K-12

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories recently hosted its third annual daylong Hour of Code at Potlatch Elementary School, where a coding education program taught students to build their own animations and mini-games.

A recent study of Generation Z’s attitudes toward STEM found that only 29 percent of them cite STEM jobs as their first career choices, despite 75 percent expressing interest in the subjects academically.

The Global EdTech Testbed Network boils down the process of trialing ed-tech innovations to four “I’s” — inclusivity, innovation, infrastructure and impact — while also calling for more resources and institutional support.

Houston Independent School District ended its agreement for free laptops and Internet access from Verizon over a disagreement about professional development. Now lawmakers are saying students will be negatively impacted.

In Ohio, Akron Public Schools have invested in magnetic locking pouches for students to store phones during the day, while Beachwood City Schools give high school teachers discretion over how to regulate them.

For Computer Science Education Week, computer science students in Colorado are using free coding games to teach the subject to elementary students at area schools.

With the addition of Soapbox Labs’ voice engine, Curriculum Associates has new language and literacy-focused tools in its portfolio that can recognize age-specific regional and cultural dialects.

The different needs of technical operation and pedagogy sometimes put school IT and education-technology departments at odds, but leaders can reduce friction with regular open communication and shared priorities.

The Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education's internship program for high school juniors and seniors connects them with jobs at local technology companies that pay at least $50,000 per year.

Eight months after launching LASAR, a bespoke app for students and community members to send anonymous tips about dangerous or suspicious behavior, Los Angeles Unified School District has logged 591 reports.

As artificial intelligence ushers in a sea change that touches all aspects of education, schools might keep up by convening a council of stakeholders to discuss good ideas and get district-level buy-in.

School IT departments could make progress on backlogs of device repairs by availing themselves of student tech-support teams, like those being piloted at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education through Vivacity Tech.

Some legal questions around generative AI in schools have yet to be resolved, but in general, schools must vet their vendor contracts carefully and get parental permission for students to use the technology.

Josh Clark, who heads a private school in Massachusetts that serves children with language-based learning differences, is optimistic that artificial intelligence will enable tools that address their specific challenges.

The Buffalo School Board has reached an agreement with the city of Buffalo to allow BusPatrol to install outward-facing cameras on all school buses to catch drivers who pass buses when their red lights are flashing.

To prepare students for a future in which various forms of artificial intelligence will be ubiquitous, schools will need to impart foundational knowledge about how the tools work and what they produce.

In its fourth and final annual report on K-12 connectivity, the nonprofit Connected Nation found major increases in some states and nationwide in how many districts meet the FCC's Internet speed standard of 1 Mbps.

Data from the Iowa Department of Education shows that students at Mason City schools improved in several categories compared to last year, but in many areas continues to fall well below state averages.