The New Year is almost here and the countdown is on. This has been a busy year, with school districts working to close the Homework Gap, continuing the growth of 1:1 and mobile devices, and even incorporating more ed tech innovation into the classroom.
Here are our top 10 favorite blog posts from 2017! Let’s start the countdown from 10... 9… 8…
10. Tips for Creating a More Effective Pilot Program
With all the options available for bringing ed tech into the 21st-century classroom, deciding which program is the right fit for your school district can often seem like an overwhelming decision. And it’s certainly an important one.
But once you’ve decided which program to go with, the hard work doesn’t end. It’s not enough to choose which ed tech program you want. You have to develop a pilot program to successfully integrate the program into your classroom and to genuinely gauge its long-term potential.
And this was certainly a hot topic in 2017. Get your pilot program ready for 2018 by checking out this blog post.
9. Why Teach Your K-12 Students How to Code?
Coding was – and in some cases, still is – a strange, mysterious form of magic.
But that was then.
Now, coding is growing in popularity. So popular, in fact, that children from elementary to high schools across the country are learning how to code – a skill that can strengthen digital literacy and prepare them for a future with more career options.
Coding is going to continue picking up steam, especially with the annual Hour of Code and more jobs looking for coding skills. Read all about coding with this popular blog.
8. Top 5 School District Technology Goals for the Year
We were curious to hear from superintendents, chief technology officers, IT directors, and other ed tech leaders to learn about their top tech goals for the 2017-2018 school year, so we asked them. From 1:1 initiatives to beefing up BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs, one thing is clear: Improving the technology experience in and outside of the classroom is a top priority.
These technology goals still ring true for this year and next. Speaking of goals for next year...
7. 10 Ed Tech Programs for the New Year
Our #7 blog is all about 2018 and new ed tech programs.
What tools and programs should you keep an eye out for? Which ones are best suited for the unique needs of your district and its students? What are other school districts doing to inspire you? To help, we’ve previewed 10 ed tech programs you can look forward to hearing a lot more about in the coming year in this blog post.
6. How Does Your 1:1 Tech Program Stack Up?
As schools say goodbye to traditional computer labs, educators and administrators are quickly learning technology is conquering classrooms and finding its way into every aspect of learning. Technology is everywhere and where it isn’t, it is typically still wanted by everyone.
At Kajeet, we wanted to uncover the latest tech trends, specifically related to 1:1. We surveyed more than 300 K-12 educators and administrators from approximately 300 schools and districts.
So how does your tech stack up against other districts around the country? Find out with this blog. And the 1:1 fun continues.
5. [Infographic] The Current State of 1:1
In recent years, school districts across the nation have seen a proliferation of 1:1 programs. Now that educators have had time to adopt and incorporate 1:1 pedagogy into their curriculum, where do these initiatives stand today?
Whether your school has already adopted 1:1, or is considering it in the future, the latest Kajeet infographic, “The Current State of 1:1” has the stats with this colorful infographic.
4. Do Cell Phones Belong in Elementary Schools?
It’s hard to believe that, not long ago, cell phones were a rare sight. Now, they’re everywhere—including in our elementary schools. And their appearance in the small hands of the nation’s youngest students has stirred a debate over whether educational technology has crossed a line.
Check out this blog post to read the pros and cons – and let us know what you think in the comments.
3. Top 10 TED Talks for Ed Tech
This post in particular took off with educators around the nation. While TED has created a playlist of education talks, there’s a lot to go through.
We pulled out our top 10 talks for educators, from makerspaces to computers and all things digital. See if your favorite TED talk made the list! If not, let us know in the comments and we can make a new list for next year.
2. 10 New Grants for 2017 Ed Tech Initiatives
Finding the funds to pay for technology in your school district can be a big roadblock to long-term planning, which is the key to sustaining successful programs and projects.
However, through foundations, federal and state agencies, and even local businesses, funding is available. And it may be an option for your ed tech program. We gathered 10 new grants to help you navigate the grant funding universe.
And don’t worry. We consistently update our Homework Gap Funding database, which you can search by national grants or a particular state.
1. How Much Data Does a Student Need?
And here we are at the top blog post from the year. To close the Homework Gap, just how much data does a student need? This is not a simple question, but it is an important one.
This blog goes on to answer that question, discuss student data usage inside and outside the classroom, and how students access Internet off campus.
We’ll even give you a sneak peak into the answer. Student usage on the Kajeet Education Broadband™ program averages 1.57 GB per student per month, which includes data from the tens of thousands of students across the U.S. If you want to learn more about how you can close the Homework Gap in school or district, reach out to us here.
Thank you for your readership this year! Make sure to come back in 2018 for more great blogs and if there’s anything you’d like us to write about, just comment below.
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Digital Learning