VARconnection

4 Tips on Implementing Your Digital Transformation Strategy

The need for distance learning during Covid-19 lead administrators and IT teams to make critical edtech decisions, often without structure needed to support a digital transformation strategy. Three years later, it is now vital that schools have plans to make technology implementation successful. Here are some 4 tips on implementing a strong digital transformation strategy. … Continue reading →

What’s Happening Next with the Digital Divide?

Awareness of the digital divide has reduced the gap between technology and classrooms, however, at the end of 2022, 24 million people still lacked access to high-speed internet. Federal, state, and local governments begun allotting over $100 billion to bring high-speed internet access to every American household through government funding such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure … Continue reading →

Special Ed Figure Roundup

Anne Sullivan Anne Sullivan’s struggle with her sight fueled her ambitions to overcome her disability and became determined to excel at Perkins Institution. Later she became a teacher to Helen Keller where she reimagined special education to fit to Keller’s style of learning. Read more about Anne’s success here: https://www.perkins.org/anne-sullivan/ Louis Braille In 1824, Louis … Continue reading →

Back-to-School: Are you ready for the first day of school?

With school just around the corner there’s still a lot of work for teachers to do both inside and outside of the classroom. Here are 3 ways to help keep teachers on track before students arrive. Make note in this first week of what worked and what didn’t, what you would improve or change. From … Continue reading →

3 Ways to Improve Equity for Students with Disabilities

With 15% of the world’s population having some sort of disability, it requires recognition and adaptability to improve equity among students. Disabilities affect educational institutes, employment, and parenting everywhere, and these barriers need to be pushed past to enable students to reach their full potential as learners. Here are 3 ways to improve equity for … Continue reading →

How disruptive is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is considered a major breakthrough in the field of natural language processing, troubling educators since it broke the internet reaching 1 million users in the first 5 days. The ethics and usability behind ChatGPT have provoked some school districts to block access on school networks and computers. ChatGPT has the ability to generate human-like … Continue reading →

LGBTQ+ Hero Roundup

Cameron Samuels speaks out about their school districts’ bans and restrictions on LGBTQ+ work in 2021. Speaking on #StudentVoice Podcast, Cameron voices the fear and misplacement that banning LGBTQ+ types of knowledge can do to young children trying to find their identity. Read more about Cameron’s stand here: https://www.edtechupdate.com/?query=lgbtq%2B&open-article-id=23113885&article-title=why-student-cameron-samuels-challenged-their-school-s-internet-filter-and-censorship&blog-domain=hapara.com&blog-title=hapara In 1910, Jane Adams became the … Continue reading →

Imagination In the Classroom: 4 Considerations for STEAM Learning

Often overlooked, art within STEM learning creates new ways of thinking and innovation. STEAM learning not only establishes new founded interest in knowledge, but also cultivates valuable creative thinking within theoretical principles. Through artistic skills and thinking, students can use this mindset to understand difficult-to-grasp STEM problems. Overlooking STEAM takes away different technical thinking skills, … Continue reading →

What, Why, and How of Lesson Planning

Developing a creative an effective classroom lesson plan can make or break student learning and participation. Starting your lesson plans with a structured layout and expanding it with details and design can create a turning point in the classroom. The main structure of the lesson plan should answer the questions of what, why, and how. … Continue reading →

5 Steps to Optimize the Classroom Experience with Technology

All educators, CTOs, and Curriculum Directors know that technology plays a fundamental role in learning. Technology has a base in every classroom, improving performance and learning rates by a 92% reduction in the need for disciplinary action, a 90% increase in high-stakes test scores, 89% fewer dropouts, and a 63% increase in graduation rates. It’s important that … Continue reading →