Ed Tech News Roundup: Change, Access, and Activism

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.

Continuity and Change

With many teachers handling new ways of teaching, heading back into classrooms, and finding new ways to teach, even in-person, Ed Tech has taken to considering which tech-driven changes will endure and which might not.

• Micah Castelo explains how the changes to educational IT may have a lasting impact. [Ed Tech]
• Melissa Lim, a technology integration specialist at Portland Public Schools in Oregon, discusses some of the positive changes she’s seen in the use of ed tech. [Ed Tech]
• Meanwhile, professors Scott Latham and Michael Braun explore the lingering changes tech is bringing to higher ed. [Ed Tech]

Access and Equity

Throughout the nation, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed challenges in providing accessible and equitable education for all.

• Virginia provides one of many examples of a renewed push for rural broadband access. [WSLS Roanoke]
• GeekWire’s “Geek of the Week” profiles Mike Tholfsen, whose career has focused on educational accessibility. [GeekWire]
• Access is vital at every level of education. College students are voicing their concerns that some students may not be getting the support they need in a vital and changing time. [Ed Surge]

Policy and Protests

Across the nation, many teachers are heading back onto campus, though many things have changed. And many educators are voicing concerns over planning, effectiveness, and health and safety.

• As educators in one South Carolina district head back to their classrooms, teachers say they feel as if they’re being treated “like pawns.” [Post and Courier]
• Some educators are staging walkouts or “sick outs” in protest against re-opening policies they see as short-sighted, including in Idaho and even Houston. [Ed Surge]
• Houston Public Media takes a deeper dive into the concerns of educators in Houston. [Houston Public Media]

Photo by Andrew Foster from Pexels