Even with the NGSS’s emphasis on engineering, there’s still a feeling that in preschool and kindergarten, teachers shouldn’t place as much emphasis on the E in STEM. While four-year-olds can’t compete with even third graders in engineering, they can learn and benefit from modified lessons. Nia Keith, Director of Professional Development for EiE, Museum of Science, Boston, gave attendees insights into engineering in early education in the edWebinar, “STEM in Early Education: Empowering Problem-Solving.”
If you get some down time over the holidays, it’s a great time to catch up on some of the most popular edWebinars of 2018! This year we hosted over 285 edWebinars on a wide range of innovative topics for early childhood educators, librarians, teachers, and administrators. Here is our Top 25 List for 2018 based on those that had the most views.
edWeb.net is delighted to announce that FreshGrade will be sponsoring TechTools for the Classroom, one of the largest professional learning communities on edWeb. The TechTools community hosts monthly edWebinars that help educators discover and integrate technology into the classroom to make the learning more engaging and effective for students. The TechTools community on edWeb has been hosting edWebinars since 2010, presented by Shannon Holden, Assistant Principal at Republic Middle School… read more →
Faced with implementing new standards and inquiry-based instruction for over 180 school districts and over 30,000 social studies teachers with a department of two people, the social studies team at the Georgia Department of Education turned to virtual learning communities on edWeb.net to reach Georgia teachers and leaders.
We’re in the Golden Age of Educational Apps, according to Shannon Holden, Assistant Principal at Republic Middle School (MO). However, many parents and educators question the educational value of apps and worry they are taking away from actual instructional time. Holden reminded attendees in his recent edWebinar “10 Apps Every Teacher Needs NOW!” that like any instructional resource, teachers should carefully review each app’s purpose and potential for aiding the learning process. The apps showcased in the presentation help reinforce lessons, organize lesson content, and assess student progress.
In a recent edWebinar hosted by edWeb.net, Amy Filsinger, Head of School Success, Mike Rettberg, Professional Services Lead, and Chris Walsh, Head of Impact from Always Be Learning (Abl) agreed that student-centered scheduling ensures that ALL students get the classes they want and need. You can almost be guaranteed to see a large magnet board with its color-coded magnets in most school buildings. Filsinger stresses that “every year, there is roughly $10 million dollars being managed on a magnet board with post it notes, and expo markers.”
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is, at its heart, a processing disorder. And while the students with ASD face a variety of challenges depending on where they fall on the spectrum, even those considered high functioning have difficulties with pragmatic social language and understanding social interactions. So, when educators mainstream students with ASD and hope that they will learn how to interact in the classroom just by watching their peers, the educators are setting up the students for failure. Nina Finkler, a learning consultant with years of experience working with students with ASD, says success comes when schools actually acknowledge the different needs of students with ASD and set up individualized supports throughout their learning career. In her edWebinar “Meeting the Needs of Students with ASD Within the Mainstream Classroom”, Finkler outlined the biggest challenges with mainstreaming and key strategies for helping them thrive in their new environment.
What’s the best way to know what’s going on in schools? The answer, of course, is to visit the school, talk to the staff and students, and observe the learning process. What’s the easier way? Looking at proficiency data. For better or worse, standardized test scores are simple for anyone to access, typically a link or two away on the web. But as Mitch Slater, Co-Founder and CEO of Levered Learning, pointed out in his edWebinar “A Little Data is a Dangerous Thing: What State Test Score Summaries Do and Don’t Say About Student Learning,” looking at data from one set of assessment scores without context is virtually meaningless. While educators should track performance data to help inform their overall view on a district, school, or class, they need to keep in mind basic data analysis principles to ensure that they aren’t getting a false image of their students’ achievement.
Twenty years ago it was easier to identify fake news. There were the tabloid papers in the grocery store checkout line and the sensationalized “news” programs that promised inside looks at celebrity lives. Now, between the number of online information sites and the proliferation of social media apps, plus near constant mobile phone use, determining a story’s credibility seems to call for advanced detective skills. In her edWebinar “Fight Fake News: Media Literacy for Students,” Tiffany Whitehead, School Librarian for the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, says that’s exactly what we need to teach students. While today’s youth may be aware that not everything on the Internet is true, they don’t have the tools to evaluate accuracy and authenticity.
Augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality—can immersive technology really benefit students and their learning, or are these just tech fads? In their recent edWebinar, Jaime Donally, Author, Speaker, and Edtech Consultant, and Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, explained that although these technologies aren’t the answer to everything, they are transforming learning and will continue to do so going forward. In addition, while the thought of using these tools can be exciting, schools need to first plan for successful integration into the classroom and curriculum.