EdTech 10: Taking EdTech to the Next Level

With news from Ohio that the majority of schools are blending and four in five teachers are increasing their use of tech,  it’s safe to say that EdTech leveling up.

Blended Schools & Tools

Buckeye Blend. Following the news of his recent step away from the Christensen Institute, Michael Horn, co-author of BLENDED, penned a blog on Forbes.com that shares a new report from the Christensen Institute and The Learning Accelerator that suggests that 58% of schools in Ohio are blending instruction. Looking to blend in your school or district? Check out the Blended Learning Implementation Guide.

Majority of Ohio schools using #blendedlearning, new report @christenseninst @LearningAccel http://t.co/oxm5JA0gva My latest @Forbes

— michaelbhorn (@michaelbhorn) October 15, 2015

Dreaming BIG. In 2012, the Gates Foundation (who recently celebrated 15 years) supported the creation of a “Dream Team” of 120 teachers. Since, the Dream Team produced 2000 videos, and piloted a collaborative learning experience. Now, four years later, 1 in 4 teachers in the U.S. are registered on LearnZillion.

.@LearnZillion Aligns Dream Team Content with Assessment and #PD http://t.co/TkYBhJbcKh #CCR @Getting_Smart pic.twitter.com/90bGMaokVj — Tom Vander Ark (@tvanderark) October 16, 2015

Make it to basecamp. Summit Public Schools, the most innovative secondary network in the country, launched the application for their second cohort of Basecamp partner schools with the resources to expand this program free of charge to many more schools in 2016. Learn and apply today.  

.@SummitPS taking applications for #school partners #BlendedLearning #EdTech http://t.co/KnbKykgZ3B pic.twitter.com/bT5BPPuoYe — Getting Smart (@Getting_Smart) October 16, 2015

Digital Developments

Going up. Four in five K-8 educators have increased their use of tech during the 2015-2016 school year. This is according to survey results released from Front Row Education. We wouldn’t be surprised if many of the devices used are Chromebooks. Here are four reasons for the rise of Chromebooks.

4 of 5 educators say they will increase use of #EdTech during 2015-16 school year https://t.co/iHyOaAV65L via @FrontRow #EdTech10

— tyler (@post_west) October 20, 2015

Reveling in it. Pearson’s REVEL Efficacy Report details the one year results of six institutions who implemented the REVEL digital learning tool. The most important development of the last five years has been new tools.  

New report illustrates how REVEL contributes to improved critical thinking skills for learners. http://t.co/du0zqRCI80 — PearsonNorthAmerica (@PearsonNorthAm) October 16, 2015

Adapting for adaptive. Voyager Sopris Learning and Enlearn have teamed up to combine the work of a learning provider of instructional solutions and services for educators, with developers of data-driven tech. The goal of the new collaboration? Fundamentally reimagine adaptive learning and the elementary classroom ecosystem. We recently featured leading adaptive platforms in Getting Smart on Next-Gen Learning Platforms.

.@VoyagerSopris & @EnLearnorg team up to reimagine #adaptive learning & the elementary classroom ecosystem https://t.co/53uBZypFu4 #EdTech10

— tyler (@post_west) October 20, 2015

Mmmmbop. LearnBop, exclusive partner of FuelEd (who co-authored How to Successfully Scale Personalized Learning), released 2,000+ K-12 technology enhanced items and full math content. Check out Getting Smart on Blending Middle Grade Math for student-centered approaches for blending math.    

Full Bank of New Technology Enhanced Items for K – 12 now available from @LearnBop http://t.co/8zrYvRadHU #mathchat #blendedmath #edtech10 — Megan Mead (@MegMarMe) October 16, 2015

Raising the bar. A joint effort between The Mind Trust and Public Impact resulted in Raising the Bar, Why Public Charter Schools Must Become Even More Innovative, that issues a national call to action for more innovation in U.S. charter schools and recommends steps for stakeholders in the charter sector to make the sector better, broader and bigger.

New from @TheMindTrust @PublicImpact – raise bar for charter innovation. Prelude to Charter School Design Challege http://t.co/rqO4NB8BQK

— Carri Schneider (@CarriSchneider) October 19, 2015

Future Minded. The latest in a series of seven white papers focused on the future of education, learning, and talent innovation is 2020 Vision: A History of the Future from GSV Capital. Exciting news from one of 40 innovation investors we highlighted in our 3rd Annual Smart Lists.  

.@gsvcap’s vision for how to address society’s greatest challenge… opportunity http://t.co/mLV9OrFUgj #EdTech10 #siliconvalley — tyler (@post_west) October 19, 2015

Teachers & Tech-ers

Winner, winner, winner! Curriculum Associates, Knowledge Delivery Systems and BrightBytes are among the winners of the Tech & Learning magazine’s 33rd Annual Awards of Excellence winners. We’re running our own ‘best of’ lists right now — check out the 3rd Annual Smart Lists.

An honor to take home two wins in the 2015 @techlearning Awards of Excellence for our Door 24 Plus app + i-Ready! http://t.co/xzC6mh4c1P

— CurriculumAssociates (@CurriculumAssoc) October 19, 2015

For more EdTech 10’s, check out:

• EdTech 10: 3rd Annual Smart List Series
• EdTech 10: With Arne Duncan Leaving… Now What?
• EdTech 10: Coming Together to Focus on What Works

LearnZillion is a portfolio company of Learn Capital where Tom Vander Ark is a Partner. Curriculum Associates, Pearson, and Knowledge Delivery Systems are Getting Smart Advocacy Partners.

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