Created in partnership with NASA, Microsoft’s Minecraft Education has added virtual Artemis Mission Worlds, which will give STEM students a chance to use coding to design a rocket, navigate it to the Moon, and eventually, learn how to keep a Moon base habitat safe. All of this is designed to inspire the next generation of computer and space scientists. NASA’s future goal is to go to Mars.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/20/23
Education innovation organization Aurora Institute has released a new publication, “Going Beyond the Traditional: Next Gen Credentials and Flexible Learning Pathways.” The publication outlines the difference between what traditional high school diplomas and next generation credentials demonstrate about a student’s learning, competency, and achievement and makes recommendations for adopting new ways of tracking them.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/20/23
CTL Corp. has debuted HiddenApp for K–12 schools to keep track of loaned Chromebooks. The app integrates with the district’s Google Chrome Admin console and monitors, locates, and tracks devices through a dashboard, the company said. It does not invade privacy, but gives schools a better way to keep tabs on their Chromebook fleet.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/20/23
The parents of two California children are suing Securly, accusing the online-activity surveillance provider of violating California wiretapping and data privacy laws and of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by collecting protected private information without consent and selling it to third-party advertisers.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 07/20/23
McGraw Hill and Verizon Innovative Learning have announced new subject offerings and a collaborative feature update to their free mobile augmented reality app, McGraw Hill AR, launched last year. The updates will work both in and out of the classroom.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/20/23
Blackboard Learn Ultra is gaining new AI capabilities, as well as a host of other new features. The AI features will be rolled into production in September, with testing for Blackboard Learn Ultra clients in August.
A recent study conducted by University of California Irvine School of Education associate professor Jade Jenkins, along with other researchers, showed marked positive outcomes for Black and Hispanic disadvantaged children in the fifth grade who had attended pre-K programs. The study has implications for states such as California providing funding for free pre-K attendance.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/17/23
Parent Assist Link Solutions has unveiled its new software to assist parents, educators, and providers with early childhood (0-5 years) intervention information and tracking. The software is driven by AI and machine learning digital bots that can work on devices such as Amazon Echo and Apple Watch.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/17/23
Microsoft has introduced Visual Studio Code for Education, a new computer science instruction platform that takes students beyond beginner coding and teaches them tools used by professional developers. Microsoft is inviting educators to join the pilot program, try it out in their classrooms in the 2023–24 school year, and provide feedback.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/17/23
The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) has announced the GM New Teachers Academy, an initiative to train over 1,300 Black, Latinx, and Indigenous first-year STEM teachers of grades 3 through 12.
- By Kate Lucariello
- 07/17/23