Tech & Learning.com - Teaching and Leading in the Covid Era - November 2020

NOVEMBER 2020

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TEACHING & LEADING IN THE COVID ERA

CONTENTS 4

5 Essentials Every Teacher Should Incorporate Into Remote Teaching and Learning

By Lisa Nielsen

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How to Manage a Hybrid Classroom

By Carl Hooker

10 Remote vs. In-person Classes: What the Data Shows

By Erik Ofgang

14 Keeping Students Safe in the Digital World

By Matthew X. Joseph EdD

16 Learning Loss, Trauma, and Our Window of Tolerance

By Dr. Kathryn Kennedy

18 Collaborating with IT and Instruction to Ensure Continuous Instruction

By Ray Bendici

21 How to Build Inclusion through Edtech

By Sascha Zuger

25 Making Digital Citizenship “Stick”

By Mike Ribble and Marty Park

INNOVATION IN ACTION At our recent Beyond Access Forum, hosted in partnership with the NYC DOE, author and keynote speaker Cornelius Minor said: “We are allowed to abandon yesterday’s thinking if it does not serve today’s needs.”

This sentiment is evidenced in many schools across the country, where the challenges that the pandemic has forced on education have been a springboard for innovation.

Teachers who have never before taught online have found ways to engage students who are both in class and learning from home at the same time in hybrid learning environments. Carl Hooker shares his strategies for balancing face-to-face and virtual students in his article on page 6.

Our friends at Duncanville ISD discuss the importance of collaboration between departments in supporting student success, especially when the “classroom” looks completely different today than it did a year ago (p. 18).

Then there’s the inspiring work of Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent of the Topeka Public Schools, who is incorporating edtech to close opportunity gaps and create a truly inclusive educational experience for all students (p. 21).

This is not to say that these changes are easy. “Everyone has experienced trauma throughout the pandemic, so we need to acknowledge and work through it to establish a strong foundation for learning,” writes Dr. Kathryn Kennedy. She presents some practical advice in her article on page 16. “Practice self compassion and be gentle with yourself and everyone around you. Remember to fill your own cup first so you can fill the cups of others.”

As Cornelius Minor reminded us at the Beyond Access Forum, “Put people before policy every time.” This seems good advice as we enter a very different holiday season this year.

27 The Value of Esports

By Matt Pruznick

30 Resources

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5 ESSENTIALS

EVERY TEACHER SHOULD INCORPORATE INTO REMOTE TEACHING AND LEARNING Many best practices for remote teaching often are sound instructional approaches in any modern learning environment

By Lisa Nielsen

Incorporate social emotional health needs School staff should have social-emotional health training.

In Chapter 3 of the book, you learn about the different research-based social-emotional health and learning programs that exist. School staff will want to determine which program best fits their culture, demographics, and educational philosophy.

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Relationships are key School districts should ensure that the professional development for teachers goes beyond learning tools and techniques for teaching online. Teachers need to be supported in learning how to engage with, establish, and nurture relationships with students.

Chapter 5 features techniques and strategies that can be employed by teachers.

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For her new book, Like No Other School Year: 2020, COVID-19 and the Growth of Online Learning, Pamela Livingston Gaudet spoke with dozens of educators across America to find out what works when it comes to remote learning. It turns out what she learned is not only best practice for distance learning, it is also sound instructional practice in general, for any modern teaching environment.

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Communicate early and often

Professional development for teachers is essential Professional development is not a one and done, especially when the entire mode of instruction has shifted. Continuing PD, support networks for teachers, outside and inside presenters, and a way to help teachers track their progress is all recommended. In Chapter 7, Lindy Hockenbary, creator of the Essential Components of an Online & Blended/Hybrid Course, steps readers through the best way to effectively support teachers as they do synchronous and asynchronous learning as well as hybrid and/or blended learning.

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Change the schedule In Chapter 2 of the book, we learn that replicating a seven-hour daily school schedule when learning becomes remote doesn’t work. Students can’t be in front of screens that long. Instruction instead works best if varied between synchronous and asynchronous, between whole class, small group, and 1-on-1 instruction. Flexibility is important. Assessing what concepts require teaching and having classes just for those students who need to reinforce that concept worked well.

As you consider these five essentials, think about which of these you and your colleagues are incorporating into your practice.

For more insights, interviews, and ideas for implementation, check out Pamela Livingston Gaudet’s book Like No Other School Year: 2020, COVID-19 and the Growth of Online Learning. This book is aimed at school leaders looking to make sense out of the end of the last school year and the year ahead.

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In a crisis, sometimes there is a tendency to hold back communication, waiting until everything solidifies. However, district leaders who communicated early, frequently, and thoughtfully helped their districts weather the initial storm of COVID-19. In Chapter 6, author Mike Daugherty provides examples of how and when to communicate.

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several books and her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Tech & Learning and T.H.E. Journal.

Disclaimer: The information shared here is strictly that of the author and does not reflect the opinions or endorsement of her employer.

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HOW TO MANAGE A HYBRID CLASSROOM Strategies for hybrid classroom teachers who are trying to simultaneously balance face-to-face and virtual students

By Carl Hooker As the leaves turn and schools are still scrambling to wrestle with the right balance of in-person and remote classes, many have shifted to what’s been referred to as a “hybrid” model. In this model, some students attend remotely while others attend in-person. Hybrids come in all shapes and sizes — from weekly rotations to alternating half days to a more synchronous or “concurrent” model in which all students are “in class” at the same time, just in two different places.

No matter the learning model, each type comes with its own set of unique challenges in regard to managing the day-to-day classroom.

While every teaching and at-home environment is different, the strategies presented in this article should be useful in any situation, in particular a synchronous, or “concurrent,” hybrid learning environment.

Teaching in an environment in which you have students online in realtime with some students in the classroom can stretch a teacher’s capacity.

Not only are they potentially dealing with troubleshooting technology issues at home, but also managing their in-person students.

Here is what teachers managing this situation should consider.

Have the same learning device in both locations Obviously, teachers have little control over this, but a district providing a uniform device to all students adds one less layer of complexity to what already is a challenging teaching environment. Having one uniform device means that students can help one another and the teacher can turn to one basic troubleshooting toolkit if something isn’t working. Since some students are in the classroom in a hybrid setting, the teacher can also

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observe the “student view” to a lesson or assignment to get a better picture of what the remote student might be dealing with.

Be consistent with applications and software This is something that many teachers can control. Have a core set of applications that all students in the class must use whether they are inperson or remote. Investing time in training students on the ins and outs of these platforms at the beginning of the year is a useful long-term strategy to avoid confusion later. Create step-sets or video instructions using a screen recording tool so that students in any location can understand how the application works and the desired outcomes.

