Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of periodic ed tech news roundups. We hope you enjoy this one, and if you have a story you’d like to see included, let us know.
Summer’s right around the corner. As we prepare to take a much-needed deep breath, here’s what’s happening in the world of ed tech.
Looking Back, and Ahead
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be measured for years to come. As we look ahead to what appears to be a fully in-person fall semester in much of the U.S., educators are reflecting on the immediate effects of the lockdown, remote learning, and the loss that comes with a virulent outbreak.
- Math teacher Karen Atkinson explores the changes she saw during remote learning — and some of the benefits, especially for girls in STEAM subjects. [THE Journal]
- Researchers at Texas A&M University are working to understand the effects of remote teaching and the pandemic generally, and beginning to develop insights and host discussions on these topics. [Texas A&M]
- Around the world, the pandemic caused the deaths of many, including educators. Citing a lack of tracking by state agencies, a Dallas news station set out to document the lives of teachers lost to the disease. [WFAA]
Ed Tech Topics
Ed tech took a starring role in education in 2020 and the first half of 2021. As we head toward the fall, it’s important to reflect on how, not simply if, we will use educational technology in the future.
- Devices keep getting smarter, and there seem to be new gadgets and apps all the time. But without the media literacy skills needed to navigate the internet, students may not benefit. [Ed Tech]
- Further, Rick Hess notes that it’s important to monitor and understand “how bad ed-tech habits that formed during the shutdown risk compromising instruction and even slowing the return to school next fall.” [Education Week]
- Some analysts note that ed tech resources could be going the way of many media businesses by adopting a subscription-based model. [Education Technology]
Taking Tech Back to the Classroom
While the world focused on technological solutions to the challenges of lockdown, questions remain about how specific technologies might be integrated into traditional learning, considering all the lessons learned during the pandemic so far.
- Florida educators reflect on how the “pandemic proved technology’s worth,” and how they hope to use ed tech in the future. [K–12 Dive]
- Some important factors to note? Flexibility, power consumption, and cloud computing. [Ed Tech]
- For ed tech companies and tools to thrive, custom solutions to local problems may be a key factor in success. [eSchool News]
… And Finally
The Roman orator Circero once said that “if you have a garden and library, you have all you need.” One school in Maine is putting that to the test, using gardening to engage students in a variety of subjects. [The Daily Bulldog]
Photo by Vlad Chețan from Pexels
