Getting Smart Staff

EdTech 10: Live from SXSWedu 2015

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Events like SXSWedu serve as the bullhorn for announcements on everything from product releases to new partnerships. As common as brisket and queso, announcements on everything ed at SXSWedu can often serve as the launch pad for year’s upcoming innovations in learning. Team Getting Smart was on the ground at the event where we learned of news and innovation updates firsthand. Here’s 10 announcements from SXSWedu 2015 to note, share, and follow.

1. Dun, Dun, Data. 32 national associations, including teacher and EdLeader orgs like NEA, NSBA, and SETDA, endorsed Data Quality Campaign & CoSN’s new Student Data Principles. They outline 10 foundational principles for using and safeguarding students’ personal information.

2. Making It Happen. Makerversity DiY — Make Tools for Learning, from Pearson and Makerversity now offers 10 lessons designed for 10 to 14 year olds to help build competency in STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics).

3. Teaming Up for Econ. Macmillan Education Partners and MobLab announced a new strategic partnership to provide students and faculty with access to a library of game-based economics experiments. The new collaboration enables Moblab to, “Combine our games with rich content for a seamlessly integrated and innovative learning experience,” said Walter Yuan, Co-founder of MobLab.

4. Power In Numbers. Pearson and Instructure, Getting Smart Advocacy Partner, announced at SXSWedu a partnership that will integrate the Canvas LMS with PowerSchool, the largest student information system in the U.S.

5. MOOCin On Up. EdPolicy Leaders Online is live! Getting Smart Advocacy Partners, The Foundation for Excellence in Education and Instructure have teamed up to create free, self-paced courses tailored to policy-makers.

6. Learn Without Limits. McGraw-Hill Education Connect® is now mobile! The new release of Connect features a student-centric design optimized for use on tablets via native apps. McGraw-Hill is now also offering students who purchase Connect the option of adding a print version of their course content for as low as $15.

7. ELL Levels Up. 80% of 5.5 million ELL students’ native language is Spanish according to DreamBox Learning, Getting Smart Advocacy Partner. The leaders in adaptive math released Six Strategies to Reach, Teach, and Close Math Gaps: For Latino English Language Learners in Elementary and Middle School that shares strategies that can make a difference in ELL achievement.

8. From The Audience. Two new crowdsourcing campaigns were launched by Digital Promise while in Austin. In an effort to gain insights from EdTech developers and K-12 educators and administrators, 10 participating school or district leaders will be chosen for a $1,000 stipend for a trip to San Francisco, to attend workshops with leading software companies in partnership with the Education Technology Industry Network.

9. Fresh Off The Press. A new report was released by The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) that explores performance-based funding formulas in online programs, it explores adequacy costs, and outlines guiding principles of performance-based funding to reward outcomes.

10. DTS: Direct To Students. USA Today and Curriculet have joined forces in an exclusive partnership to provide daily news coverage direct to schools. Student users of Curriculet will now be able to read news articles with embedded assessments, these integrated assessment checkpoints focus on specific skills and CCSS.

Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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