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EdTech insights for decision makers
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This issue is sponsored by
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February may be designated as Black History Month, but celebrating black culture, civil rights and diversity can (and should) happen all year round. In fact, the internet is rich with free resources to help us do the job, no matter what month we’re in. Professor Irvin Weathersby Jr., for example, suggests checking out the Digital Backpack Classroom, the TransAtlantic Slave Trade Database, and four other online tools to explore topics like the Underground Railroad. In New York City, EdSurge reporter Jenny Abamu took a trip to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to check out the new digital collections that bring the past to life. What other resources do you use in your classroom?
LIVE FROM THE FIELD
FAREWELL, OLD PD: Can policy put more fun and relevance into professional development? Ken Halla thinks so. By demanding better data on teacher and student needs, plus a shared vision among leaders about what schools should look like, ESSA can help educators “rethink how technology might help improve their classrooms and then rebuild a lesson plan using the new methodology,” writes the eLearning Coordinator for Fairax County Public Schools in Virginia.
GETTING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL: The education technology debate vacillates between extremes: the “magic tech box” that cuts students off from all human contact, and those who reject tech-topia. Base Education rejects these extremes and uses technology to build relationships—in this case, between struggling high school students and supportive adults. EdSurge columnist Alex Hernandez delves into how the startup is helping schools introduce social-emotional learning skills to students.
LAUNCH AND LEARN: Edtech gatherings can sometimes be echo chambers of hubub and hoopla around technology’s potential. Not so at LearnLaunch, Boston’s annual gathering of edtech entrepreneurs, educators and researchers, where cautious optimism prevailed. EdSurge’s Jenny Abamu was on the scene to capture the conversations on everything from artificial intelligence to administrators.
WASHINGTON WATCH
DEVOS BY A NOSE: In a close 51-50 vote, “the ayes have it,” said Vice President Mike Pence as he broke the tie in Betsy DeVos’ contentious confirmation Senate vote. Weary Senate Democrats staged a 24-hour protest on the floor leading up to the vote, but the effort failed to convince an additional Republican senator to flip. EdSurge has all the deets here.
RULES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN’: The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved two measures that could impact how the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Higher Education Act (HSA) are implemented. The bills—now awaiting approval by the Senate and President Trump—could reverse the Department of Education’s rule on accountability and state education plans, and remove some requirements for teacher preparation programs.
MEET EDSURGE
ON THE ROAD: EdSurge loves to tell stories—and to tell the best stories, sometimes we need to travel. So, we’re hitting the road this month to meet with edtech administrators in Illinois, Minnesota and New Jersey. There we’ll be hosting Tech Leaders Circles, where local educators can collaborate and share ideas around all things edtech. Live nearby? We’d love to see you there!
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IPADS AND MORE
DEVICES TO THE DISTRICT: When it comes to implementing devices, one size does not necessarily fit all. Just ask Renton School District, which recently scored 3,000 computers and tablets. To help support schools with all the new devices, the district designed three unique models based on teachers’ needs. Here’s what they came up with.
GOING PRO: On February 3, Apple released a 'Pro Apps Bundle' for Education, available for both K-12 and higher education institutions seeking to provide high-quality creative apps for students interested in music production and video editing. The $199.99 bundle contains includes five Pro Apps from Apple (Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4, and MainStage 3), and is currently available in the U.S. Apple Online Store for Education.
ALL SCHOOL
“BLACK POWER!” Those words appears unapologetically all around the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. It is also the title of one of two new exhibits displayed on glossy touch-screen machines in the center. EdSurge’s Jenny Abamu took a tour of the high-tech exhibits and shares how multi-million dollar, high-tech renovations are bringing the past to life.
STUDENT-WRITTEN TEXTBOOKS? Here's an idea to create more free online textbooks: Have students help write them. A growing project called LibreText does just that, inspired in part by Wikipedia. Some wonder whether such texts can be accurate, but even $200 textbooks from traditional publishers can have errors. In fact, mistakes in mainstream texts inspired the crowdsourcing experiment. Here’s a look at the project in depth.
ON OUR READING LIST: Edtech projects come and go with nary a whisper. Not so for inBloom, an education data warehousing project that folded just a year after its launch. This month, Data & Society published a detailed history, autopsy and legacy of the ill-fated, $100 million effort. It’s a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the challenges surrounding privacy and trust in the edtech industry.
RIDING THE THIRD MEDIA WAVE: Are you a BelieVR? The educators-turned-pioneers at Parsons School of Design sure are when it comes to virtual and augmented reality. In a day-long symposium, they joined investors and entrepreneurs to discuss the role of new learning mediums in classrooms—offering ways educators can begin to implement the technology.
MANNERS MATTER: As learning environments move to digital spaces, school leaders can take a page from “Gibsonian affordances,” or the principle by which a tool’s design features indicate how it should be best used. The mix of online and offline interactions offer exciting—and perhaps daunting—challenges for keeping students and teachers engaged, write EdSurge columnists Stephen J. Valentine and Reshan Richards. Here’s their look at the blended habits of effective school leaders.
NOT YOUR MAMA’S HIGH SCHOOL: How realistic is Silicon Valley’s vision for education? That’s a question recently asked by The Financial Times, which turned to startups, funders and ritzy schools where kids enjoy robotic classes, 3D printers and kayaking trips for answers. But can these opportunities be extended to the millions of underserved students who live outside the Bay Area? One serious hurdle to overcome, suggests the author, is “Silicon Valley hubris.”
