Webinars

Building STEAM Confidence and Creativity in Middle School

Reinvigorate Creativity and Confidence with STEAM

Feb 3, 2020

Creativity and play are children’s work. They build confidence, encourage risk taking, and ultimately shape the soft skills young people need to negotiate school and careers. But, as children get older, their playfulness and creative spirit wane. They aren’t so keen on trying new things and are often afraid of failing when they do. In a recent edWebinar, “Building STEAM Confidence and Creativity in Middle School,” educational technology experts described how enriching STEAM-based learning experiences can enhance the socio-emotional skills students need to succeed now into the future.

Bridging the Gap Between Science and Coding in the Classroom

Bridging the Science and Coding Gap

Jan 30, 2020

Students exposed to coding and programming at an early age are well equipped to take on higher-level computer science courses in high school and have essential skills for future opportunities in the technology world. When Rob van Nood was hired as the educational technology specialist for Catlin Gabel School in Oregon, coding and computer science courses were only offered in grades 9-12 and not to students in the younger grades. The lack of coding curricula at the younger levels has left a significant teaching gap in 21st century skills such as problem solving, designing, and computation thinking.

Building Trust

4 Steps to Building a Great Customer Experience in Your School

Jan 27, 2020

Although many in K-12 are cautious of comparing education to corporations, schools are in the business of educating students and preparing them for life. And one of the most important parts of any business is customer service. During the edWebinar ”Building Trust: 4 Sure-Fire Ways to Improve the K-12 Customer Experience,” the presenters explained why school leaders need to include customer service as part of their strategic plan and offered four steps to start improving school-community relations right now.

Leveraging Free Digital Tools for Authentic Assessment

Assessing Students Over Time and Also Saving Teachers’ Time

Jan 20, 2020

During a recent edWebinar, Kelli Etheredge, a Director of Teaching and Learning Resources in Mobile, AL, identified key benefits of formative assessment technologies presented by members of the Microsoft Education team. These benefits include being able to accommodate the needs of diverse learners by developing more personalized learning pathways, so that every student can reach a level of success.

Voice Devices and Beyond in the Classroom

Using Tech to Bring Listening Comprehension to the Classroom

Jan 14, 2020

For many teachers, edtech translates to visuals and video. But during the edWebinar, “Voice Devices and Beyond in the Classroom,” the presenters made the case for using voice technology in schools to assist with all types of activities, from practicing math to classroom management, and more important, to improve listening comprehension skills.

Gamifying PBIS

Improving Schoolwide Behavior Through Gamification

Jan 2, 2020

Now that online games have become so popular among K-12 students, school and district administrators can use gamification techniques to create a positive school climate and encourage positive behavior by individual students who have differing needs. Shawn Young, co-founder and CEO of Classcraft, explained during a recent edWebinar how gamification techniques can be combined with research-based approaches such as Response to Intervention (RTI), to create engaging and systematic Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

How Digital Stressors Impact Student Learning

Using Social-Emotional Learning to Combat Digital Stress

Dec 23, 2019

24/7 access to technology has brought many benefits, from online collaboration to improved parent-teacher communication. But that 24/7 environment has also brought increased stress to students’ lives as issues they encounter at school, especially on social media, follow them home. In the edWebinar “How Digital Stressors Impact Student Learning,” Jamie Nunez, Bay Area Regional Manager at Common Sense Media, explained what digital stressors are and how social-emotional learning (SEL) can be used to combat them.

Computer Science in Early Learning with LEGO® Education

Building Coding Skills Through Playful Learning

Dec 17, 2019

Teaching computer coding skills and concepts in the primary grades may sound like a challenge, but now there are hands-on activities and age-appropriate software that engage young students in this type of learning. And, starting the learning process in grades K-2 can build students’ confidence and reduce the challenges they face later when working on coding projects in the upper grades.

Binge Watch the Top 25 edWebinars of 2019!

Binge Watch the Top 25 edWebinars of 2019!

Dec 12, 2019

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 2019! This year we hosted 331 edWebinars, 46 more than in 2018. Our programs covered a wide range of timely topics for early childhood educators, librarians, teachers, and administrators. In 2019, our edWebinars had 475,000 views from educators all around the world, in 185 countries.

Teaching Cybersecurity

What You Need to Know About Teaching Cybersecurity

Dec 12, 2019

There is a massive demand for qualified cybersecurity talent with the current number of open positions ranging from 300,000 in the United States to 4 million globally. In a recent edWebinar, Casey O’Brien, Executive Director, National CyberWatch Center, and Jim Kowatch, CEO, Infosec Learning, underscored that to fill the demand for cybersecurity experts, secondary and higher education should focus their attention on developing cybersecurity courses that are rooted in IT operations and applications.