With Innovation and Empathy, Remote Learning Becomes Accessible for All Students

edsurge | June 15, 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted daily life for virtually every educator, parent, and student in the U.S. It has disabled our education system, creating challenges to educational access, barriers to student academic progress and strains on teachers’ and students’ physical and emotional well-being.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) can support us in reframing how we think about the challenges created by the pandemic and provide us with the tools we need to navigate those challenges effectively. In an earlier essay, we discussed how teachers are leaning into SEL to adapt student services and unlock opportunities that, just months ago, may have seemed impossible. Another major hurdle that the pandemic has presented relates to accessibility and understanding how remote learning works—or doesn’t work—for many of our most vulnerable students, particularly those with learning differences.

Spotlight

The Anthology Education and Research Center has engaged with four leading higher education data practitioners who work daily to support their institutions and their students. They represent different roles and work in a varied set of institutional types. Their extensive experience provides them with unique perspectives on how data can be used across the many dimensions of a modern university.

Spotlight

The Anthology Education and Research Center has engaged with four leading higher education data practitioners who work daily to support their institutions and their students. They represent different roles and work in a varied set of institutional types. Their extensive experience provides them with unique perspectives on how data can be used across the many dimensions of a modern university.

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TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Savvas Learning Company Acquires Whooo's Reading and AI Technology

Savvas Learning Company | March 13, 2023

Savvas Learning Company, a K-12 e-learning solutions provider, has recently announced its acquisition of Whooo's Reading and its AI-driven technology. This acquisition would help teachers to assess students' writing and reading comprehension skills. It would enable teachers to determine whether their students comprehend the books they are reading with ease. With the strong support of the National Science Foundation, the AI-based technology working behind Whooo's Reading solution assists students in practicing reading comprehension skills. It empowers them with real-time feedback on their written responses to the open-ended critical thinking questions about the reading content. Its proprietary machine-learning algorithm automates the assessment process of their writing and provides teachers with actionable data based on the student's strengths and weaknesses. With this data, teachers can organize and differentiate instructional content. Above all, it saves the valuable time of the teachers. CEO of Savvas Learning Company, Bethlam Forsa said, "Artificial intelligence technology has the power to transform K-12 education by dramatically helping to personalize the teaching and learning experience." She added, "The AI-driven technology that supports Whooo's Reading is a great example of this. It gives students personalized and adaptive feedback on their writing and reading skills, empowering them to grow as learners. It also provides teachers with valuable insights into which skills their students need extra support with, allowing them to customize instruction." (Source –Investors Observer) CEO and President of Whooo's Reading, Raphael Menko said, "Savvas is an innovative organization that is committed to creating high-quality personalized learning solutions," Raphael Menko, said. "We've always wanted to impact more students. We're thrilled now to be able to expand the reach of this incredible technology and impact the millions of students who use Savvas products." (Source –Investors Observer) About Savvas Learning Company Headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey, Savvas Learning Company, an education administration programs company, provides innovation and quality content for all PerK-12 grade levels and disciplines. It offers excellent educational resources like core curriculum, supplemental content, intervention programs, and professional development. It connects new ideas, thinking, and interaction to design learning solutions to prepare students to become a global citizen in the interconnected digital world. Teaming up with authors and educators, it leverages data-driven advanced technology for immersive, personalized, and flexible content. It gives teachers, as well as students, a real-world learning experience. It avails students of the chance to succeed in the classroom and life.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Springboard Partners with Gonzaga University to Deliver Tech Bootcamps