SPONSORED BY KIDDOM.
CURRICULUM FOR EVERYONE: As a teacher, Abbas Manjee struggled to find digital tools that offered the flexibility and quality he needed to personalize learning for all his students. So he built one himself. Here’s how his team designed a product that allows teachers to design curriculum, and easily modify pathways for groups or individual students. Manjee also shares his eight favorite resources for designing competency-based curriculum.
IN-SCHOOL DEBATES
CHARTER VS. DISTRICT: Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and nonprofit Enroll Oakland Charters (EOC) recently teamed up with SchoolMint to create a unified application platform, through which families can fill out one application for district and charter schools alike. But as Julie Brown Hunt explores, the “Oakland School Finder” tool has reignited debates between district and charter schools proponents.
S’COOL TOOLS: BYE BYE TO BULLYING
No matter how politics shift or sway, teaching tolerance in schools and reducing bullying and/or hate crimes in schools is a non-negotiable. This week, the EdSurge team has compiled a collection of online tools to help teachers develop understanding and empathy in students.
Free! Teaching Tolerance: Teaching Tolerance was one of EdSurge’s top S’Cool Tools during Q3 of 2015—and today, we’re bringing it back. Looking for a tool that helps teach kids about right and wrong, equity, and the history of the United States. This collection of free and easy-to-use resources brings together anti-bias social justice content with lesson plans and instructional presentations aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Privacy flag: If you voluntarily provide personal identifying information (first and last name, e-mail address, etc.) through online forms on TT’s website, the Southern Poverty Law Center will collect and retain this information.
Free! Newsela’s "A Mile in Our Shoes" Initiative: Teaching Tolerance makes a second appearance on this list because it’s partnered with literacy platform Newsela to to launch a collection of text sets covering the lives of Muslims, the LGBTQ community, veterans and people with disabilities. The sets of articles are free, and each come with discussion questions students can answer while reading through the texts.
License: YouthTruth Survey: If you’re trying to get a temperature check of how students are feeling or processing life inside and outside of school, nonprofit YouthTruth has a student survey that can be sent to students anonymously, as a “temperature check.” YouthTruth will then conduct and analyze surveys to find trends or common topics. Prices vary per district—contact YouthTruth for more information.
LAST LINKS FOR LEARNING
EdChoice releases a guide to every private school choice program in America. (EdChoice)
Educator Shana White highlights #HiddenVoicesofEdtech for the month of February. (Twitter)
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Looking for a job in edtech? You’ve come to the right place. EdSurge has the leading edtech jobs board with over 400 openings from schools, nonprofits and companies.
Director of Instruction Innovative Start-up Elementary Charter School
New cutting edge charter elementary in Pasadena that teaches students through business, politics, public art, and science seeks Director of Instruction to oversee the improvement of instructional programs, student services, and staff development.
Executive • School • Los Angeles, CA
Executive Assistant Alpha Public Schools
Alpha is seeking an entrepreneurial Executive Assistant who will thrive in a dynamic startup environment. The Executive Assistant will have the opportunity to support projects across the diverse responsibilities of the leadership team.
Operations • School • San Jose, CA
Principal Growth Public Schools
Former executive of Summit Public Schools is launching game-changing K-8 school in Sacramento, CA. We need a power house instructional leader to execute a bold and audacious vision to reimagine school as we know it.
Executive • CMO • Sacramento, CA
Director of Innovation and Information Services Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain
Alexander Dawson seeks a talented, experienced, and visionary Director of Innovation and Information Services to lead its academic technology and information services departments. This position reports to the Director of Education.
Edtech coordinator • School • Las Vegas, NV
Specialist - Principal Professional Development Summit Public Schools
At Summit, we are expanding a model of schools that puts students in the driver’s seat, equipping them with the powerful and enduring skills necessary for success in the 21st century workforce.
Operations • School • CA
Specialist - District Leader Professional Development Summit Public Schools
At Summit, we are expanding a model of schools that puts students in the driver’s seat, equipping them with the powerful and enduring skills necessary for success in the 21st century workforce.
Edtech coordinator • School • Redwood City, CA
Entrepreneur in Residence Innovate Public Schools
Seeking seasoned leader who is passionate about personalized learning and excited to transform the lives of youth across the Bay Area to spend two years creating and executing on an innovative school network model for low-income students of color.
Executive • School • San Francisco Bay Area, CA
K-2 Curriculum Developer Conceptua Math, LLC
Conceptua Math is seeking a talented, creative mathematics content developer with strong writing skills and an extensive background in early elementary mathematics.
Product • Startup • San Rafael, CA
Edtech Events
CBOL 2017 Conference for Blended and Online Learning
iLearn Collaborative's annual conference is approaching! Join education leaders nationwide exploring ways to advance the practice of personalized & blended learning. February 23-24 #CBOL2017
23 Feb to 24 Feb · Golden, CO · Up to $250
Conference on Personalized Learning (MACPL) 2017
Register now to experience expert keynotes, in-depth workshops, and informative breakout sessions. Learn and share successes and lessons learned from education leaders in other states and school districts.
27 Feb - 1 Mar · Baltimore, MD · more than $250
Google Classroom and Tech Integration Online Teacher Camp
Join Mark Suter, Google Certified Trainer and recipient of the 2015 Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Award, for two weeks starting February 8th! All teachers welcome, fully online
9 Feb - 21 Feb · Online · $51 to $250
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