Makerspaces are becoming the favorite way to bring STEAM learning to the classroom. Research shows that makerspaces help elementary students develop critical thinking, design thinking, and problem-solving skills. Research from Macquarie University in Australia shows how teachers can use makerspaces to improve teaching and learning outcomes. Using makerspaces has led to higher student engagement, confidence, … Continue reading
The end of the year is upon us and it time to start talking about trends for next year. The IT analyst group at Garner released their top ten tech trends for 2019. While some school districts have started implementing some of these tools, we’d like to highlight what’s ahead for 2019 technology. Autonomous machines: … Continue reading
We’ve been hearing about STEM education for quite some time now. Even though we’ve been talking about STEM for a few years, a poll from 2016 found that only 40% of U.S. schools were offering programming or coding classes. In order to successfully implement a program, educators need to know where to focus their time … Continue reading
In a survey from Microsoft and YouGov, 1,000 parents expressed their opinion on tech in the classroom. Technology is viewed mostly as a positive aspect of the classroom by parents. However, there are some concerns about how much screen time students are exposed to. Source: Microsoft and YouGov
Research found that boys are 12 percent less interested in STEM careers than last year. The main reason young people aren’t pursing STEM careers is because they feel these careers are too hard. So how do we get students interested in STEM? A good place to start is with the tools used in the classroom. … Continue reading
Administrators at DeForest Area School District in Wisconsin found themselves facing an interesting situation as they adjusted to students bringing their laptops, tablets and smartphones to school as part an informal BYOD initiative. District officials quickly realized that with students using devices all day, they needed a simple and safe way to store and charge … Continue reading
With many new technologies in the workforce, engagement is critical to keep current on new information and mastering skills. However, keeping students engaged and trying to keep up with our fast-paced world can be difficult. The perfect way to keep students engaged is through video games. Video games capture attention, convert extrinsic rewards into intrinsic … Continue reading
It’s becoming easier than ever before to create an interactive classroom. While many classrooms have interactive technology, it will be a few years before schools have interactive whiteboards and individual tablets in every classroom. Flexibility with teaching methods Interactive displays allow teachers to think outside the box and integrate creative ideas when planning their lessons. … Continue reading
Going 1:1 with mobile devices is no small feat for an individual classroom or school. Expand the initiative across an entire district, and logistical nightmares abound: infrastructure, maintenance, training, storage, security. The list goes on. So when the largest school system in Missouri introduced its district-wide 1:1 device plan, skepticism could have taken root. Instead, … Continue reading
We hear about data breeches in retail and healthcare all the time because they are big targets for data thieves. But what about education? Breeches are very common in education. We don’t hear about the breeches often because they are typically smaller and nobody knows how many records were compromised. IT departments are taking notice … Continue reading
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