and that students now have the accessible and engaging tools they need.

Educators who are searching for new digital learning tools to use as students return to classrooms can browse the below list to see if any of the resources fill a gap in their school or classroom:

1. Along, from Gradient Learning and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, is a free digital reflection tool designed to help teachers make each of their students feel seen and understood. It lets students send quick video, audio, or text directly to their teacher so they can open up about who they are and what’s really on their mind.