Cañon City Schools is a school district in Colorado and funding is generally difficult to obtain. In 2017, the Mill Levy allowed funding to be designated to specific devices which helped the school district move toward a more ‘Future Focused’ educational approach. The district’s goals included incorporating more interactive technology to adapt to students’ learning needs. The mill levy allowed schools to implement a 1:1 Chromebook program and start investigating interactive devices for classrooms to work alongside Chromebooks.

The Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) is going virtual this year! FETC will be a free interactive, online event being held from January 26-29, 2021. This annual conference emphasizes the critical role that education technology plays in providing complete teaching and learning experiences and this year is no different. Expect to hear from ed tech leaders about the strategies and tools they use, and how they have proven to positively impact and benefit their school communities.

In 2019, Shelby County Public Schools (SCPS) invited Clevertouch® to demo and discuss possible education technology opportunities for the district, including a pilot project with Marnel C. Moorman School Center, a K-8 learning center. SCPS, located in Shelbyville, KY, had been looking at panels from other ed tech companies with the goal of replacing the aging technology already in use and found that with the brands they piloted, certain features would not work. They were looking for an interactive flat panel that was intuitive, could help them improve interactive tech across the district, was a value-rich solution, and worked!

The school year is in full swing and depending on how your area has been affected by the ongoing pandemic, that ‘swing’ may feel more like a roller coaster ride! With possible adjustments in learning environments from in-class to remote instruction, teachers should be prepared. This includes classroom management procedures and routines that should be easy to implement and follow. Managing a classroom virtually has its challenges such as lack of teacher’s physical presence for monitoring engagement, and limited view of facial expressions and body language to communicate thoughts and feelings but it is not impossible. At this point in the year, routines have been established to navigate the learning day. How can these procedures be adapted to remote instruction? Review the chart below.

Clevertouch, a Boxlight group, was recently awarded a 3-year contract to help update the education technology in a large school district in West Texas (U.S.) that was looking to innovate their students’ learning environment. The district will be outfitted with the multi award-winning IMPACT™ touchscreens, the accompanying software, LYNX Whiteboard, and Clevershare.

Teachers across the country are working under incredible conditions to “normalize” the learning experience for their students. This means extra hours creating interactive lessons, planning a simplified scope and sequence of lessons, and deciding which materials will be used for asynchronous learning and the ones for synchronous sessions. Combine this with trying to balance their personal lives, and more teachers have admitted to experiencing burnout (and we’re barely halfway through the school year). Of course, the availability of education technology for helping teachers teach and students learn is plentiful but dizzying – there’s so much out there! Before making a selection, let’s look at what teachers have found successful for remote instruction.

Heads of schools are responsible for nurturing the entire school community — students, staff, parents, and other stakeholders. A school leader is constantly thinking of ways to improve teaching and learning, how the school functions, while boosting school morale. The ultimate goal is to create a space where everyone feels cared for, is given dignity, and feels protected. The following are books that school leaders should consider adding to their professional reading collection.

The start and end of 2020 may, on the surface, appear to be a complete dichotomy. January and February seemed to be the beginning of a promising year, then March happened. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forced all of us to change how we view and make choices about health and safety, education and work, and recreation and travel. For millions of us, there were countless “What now?” moments.

This year, students have had to deal with events that are unique to say the least. Winter break is a great time to recharge and refresh, anticipating a new year with new challenges to navigate. Seeing how 2021 may begin with more stringent safety and health protocols leading to increased isolation, books are a fantastic way to “escape reality” for a moment. So, check out a few books from the list below and cozy up with a favorite blanket.

It’s been quite a ride this year! As we end the year (FINALLY), we’re sharing our most popular blog posts of 2020. So, grab a cup o’ joe and enjoy!