COVID-19 Coverage for Education and Technology


5 Ways to Do Robotics Remotely

This robotics teacher has found creative ways to continue STEAM lessons with her students virtually, even when they don't have robots.

10 Ways to Make Online Learning Work

Among the considerations: connecting all learners with devices and high-speed internet, supporting teachers by providing the professional development they need and then recognizing their efforts with "credits and compensation," following best practices for online programs from sources such as ISTE, SETDA and the National Standards of Quality and rethinking the use of instructional time "to take advantage of the strengths of both synchronous and asynchronous learning."

Department of Ed Portal Gives Snapshot of CARES Act Ed Funding

The U.S. Department of Education has launched on online portal intended to show how much states have spent of their CARES Act education allocations for K-12 districts and colleges and universities.

National Accelerator Pushes for Tutoring for All in K–12

The original form of personalized learning — tutoring — is about to take a giant step forward. Pandemic-era learning loss has motivated a group of national education leaders to develop an initiative to make "high-impact tutoring" available to all K-12 students, no matter whether their families can afford tutoring or not.

Brief Proposes Alternatives to Seat Time as a Measure of Student Learning

Is "seat time" really the optimal way to measure attendance during a pandemic? There are better alternatives, according to a new brief from the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL).

COVID Learning Loss in Math Hits Hard in Grades 4–8

Research on the scope of learning loss during the pandemic has a new addition. Education technology company Illuminate Education examined assessments done by students who use its programs and found "modest reading losses" in grades K-8, "modest math" losses in the early elementary grades and "substantial math losses" in grades 4-8.

Contrary to Predictions, Rate of Teacher Retirements Looks to Decline in 2020

An analysis of teacher retirements during 2020 found that the rate was down by about five percent. Just one state under study — Alabama — showed an increase in retirements, of 7.2 percent.

Panopto Adds Webex Meeting Integration

A new integration for Panopto and Webex users will allow them to transfer their video recordings to their media library. Panopto produces video management applications; Webex is a video conferencing program.

Vermont Conducts Routine COVID Testing of K12 Teachers and Staff

The state of Vermont has implemented a plan to increase "surveillance testing," which tests asymptomatic populations to find the virus in the community more quickly. To set a baseline, public health officials have begun routine testing of K-12 teachers and staff. All of the testing is voluntary, and those who undergo it won't need to quarantine. There are no plans to expand testing to students at this time.

Parents and Students Worried about Readiness for School and Work

"Busy work" was the way most students and parents might classify K-12 instruction last spring, during the first spate of remote education.

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