Digital Resources

Does your child use Chrome as their browser for school? In a recent article from Edutopia, special education teacher Kathryn Nieves shares a list of 10 free extensions for Google Chrome browsers that her students use most often at school. The list includes extensions such as Noisli, which provides customizable mixes of ambient sounds to aid concentration, and AlphaText, which lets users customize their browsers for accessibility. Others on the list are VoiceIn Voice Typing, which provides speech-to-text functions for dictating notes, and Dualless which gives the capability to split the screen so you can work in two tabs simultaneously. Nieves suggests trying these extensions out in the summer before the school year starts and schedules get hectic.

Are you curious about artificial intelligence (AI)? It is likely to become a big part of our children’s lives. Once artificial intelligence becomes virtually universal, human interactions, work and even morality will look different, says Alex Bates in an article from CIO. He even goes so far as to say “..we might not even have to speak anymore, instead exchanging thoughts and precepts with other humans or AI agents directly, using via neurotechnology like brain-computer interfaces.”

Many people feel that one of the advantages of using physical books over digital is the ability to make notes in margins, whether it be study notes in a textbook, recipe modifications in a cook book, or highlighting favorite lines in a novel. Now there are tools to make relevant comments or ask questions digitally in textbooks and non-fiction and fiction books for students, and even include web annotations of relevant resources, writes educator Matthew Farber on the Edutopia site. In his blog post, he shares several such resources that he believes help foster reading comprehension. Look for examples of specific resources and how they are used in the post and pass the information on to your school.

Do you or your kids create videos to share on Facebook? Maybe to help a nonprofit or school page, or even for your own business? If so, you may want to take a look at some new tips Facebook posted, including an infographic providing ideas for getting your videos noticed. Some of their recommendations include considering shorter lengths for teasers, ads or polls and long-form content for developing narratives or livestreaming. They also suggest tips such as hooking mobile audiences with vertical formats and close-up shots and provide ways to ensure content shows up in search engines, all useful advice if you are trying to increase views!

Are you curious at all about what happens to the data collected about your children at school? Leadership coach Andrew Knips says in a recent article of Edutopia online that two things schools should factor in is students' culture and identity. In his blog post, he shares six strategies to help support more equitable data analysis, including steps schools should take to address implicit bias not only about culture and identity, but gender and disabilities as well. This is a very interesting take on how to use data to make our schools more equitable.

EdSurge reports enrollment in virtual schools continues to grow, but research by the nonprofit National Education Policy Center has reported that these types of programs may be less effective than traditional schools. Michael Barbour, who teaches instructional design at Touro University California, says students in brick-and-mortar schools tend to outperform those in online and blended learning (a combination of online and traditional learning) programs. He finds this biggest issue to be a reliance by online instruction on evaluation by multiple choice questions that don’t promote analysis or deeper learning.

Some school districts are expanding students' access to health care and are curbing absenteeism through telehealth programs that provide students with virtual access to counselors, social workers, psychologists and other health professionals. About 85% of students who have a virtual health visit while at school return to class, says Amanda Martin, Center for Rural Health Innovation's executive director. But experts report that virtual visits with a medical professional are more effective when school nurses are involved, so many telehealth services offer a dual approach to care.

Is your child interested flying drones? It is important to know if your school or district has a drone policy if your children are going to be taking their drone to school for fun or even a project – whether school is in session or not. The Sentinel reports some school districts are considering adopting policies on the use of drones near schools. One district recently changed its own policy to ban the use of drones on district property unless the drone, and where it will be flying, has been approved by the superintendent.

Neowin reports the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is voicing concerns about the widespread practice of making the voices of digital assistants female, which it says reinforces gender bias. UNESCO is urging corporations and governments to consider a gender-neutral persona for digital assistants and to make software development teams more evenly balanced between genders.