Record your instructions ahead of time You might be thinking, “If I’m going to be doing this all live and in real-time, why would I record my instructions?” The reality is not all students will have success logging on to every synchronous lesson. They might have internet connectivity issues or you might be managing an in-person student meltdown in your classroom and forgot to let them in from the virtual waiting room. Having a recording of your lesson allows you to play the recording during the live portion and walk around the room providing assistance as needed (essentially cloning yourself). If a student misses the instructions, you can post the video on your preferred Learning Management System (LMS) of choice for later viewing. Remember: Due to FERPA regulations, recording a live video

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session with students and posting it on the web is not advisable.

Another challenge of hybrid teaching is that if you mirror your desktop to the projector screen, students will be able to see the other students on the call and chat, which could lead to unnecessary distractions. If you are teaching with a laptop, you likely have a way to extend the desktop. This is particularly useful when you are showing students in your class a presentation and you want to still see the remote students on the video call.

Place the presentation you want to project on the extended desktop and select to share that window in the video call instead of the entire screen. Students in both locations will see the presentation in real-time and you’ll be able to monitor the video chat on your laptop screen rather than the projector. Note that Google Slides and Apple’s Keynote both allow for “Present in Window” view but Powerpoint forces you to go full screen, which takes away from this technique (unless you use Powerpoint online in a browser window).

Allow time to socialize As some students won’t be in person, they’ll miss out on some of the social interactions they would normally encounter while in class. In an elementary setting, this is particularly vital to building that classroom community. Set aside time each day for students to go into breakout rooms or small groups, mixing in-person with remote students. Allowing 5-10 minutes of playful banter on a topic helps those learning remotely to feel more included in the classroom. In a secondary setting, when doing group work, try and mix some of the remote students with the in-person students to help foster collaboration.

Use interactive online tools One way to help foster that collaboration and sense of classroom community is using interactive online tools such as Nearpod or Pear Deck, which can work with students in class and remote at the same time. An online brainstorm wall such as a Padlet can be a powerful way to have students share their work in a virtual gallery walk. Gamified quizzing software such as Kahoot!, Quizlet or Quizziz can add an element of competitiveness that can be done in either environment. Having students reflect using a blog, Google doc, or eportfolio such as bulb, is a great way to internalize learning and help the teacher better understand the thought processes of remote students.

Don’t reinvent the wheel When you are designing the learning experiences for students in your hybrid classroom, don’t create two different lessons for each environment. Many of the strategies and tools you use in a physical classroom should be easily translatable to an online one as well.

Employing the interactive online tools previously mentioned in your

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CREDIT: CARL HOOKER

Utilize the extend desktop feature on your laptop

synchronous class and having space on your LMS for asynchronous work and instructional videos help students achieve the same goal regardless of what environment they might be in.

Checklist for hybrid teaching and learning • • • • • •

Do all students have the same device or the same access?

How will students learning remotely receive instructions?

How can students in-person interact with remote students?

What tools or apps can be used seamlessly in both environments?

What can students do asynchronously in both environments?

What back-up plans do you have if a student cannot connect to a live video session?

Additional resources for remote and hybrid learning These strategies are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tips and tools for remote and hybrid learning. If you’d like to discover and share more resources for your staff, I’ve just launched an asynchronous online course called The Remote Learning Coach. Within it, you’ll find some of the strategies mentioned above as well as videos, additional resources, and tools for teachers to thrive in any environment.

Carl Hooker has been a part of a strong educational shift with technology integration since becoming an educator. As Director of Innovation & Digital Learning at Eanes ISD, he has helped spearhead the LEAP program, which put one-to-one iPads in the hands of all K-12 students in his 8,000-student district. He is also the founder of “iPadpalooza”- a three-day “learning festival” held in Austin annually. He’s also the author of the six-book series titled Mobile Learning Mindset, a guide for teachers, administrators, parents and others to support and embrace mobile learning in our schools. Read more at Hooked on Innovation.

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REMOTE VS. IN-PERSON CLASSES:

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WHAT THE DATA SHOWS

Although remote learning may not work well for every student, there’s a lot higher education can do to improve the numbers

By Erik Ofgang The research surrounding student outcomes of remote versus in-person college tells two different stories, says Justin Reich, director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab. “There’s a group of people who say whenever we do studies where we compare radio versus in-person, film versus in-person, computer versus in-person, there’s no difference in terms of media, that you can do good instruction in any model,” says Reich whose book Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education is now available.

“The very best of those studies are randomized control trials,” Reich says. However, “Many of those studies are small, they involve dozens of learners or a dozen class rooms, and a lot of them are in medical education.”

Over the past 10 years, a new body of research based on observational studies of tens of thousands of students has found evidence of what’s been called an “online penalty.” For instance, researchers looking at the California

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community college system observed, in the particular context, that not everyone did equally well online. “Many learners appear to do less well online, they’re less likely to pass a course, and they’re more likely to get a lower grade,” Reich says. The online penalty also seems to be more severe for learners who are not historically well-served by our education system, such as learners with low prior achievement and minorities.

While both areas of research have their strengths and weaknesses, Reich says there is good evidence indicating that well-supported high-achieving students will also do well remotely, but that instructors should make an extra effort to support vulnerable students in their classrooms.

Designing for success At Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut, Provost Dr. Elizabeth Johnson says outcomes for students who complete courses are the same in-person versus remote because they are built off of the same learning outcomes.

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REMOTE VS. IN-PERSON “It’s designed so there won’t be a difference,” says Johnson of online learning at Post, for which about 13,000 students enroll in a typical semester. “While the assignment or the assessment or the experience that a student has in their course is clearly going to be different between an in-person classroom or an online classroom, the outcome, the intent behind that learning experience does not change.”

However, the school does have more issues with retention of remote versus in-person students.

“With online education, choosing to quit is very easy,” Johnson says. “There is no walk of shame from your residency hall out to the car where mom and dad come and get you. It’s literally as simple as closing your laptop and no longer accepting calls from the university.”

To prevent remote students from disconnecting from the university, Post has invested in a number of initiatives designed at providing emotional learning and support. One is YOU@Post, a personalized student portal that supplies students with relevant resources on mental health, stress reduction techniques, and on-campus events. To complement YOU@Post, the university recently launched SOAR, a 24-hour service that offers mental health counseling, financial and legal support, and personal convenience services to students and their families. It even includes a cartoon simulation of the campus itself in which students can do things such as click into the library building, where they can enter video chat rooms with other students.

