Crucial Moments for K-12 Education in the US - Preparing for what’s next in K-12 Education is more than buying a laptop and adopting a curriculum. It must involve careful consideration of the right device, the right tools, and the right outcomes to help all learners - whether students, educators, or administrators. The K-12 Blueprint team has created a collection of kits that explore the most common features of Microsoft* and Google* education offerings to evaluate which works best for educators and students. Each kit includes a white paper, abstract, infographic, and demo to provide multiple ways to understand this topic.
Student and staff physical and mental health has been a growing concern over the past two years, and the 2022-2023 school will most likely see those concerns in greater focus. In order to address this issue, schools have been implementing social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, training, and other solutions.
Accessible solutions are not merely a nice-to-have option, but are, in fact, a must have component of any technology solution. As more and more educators have flipped their instructional approaches to meet the needs of blended and hybrid learning, the result has been an increase in the amount of teacher-generated content as well as a greater reliance on open education resources, or OERs. Regardless of the source of the curriculum – a traditional publisher, OER, or educator-created – schools need to ensure all these meet compliance regulations and are accessible to all learners.
No one person engages in learning the same way. Schools are made up of diverse communities of students, all of whom deserve access to an equitable education – including best-in-class learning solutions and technologies. Some students have specialized learning needs and benefit from accessible options like translation in a home language or hearing a text read at a slower speed. When learning environments are created to address and support the unique needs of all students, equity becomes possible. Tools that give students an easy way to have texts of all kinds read aloud and offer customizable reading preferences can help limit reading distractions and help readers focus.
Since 2000, immigration patterns in the U.S. have shifted to include many more hubs around the country as opposed to several high concentrations, which has led to schools becoming increasingly diverse and serving more bilingual students. Consequently, the ability to effectively translate learning resources, both written and spoken, is a core tenant of the modern classroom. English Language Learners deserve the same right to a great education as their English-speaking peers. They deserve access to a rich curriculum and validation of their home language and culture. They deserve the best we have to give them.
Math Assistant in Microsoft OneNote empowers students to access and engage with mathematical content and concepts in more personalized ways. With built-in process explanations and Immersive Reader, students can access the instruction that they need when they need it and in their preferred format and language. Math Assistant offers a more comprehensive and accessible solution that helps students become expert learners.
As educators continue to depend upon digital learning resources to meet their students’ learning needs, close attention must be given to the 12 million U.S. student with limited or no home internet access—disproportionally students of color, those living in poverty, and rural communities—has on learners. When comparing both offline file access to learning content, accessibility, on-device storage, and offline creation and editing, Windows 11 devices provide a superior experience for learners than the equivalent experiences on Google Chrome OS.
