Education

For more than 15 years, a group of companies known as Online Program Management providers, or OPMs, have been helping colleges build online degree programs. And most of them have relied on an unusual arrangement — where the companies put up the financial backing to help colleges launch programs in exchange for a large portion of tuition revenue.

This article is part of a three-article series dedicated to harnessing powerful technology for powerful learning. In the articles, we share the perspectives of HP Teaching Fellows. Read the other articles here and here.

The threat of climate change has exposed more homes to flooding and wildfires, and it has intensified heat waves that prompt farmers to lose crop yields and a way to sustain a living. Climate change, among many issues, worries Barbara Schneider as she thinks about whether younger generations will be prepared to face scientific challenges altering the world.

For Maria Artica, a first-year student at Richard Bland College, a two-year college in Virginia, enrolling was like stepping “into a new world.”

The edtech market is saturated with various tools designed to improve children’s literacy from e-readers to apps to digital libraries. Over the past few years, more literacy tools have been using generative AI, either to accelerate children’s reading proficiency or to stimulate more reading interest.

The number of Latino students who are going to college is on the rise, and they don’t all fit the profile of what institutions might consider the typical freshmen on campus.

High-quality instructional materials (HQIMs) are educational resources designed to effectively support student learning. They can include textbooks, lesson plans, digital resources and other materials carefully crafted to meet the needs of diverse learners and facilitate meaningful learning experiences. By using HQIMs, educators can enhance the quality of instruction, support differentiated learning and improve overall learning outcomes.

This story was originally published by The 19th.

COVID-19 was edtech’s big moment, and while digital tools kept learning going for many families and schools, they also faltered. A great deal of edtech purchases went unused, equity gaps widened, and teachers and students were burned out. Combined with sobering reports on the persistent lack of strong evidence for edtech, it’s no wonder why the notion of using technology to “fix broken schools” has fallen out of most startup pitch decks and education TED Talks. Yet it seems the reckoning has been cut short.

Data-driven decisions are increasingly recognized as a critical component of K-12 education, enhancing personalized learning, improving assessment and feedback, optimizing resource allocation and fostering early intervention. These decisions are informed by analyzing various types of data, such as academic achievement, non-academic factors, program and systems data, and perception data. In turn, this analysis helps educators make informed choices that directly affect student learning and school effectiveness.

Education has had a wobbly relationship with the still-evolving presence of generative AI in schools — with some school districts banning it only to reverse course. It can save teachers time by automating tasks, while also causing headaches as an accomplice to cheating students.

A VR experience created by students at The New School in New York City is designed to take viewers to an almond farm in California and illustrate the effects of pesticides on bee colonies. At first, participants wearing a VR headset can walk around the virtual stands of trees, and hear the sounds of rustling leaves and buzzing bees.

It’s 5 a.m. and Tiffany Gale is up, as she is every morning, and the first thing she does is check to see if any of her child care staff have called out sick.

The original version of this essay was published on Medium.

Marley Stevens posted a video on TikTok last semester that she described as a public service announcement to any college student. Her message: Don’t use grammar-checking software if your professor might run your paper through an AI-detection system.

Is your classroom technology falling short of its promise of changing the classroom dynamic? It's a question that often lingers in the background as district leaders navigate the vast array of options available. From projectors to interactive whiteboards, Chromebooks to iPads, the choices seem endless, and personal preferences can be tightly held. In a setting where budgets are tight, the pressure to make the right decision weighs heavily. For school district technology leaders, navigating a potential refresh of classroom technology can be daunting.

Do you recall Mr. Lorensax from “Ferris Bueller's Day Off”? Anyone? Bueller? With his monotone voice and lack of enthusiasm, he could convince anyone that history is incredibly boring. Unfortunately, this portrayal isn't unique and reflects a broader issue with how social studies is perceived.

Frankenmuth School District has about 1,400 students, nearly 91 percent of whom are white. Its poverty rate is about 5 percent. In contrast, to its west, Saginaw City School District is home to nearly 5,200 students, 81 percent of them students of color. Its poverty rate is 50 percent.

When she works in a classroom, Niobe Way, a professor of developmental psychology at New York University, wants to dive into the deep end.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being integrated into higher education to address challenges such as personalized learning and operational efficiency. AI-powered tools are streamlining administrative tasks like scheduling, registration and financial aid management, freeing up valuable staff time and reducing errors. AI-enhanced learning analytics provide more comprehensive data analysis, enabling professors to understand student behaviors and needs while identifying at-risk students early in their courses.

For James Singewald, a typical week goes something like this: Learn about the history of boarding schools in an Indigenous Studies class. Apply a fresh coat of paint at Southeast Alaska Independent Living, a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities. Cook breakfast for a classmate celebrating a birthday. Meet with a professor on Zoom to talk about academic plans. Attend student government meetings. Swim in the ocean as snow falls.

K-12 leaders tasked with preparing students for the future workforce are doing so amid ever-increasing cyber threats. The dynamic landscape of in-person, virtual and hybrid schooling has made schools vulnerable targets for cyber threat actors (CTAs). While many K-12 organizations struggle to obtain resources to strengthen cybersecurity, those that employ security best practices consistently report higher levels of cyber maturity.

During the day, I teach Algebra I classes to high school freshmen in Springfield, Missouri. One night per week, I teach preservice elementary school teachers who serve as paraprofessionals at K-12 schools in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and California through Reach University. Reach University offers adults employed in schools and other workplaces the opportunity to earn a unique bachelor’s degree that embraces work experience as part of the learning process. After earning this degree and passing certification tests required by some states, candidates are qualified to teach.

As school boards prepare to approve their budgets for the fall, many are grappling with how to make up for the yawning chasm left by the loss of federal pandemic-relief dollars.

When he was in high school, Zachary Farley latched onto the idea of becoming a teacher.

Ever wonder what the buzz around interoperability is all about? Interoperability is not just jargon; it's the key to unlocking seamless communication among different data systems, applications and devices. In the realm of education, it means breaking down barriers so that educational technologies and data systems can collaborate effectively, ultimately enhancing the educational experience for leaders, staff, specialists, teachers, students and parents.

After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, Virginia became the first state to require colleges to conduct threat assessments, later requiring K-12 schools to do the same.