The 9-to-5 schedule of traditional universities does not always work as well for remote classrooms. “Online students are weekend warriors, they’re evening and night warriors,” Johnson says. “They need their questions and their problems answered at off times. So from a technology standpoint those partnerships with those companies that can support having those questions answered throughout the night, having those questions answered throughout the weekend, that is a huge piece to effective online education.”

Tips for remote teaching “We should be very concerned about our most vulnerable students this semester,” says Reich, from MIT. “Too often in higher education we have a kind of ‘sink or swim’ mentality that everybody is here at this campus at the same time, and they all decide how much effort they want to put into things.”

Reich notes that is a fallacy in the best of times and particularly untrue in the current semester. “We have a responsibility as faculty to ask the question, ‘How can I identify the students for whom online or remote learning is working least well, and how can I provide the most support for them?’” he says.

“We should think about courses as things that we partner with our students to build together,” he adds. “There is exactly one generation of Americans who have participated in learning and schooling during a pandemic and it’s the students who were in our classroom last spring.

We should listen to them and we should talk to them about what worked, and what didn’t and build courses and learning experiences that help them feel like they are helping to co-construct what our response is together.”

Reich offers some additional advice for teachers here.

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strategies for building connectivity online

“In my experience, the key to building connectivity with students taking classes virtually is regular and personable communication,” says Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, from Post University. Her suggestions for doing that: 1. Post and email regular announcements with the assignments and activities for the week to help keep your students on track. Make this announcement fun and personable, so that it represents how you would interact with your students at the start of a class meeting. Consider making this announcement an impromptu video to really let your personality shine.

2. If your online course meets synchronously, encourage your students to interact with you and with each other outside of the virtual class session. One great way to do this is by adding an ‘Ask the Instructor’ discussion board forum and a ‘Water Cooler’ discussion board forum in each of your courses.

3. Personally engage with every student in your class weekly (or every other week for large courses). This can be through substantive responses to assignments or discussion board postings, emails, or phone/video calls. Connecting with your students one-on-one matters greatly in a virtual environment. When students are not on campus, their time with you in their courses represents their primary connection to the University.

4. Actively reach out to students who stop attending synchronous class meetings or otherwise disconnect from the course. It is easy to feel disconnected from online learning and convince yourself that no one will care if you give up. Getting students to reconnect with you and the course material may be as simple as an email or phone call asking if they are okay and offering support on how to get back on track.

5. If a remote student needs additional help from your school’s student support services, avoid just sending the student a website or email/phone number for the department. A warm transfer where you personally introduce the student to a staff member in that department goes a long way to ensuring the student feels like an important and supported member of the university community.

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KEEPING STUDENTS

SAFE

IN THE

DIGITAL WORLD Five key challenges that all districts are facing in keeping students safe, and how to work through these issues

By Matthew X. Joseph EdD As school leaders, many people come to us to help solve problems and work through issues both large and small. Some of the problems we’re dealing with right now, however, we just can’t fix--districts have students who have lost family members to COVID-19; staff members whose own children have been put on ventilators; and several principals who have contracted COVID-19 since coming back to school.

These are challenges beyond anything we’ve ever dealt with before, and it doesn’t even include all of the typical issues that we manage on a daily basis (e.g., children living in poverty, in abusive households, or dealing with social and emotional issues). In other words, the pressures didn’t start with COVID-19 and they won’t end with it.

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5 Roadblocks to Work Through

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Once schools got the official word that they were going to be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 year, some pivoted from getting their staff used to teaching online to better understanding what their students were experiencing during this disruption. Fortunately, we have some modern tools to help us through this trying time.

As the former director of digital learning at my district, having a student safety platform in place allowed me to confidently say to parents, “My only two jobs are to make sure your kids are safe and make sure they have the

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best learning environment possible.” With remote learning coming to the forefront during the pandemic, we have to stick to this commitment and ensure that students are safe no matter where they’re learning.

Here are five roadblocks that our district is working through right now in order to reach that goal: 1. Digital inequity. Students want to be able to do their work, but not all have a means for doing that. Without devices, they can’t get online and work. And without internet access at home, they can’t connect to our systems. They also can’t interact on social media platforms, which has replaced much of their in-person socializing during the pandemic.

Students who don’t have technology and connectivity feel left out and stranded, and need a way to connect. We have to take it upon ourselves to help even out some of this digital inequity.

2. Navigating uncertain environments. Students are used to seeing one another, interacting with teachers, and talking in person on a daily basis. In one fell swoop, COVID-19 took all of this away. To help fill that void, some districts are implementing a hybrid learning model in which students can meet their teachers in person (following proper mask and social distancing protocols, of course), participate in campus tours (particularly for freshmen who have never set foot in our high school before), and get acclimated to being on campus while also learning virtually. We’ve also learned about districts that created buttons with teachers’ faces so that younger students can see what their teachers’ faces look like and to help alleviate any anxiety.

3. Creating a flexible curriculum. Today’s educational curriculums have to be elastic enough to handle changes on the spot. We don’t want to get into another “crisis remote learning” situation in which everyone is scrambling to quickly take an existing curriculum and make it into

one that’s suitable for remote learning. One of the best approaches is to help teachers understand that everything they’re doing should be geared for remote learning. That way, they’ll be prepared either way, whether students are sitting in the classroom or at home.

4. Monitoring hot topics of conversation. This past summer, many students wanted to discuss issues related to race. As educators address these issues, they’ve seen students proactively use tools such as G Suite to congregate and share information. They sometimes create small groups and develop their own activities that can get out of hand, and that’s when we turn to student safety platforms such as Gaggle to help us keep an eye on what’s happening. Regardless of these challenges, I’m just pleased to see the ways kids are connecting despite their lack of proximity to one another. It really hasn’t slowed them down much at all.

5. Prioritizing social-emotional learning. When the pandemic emerged, our schools looked at trauma-informed practices and some of the research around how to support students, knowing that 100% of our students (and their families) are going through some level of trauma.

Recognizing this, educators have prioritized social-emotional learning practices, checked in regularly with students, allowed them to go at their own pace, and paid attention to our student safety platform. We want students to know that we’re there for them and that we’ll respond to any issues immediately.

As educational leaders, when we know these issues are occurring, we can do a much better job of intervening and protecting our kids, and keeping them safe.

Dr. Matthew Joseph is Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment at Leicester Public Schools in Massachusetts.

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“Boxlight-EOS has fulfilled a critical role and has been instrumental in helping us prepare our teachers to use G Suite for delivering instruction, interacting with students, and providing support to families.”

