Digital Transformation

A study in Oklahoma will examine the benefits and challenges of the expansion of educational technology in classrooms, focusing on its impact on the health and academic performance of elementary school students.

Smartphones and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly didn't help, but when students receive their primary learning through apps and websites, they risk shortened attention spans and cognitive and behavioral declines.

After a bus driver shortage resulted in a delayed or canceled routes and stranded students last year, St. Louis Public Schools has a new $30 million contract with Zum Services to provide and track buses for 220 routes.

The exponential growth of data in the information age has not necessarily coincided with more effective education technology. Making the most of this data will require trust and conversation between multiple parties.

Facing staffing shortfalls and unable to renew contracts of many teachers who have been on emergency permits for multiple years, a school board in Indiana approved a one-year agreement for 41 virtual instructors.

The research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group developed a road map tool to guide higher education IT leaders through cost optimization strategy, communication and implementation.

A technology specialist in Pennsylvania created a computer game for first- and second-grade students that asks them to be digital detectives, challenging them to spot the real story or fact among fake ones.

A middle-school teacher in Riverside County, Calif., had students generate keywords from a section of a book, use them to prompt an AI image generator, then work in groups to see what the image was missing.

Beaverton School District implemented digital hall passes after large groups of students started meeting each other in hallways during class, but a parent alleges that the new system constitutes behavioral monitoring.

A technology-focused charter school in Oklahoma City uses a state-of-the-art school garden to teach students about planning, data collection, species identification, hydroponic plant beds and gardening-related apps.

Expecting a steep drop in federal funding next year, Denver Public Schools formed a working group of staff from IT, purchasing, curriculum and instructional departments to streamline the process for evaluating apps.

The U.K. media giant is expanding its educational offerings internationally, starting with the U.S., with an online learning hub containing more than 1,000 videos, lessons and other resources for K-12 teachers.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are in the process of revolutionizing education. Whether they do so for the better or worse will depend on educators.

Job applicants have already started using AI to get ahead, so K-12 districts would do well to start experimenting with what the technology can do to attract and process applications — and what it can't.

Fresno Unified School District had only 40 students enrolled in its online eLearn Academy before 2020. Now, its rebranded Farber School of Online Learning has become one of the largest online programs in California.

North Park University and the University of Illinois Springfield are expanding their workforce-focused virtual offerings, consistent with a trend in higher education to fill jobs by meeting students where they are.

A school board resolution acknowledges that technology plays an essential role in modern education but says it has to be “balanced with proven traditional methods to best support student achievement and well-being.”

A Lexington-area school district is proposing to replace paper packets used by bus drivers with tablets and hardware that can map routes, give audio directions and make sure students are on the right bus.