What Biden’s AI Executive Order Could Mean for Schools
The White House’s efforts to create guardrails around AI include calling for data privacy protections and providing resources to teachers, according to K-12 Dive. The executive order sets safeguards and guidance on AI use nationwide. It does not, however, impose consequences on businesses that fail to comply with the standards. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will…
“Warrior Innovation Labs” Boost STEM for Elementary Students
The school district in Montoursville, PA has been working to build and form a STEM program for a few years now, according to NorthCentralPA.com. A $500,000 grant catapulted the work to completion. Elementary STEM/CS (computer science) teacher and STEM Coordinator, Mrs. Stephanie Beadle, and middle school STEM/CS teacher, Mrs. Megan Altebrando worked together to develop a STEM department,…
Embrace Innovation and Avoid School System Failure
A report from The Partnership for Leaders in Education at the University of Virginia (UVA-PLE), “Exploring New Frontiers for K-12 Systems Transformation,” identifies four key areas of focus needed for change and innovation in K-12 educational systems, according to an article in eSchool News: A sampling of the replicable school innovation practices highlighted in the report include: “Innovation should spark success….
Ed Tech Should Go Beyond the Classroom
Technology literacy has become an increasingly important part of preparing students for academic success in both K-12 and college, but they’re being shortchanged — and so is society — if its applications stop at the classroom, according to an article in Government Technology. During a webinar hosted by Verizon and Digital Promise, Jennifer Gonzalez, a former educator and founder of…
7 Principles for AI in Education
A new framework intends to guide the edtech industry’s implementation of AI in education in a purpose-driven, transparent, and equitable manner that enables critical tools for personalized and enhanced learning experiences and improved assistive technologies, according to an article in eSchool News. Released at an October event on Capitol Hill, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA),…
Use Data to Support the Whole Student & Personalize Education
Schools constantly collect student data. Nearly every day, schools record a student’s academic, assessment, attendance, behavior and social and emotional learning information in multiple software programs, according to an article in K-12 Dive. But accessing data — in simplified views for insights and analytics — is difficult. According to the 2023 Education Focus Report: The…
Has a Decline in Playtime Affected Mental Health Issues?
The increase in childhood mental health issues, steadily on the rise in the last few decades, may be at least somewhat linked to a lack of play in general and independent playtime, unsupervised play in particular, Psychology Today reported. The decline in childhood autonomy has myriad causes, experts say. Among the many contributing factors cited…
NYC School Districts Change How They Teach Reading
Reading scores are in crisis and instruction is uneven at best, according to two New York City public school district superintendents writing in Chalkbeat Detroit. Will a plan to change curriculum at all New York City public schools help more students become proficient readers? The superintendents have seen firsthand how a well-chosen reading curriculum can…
Middle School Teachers Need Support to Integrate SEL
Though social-emotional learning skills including empathy can be incorporated into middle school curriculum, schools have found not all students are connecting with the way these lessons are delivered, according to an article in K-12 Dive. The Association for Middle Level Education has received feedback from schools that some SEL programs aren’t succeeding well with students…
Extractive AI is the Real Game-Changer for Teachers, Students
Artificial intelligence is here to stay. Schools can embrace it and seize the opportunities it offers or try to resist and become obsolete, according to The74. Just as AI is being used in other professions to improve productivity, engagement and the quality of output, so, too, it could be leveraged to transform how schools are…