- April Mayo, Instructional Technology Director, Clayton County Public Schools, GA

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LEARNING LOSS,

TRAUMA, AND OUR

WINDOW OF TOLERANCE Everyone has experienced trauma throughout the pandemic, so we need to acknowledge and work through it to establish a strong foundation for learning

By Dr. Kathryn Kennedy As we start the school year in whatever learning environment your district or school is in, there’s a great deal of emphasis and pressure on students and educators related to learning gaps and loss from the spring. However, from a trauma-informed research and mental health perspective, concentrate on well-being first. We all have experienced trauma in so many different ways throughout this pandemic, so to establish a strong foundation for learning, we need to acknowledge and work through it.

Dr. Dan Siegel of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center defines trauma as “an experience we have that overwhelms our capacity to cope.”

Recent research in neuroscience finds that trauma is stored in our bodies and needs movement in order to work through and understand the effects on our body, mind, and psyche. Additionally, educators can suffer secondary traumatic stress from working with students through their trauma.

Trauma can manifest itself in children in a multitude of ways. For young children, they could experience fear of strangers and separation anxiety, have trouble eating or sleeping, or regress after hitting a developmental milestone. For school-age children, they may engage in aggressive behavior, become withdrawn, or exhibit difficulty concentrating in school. For adolescents, they may be anxious or depressed, feel intense guilt, anger, and shame, or in a worst case scenario, experience thoughts of suicide.

When children exhibit these behaviors, we as educators can sometimes forget about taking the time to understand the root cause of the behavior and trying to help the child rather than see them as being “difficult” or “bad.” As Bessel van der Kolk, a Professor of Psychiatry and President of the Trauma Research Foundation, states in his book The Body Keeps the Score, Brain, Mind and Body in the healing of Trauma: “When children are oppositional, defensive, numbed out, or enraged, it’s also important to recognize that such ‘bad behavior’ may be repeat action patterns that were established to survive serious threats, even if they are intensely upsetting or off-putting.”

Polyvagal Theory Dr. Stephen Porges introduced the Polyvagal Theory to help us understand our response to trauma and stress, and can serve as a foundation for creating trauma-informed learning environments. This theory is based on the vagus nerve, which touches upon every major system in our bodies, and its health is essential to caring for our nervous system.

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The Polyvagal Theory puts focus on our window of tolerance, which you can see at right the image from the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine. When we are triggered, we are outside of our window of tolerance. When we are numb, feeling hopeless, we are also outside of our window of tolerance. In these two spaces, no new learning can take place.

Let’s repeat that, and let it sink in. No new learning can take place when we are outside of our window of tolerance. Only within our window of tolerance can new learning take place, which brings us to why understanding these concepts is so vitally important to the field of education, especially where we are today in post-pandemic learning.

Van der Kolk emphasizes, “After trauma, the world is experienced with a different nervous system.” Trauma changes our ability to adapt based on what it leaves behind in our physiology and nervous system. As learners, we want to get to a place where we feel a sense of safety in our bodies and learning space.

Start with Self Care One of the most important things that we can do for ourselves and our students who have experienced trauma is give space to process and as emphasized in Permission to Feel, Marc Brackett’s new book. Oftentimes, we are told to not feel our emotions (emotional bypassing), to think positively instead (toxic positivity), when in reality, we should be processing emotions

NO NEW LEARNING CAN TAKE PLACE WHEN WE ARE OUTSIDE OF OUR WINDOW OF TOLERANCE. ONLY WITHIN OUR WINDOW OF TOLERANCE CAN NEW LEARNING TAKE PLACE, WHICH BRINGS US TO WHY UNDERSTANDING THESE CONCEPTS IS SO VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THE FIELD OF EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY WHERE WE ARE TODAY IN POST-PANDEMIC LEARNING.

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explore individual and community identities.

Additionally, through mindfulness practices, we can grow our windows of tolerance so that we are better able to cope with challenges. With meditation, yoga, Qigong, and Tai Chi, for example, you can work with your students to move and help them build their window of tolerance and help change the physiological states left behind by trauma.

Tying this to social-emotional learning, Bessel van der Kolk shares in his book that our own internal systems, when trusted by ourselves and those with whom we interact, can help us heal: “Give people greater access to their innate self-regulatory systems - the way they move, breathe, sing, interact with one another - so they can discover their natural resources to regulate themselves in a different way, especially when life gets challenging...

The last things that should be cut from school schedules are chorus, physical education, recess, and anything involving movement, play, and joyful engagement.”

These practices help us work through our traumas, to become comfortable with being in the present moment and being able to stay embodied rather than to disassociate, which is a common practice for trauma survivors. It can help us to feel the places that have no words.

We acknowledge that we as educators are stressed. We were stressed pre-COVID, but then went into absolute emergency crisis mode to continue to serve our students, their families, our schools and districts, and our communities.

And we did this on top of also taking care of our own families as well. This has been an extremely traumatic time.

Practice self compassion and be gentle with yourself and everyone around you. Engage in grounding practices on a regular basis to keep yourself healthy for yourself and those around you. Remember to fill your own cup first so you so that they don’t come up for us later. The ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale) reports that among 17,421 patients, childhood trauma correlated to serious adult medical conditions. Dr. Vincent Felitti, the Director of the ACE Study, shared, “Contrary to conventional belief, time does not heal all wounds, since humans convert traumatic emotional experiences in childhood into organic disease later in life.”

We as educators need to remember the Four Rs of trauma-informed care.

We need to realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand potential paths for recovery. We need to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in our students and others involved in the learning process. We need to respond by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into our school and classroom procedures and practices. And we need to resist re-traumatization of children, as well as the adults who care for them.

Some key trauma-informed SEL practices include (but are not limited to) creating predictable routines, building strong and supportive relationships, empowering students’ agency, supporting the development of self-regulation skills, and providing opportunities to

can fill the cups of others.

Dr. Kathryn Kennedy is an educational researcher and consultant. She has focused on the areas of K-12 online, blended, and digital learning for over 15 years as well as SEL for teachers and students, in addition to healing trauma through somatic approaches for over five years. In addition to her consulting work, she owns and operates Wellness for Educators, which centers around the importance of well-being of educators.

Additional Resources • American School Counselor Association Virtual High School Counseling – Resources, lessons and links for providing online student support • CASC & WSCA Educational Resources for Virtual School Counseling – Takeaways and resources from a recent virtual school counseling webinar from the California Association of School Counselors

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During a recent webinar, Shawntee Cowan, Chief Technology Officer of Duncanville ISD in Texas, discussed the importance of collaboration between departments in supporting student success.

