Mobile Classroom to Connect Thousands of Students to Killer Whales

Thousands of elementary students from across the United States are expected to travel virtually to Washington state’s Penrose Point and Lime Kiln Point state parks in May to see orcas and other aquatic life in their natural habitats through Journey to the Parks, a series of high-tech distance learning experiences.

Optoma Launches 3 Laser, Ultra-Short Throw Projectors for Education Market

Optoma has released three new, ultra-short throw laser projectors designed to meet the education and corporate markets’ needs for reliability and flexibility, coupled with outstanding image performance. In addition, the company today has launched its Education First program to bring insights, incentives and customer support to K–12 and higher learning institutions.

New Google Earth Has Exciting Features for Teachers

Google has recently released a brand new version of Google Earth for both Chrome and Android. This new version has come with a slew of nifty features teachers can use for educational purposes with students in class.

Virtual Field Trip Highlights Relevance of Math in NBA

A virtual field trip taking place next week from Discovery Education and the National Basketball Association aims to show students how math is used in basketball everyday, in an effort to spark students’ interest in STEM careers.

26 Effective Ways to Use Twitter For Teachers and Educators

For educators, Twitter can be a distraction or a gold mine of resources. The school management software company Fedena has put together a handy, helpful graphic that offers 26 effective ways to use Twitter for teachers and educators.

Q & A With Chad Lewis, Director of Technology, Tampa Preparatory School

Chad Lewis and his school, Tampa Preparatory School, have received a fair amount of attention lately. Lewis, the director of technology at the Florida private school, has transformed classrooms throughout his 670-student institution, which starts with sixth graders and goes up through 12th grade.

Microsoft Debuts Surface Laptops, Windows 10 S for Education, Teams for Office 365 for Education

Microsoft has unveiled several new offerings for education, including the forthcoming Surface Laptop and a new version of Windows 10 designed for school environments — Windows 10 S.

Sesame Street and WriteReader Partner, Empower Children to Create Multimedia Books

Blackboard Launches K–12 Cloud-Based Digital Learning Environment

Blackboard has launched Blackboard Classroom, a cloud-based digital learning environment for K–12 built around the company's learning management system.

Canvas Updates Tutorials, Dashboard, People and SIS Report Features

In its most recent production release notes, Instructure's learning management system Canvas updated its student information system integration, dashboard, people and other features.

California, Pennsylvania, Virginia Schools Win filmMAKER Challenge

Digital Promise has selected four schools for its filmMAKER Challenge, a contest supported by Chevron that asked students to reinvent an everyday product into something "more sustainable, beautiful or accessible," and submit a short documentary about their experience. California, Pennsylvania and Virginia schools were chosen and will present the winning projects at upcoming Maker Faires.

First-Year Teachers More Confident in Tech but Use It Less Than Experienced Teachers

New data from a survey of more than 37,000 educators revealed that first-year teachers aren't using tech in the classroom as much as their more experienced colleagues even though they have a higher opinion of their own technological abilities.

JotForm Update Allows Users to Create Forms on Mobile Devices

A tool used by more than 2.5 million people worldwide to create forms and publish them online has been improved to allow users to build forms via mobile devices.

Maryland ED Awards Measured Progress 6-Year Contract for High School Assessments

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has awarded Measured Progress a six-year contract for its Maryland High School Assessments (MHSA) in science and government.

NASA and Texas Instruments Launch STEM-Related Virtual Scavenger Hunt

NASA and Texas Instruments (TI) today launched “The Search for STEMnauts,” a virtual scavenger hunt designed to ignite students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Each week for the next six weeks, students in sixth through 12th grade will be challenged to solve space-related puzzles for a chance to unlock virtual reward points.

New App Helping Children Learn Mandarin Launches in United States

A new app that helps young children learn Mandarin has launched today in the United States. “Miao Mi” features more than 500 videos, including award-winning children’s programs from Asia, and games that reinforce language learning.

Partnering with Universities on STEAM Programs: How Schools Are Doing It (And Why)

University partnerships offer benefits for K–12, especially for STEM and STEAM programs — and not just in the ways you might expect. From expertise and mentoring to hands-on experiences and career exposure, the positive results of working with higher ed faculty impact students and K–12 educators alike.

Q & A With Art Educator Marcia Osterink

Marcia Osterink is a Southern California arts teacher and the creator of Arts Attack, an award-winning art curriculum designed for K-8 that’s available on DVD and streamable online.

Study: Tech-Enabled Early Warning Systems Can Have Positive Impact on Chronic Absenteeism and Course Failure Rates

A controlled study involving 73 schools and more than 37,000 students found that early warning systems can have a statistically significant positive impact on student outcomes in K–12 schools, even when those systems are not used to their full potential.

Survey: Augmented and Virtual Reality Yet to Gain Traction in K–12

Despite plenty of media attention and hype, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are technologies still on the outskirts in American classrooms, according to a recent survey by the nonprofit organization Project Tomorrow. Only five percent of teachers said they are using AR or VR in their classrooms, Project Tomorrow found in its annual Speak Up survey of more than 510,000 K–12 students, parents and educators.

Texas High School Tests Out Health VR Game

Sharpstown High School students were introduced to Atkins Nutrition’s VR game, Sugar Goggles, which takes players through the human body. The VR game was made to educate students early on how to make healthy choices when it comes to food in a fun, engaging way.  

Tynker Launches 2 Free K—­5 Courses for Apple's Coding Initiative

THE Journal spoke to Tynker’s co-founder and CTO Srinivas Mandayam to find out more about how the new courses are designed to help young learners foster foundational computer science concepts.

San Antonio ISD to Open Tech High School

San Antonio Independent School District will be opening a hi-tech high school this fall — the first in a network of industry-led, career-themed schools.

Grants & Upcoming Events (Week of May 1, 2017)

Upcoming K–12 Grants

Call for Papers & Proposals

Upcoming Events