THE IT Trends
Strategies & Insights for Technology Leaders in K-12 9/24/2020

IT Spotlight


  • K–12 Data Privacy During a Pandemic

    K-12 privacy expert Amanda Vance shares the four questions that still matter: What data is being collected? Who has access to it? How will it be shared? And how will it be protected?

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Ed Tech Research & Trends


  • NCTA and EducationSuperHighway to Help Schools Identify Home Broadband Gaps

    Two organizations have kicked off a project to help increase home connectivity for students. The "K-12 Bridge to Broadband" initiative is the brainchild of the Internet & Television Association (NCTA) and EducationSuperHighway, a national nonprofit that helped lead work to close the classroom connectivity gap. The goal is to help public school districts and states identify the students who need access to the internet and potentially connect them.

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  • K-12 Course Material Sales Drop by $182M YTD

    Sales of course materials for K-12 plummeted by $182 million between June 2019 and July 2020. That's a 25 percent drop, according to the Association of American Publishers.

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  • Updated: Free Resources for Schools During COVID-19 Outbreak

    In response to the number of states, districts and schools that are shuttering schools to students in response to fears about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), education technology companies have stepped forward to help educators reach students in virtual ways. (Updated September 14)

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K-12 Technology News


  • DC to Cover Internet Bills for 25,000 Families

    The project will be coordinated by the District's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) and will incorporate internet streaming through Comcast's Internet Essentials and RCN's Internet First programs.

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  • Miami-Dade Debacle Leaves Teachers Scrambling

    In a lengthy message, Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho attempted to calm his district community after a chaotic start-of-school week that included distance learning outages and an about-face on usage of a new learning platform.

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  • Amazon Adds Print Functionality from JumpStart to Alexa

    Amazon's voice-controlled assistant, Alexa, now allows for the printing of educational materials from JumpStart Games. Students, teachers and parents can say, "Alexa, print a coloring page" or "Alexa, print a multiplication worksheet for third grade," and the Echo device will follow the command.

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  • Class for Zoom Adds Education Interface to Popular Meeting Platform

    A startup founded by education technology veterans has announced a program intended to make Zoom more effective in replicating the classroom experience for teachers and students. Class for Zoom is currently seeking teachers to beta test the software.

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  • Upcoming K–12 Grants

    Quarterly K–12 Grants

    • MicroGrant Program for Educators & Teachers

      Sponsor: Educators of America
      Award: Equipment (varies by request)
      Number of Awards: Not specified
      Application Deadline: Ongoing (quarterly:January, April, July, October)
    • Mobile Beacon Connect for Success

      Sponsor: National Education Association Foundation
      Award: Up to 25 laptops and 4G LTE hotspots with free 4G LTE high-speed Internet service for 12 months
      Number of Awards: Not specified
      Application Deadline: Ongoing (quarterly)

    Ongoing K–12 Grants

    Call for Papers & Proposals

    Upcoming Events

    Webcasts

    • THE Journal Distance Learning Summit

      On Demand
      Presenters: Lisa DeLapo, Director of Information & Instructional Technology at Union School District in San Jose, CA; Rick Bray, Instructional Technology Professional Development Specialist, Professional Learning and Innovation Center at Broome-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES); Dr. Caprice Young is the National Superintendent of Learn4Life, a network of nonprofit public schools that serves Opportunity Youth and formerly disengaged high school students; David Nagel, Editor-in-Chief of THE Journal and Editorial Director, 1105 Media Education Group (moderator)
      Sponsor: Connection, Veeam
    • NGSS Deep Dive: Middle School Grades

      On Demand
      Presenters: Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan; Idit Adler, CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University; Renee Bayer, CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Microsoft
    • NGSS Deep Dive: Middle School Grades

      On Demand
      Presenters: Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan; Idit Adler, CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University; Renee Bayer, CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Microsoft
    • NGSS Deep Dive: Elementary Grades

      On Demand
      Presenters: Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan; Sam Severance, Michigan State University; Monique Coulman, Haas Elementary School (Genesee, MI); David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Microsoft
    • NGSS Curricula: A Deep Dive into an NGSS-Aligned Curricular Unit

      On Demand
      Presenters: Joseph Krajcik, Michigan State University; Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Insight Public Sector, Microsoft, HP, Intel
    • Speak Up Survey: Trends in STEM and STEAM Education

      On Demand
      Presenters: Julie Evans, Project Tomorrow; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
    • Critical Thinking and Next Generation Science Standards

      On Demand
      Presenters: Joseph Krajcik, Michigan State University; Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Insight Public Sector, Microsoft
    • STEAM Research from the Front Lines: The Impact of STEAM on Teachers, Students, Administrators and Parents

      On Demand
      Presenters: Julie Evans, Project Tomorrow; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Connection Public Sector Solutions
    • Funding STEM: How Schools Can Get Creative with Federal Dollars

      On Demand
      Presenters: Anand Vaishnav and Jacob Waters, Education First; David Nagel (moderator)
      Sponsor: Acer, Connection Public Sector Solutions
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Professional Resources