Professional Development


YouScience has acquired NC3T

YouScience Acquires NC3T, Expanding Its College and Career Readiness Solutions

Aptitude assessment and CTE solutions provider YouScience has acquired the National Center for College and Career Transitions, or NC3T, expanding YouScience’s ability to help K–12 students find and prepare for the career and college options that best fit their interests and abilities, according to a news release.

Vector Solutions Adds Cybersecurity Courses to Online Training for Schools

Vector Solutions, a company that provides education and industry training courses, announced it has added eight new courses to its stable of education courses for K–12 schools. The courses address key areas of cybersecurity awareness for education leaders and employees and include topics such as creating a cybersecurity culture, preventing social engineering attacks, laws and compliance, best practices, and more. Information about the courses will be available starting Oct. 1, 2022.

SchoolStatus CEO Russ Davis answers 7 questions about how the K-12 ed tech solution works

7 Questions about SchoolStatus with CEO Russ Davis

THE Journal’s “7 Questions: Ed Tech Explainer” series gives ed tech leaders an opportunity to summarize their solution(s), explain how their product helps educators and schools, and give a quick overview for K–12 decision-makers — sort of an extended (but not too extended) elevator pitch. For this installment, SchoolStatus Founder and CEO Russ Davis explains how SchoolStatus works in a school tech ecosystem, how it helps educators and students, and how it's pivoted over the past year.

HMH Rolls Out Offline Syncing, Integrations, New Student Content, Teacher Pathways

Learning technology company HMH this week introduced a host of enhancements to Ed, its teaching and learning platform, including integrations with Google Classroom and Clever and improvements to its core, supplemental, and intervention solutions and professional learning services, according to a company blog post.

Apple has launched a new central hub for professional learning for educators with a new forum where teachers can connect and collaborate.

Apple Launches New Education Community with Expanded Teaching Resources, New Forum for Educators

Apple has launched a new professional learning hub for educators called the Apple Education Community, which expands on the resources previously hosted on the Apple Teacher Learning Center and adds a brand new educator Forum, now live in beta.

Image shows logos of ed tech tools now available as Google Classroom add-ons

How To Start Using Google Add-Ons: Step By Step

To start using Google add-ons, district admins will need to set up add-ons and can then enable access for educators; admins need to have the Google Workspace for Education Plus edition or Teaching & Learning Upgrade assigned to each educator that they want to have access to add-ons, Google wrote on its blog announcing the launch. Here are step-by-step instructions for getting started with Google add-ons.

Screenshot of Discovery Education

Discovery Education Unveils Updated User Experience, Adds CBE Microlearning Channel, Doubles Quiz Library

K–12 learning platform Discovery Education this week unveiled a new layout and look for both teachers and students, doubled the size of its ready-to-use quiz library, improved search filters, added an Explore page with personalized content recommendations, and launched new professional microlearning focused on competency-based education with content partner Marzano Academies.

How One District Used Tech to Address Sinking Reading Scores & Overhaul Its Literacy PD

A literacy and intervention director at a California district with a serious literacy issue — only 16% of its 22,000 students in TK–12 were reading at or above grade level districtwide — explains how they used technology to overhaul the district's literacy professional development program and address access and equity problems.

Felisa Ford and two colleagues created Lessons in Good Trouble for Minecraft: Education Edition

How an Educator’s Persistence Led to a Student Leadership Initiative & the Most Popular Minecraft Edu Game of All Time

When Felisa Ford and her instructional tech colleagues in Atlanta had trouble getting the district's teachers on board with using Minecraft: Education Edition, she created a student ambassador program to empower young Minecraft experts to coach other students and teachers, and it was so successful that Microsoft started a learning path for educators to sponsor their own local student ambassador programs. Then came Good Trouble.

The Minecraft Student Ambassador Sponsor Program helps educators create a Minecraft student ambassador program and equip students who are Minecraft experts to coach and assist students and teachers who are new to the game.

Not Into Video Games? Here's How to Let Students Lead on Teaching with Minecraft: Education Edition

The Minecraft Student Ambassador Sponsor Program helps educators create a Minecraft Student Ambassador Program at their school or district, and helps prepare those young Minecraft experts to coach and assist students and teachers who are new to the game, so more classrooms can benefit from the game’s 700-plus “worlds” or lesson-based games.