$25 Million in Grants to Gage Usefulness of School Safety Efforts

A new grant program is seeking U.S. schools to receive access to programs to address school safety. The "Safer Schools in America Impact Grant" will make a total of $25 million worth of in-kind safety solutions from 16 companies available to recipients over three years. Those systems will be deployed no cost to the schools, and, in return, the schools will need to make data available for the purposes of research.

Prioritizing Privacy: Managing Tracking Technologies

All tracking technologies have privacy implications. Whether those implications would be problematic for your school system often depends on what third parties are used to perform those functions, how they are configured and if the user is an adult or a student.

Research: Apple, Samsung Reign in Shrinking Tablet Market

While Apple still dominates the tablet market, sales of all such devices have fallen worldwide, according to market data from International Data Corp.

Augmenting Learning Through Technology Use

A new report finds technology is becoming more prevalent in everyday learning activities, but the majority of classrooms worldwide are creating blended learning environments.

Report: Collection of Ed Data Useful but Challenging

The burgeoning collection of data in education poses "infrastructure challenges" related to creation and storage that reduce the usefulness of data and presents "data privacy implications" that haven't been resolved, even with the current crop of regulations.

How Ed Tech is Assessing New Skills, Changing the Assessment Landscape

The complexities that humans come face to face with on a daily basis are ever increasing. Because of this, the core skills that are demanded of students are shifting rapidly as we are trying to adapt to an ever-changing environment.

Meta-Analysis: Class Size Doesn't Really Matter

A survey of research on the impact of small class sizes found evidence that "suggests at best a small effect on reading achievement" and "a negative, but statistically insignificant, effect on mathematics."

Student Knapsacks Place Excessive Weight on Spines

A team of medical experts and researchers in New York state's Hudson Valley have put their names on a research paper detailing the impact on the spine of carrying backpacks.

Teachers Agree: Classroom Design Can Help Learning, and More Room is Better

If educators could create the ideal classroom, they'd give themselves more room, and it would be more open and flexible and include collaborative spaces.

Teaching 21st Century Skills Requires New Assessments

A new report from the Brookings Institution finds technology will play an integral part of assessing the ability of students to grasp 21st century skills.

Developing a Consistent Approach to Computational Thinking Opportunities

Researchers at Digital Promise are developing a project to track the progress of computational thinking skills across the K–12 school spectrum through student feedback and teacher integration.

How Educators Utilize Research

Preliminary findings from a survey of educators shows teachers are most interested in following trends in technology and trauma and mental health.

Gleaning New Insights into How People Learn

When the National Academies issued its first expanded "How People Learn" report, the contents struck a nerve, providing a readable explanation of the various research findings on the science of learning along with guidance on how to turn those insights into instructional practice in the classroom. A new version of that report offers an updated view on the topic and pushes beyond K-12.

Department of Ed Joins Top-10 Rank of FOIA Lawsuits

A Freedom of Information Act project to measure the number of FOIA lawsuits filed against federal agencies has added the Department of Education to the top-10 list for the first time.

AWS Launches Intelligent Robotics Service

Amazon Web Services is making it easier for developers to develop, test and deploy robotics applications in the cloud through AWS RoboMaker.

Google Program Offers Funding for AI, Machine Learning Projects

Google has set aside a $25 million pool to fund research work by schools and other organizations using machine learning for "social good."

Blackboard Intros Ultra Updates

Education technology company Blackboard has introduced enhancements to the Ultra Experience version of Blackboard Learn, its learning management system, including integration with Ally, an accessibility checklist tool.

Chromebook Bundles LTE

Sprint is working with Google and Oregon-based CTL to create a CTL Chromebook that provides access to LTE mobile service, to compete with similar models from Samsung and ASUS.

Database Provides Accurate Accounting of School Shootings

The project is conducted as part of the Advanced Thinking in Homeland Security program at the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security. The goal is to serve as a single source for "objective and accessible data from which school administrators, law enforcement and public officials can draw to inform their decisions," according to a report on the project.

IL School District Turns to Subscription Model for Business Intelligence

An Illinois school district has tapped into "big data" analytics through a subscription model to help improve student outcomes. Meridian School District #223 is working with Qlik Analytics from the Copley Consulting Group.

Unlocking Time Releases Free Scheduling Assessment

Unlocking Time has released a free tool for schools to assess how time is being used and whether it can be used more effectively for student and teacher professional learning.

ED Pumps $279 Million into STEM Programs

The U.S. Department of Education is renewing its commitment to STEM education through dedicating $279 million to fund programs.

Exploration Theme for 2019 TCEA Ed Tech Conference

This annual education tech event draws attendees to tracks on 1-to-1, leadership, library media, online and blended learning, PD, special populations and more.

Follett Intros OER-Based Digital Classroom Collections

The new "Classroom Ready Collections" include lesson plans, activities, videos, interactives and worksheets that are searchable in Follett Destiny, the company's school library management service.

New Remote Recorder Integrates with Panopto Video Software

The appliance was purpose-built to work with Panopto software for live streaming and video recording.

Wisconsin District Invests School Safety Grant on Physical Updates and Training

Sun Prairie Area School District received $463,308 through a Wisconsin Department of Justice grant program, which made $100 million available to K-12 schools to support projects designed to improve school safety.

PARCC Agent Rolling Out Pool of Items for Custom State Assessments

A Texas-based nonprofit is on the cusp of rolling out its new service to make a pool or catalog of test items available to states for their high-stakes assessment efforts. Last year, New Meridian was chosen by PARCC to manage its testing business.

Van Hollen Introduces Bill to Fund Title I, Special Education

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduces the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act to fund schools serving low income students and special education.

AV Company Creates New 'Drop-in' Classroom Systems

An AV technology company has announced digital switching hardware intended to reduce the cost of equipping a classroom with remote management, asset tracking, support and maintenance.

Crafting a National Research Agenda

At a recent meeting convened by the Jefferson Education Exchange, associations determined that more work is needed to make educators aware of the federal Institute of Education Sciences research.

Digital Promise Develops 'Map' to Help Schools Face Common Challenges

The Digital Promise Research team worked with school districts in its League of Innovative Schools to create an online tool that suggests resources for helping address common challenges found in education. The "Challenge Map" covers 36 different challenges, including supporting English language learners, assessing 21st century skills and addressing social-emotional learning.

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