VARconnection

EdTech Hardware Spending Up 7%

Futuresource Consulting recently published its annual strategic technology in education report, delivering a comprehensive view of the global education landscape. “Total universe spending in the global education technology hardware market in 2015 increased 7 percent to $15 billion from 2014,” says Colin Messenger, senior analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “Growth has been strong, with an additional … Continue reading →

Leveraging Federal Funding to Support STEM Education

Last week the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter to states, school districts, schools, and education partners on how to maximize federal funds to support and enhance innovative science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for all students. The letter serves as a resource for decreasing the equity and opportunity gaps for … Continue reading →

Top IT Issues for 2016

The fourth annual K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report was recently released during CoSN’s (Consortium for School Networking) annual conference, revealing some of the main issues IT leaders are facing heading into 2016. “There is innovative change happening in our schools. But with this digital transformation is a new frontier of challenges confronting IT administrators,” said … Continue reading →

Districts Continue to go Digital

A recent annual survey by the Center for Digital Education revealed that K-12 school districts are increasingly supporting digital learning. Of the districts surveyed: 62% have a digital content and curriculum strategy in place 38% of districts have a digital content and curriculum strategy that includes using Open Educational Resources (OER) 62% are already using … Continue reading →

Apple Debuts New Education Features for iPad

On Monday (3/21/2016) Apple released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 9.3, and with it comes new features for iPad® devices in education. The release aims to open up new and engaging ways of teaching and learning on the iPad. New features include allowing teachers to manage student devices, share work and … Continue reading →

Investments in Career and Tech Education Announced

Last week (3/9/2016) The US Department of Education announced their plan to increase support for career and technical education (CTE) courses for students. Education Secretary John B. King Jr., has emphasized the importance for an increase in student access to CTE classes, especially for those who come from more diverse backgrounds. Additionally, he has called … Continue reading →

The Benefits of Adding Video to Teacher Evaluations

A big challenge facing K-12 education today is ensuring that teacher evaluations evolve with available technology in an effective and productive way. In 2012, Miriam Greenberg and the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard piloted the Best Foot Forward Project to study the impact video could have on teacher evaluation. The project included evaluating … Continue reading →

Top 10 IT Issues of 2016 (Infographic)

With help from a panel of experts comprised of IT and non-IT leaders, CIOs, and faculty members EDUCAUSE recently released a list of ten IT issues and strategic technologies that will have a major impact on higher education in 2016. The issues reflect three main themes: Divest — Higher education IT organizations are divesting locally … Continue reading →

2017 Education Budget Announced

Last week (2/9/2016), the Obama Administration released their 2017 fiscal year education budget, which places a focus around advancing educational equity and excellence, supporting teachers and school leaders, and promoting college access affordability and completion. The new budget helps support the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act and includes $69.4 billion in discretionary funding, … Continue reading →

Wireless Infrastructure and E-Rate

An essential element of providing an equitable education for America’s students is ensuring the existence of a reliable wireless infrastructure capable of supporting the technology necessary for personalized learning, collaboration, increased engagement, and creativity. However, many schools around the country still need to update their wireless infrastructure in order to provide the affordable access to … Continue reading →