WHAT’S COMING UP?

COLLABORATING WITH IT AND INSTRUCTION TO ENSURE CONTINUOUS INSTRUCTION IN ANY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

COVID-19 has had a catastrophic impact on the education sector, and all educators have adapted to a world of distance learning, as they faced school closures from March. Even now, as we have reopened schools, teachers and students must adapt to a new normal. Social distancing, PPE, student safety, hybrid learning and new technologies are all on the agenda for schools as we move to the next phase. So join us for our weekly Tech & Learning Leadership Roundtables, led by Dr Kecia Ray this November, as we approach some key topics in education right now. Completely free to attend, and under an hour long, these sessions are designed for high-level educators to hear realworld insights, best practice, and case studies from peers.

How district departments need to track data and work together was the focus of a recent T&L “Lunch ‘n Learn” virtual roundtable

By Ray Bendici

Topic: Improving Student Topic: Social and Emotional Engagement in Virtual Learning, Trauma, and This With COVID-19 showing no signs of slowing down, it is likely that few schools if any will get through the next school year without some Learning Environments School Year

Key Takeaways

Understanding usage. “When we entered remote learning, we had to make sure our students were engaged, so when thinking about the of remote learning. The key to the success of these programs various platforms, we had to understand our usage first,” said Shawntee NOVEMBER 18 AT form 3:30PM EST DECEMBER 9 AT 3:30PM will EST be an effective collaboration between the technology and instruction Cowan, Chief Technology Officer of Duncanville ISD in Texas. The tech Sponsored by Sponsored by departments. department had to determine if the devices that were distributed were To help districts address these questions, Dr. Kecia Ray recently talked effective, or if the ones students had at home were better. This study of with thought leaders about how districts are bringing together their data supported the district’s efforts to upgrade devices for all students, All attendees receive a “Certificate of Completion” be used one hour of PD.and also helped to determine which platforms and apps were providing a technology and curriculum departments tothat buildcan effective plans for to ensure students will receive quality, consistent instruction to ensure learning good return on investment. “One of the pieces we talk about all the time REGISTER NOW FOR UPCOMING ROUNDTABLES AT success in any learning environment. The webinar is part of our “New Year, is ROI,” she said. “Many times we purchase the same thing over and over, www.techlearningevents.com/roundtables_remotelearning New Normal” series. and now that we have a platform [CatchOn] to track that, we’re not double Watch the on-demand version here. dipping.”

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COLLABORATING WITH IT Learning data lessons. “The work we were able to do in the spring was a foundation for the fall,” said Dr. Silvia E. Martinez, Director of Curriculum & Instruction for Duncanville ISD. By using data collected in the spring during remote learning, the district was able to close communication gaps between teachers, students, and parents, and among staff, which provided a strong start for everyone this year.

REFRESH, RENEW, AND KNOW THERE ARE TOOLS TO REACH OUT FOR SUPPORT. YOU’RE NOT ALONE IN THIS. BE INNOVATIVE, BE CREATIVE, AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY! —DR. SILVIA E. MARTINEZ

The power of partnerships. “We are not alone and we know we have partners who will work with us,” said Martinez. In addition to vendor partnerships, collaboration between departments has been critical. “We’ve had to work vertically as well as horizontally,” said Cowan. “We know that all the instructional materials are tech-based, so if we’re all not working together, we’re not successful.” Curriculum and technology have had to work together, she said, so intentional communication and collaboration has been a huge win for the district.

Lunch ‘n Learn with Tech & Learning This report is part of Tech & Learning’s District Leadership Lunch ‘n Learn Roundtable series, hosted by Dr. Kecia Ray. In this series, districts from across the U.S. share their strategic plans, the challenges they are facing, and the creative solutions they are using to support students and teachers. Access previous webinars and register for our upcoming events here.

CREDIT: CATCHON

Monitoring at-risk students. “By monitoring what our students are doing, what apps they are using, and what their screen time is like, we can see who is at risk and who is engaged,” said Monica Cougan, Manager of Strategic Relationships & Initiatives for CatchOn, an ENA affiliate. By being able to use data to detect trends and improve usage, districts can make shifts quickly in platforms to better ensure student success.

Cougan discussed how the CatchOn platform works in terms of tracking student online engagement and platform usage, and how CatchOn works with districts to create customized solutions.

Communicate, communicate, communicate! “You don’t need to be a techie to open the conversation about improving your technology integration,” said Martinez. “If that communication dynamic doesn’t already exist, be the spark to create it.” She recommended departments continue to work together, and stay strong. “Refresh, renew, and know there are tools to reach out for support,” she said. “You’re not alone in this. Be innovative, be creative, and enjoy the journey!”

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HOW TO BUILD INCLUSION THROUGH EDTECH Topeka Public Schools is using edtech to close opportunity gaps wand support remote learning

By Sascha Zuger Tiffany Anderson, Superintendent of the Topeka Public Schools, discusses how incorporating edtech, such as Discovery Education’s Experience, complements their unique programs designed to close opportunity gaps and create a truly inclusive educational experience for all students.

“The classroom is no longer confined by brick and mortar, it is a global classroom,” says Anderson. “We are teaching teachers how to instruct differently—taking students on virtual field trips, on digital learning walks around the world—educating in an exciting new way.”

Topeka Public Schools has launched micro classrooms this year, so all elementary students are in classes of 15 or less everyday, says Anderson. Having such small groups allows educators to catch up students on learning from last year, and by giving access to students at home through 1:1 technology, parents can Educators at Topeka Public Schools have launched small-group “micro classrooms” this year to provide help those behind in certain areas to close students with more access to technology. the academic gap. Almost 2,000 students are participating in full remote learning this fall, with 11,500 students attending class in person.

All the district’s curriculum coordinators have been reassigned to elementary classroom teachers to support teaching the students who are completely remote, says Anderson. Classrooms have been fitted with cameras and mics so hybrid and remote older students can Zoom in real time for IN THE CHALLENGE OF THIS PANDEMIC, lectures, and all students can work synchronously on assignments.

IT IS A GIFT TO MOVE TEACHING AND Discovery Education’s Experience also includes a full suite of coding, LEARNING BEYOND THE BORDERS which is part of the district’s K-12 curriculum, says Anderson. “Now, we can assign students a variety of activities they can engage with, whether remote OF BRICK AND MORTAR, TO REALLY learning or in the classroom,” she says, adding that it also allows students to TRANSFORM WHAT INSTRUCTION move seamlessly in and out of quarantine or to change their learning mode LOOKS LIKE ON A DIGITAL PLATFORM, from remote to in-person as needed. “The other exciting piece is the level of TO ENGAGE STUDENTS AND PARENTS, quality professional development we are able to give teachers.”