Springboard | January 27, 2023

On January 26, 2023, Springboard, an online learning platform that prepares students for in-demand careers, announced a partnership with Gonzaga University, a Jesuit liberal arts institute in Spokane (Washington), to provide students and prospective students with two bootcamps, namely Cybersecurity and Software Engineering. Employment for information security analysts and software developers is anticipated to increase over the next ten years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sanam Raza, Vice President and General Manager of University Partnerships at Springboard, shared, "We want to do all that we can to provide the knowledge and support to meet the surge in demand for talent in these fields," She added, "We look forward to working alongside Gonzaga to help close this skills gap in the tech workforce and share in their commitment to expanding what a 21st century educational institution can do." (Source – Business Wire) This is Springboard's first university collaboration in 2023 and its tenth collaboration overall. With a proven track record of success, Springboard has emerged as a leading partner for universities looking to broaden their offerings to students through asynchronous e-learning. Springboard's exceptional, cohort-based, human-guided programs combine one-on-one mentoring with live and instructor-led lessons. Springboard's curriculum is developed by experts in the field, and students receive hands-on assistance from industry professionals as well as career coaching on how to build a network and land a job. Individuals who take the courses will gain real-world experience and create unique work portfolios. The 360-hour Cybersecurity bootcamp will cover industry fundamentals, vulnerability assessment, systems and network security, security operations, and a capstone project to demonstrate specialized skills. The Software Engineering Bootcamp covers front-end and back-end web development, databases, data structures, and algorithms, with two capstone projects included. Students in similar programs at Springboard have received job offers from companies such as Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, and others in Fortune 100. The programs will be available to the public, and prospective students can enroll without prior industry or academic experience. Students who complete the program will be awarded an official Gonzaga University certificate. About Springboard Founded in 2013, California-based Springboard is an online learning platform that trains students for the most in-demand careers in the technology industry. More than 20,000 students in over 100 countries have used the company's systematic, mentor-led online learning programs to advance their careers. Employers such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Deloitte, Intel, IBM, and Salesforce have hired graduates from its programs. Springboard was recently included on the 2023 GSV EdTech 150 list, ranking the world's 150 most transformative digital learning growth companies.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Procare Solutions Launches Integrated Assessments for Child Care Centers to Track Young Children's Growth and Development

PRnewswire | March 23, 2023

Procare Solutions is pleased to offer a new way for child care centers to bolster their educational offerings by including integrated assessments within Procare's classroom management capability. With the release of Vine Assessments™, Procare Solutions has become the only provider of child care management software to offer integrated proprietary early childhood assessments for children from birth to 5 years old at no additional cost. Vine Assessments is an integrated framework that gives early childhood educators and staff a way to clearly articulate the growth and development of children in their care. It includes clear and easy childhood assessments that align with all 50 state standards and provides developmental continuums with 21 goals that apply to children from birth to age 5 as they prepare for kindergarten. "When early childhood educators can provide a robust assessment to their children and families, it elevates the learning and development of the children in their care and helps transform their businesses into true early childhood education programs," said Jon Pollock, chief product officer of Procare Solutions. With 91% agreement rate among child care professionals, Vine Assessments are easy to use and understand. Child care centers are leading providers of early childhood education and are at the forefront of addressing delays to help young learners recover from setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Children born during the pandemic are scoring lower on average on tests of gross motor, fine motor, social and problem-solving skills compared with those born before COVID-19, studies have shown. In addition to learning delays, many of these children are talking, walking and interacting later and less frequently. "Children need age-appropriate assessments well before entering kindergarten, as well as assessments that teachers of all experience levels can conduct accurately and without additional stress during their already busy days," said JoAnn Kintzel, CEO of Procare Solutions. "We are continually looking for ways to help centers foster the growth of children in their care, which is something Vine Assessments can help achieve." "The list of 21 goals is a solid list that providers will find familiar and useful. The numbering system is very intuitive and helpful for navigating the instrument," said Dr. Kristen Burmester, director of administration and operations of the early childhood education program at the University of California at Berkeley. Teachers using Procare will be able to tie their lessons and observations directly to the appropriate Vine Assessment indicator from the web-based software and Procare child care mobile app. The simplicity of the Vine Assessments for teachers is what won over Melissa L. Hood, director of early childhood education at the Calvert School in Baltimore. Her center uses Vine Assessments for all 150 kids at their two centers. "Assessments provided by the state were too cumbersome and more suited to elementary school-aged children," she said. "They sometimes were 15 pages long and too difficult for parents to decipher." A childhood assessment conducted through Vine Assessments offered a better alternative. "It's to the point, it's accurate, it relates to age-appropriateness," she said. "Our teachers like Vine Assessments much better than the state-provided assessments." About Procare Solutions For more than 30 years, Procare Solutions has been the leading provider of child care management software, family engagement, integrated payment processing, technology and services. Procare is used by two out of three child care businesses that use child care management software. The company supports more than 37,000 child care centers, preschools, daycares, after school programs, camps and related facilities with comprehensive software that has the power to manage every aspect of their business, enrich classroom and family interactions, and automate the payment process. Procare offers web-based, on-premises and cloud-hosting solutions and supports customers of all sizes from single-center operations to complex multinational enterprises.

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