Here’s a cool tool you can use to help you find inspiration and enjoyment: The Schoolyard Podcast is a new show from School Specialty and teacher Nancy Chung. Twice each month, host Chung, also known as @FancyNancyin5th on Instagram and TikTok, will be joined by industry experts, fellow educators, and subject matter experts from School Specialty to dive into educational trends, seasonally relevant topics, and emerging and proven solutions to create an entertaining and educational listening experience.

Chung is a fun-loving 5th-grade teacher, former robotics coach, and content creator from Orange County, California, in her 26th year of teaching. She is passionate about sharing her ideas on creative projects, designing intentional learning spaces, teaching highly engaging lessons, building meaningful relationships, and cultivating a community that sparks discovery and inclusion.

Each episode will begin with a thought-provoking introduction by Chung, followed by a conversation between Chung and the episode’s guest. In the final segment, launching in episode 5 and dubbed “Tag, You’re It!,” Chung and the featured guest will answer a question submitted by a listener by tagging @SchoolSpecialty with #schoolyardtagyoureit and their question on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter. Listeners who have their question answered on the air will receive a free Schoolyard Podcast t-shirt. 

The first five episodes explore:

1. “How to Make Space for Wellness and Social-emotional Learning” with Sue Ann Highland, PhD, national education strategist with School Specialty;
2. “Esports is Like a Magnet!” with Claire LaBeaux from the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF);
3. “Extended Learning for Every Student” with Nicole Hill, a former educator, principal, and current subject matter expert with School Specialty;
4. “Setting the tone for Back to School” with Instagram influencers Stephanie Osmundson and Loreal Hemenway, collectively known as @happilyeverelementary; and
5. “Surprising Benefits of Robotics in Schools & Where to Start” with Naomi Hartl, science and STEM subject matter expert with School Specialty.

The first five episodes are available now on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Samsung Podcasts, Podcast Index, and Listen Notes. Learn more.

The post The Schoolyard Podcast from School Specialty and Nancy Chung appeared first on EdTech Digest.

This is a comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS) that enhances the educational experience. The digital platform connects educators, students, and parents to facilitate interactive and engaging learning. It provides an app and webpage user-friendly interface for educators to efficiently create, manage, and deliver educational content. Administrators can effortlessly set up classes and curriculums, add users, and assign content, whether it is custom or pre-existing. Students can access this content, complete assignments, and track their progress. Students and teachers can use a stylus on the app to write directly on the assignment. It also has a helpful writing feature to display work. Part of its real value is actually quite basic: it allows efficient communication between teachers, students, and parents.

EdQuill was developed by a team with Ushapriya Ravilla to address the evolving needs of modern education. EdQuill aims to improve the teaching and learning experience, reduce administrative burdens on educators, and foster greater parent involvement in students’ education. It is available to educational institutions, learning centers, tutors, and educators. Access EdQuill by signing up for a free trial or scheduling a demo with EdQuill’s expert representatives.

In two short years, EdQuill has helped over 100 educators impact more than 2,000 students nationwide. Using the platform led to a 40% decrease in printing costs and increased productivity in administrative tasks for 100% of teachers. For these reasons and more, EdQuill earned a Cool Tool Award (finalist) for “Best Classroom Management Solution” as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. Learn more. 

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Tem wants to do for utilities what neobanks have done for the financial sector: disrupt an industry using tech, streamline it, and cut out the middlemen.

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Enlarge / A "selfie" photo of China's Zhurong rover and the Tianwen-1 landing platform on Mars in 2021. (credit: China National Space Administration)

China plans to launch two heavy-lift Long March 5 rockets with elements of the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission in 2028, the mission's chief designer said Thursday.

In a presentation at a Chinese space exploration conference, the chief designer of China's robotic Mars sample return project described the mission's high-level design and outlined how the mission will collect samples from the Martian surface. Reports from the talk published on Chinese social media and by state-run news agencies were short on technical details and did not discuss any of the preparations for the mission.

Public pronouncements by Chinese officials on future space missions typically come true, but China is embarking on challenging efforts to explore the Moon and Mars. China aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 in a step toward eventually building a Moon base called the International Lunar Research Station.

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600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

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600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

Scanned by Joey Wawzonek

600DPI PDF and RAW Scans [External Link to Internet Archive]

IEEE TryEngineering has partnered with Keysight Technologies to develop lesson plans focused on electronics and power simulation. Keysight provides hardware, software, and services to a wide variety of industries, particularly in the area of electronic measurement.

IEEE TryEngineering, an IEEE Educational Activities program, empowers educators to foster the next generation of technology innovators through free, online access to culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, and educationally sound instructional resources for teachers and community volunteers.

The lesson plans cover a variety of STEM topics, experience levels, and age ranges. Educators should be able to find an applicable topic for their students, regardless of their grade level or interests.

Lesson plans on circuits

There are already a number of lesson plans available through the Keysight partnership that introduce students to electrical concepts, with more being developed. The most popular one thus far is Series and Parallel Circuits, which has been viewed more than 100 times each month. Teams of pupils predict the difference between a parallel and serial circuit design by building examples using wires, light bulbs, and batteries.

