EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Skyward Helps Districts Leverage Edtech as Digital Transformation Accelerates

Skyward | September 30, 2021

As district leaders have accelerated their reliance on technology and digital skills, it has become clear that some of the strategies and tools put in place during the last 18 months will remain in the post-COVID-19 education world.

For many school districts, leveraging their use of existing technology allowed them to make digital transformation a much less stressful experience.

One such district, Consolidated High School District 230 (D230) in Illinois, integrated their SIS (Skyward) with their LMS (Canvas) to help them transition to a successful virtual learning environment. While D230 already had plans in place for eLearning to be used for inclement weather days prior to the pandemic, the district had to speed up their plans when the pandemic hit. Luckily, the district's SIS easily integrates with many third-party solutions, so they were able to get their virtual learning environment up and running quickly.

"The integration [of Skyward] with Canvas has made it much easier to manage changes with courses, teachers, student rosters, team teaching, and more," stated John Connolly, chief technology officer at the district. "Our teachers especially love the gradebook passback feature."

Another district in Texas, Grand Prairie Independent School District, used Skyward to offer online enrollment amid the pandemic. With a student count of over 29,000, Grand Prairie ISD needed a way to enroll all students without in-person visits. Enter Skyward's New Student Online Enrollment (NSOE).

According to Bill Young, the district's director of student information systems, implementing the NSOE feature created convenience and peace of mind for both district administrators and district families.

"NSOE has been a great way to receive information from parents, process the information to get students enrolled, and communicate back to the parents, all with no face-to-face contact," said Young.

Finally, Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indiana, used Skyward to move their parent-teacher conferences online. The results surpassed expectations, with one elementary school reporting 100% participation.

"A silver lining to all the negatives of the pandemic is the move of parent-teacher conferences online," said chief operations and technology officer at the district, Pete Just. "Our participation is through the roof and teachers and parents are connecting to help students in ways they never had before. Engaging the adult in the student's life is key to student success. I think online parent teacher conferences are here to stay and that's a great thing!"

For D230, Grand Prairie ISD, MSD Wayne Township, and thousands of other districts around the nation, COVID-19 caused a quick pivot to remote learning with a heavier reliance on their edtech. By using Skyward in creative and innovative ways, these three districts thrived.

The pandemic created a rapid acceleration in districts' move to digital solutions,For districts, leveraging edtech they already own allows them to shift to a digital environment, without having to invest in additional software or learn new tools.

Ray Ackerlund, president of Skyward.
While it is impossible to know what the coming years of education will look like, these examples show how districts are using their edtech to stay future-ready as they anticipate what may happen next.

About Skyward
Skyward's school administrative software solutions are used by more than 2,000 public sector organizations worldwide, from small entities to statewide implementations. Since 1980, Skyward has remained committed to a better experience for every user.

Spotlight

The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on student enrollment. Based on a survey of K-12 and postsecondary administrators, this whitepaper focuses on experiences and predictions regarding demographic shifts.

Spotlight

The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on student enrollment. Based on a survey of K-12 and postsecondary administrators, this whitepaper focuses on experiences and predictions regarding demographic shifts.

Related News

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Jones & Bartlett Learning with LiveCarta Offers E-learning Solutions

Jones & Bartlett Learning | February 03, 2023

On February 02, 2023, Jones & Bartlett Learning, one of the providers of learning-performance management solutions, partners with LiveCarta, a collaborative platform for digital publishing and learning, to deliver customized e-learning resources for nursing educators. Through its platform, nursing educators can structure educational resources such as books, academic papers, video and audio clips, binders, and scholarly collections with the nursing education curriculum. This integration will acquire a slot in popular learning management systems (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboards, making it accessible to everyone, including the students. In addition, LiveCarta's platform will provide proven nursing education concepts, a developed flipped classroom experience, and just-in-time teaching (JITT) modes. Its collaborative publishing platforms and portals offer flexible, goal-oriented learning and a shared platform for digital content for authors, educators, and classmates. Publishers and content creators can sell the whole book, specific chapters, allowing students to collect data from different publications as course content and study aids. President of the parent company of LiveCarta, Tributary Publishing, Richard Speakman, said, "We built LiveCarta to provide educators with new tools to create the perfect online course pack. Educators can tailor books for their students, including only chapters they intend to teach and adding in additional materials to extend the original author's work. We are excited to partner with Jones & Bartlett Learning to offer nursing educators more innovative ways to bundle learning materials." (Source – Business Wire) Director of Product Management at Jones & Bartlett Learning, Matt Kane, said, "LiveCarta supports our mission to offer students and instructors flexibility in their learning resources. We're excited to offer select nursing education titles among the first products to be featured in the LiveCarta platform." (Source – Business Wire) About Jones & Bartlett Learning Jones & Bartlett Learning, which is a division of Ascend Learning, is one of the prominent assessment and learning-performance management solution providers for the secondary, post-secondary, and professional education markets. It also designs educational services and programs by modifying authoritative written content with innovative technology applications, thus creating engaging e-learning educational content catering to the needs of the current education system. In addition, it has been providing personalized, quality learning solutions across nursing, health administration, health professions, computer science, and public health.