Access and innovation, for all The district also oversees the local juvenile correctional facility, with teachers educating the students there. “The academic gaps for students

AND CLOSE OPPORTUNITY GAPS. THAT’S THE CHALLENGE WE HAVE BEFORE US AND IT’S EXCITING TO TAKE ON. ­—DR. TIFFANY ANDERSON

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BUILDING INCLUSION incarcerated at an early age are significant,” says Anderson.

By using an online curriculum, which students in the facility have access to, it extends academic learning in an innovative way to help reduce the school-to-prison pipeline for young-in-age students in facilities who are really getting back on the right track, says Anderson.

“We can now give access and opportunity they wouldn’t have had before,” she adds.

The distinct is in the process of rolling out a parent professional development program, so families of incarcerated students can access the tools and resources to help students succeed.

“This will be a different student that is leaving that facility than before,” says Anderson.

Topeka Schools is also faced with the challenge of 600 students who are homeless. At the local rescue mission where many of these families live, students can engage with all of the curriculum items online in user-friendly video form. “You just type ‘cellular function’ or ‘Constitution’ and tons of content pops up,” says Anderson. “Pure engagement and learning on the topic.”

Whether homeless, incarcerated, free lunch, two-parent home, upper middle class—there’s no stigma, everyone is using the same resource, says Anderson. “It allows us to reimagine the classroom and give everyone this robust, engaged digital learning experience for a unique and global education,” she says. “This is educational equity for all.”

Creative connections Topeka Public Schools has addressed the digital divide so students are entering the fall without concerns about wifi or access. The district doesn’t have broadband, but has created a partnership with the local Cox cable company, who has offered to subsidize a monthly basic cable bill with wifi for any parent who completes a free lunch form.

“It encourages them to get their forms in and ensures we have guaranteed revenue coming in to help cover expenses so we can cover an entire zip code with access,” says Anderson.

A clergy group has provided support for certain zip codes, as well.

After negotiating a reduced rate, the district spends about $250,000 annually to provide municipal bus passes for high school students (rather than have them use public school buses),

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TECH TOOLS 4 iPads (PK-1), Lenovo Chromes (2-12) with built-in webcams and microphones

4 USB webcams for staff 4 Promethean Boards/Interactive Whiteboards

4 Document cameras 4 Mac/Apple labs for CTE and Art

4 iPads with Splashtop App to access interactive functions of a Promethean Board

4 Mobile hotspots (for students with special circumstances)

4 For coding and robotics: Dash/ Cue robots, Lego Competition Robotics, Spheros, 3D printers, Parrot Mambo Drones, Google Made with Code, Google CS First, Scratch, Tynker (high school), and Discovery Education Coding.

Actual robots will be used in the micro classrooms. All of the software can be assigned for home/remote use.

4 Voice amplifiers for staff to help students hear the teacher’s instruction while the teacher is wearing a mask.

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which can also be used on weekends or in the evenings for transportation to work or other needs.

Flexibility for success Twilight School is available for high school students who need a flexible schedule, especially if they are the main caregiver or breadwinner for their family. “We began to think outside the box,” says Anderson. “Why does school need to be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.? Why can’t we stagger staff shifts and offer school when they get off starting at 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.?” The unique extension has now become a natural solution to some social distancing needs by spreading out students.

The district also doesn’t make parents come to the school for conferences. Teachers go to the grocery store or a laundromat, or connect with parents during a ballgame. “It’s all about meeting them where they are, on their own turf, and getting them the resources they need for student success,” says Anderson.

“When you have a challenge, you have the opportunity to find the gifts in that challenge,” says Anderson. “In the challenge of this pandemic, it is a gift to move teaching and learning beyond the borders of brick and mortar, to really transform what instruction looks like on a digital platform, to engage students and parents and close opportunity gaps.

That’s the challenge we have before us and it’s exciting to take on.”

TECH & LEARNING PRESENTS

THE HONOR ROLE PODCAST Celebrating fierce and formidable women in education.

Education veterans Drs. Kecia Ray and Frances Gipson talk with inspiring role models who have shaped the educational landscape by overcoming obstacles, connecting with mentors to guide them through their journey, and leading future generations of women through the glass ceiling and beyond.

Guests include

Angela Maiers*

Debra Duardo*

Cheryl Ney*

MĂłnica GarcĂ­a*

World-renowned author, entrepreneur, international keynote speaker, and educator

Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools

Social justice leader who is changing the trajectory of students, educators, and leaders on the eastside of Los Angeles

Board District 2 in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the nation

#TLHonorRole *And more. Read the full guest lineup here: https://www.techlearning.com/news/tlhonorrole

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GIUSEPPE RAMOS/GETTY IMAGES

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MAKING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP “STICK” Technology in education is not going away, but poorly implemented technology should

By Mike Ribble and Marty Park Teachers are moving to utilize technology on a scale that has never been seen before. Educators are being asked to set up classrooms and help students to learn in an online or hybrid situation with technology firmly in the center.

These tools are critical to help make the connection between a student that is often not in the classroom but still provide a quality education. In the speed to provide content often one area often overlooked is digital citizenship.

So what is digital citizenship?

When you search the Internet there are many definitions of digital citizenship. The one we find most inclusive is the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use. To be effective in the use of their technology tools in the classroom, educators need to understand the opportunities as well as the challenges.

To assist in reaching this goal The Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship outlines the core foundation of any good digital citizenship program.

These themes can be coupled with the three main principles of the “S3 Framework”: • Safe (Protect Yourself / Protect Others) • Savvy (Educate Yourself / Educate Others) • Social (Respect Yourself / Respect Others) Each section of the framework includes the following nine elements, which support these three sections of the framework: • Digital access • Digital commerce • Digital communication and collaboration • Digital etiquette • Digital fluency • Digital health and welfare • Digital law • Digital rights and responsibility • Digital security and privacy For a graphic to show how these two areas work together to create a school technology plan see the Digital Progression Chart. You can download and modify as you need for your school or district.

Teaching digital skills to all users of technology is needed, but beginning with our students is critical to create a foundation of knowledge.

Understanding how to act when we are using these tools is as, or more, important than the tool itself. It is time to embed the ideas of digital citizenship into our educational process. So how do we accomplish this in our classroom?

Digital citizenship in the classroom The issue is how we provide skills to a generation that has grown up swiping, posting, and liking on digital devices. For some who have tried to incorporate such a program, there is a need for support from administration, faculty, and parents. Often it can be hard to maintain the interest and momentum in “one more program” when we are just concerned with connecting with students. So with all the other requirements today how can this be done?

