Digital Resources

Seemingly innocuous digital tools and features, such as text size and cursor color, can help students learn — or hamper the experience. A built-in Chromebook feature, for example, not only makes the cursor larger, but it also draws a red circle around the object, making it easier to spot helping distracted remote learners. Gendered voices are another example. Having the option to select a particular voice can enable children and teens to choose the one that puts them most at ease. Text to speech tools are built into most devices and include other features such as voice typing and transcription, and Chromebooks have a built-in screen reader that reads aloud full pages or selected text. The tool highlights individual words as well as the paragraphs that contain them. Other features include options to adjust the speech rate and voice. Additional features are also available.

About 90% of first-grade students at a Washington, D.C., school achieved targets in reading in March, but in the fall -- following a period of remote instruction -- every student was lagging behind in reading, and none read at grade level. Teachers and families are working to recover the learning loss, yet educators and experts say it is an example of the potential long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic on learning.     

Moon Mark has forged a partnership with Lunar Outpost to send race cars, designed and piloted remotely by high school students, to the moon in 2021. "This is a way to get the young generation involved in discovering new technology, and stretching their minds in a way that's never been done before in history," said McLaren P1 designer Frank Stephenson, who is involved in the project.

Learning from home has been "a roller coaster," according to Samantha Nicole Vicedo, a junior at Luther Burbank High School. In a blog post, Vicedo and other students share what the experience of remote instruction has been for them, including Cheyenne Lo, also a junior, who shares frustrations with technology and teachers who ignore certain time limits. It is a good read for parents who may be having trouble getting kids to describe their issues with remote learning and would like to gain some perspective.

The coronavirus pandemic has altered how students interact with school libraries. In one example, Susan Gauthier, a library services director in a Louisiana district, says that six years ago she directed librarians to limit spending on e-books to 10% of their budgets, but now e-book usage is on the rise and she is reconsidering the future of schools' collections. Interestingly enough, high schoolers have put up the most resistance to the ebook transition. Gauthier suspects one factor is the district’s focus on purchasing perpetual ebooks, the ones libraries can access forever, over more popular titles that with restrictive licenses. For example, students may login to the database of titles looking for Angie Thomas’ bestselling young adult novel “The Hate U Give,” but Gauthier has to weigh demand against the fact that the district would lose access to it after 26 borrows because of publishers’ pricing models. 

Thirty-nine percent of principals and school district leaders surveyed say they no longer will close schools for inclement weather, instead adopting remote learning days in those circumstances. Another 32% say they are considering the move, according to EdWeek Research Center data. Other leaders say they will maintain snow days to provide students with a bit of “normalcy” during an unprecedented year.

With an end to virtual learning not yet in sight, schools should focus on "access to consistent, high-quality remote or online learning," according to 54% of parents surveyed by the National Parents Union. 37% said they thought a safe return to in-person instruction should be prioritized. The survey also reviews parent opinions on learning loss, state testing and schools’ decision-making processes.

Sixty-seven percent of teachers report using more digital books this year than last, according to a survey of 300 teachers and 100 administrators by OverDrive Education. Of those surveyed, a majority said they were conducting at least some instruction online. This of course, is a sign of the times, but important now more than ever to keep in mind the students that lack access to technology. Among teachers in rural schools, 58% say they don’t use any ebooks in their classes.

The election may be over, but the past four years has shown not just how fast the news moves, but how inaccurately. Finding vetted sources for our kids is more important now than ever. Four current affairs podcasts for kids were recently reviewed and recommended for kids in an article in The New York Times. The list includes daily, weekly and bi-weekly shows. Interested in building your kids critical thinking skills? Try The Big Fib, a show for 7 to12 year olds. The show has a fact-or fiction theme, such as  “Toilets,” in which a 9-year-old named Theo has to figure out whether a civil engineer named Gloria really created a solar-powered toilet, or if the other grown-up in the hot seat, Joe, is really an expert plumber. It’s a goofy premise that nevertheless shows children how to be good skeptics and equips them with the critical-thinking tools they need to interpret the world around them.

Many of us look to find things that will help us find our happy place, and music streaming service Spotify announced recently that many people are using their service to do just that, by creating their own mental health playlist. Spotify has seen a 57% increase in streams related to “mindfulness,” “calm” and “self-care” since last year. Podcasts related to self-help and self-care also saw a dramatic bump on the platform, with a whopping 122-percent increase in streams. 

Of course, what exactly constitutes a “mental health playlist” is slightly less clear. Every mind is different — both when it comes to personal taste and actual brain chemistry — and what one person finds relaxing another may find to be grating. Some people may turn to guided meditation to unwind, while others may gravitate toward a playlist of soothing new-age ones from the likes of Enya and Yanni. Maybe ambient instrumentals are what get you feeling Zen, while death metal might feel like a cathartic release to someone else. Still, having a mental health playlist is one way your digital devices could add calm to your life.