Read More

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Genius Group Launches DBA Program in Strategic Partnership with SSBM

Genius Group Limited | March 16, 2023

On March 15, 2023, Genius Group Limited, an entrepreneur ed-tech and education company, announced the launch of its International Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program through a strategic partnership with the Swiss School of Business and Management (SSBM). Through this partnership, Genius Group would offer postgraduate degrees in academic management education focused on entrepreneurship. The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) has accredited SSBM. Both companies would work towards empowering personal and professional success for every student planning to build their careers in the entrepreneur sector. The DBA program specializes in about 12 domains like machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence, business analytics and exponential growth strategies. This program is for senior working professionals interested in the C-suite for entrepreneurial skills. It blends online learning with thesis support from SSBM's expert thesis supervisors from Geneva. Its faculty comprises industry experts and academic centers like the University of St. Gallen and Penn State, the University of Florence, and the University of Rome. CEO of Genius Group, Roger Hamilton said, "We are excited to partner with Swiss School of Business and Management Geneva to bring this International DBA program to our learners and expand our network of top universities. The business landscape is evolving rapidly, and we have seen a big demand for a new generation of entrepreneurial leadership that is more in tune with the rapid advances in technology we are experiencing. With SSBM's innovative and unique curriculum, we are excited to offer this program for the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders." (Source – Globe Newswire) CEO of SSBM Geneva, Ivana Silic said, "We are thrilled to expand our educational programs with Genius Group to offer educational excellence and our expertise in business education through our innovative cutting-edge technology and our high-quality learning experience." (Source – Globe Newswire) About Genius Group Limited Founded in 2015, Genius Group Limited, an education company, has developed an entrepreneurial education system that would transform the current global education system. It upgrades it with a more relevant student-centric curriculum. It prepares students with leadership, entrepreneurial and life skills. It has about 4.3 million users of different ages from different countries. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic's impact, it had overall growth in revenues and profits. It aims to develop a future-focused entrepreneur education system for early learning, primary and secondary school, university, adult education and corporate training. It connects students, teachers, leaders, and entrepreneurs with tools and a global community.

Read More

CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS

Walmart Partners Springboard for Educational Programs Through LBU

Springboard | March 09, 2023

On March 08, 2023, Springboard, an online learning platform, announced that Walmart selected it in partnership for upskilling and reskilling programs through Live Better U™ (LBU). Through this partnership, it would extend the reach of educational programs in technology and data careers. Springboard prepares students for in-demand careers through comprehensive educational programs. It would design the programs for upskilling and reskilling programs through Walmart's LBU in partnership . These education benefit programs are free of cost to Walmart and Sam's Club Associates in the U.S. It will offer courses in data analytics, data-driven strategic thinking and software development. Walmart's LBU program has empowered upward career mobility and removed all the obstacles to their access to education. The programs offered through Springboard for business focus on developing employees at Fortune 500 companies. CEO and Co-Founder of Springboard, Gautam Tambay said, "Walmart is a leader in career-driven development and we are thrilled to partner with them to deliver high quality education to their associates." He added, "Walmart and Springboard are both committed to ensuring that non-traditional students, regardless of their background, can build in-demand skill sets — helping them find new career paths, grow their earnings, and increase their economic security. Springboard graduates have earned over $1 billion in post-graduation salary since 2016, and this partnership will help us accelerate and extend that impact, which is particularly important in the current economic climate." (Source – Business Wire) Senior Vice President of Associate Learning and Leadership at Walmart, Lorraine Stomski said, "We're creating a path of opportunity for our associates to grow their careers at Walmart, so they can continue to build better lives for themselves and their families." She added, "We're excited to add Springboard to our list of education partners." (Source – Business Wire) About Springboard Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Springboard, an e-learning solutions provider, has been transforming the educational journey of learners since 2013. Every learner has unique learning needs, and it strives to address them. It teams with advisors and experienced mentors for the ideal learning experience. It works with the projects under the guidance of industry experts to provide the education needed for the current scenario. It supports learners at every step of their learning journey. It connects students to mentors and seniors for enhanced learning outcomes. It prepares students for career enhancement and success in their lives.

Read More