Have a Plan and How to Implement It Make sure to ask questions.​What does our district use as a guide? Who can help provide direction for use in the classroom?​ Despite the fact that school leaders know how important digital citizenship is to their school cultures, many still find it difficult to implement. There are three reasons for this: 1. Knowledge. When the discussion turns to technology, many educators are unsure of these tools and the appropriate uses. With few opportunities to learn how and where technology tools can fit into a curriculum or learning experience, educators are often hesitant to implement tools that seem complicated and that take away from other opportunities in the classroom.

How can teachers implement digital citizenship into their lessons? Many are already doing it but do not have the language to express what they are doing.

• Make it part of the classroom. If you have classroom rules do not forget the digital ones as well.

• Encourage teachers to identify one or two technology tools for use in the classroom. Research how not just to use the tool but how to do appropriately. Don’t try too much at once.

2. Time. The time constraints of busy teachers, coupled with limited professional development and a constant stream of new tech to learn, make the implementation of digital citizenship programs difficult.

• Encourage students to lead the process by creating banners, public service announcements, and presentations as classroom assignments to teach others to use technology.

• Look for opportunities to learn new technology skills. It may be in your

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DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP school, district or even course in local colleges. These skills might be important one day.

3. Support. Teachers often don’t have (or feel) that they have the instructional support to learn how best to implement digital citizenship programs into the curriculum.

• Include students to teach others how to use these tools in the classroom.

• Include parents, community members, and law enforcement officials in conversations about technology needed in the larger community.

Realize that digital citizenship is more than safety The safety topics provide a strong foundation to build upon, but there needs to be more.

Digital citizenship, from its introduction, focused on safety as a primary concept but we also need support for understanding technology use and not a list of what not to do. We teach students skills in the physical world to protect them--“Look both ways when crossing the street,” “Don’t touch a hot stove,” etc. But how do these translate into the digital space?

We must explain when and where to share information, how to interact

SCHOOLS NEED TO IDENTIFY A PLAN TO INTEGRATE THE IDEAS AND TOOLS OF TECHNOLOGY TODAY TO HELP REINFORCE THEIR CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE. THERE NEEDS TO BE ENCOURAGEMENT TO HELP MAKE DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP “STICK” IN OUR SCHOOLS FOR OUR EDUCATORS, STUDENTS, PARENTS AND COMMUNITY. with others without visual cues, etc. This cannot stop with one lesson but needs to be retaught at every level and built upon.

Users need to understand the concepts that help to support a technology so that they can become more savvy There cannot be an assumption that everyone understands the tools just because they grew up exposed to the technology. Even those who seem to have mature technology skills still need assistance to become effective users of these tools.

Students need to understand how to use the technology to create context in their own learning. How do we do this?

First, we need to provide our educators and parents with the technology knowledge. They need to be introduced to apps and applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets, and how each one should be used. Once they are comfortable with the tools then they can share these skills with the students. As technology and its use within education continues to change educators, students and parents also need to be flexible and change with it.

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Second, these skills need to be practiced and reinforced at home as well.

School and home need to work together on times technology is appropriate and when there are times it needs to be set aside.

The digital expansion is now a part of daily citizenship The online world is a social experience as real as any community, and often it is difficult to differentiate from the real world. The two are more intertwined with the expansion of the Internet of Things and its possibilities.

The individual nature of the technology has made the tools, apps, and sites more personal to us, while we still are trying to interact with others.

We see this change every day, people looking at devices instead of at one another. We need balance in our lives, and we must find ways to use these tools to our advantage, and not the other way around.

Know your resources​ Many examples of digital citizenship being implemented in schools exist, as well as tools that have been created for classroom and whole school use.

Many have the flexibility to meet the needs of diverse communities and needs.

Once your school or district has started focusing on digital citizenship, make sure to refer to the points above to continue the process. This is not a single assembly or professional development presentation; this is a commitment to the appropriate and responsible use of technology today and into the future.

• Digital Citizenship Consulting - Education, Technology Support​ • Digital Citizenship Program​ • Digital Citizenship in Education​ • DigCitCommit: Home​

What is the future of digital citizenship?

Many educators share the enthusiasm for technology but often without the support and resources to make real changes for their students, interest fades.

Schools need to identify a plan to integrate the ideas and tools of technology today to help reinforce their classroom experience. There needs to be encouragement to help make digital citizenship “stick” in our schools for our educators, students, parents and community.

With the inclusion of technology, education has changed. The tools and experiences may be different from what was available in the past but people have not changed. The idea of technology should be used to help and ease the issues in the classroom, not make it more stressful and confusing.

Digital citizenship needs to be properly integrated into the curriculum to support the faculty and students and to provide a foundation for your staff so that they in turn can help the students to be the effective users of the technology.

Mike Ribble and Marty Park are the authors of the book The Digital Citizenship Handbook for School Leaders: Fostering Positive Interactions Online.

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Competitive gaming is more than just a hobby; it’s a catalyst for the development of life skills for a whole generation of young people

By Matt Pruznick Esports is among the fastest growing industries in the world—and there’s no better time than now to get involved.

On Dec. 4, AV Technology, Systems Contractor News, and Tech & Learning will co-host a one-day virtual event—Leveling Up: The Esports Conference & Expo—for integrators, consultants, technology managers, and educational professionals that will explore the tools, trends, and experience in esports and education. Attendees will hear about topics such as how to introduce an esports program in their schools and build diversity and equity through esports, plus chat with suppliers and partners, and so much more.

So what’s esports all about? According to Lori Bajorek, president of the National Esports Association and Leveling Up keynote speaker, competitive gaming is more than just a hobby; it’s a catalyst for the development of life skills for a whole generation of young people. “We say ‘play with a purpose,’” she said. “It’s creating an online community of inclusiveness and diversity where we all feel we can win and grow together.”

IMGORTHAND/GETTY IMAGES

THE VALUE OF ESPORTS Bajorek, who delivered the keynote address at the 2020 AV/IT Summit in August, has years of experience in building structure around foundational youth activities. When her son was in kindergarten, she began partnering with others in her area of Upstate New York to form an afterschool program to cultivate his love for Legos. A few years later, when he became engrossed in Minecraft, she teamed up with Minecraft Education to develop programs and run camps to encourage growth through the game. “I loved the concept of how it was utilizing spatial manipulation and computers, at such a young age,” she said. “And the move into esports [from there] happened very organically.

