Home Educational Trends Ed Tech News Roundup: Screen Time, LEGO, and Enchiladas

Ed Tech News Roundup: Screen Time, LEGO, and Enchiladas

by Andrew Roush
ed tech news


Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of biweekly 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.

Metrics and Measures

Every strategy, technique, or tool has an effect. To understand that effect, we use goals, metrics, and measurements. These are omnipresent tools for educators, but they are also changing.

  • In an effort to boost language skills in learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, Detroit is one of five cities launching a new program that gives young children recording devices known as talk pedometers. Instead of counting steps, these tools count how many words a child hears and speaks during the day, a metric tied to linguistic success. [Detroit Free Press]
  • There’s a decent chance that you’ve used Google’s suite of tools before. Today, Google is in nearly every school — Google, in fact, claims that 90 million teachers and students have used it. Now, the tech giant is quantifying their impact even more with a new “transformation report.” [EdSurge]

Screen Time

Almost everyone spends time on a mobile device, but that time is not created equal. Some things can be more useful than others. Even college choices are being made by students skimming social media.

  • A new meta-analysis of screen time in children and adolescents finds that overall screen time doesn’t change academic performance. But when types of screen usage were broken out, researchers found that “time spent on television viewing and video games was associated with poorer academic achievement.” [CNN]
  • When those adolescents consider post-secondary education, research indicates that students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, are taking to social media to check out the stats on their future schools. [Diverse: Issues in Higher Education]

LEGO Firsts

LEGO is breaking ground on projects to make the benefits of the building system available to all.

  • With the help of FIRST Robotics League, LEGO is launching the FIRST LEGO League Junior, a new competition for four-to-six year-olds using LEGO’s Duplo bricks to learn about architecture, civil engineering, infrastructure, sustainability, and urban planning. [STEAM Universe]
  • LEGOs are a simple toy to use, but LEGO sets aren’t always universal. People with special needs may not be able to access instructions that they can use. Now LEGO has made their toys more accessible with Braille and audio instructions for the visually impaired. [Washington Post]

…And Finally

The enchiladas served on Wednesdays in San Antonio’s North East ISD are beloved by students and alumni. NEISD showed their own appreciation with a digital video to connect with Tex-Mex mavens by sharing their recipe in a Facebook video.

Enchilada Recipe – North East ISD

For years we have been getting asked about our famous enchilada recipe and today in honor of ENCHILADA WEDNESDAY, we are releasing a step-by-step video guide so you can enjoy them any day of the week. Now, EVERY DAY is ENCHILA-DAY! #theNEISDway

Posted by North East Independent School District – NEISD on Tuesday, September 24, 2019

 

Photo: Kendall Ruth

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1 comment

amanda wright October 6, 2019 - 7:20 pm

I Love how they shared their school recipe !!!! that would be an amazing idea if schools that had great food would share ideas with each other !!!!!

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