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.
The Census and Schools
The 2020 federal census will have substantial impacts on American schools. Learn how the once-a-decade count could affect education.
- The U.S. Census Bureau explains how the census can determine the future of many programs, including technology applications. [U.S. Census Bureau]
- In advance of the census, the bureau is launching a new program called Statistics in Schools. [EducationDrive]
Ed Tech News about Google Growth
Google’s everyday tools for spreadsheets, slide presentations, word processing, forms, and more are in use on campuses across the country. But the search and web service giant is also pushing into new educational areas in AI (artificial intelligence) and student self-assessment.
- Now Google tools can empower students to track their learning. Here’s how Sheets and Forms can be transformed into tools for self-assessment. [edutopia]
- Google is also expanding the capabilities of Teachable Machin. A webcam-based AI learning program has been relaunched with the ability to integrate AI to design web pages, apps, and more. [engadget]
Health Beyond Health Class
A school’s work often goes beyond education, ensuring that students are, for example, fed, cared for, and kept healthy. Here, too, technology can help.
- In Wisconsin, elementary students are using tech not only to make math learning more efficient, but to learn more about self-esteem and mental health. [Chippewa Herald]
- In our home state of Texas, one school district is helping students with free, digital doctor’s visits. [Valley Central]
…And Finally in Ed Tech News
Want to feel old? What NPR has called “perhaps the most popular educational computer game of all time,” The Oregon Trail, debuted in an eighth grade history classroom in Minnesota on December 3, 1971 — that’s 48 years ago!
Photo: Siora Photography