As her son grew, so did her involvement in gaming programs. Eventually she quit her job selling insurance and focused full-time on esports, launching a nonprofit organization. “I started seeing this amazing evolution in using gamification in the classroom and working with partners such as Microsoft, Minecraft, and some of the bigger ones in the earlier days,” she said. The challenge, at the time, was a lack of unified infrastructure. “There was no pathway to success for esports—I don’t think ‘esports’ was even a word at that point. It was more of a conversation I was having with schools,

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ESPORTS parents, companies like Microsoft, asking ‘Where are we seeing this going?’”

Bajorek found an answer through the National Esports Association, an entity through which she could help establish a formal curriculum around gaming. Before she arrived and became its president in April of 2019, the organization was “a lot of gamers who thought they knew what they were doing, but who really needed help and guidance and a platform,” she said. “I took the idea and helped to develop the infrastructure and define what it actually means to be the National Esports Association.

What do gamers need? What do educational institutions need?”

The association’s primary focus is to help schools establish a foundation to get their esports programs off the ground. This often begins with the most basic of consultations.

“When you go into a high school, for instance, and ask, ‘What games do you want to play?’ [sometimes] they’ll say, ‘We want to play esports,’” she said. “So it’s in its infancy.

“Then we talk about their esports lab.

Are you playing in your cafeteria? Are you converting your computer lab into a gaming lab? What games are you actually going to use? Do you have someone who is coaching? It’s really developing it all from the ground up.” At the college level, Bajorek said that schools tend to be more informed—with many looking to recruit players on scholarships—but still need help establishing the proper infrastructure.

To help accomplish this, the association works with a number of technology companies, including distributors like Ingram Micro, integration firms like AVI-SPL, and AV manufacturers like Crestron.

“That’s something that I’ve had to become an expert in,” she said.

“Working with companies like Ingram Micro, but then also the integrators, is so important. I need them desperately. To be able to make a phone call and say, ‘I’ve got this school that really needs your help and guidance.’”

Bajorek said it’s crucial that more companies in the AV industry establish divisions focused on esports, and encourages them to reach out to the National Esports Association for guidance. “That’s one of the things I like working on with companies, helping them develop the educational platform for the people who are selling their products,” she said. “Most what we do is just on the educational side, but that’s what’s so important: understanding how this works in the classroom so you can figure out where your products actually fit in, and where you can help strengthen the mission of what it is that esports is trying to do.”

Lori Bajorek

MOST OF WHAT WE DO IS JUST ON THE EDUCATIONAL SIDE, BUT THAT’S WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT: UNDERSTANDING HOW THIS WORKS IN THE CLASSROOM SO YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE YOUR PRODUCTS ACTUALLY FIT IN, AND WHERE YOU CAN HELP STRENGTHEN THE MISSION OF WHAT IT IS THAT ESPORTS IS TRYING TO DO. And in the end, that mission is all about the players. “How do you create that esports structure for teaching healthy gaming habits? How do you integrate gaming into the classroom? And how do you use it to help the digitized youth of today become the future leaders of tomorrow?” she said.

Hear more from Lori Bajorek and other esports education experts at Leveling Up: The Esports Conference & Expo on Fri., Dec. 4.

Registration is free for qualified attendees.

To register or learn more, visit eduesportsexpo.com.

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RESOURCES EDUCATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN THIS ISSUE AVI-SPL

DISCOVERY EDUCATION

NEARPOD

QUIZZIZ

Digital workplace services provider.

TEM content, tools, and professional development for educators.

Interactive STEM lessons, videos, formative assessments, and more.

Gamified polls, quizzes, and lessons.

INGRAM MICRO

International technology distributor.

An online notice board tool for helping to digitize the classroom.

KAHOOT!

PARROT MAMBO

Online game-based learning platform that allows users to create their own quizzes.

Small drone aircraft.

Coding resources, activities, and resources for students.

PEARDECK

SPHERO

An interactive presentation platform to engage students in individual and social learning.

Interactive robots and STEM kits.

CATCHON

Device management platform that tracks student usage.

CRESTON

Audiovisual automation and integration equipment.

DASH AND CUE ROBOTS

Programmable robots for school coding programs.

LEGO ROBOTICS

Buildable robotic kits.

PADLET

QUIZLET

Games and flashcards in various subjects to help students learn.

SCRATCH AND SCRATCH JR.

TINKERCAD

An easy-to-use 3D CAD tool.

Featured Resources BOXLIGHT

Boxlight has created solutions that preserve the flow of learning in response to changing instructional needs, including variable class environments and types of lesson facilitation. Our hardware, software, STEM and training programs are designed to keep students focused and strengthen 21st century learning skills such as collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. In our mission to support educators, each solution includes teacher professional development and premium customer service.

CATCHON

CatchOn’s mission is to support teaching and learning through more effective uses of data and technology.

By capturing and sharing insights on which technologies are truly effective for schools, learning outcomes can be improved at a lower cost, thereby providing a gateway to a higher quality education for more students.

GAGGLE

Gaggle is the pioneer in helping K-12 districts manage student safety on schoolprovided technology. We strive to help ensure the safety and well-being of students, supporting districts in identifying those who are struggling. Gaggle can give you peace of mind knowing that students’ mental health and safety are being monitored around the clock— whether they’re learning in the classroom or at home. Contact us to learn how we can help protect your students.

LEXIA

Lexia addresses the development of oral language, reading, spelling, and writing skills for students who are learning English. Students learning English will develop fundamental reading skills with the rest of their classmates and receive student-driven and teacher-directed personalized instruction.

NETSUPPORT

The easiest cloud-based classroom management and teaching platform ever, classroom.cloud provides teachers with the flexibility to deliver seamless technology-led instruction within in-school, remote or hybrid environments. Equipping teachers with the essential tools to provide effective blended learning with the ability to manage students’ school devices, monitor their screens, control internet usage, assess with surveys and more. Low cost, simple to set-up and maintain. Once installed using classroom.cloud is a breeze!

SCHOLASTIC

Scholastic Digital Solutions transform synchronous and asynchronous learning by providing personalized instruction designed to help close the most essential skill gaps across the curriculum. Our award-winning programs build foundational reading and vocabulary skills, provide equitable access to learning across the content areas, and the essential data needed to inform instruction.

Scholastic Digital Solutions accelerate learning in and out of the classroom with unlimited, simultaneous access to support virtual, remote, and blended learning plans.

Tech & Learning’s ISTE 2020 Best of Show Awards celebrates those products and services being exhibited at ISTELive that show the greatest promise according to the country’s most tech-savvy educators. Read more here.

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