“TryEngineering is proud to be Keysight’s partner in attaining the ambitious goal of bringing engineering lessons to 1 million students in 2024.” —Debra Gulick

The newest of the Keysight-sponsored lesson plans, Light Up Name Badge, teaches the basics of circuitry, such as the components of a circuit, series and parallel circuits, and electronic component symbols. Students can apply their newfound knowledge in a design challenge wherein they create a light-up badge with their name.

Developing a workforce through STEM outreach

“Keysight’s commitment to workforce development through preuniversity STEM outreach makes it an ideal partner for IEEE TryEngineering,” says Debra Gulick, director of student and academic education programs for IEEE Educational Activities.

In addition, Keysight’s corporate social responsibility vision to build a better planet by accelerating innovation to connect and secure the world while employing a global business framework of ethical, environmentally sustainable, and socially responsible operations makes it a suitable IEEE partner.

“TryEngineering is proud to be Keysight’s partner in attaining the ambitious goal of bringing engineering lessons to 1 million students in 2024,” Gulick says.

The IEEE STEM Summit, a three-day virtual event in October for IEEE volunteers and educators, is expected to include a session highlighting Keysight’s lesson plans.

Educators and volunteers engaged in outreach activities with students can learn more on the Keysight TryEngineering partnership page.

This award-winning Cool Tool covers Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth and Space Science with lessons specifically designed for early learners. Within the subjects, there are eight units and 28 modules. Each module has eight sessions that teach science using the 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate).

Within this digital product, the sessions contain 1000s of online and offline activities that can be completed in as little as 10 minutes and teach students using videos, interaction, poems, songs, and digital notebooks. Students broaden their vocabulary and understanding of scientific terminology while allowing educators to teach literacy and science simultaneously. The exercises incorporate literacy skills, exposing students to science vocabulary, sight words, and more.

Stacy Taylor has more than 18 years of educational experience. Taylor is the Principal of Advance Learning Academy in Maitland, Florida. Advance Learning Academy provides its students with a strong, innovative curriculum that includes 1-to-1 iPad usage. One of the favorite programs is Science4Us. Taylor mainly chose Science4Us because it aligns with her school’s focus of providing a unique and differentiated experience that works with each child.

“There are so many options within the Science4Us program and teachers can pick and choose what works best with their students,” says Taylor. In fact, the students enjoy using it so much that Taylor notes that sometimes the students don’t feel like they are doing schoolwork. “They want to play the games on their iPads and use it during their earned break time!” To her, this dedication speaks volumes.

For these reasons and more, ExploreLearning Science4Us is a Cool Tool Award Winner for “Best STEM Solution” as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. Learn more.

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The Mystery Science service is a K-5 ready-to-use multimedia science and STEM curriculum resource used in more than 50% of United States’ elementary schools each month and 3+ million students to help educators turn the conventional approach of answering children’s questions on its head. This simple student-centered approach, and the services’ ease of use, sets a new trend in science education

Discovery Education acquired Mystery Science in 2020 and the service is now available on the Discovery Education K-12 platform. This puts all the tools needed to create engaging digital learning environments at educators’ fingertips.

Mystery Science provides simple-to-use science lessons that inspire students to love science. Each lesson begins with a question that students find interesting, and students explore these questions through interactive videos of fostering a sense of wonder and actively supporting student engagement in accompanying discussion prompts and labs using simple science supplies.

Mystery Science contains everything teachers need to get students engaged in hands-on science and make that subject the best class of the day. For these reasons and more, Mystery Science from Discovery Education is a Cool Tool Award Winner for “Best Science Solution” as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. Learn more. 

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What works best in early childhood—hands-on experience with physical manipulatives and playful opportunities for self-directed knowledge construction—also works best for teaching AI. KIBO provides a research-proven method to explore computer science, engineering, and now AI concepts in early childhood STEM education. With KIBO, advanced and abstract concept like AI become accessible to young kids.

This new (and free!) AI curriculum, Thinking with KIBO: Introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Early Grades, is designed to help students in grades 1–3 understand how artificial intelligence works, what its limitations are and how to think critically about how these tools can improve lives in their communities.

Featuring five lessons, students explore fundamental ideas about AI through activities with the hands-on and screen-free KIBO robot. Thinking with KIBO engages with computer science concepts in K–5, alongside evolving content standards in artificial intelligence. The curriculum is ideal for a 5–6 week unit in computer science or technology/media classes, as well as afterschool programs, enrichment centers, libraries, makerspaces, and more.

The curriculum’s core learning objectives include:

• AI is a tool made by people.
• AI systems (and robots!) make decisions based on input and rules.
• AI doesn’t think like people do, and it’s not alive.
• AI can help people solve difficult problems.

Based on 20+ years of early child development research by co-founder, Dr. Marina Bers, KIBO engages young students to learn STEAM concepts through play and creative self-expression. KIBO provides developmentally appropriate robotics and coding to young learners: teaching computer science, engineering, and computational thinking.

For these reasons and more, KIBO Robots is a Cool Tool Award Winner for “Best Robotics (for Learning, Education) Solution” as part of The EdTech Awards 2024 from EdTech Digest. Learn more. 

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