46 edtech innovations at ISTELive 22

It was fantastic to gather in person at ISTELive 22 in New Orleans. Here’s a sample of the newest edtech innovations, products, and solutions eSchool News learned about during the show.

3M and Discovery Education announced 31 State Merit Winners in the 2022 3M Young Scientist Challenge. As the nation’s premier middle school science competition for 15 years, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge features outstanding innovations from young scientists that utilize the power of STEM to improve the world.  The 3M Young Scientist Challenge asks students in grades 5-8 to identify an everyday problem in their classroom, community, or the world and submit a one- to two-minute video communicating the science behind their solution.

Aperture was on hand to demonstrate its scalable SEL solution for K-12 that grows with students and staff, from teacher-based ratings and strategies at the elementary level, to student- and teacher-facing assessment and strategy software for high school students and staff. Research-based DESSA assessments provide partners with an SEL foundation rooted in the promotion of assets, not deficits.

ASUS announced the latest lineup of notebooks, desktops, displays, and networking solutions, featuring an array of innovative gaming and education products for students and educators in the K-12, higher education, and esports education sectors.  The ASUS Chromebook CR1 is a dependable option ready for a wide range of scenarios. Available in clamshell or convertible designs, this laptop is ready for a long lifespan of classroom use with its all-round rubber bumper, spill-resistant keyboard, and ultra-tough hinge. The ROG Strix GT15 desktop gaming PC offers tournament-grade performance with its powerful 12th Gen Intel CPU, up to the Core i7-12700KF, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU.

Avantis Education, maker of ClassVr, announced the launch of Eduverse – a ground-breaking new online platform that gives students access to a K-12 metaverse. In the Eduverse, students can access immersive, educational content and amazing VR experiences. They can interact with each other as avatars, all in a secure and controlled environment, inside and outside of the classroom.

AVer Information Inc., the award-winning provider of distance learning, video collaboration and education technology solutions, announced their participation in the ISTELive 22, one of the world’s most influential education events, hosted by The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). AVer will be launching the new U70i document camera, as well as showcasing award-winning classroom solutions designed to keep students engaged in different learning environments. 

Codelicious introduced attendees to its full-year computer science curriculum for K-12. Codelicious courses are delivered with everything teachers need to teach computer science, including lesson plans, assessments, and standards mapping. The curriculum is updated regularly to stay current with new technology, so teachers spend less time writing lessons and more time engaging students. By bringing Codelicious into the classroom, teachers provide their students with opportunities to learn skills in collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving. These are all skills students need to be successful, whatever their future holds.

Schools and districts now can bring the thrill of virtual coding competitions to their classrooms and communities at any time with CoderZ Technologies LTD’s newest offering, CoderZ League in a Box. This latest version of the code-learning platform enables educators to create on-demand local tournaments in addition to participating in the international CoderZ League: the Virtual Cyber Robotics Competition. While students can gather at a school or community center for a league tournament, the gameplay occurs on CoderZ’s online coding platform. Teams of students play together in fun “missions” by programming virtual 3D robots while learning the principles of coding.

Construct 3, a game engine that allows anyone to develop their own games without having to know how to code, in partnership with STEM Fuse is launching its newest curriculum GAME:IT Advanced just in time for the fall semester. The GAME:IT Advanced course is the capstone course in the high school game design and programming pathway.

Dell’s education strategists were onsite hosting conversations spanning digital inclusion, K-12 cybersecurity, the growing esports movement, and more hot topics related to education and the role technology plays in empowering learning today. Access the full livestream of Dell’s Think Tank session on Defining What’s Possible for Reinvented Learning, which brought together a diverse group of education thought leaders to discuss their vision for the future of education and surface barriers to overcome for every student to succeed. Or, watch the full livestream of Dell’s Think Tank session on Implementing What’s Possible for Reinvented Learning, which brought together district and organization thought leaders to discuss strategies for implementing what’s possible for students including learning formats, teacher roles, grading practices, work-based learning, and more.

DisplayNote, a collaboration technology company, announced all-new data on U.S. educators’ technology usage. This insight arrives as the education landscape continues to evolve due to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Screen sharing is a core component of daily lessons – almost 70 percent of users use the DisplayNote app daily. Web-based screen sharing is king – 53 percent of users shared their screen via their Chromium browser.

Edsby introduced a system for helping learning organizations and governments eliminate silos between education data to ensure the right data about learners is always available to optimize their learning journeys. Edsby’s Unison education data platform and managed service is designed to ensure better education data quality and actionability across states, provinces and countries securely. Unison aggregates and standardizes current and past educational data and makes it interoperable while carefully managing the security critical with education data.

Epson showcased its latest projection and printing solutions designed for enhanced collaboration, immersive learning and increased productivity. With partners Lü Interactive and Eduscape, Epson demonstrated how to better engage students, create fun and challenging learning environments and promote laser-focused learning across campuses.

High-impact tutoring can play a pivotal role in addressing the needs of students most impacted by loss of instruction during the pandemic. In a new white paper, FEV Tutor illustrates how K-12 districts can accelerate students’ growth by utilizing their existing benchmark assessment data in conjunction with evidence-based, high-impact tutoring. The paper, “How FEV Tutor Integrates with Leading Assessments for Accelerated Learning,” is available for free to educators.

Follett School Solutions, which has been partnering with K-12 school districts to manage their assets for more than 15 years, introduced attendees to the new features and capabilities within its resource management platform Follett Destiny Resource Manager. The enhancements will meet up-to-the-minute user needs, especially in response to the significant increase in 1:1 device users.

Get More Math, a tool designed to break the math forgetting cycle, introduced Student Standards Reports, providing administrators, curriculum coordinators, coaches, and teachers with real-time insights into every student’s mastery of important state math standards. Based on data gathered from daily spiral review, the Student Standards Reports help educators assess mastery based on every student interaction over time. While other tools rely on point-in-time mass diagnostic exams, the Student Standards Reports provide up-to-the-moment precision for understanding each student’s progress—without taking any valuable class time.

GoGuardian, an education technology company helping create more effective and safer learning environments, announced the completion of its acquisition of TutorMe, an online tutoring solution creating access and opportunity for all students. With the addition of TutorMe to GoGuardian’s family of education solutions, nearly 25 million public K-12 students — one in two — now benefit from GoGuardian technology as part of their learning journey.

Hāpara unveiled two new products. Hāpara Filter provides students with unparalleled protection while using the internet, with an optional Wellness Module that alerts school staff when students are in crisis. Student Dashboard Digital Backpack provides learners with a space on any device for everything they need for digital learning including organizational tools, communication with teachers, access to Google Drive files and digital resources optimized for K-12 readers.

Kahoot! connected attendees with its new marketplace, which allows Verified creators and publishers to monetize their high-quality content directly on the Kahoot! platform. All users can buy content offered for sale on the marketplace and choose from a comprehensive library of high-quality courses on a wide range of topics from general trivia to history to mathematics. Educators also learned about DragonBox, an award-winning game studio that’s on a mission to empower children to explore and make learning math awesome.

Kiddom announced a new partnership with Open Up Resources to bring top-rated EL Education K-8 English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum to Charleston County School District (CCSD) in support of the district’s blended learning efforts. CenterPoint Education Solutions’ announced that its Illustrative Math (IM) certified and EL Education aligned interim assessments will be available for the 2022-2023 school year on Kiddom. Plus, Kiddom features a new integration of real-time Lesson Launch capabilities into its platform, which saves teachers significant time by allowing them to create lesson plans, present lessons, deliver assignments and activities to students, and then engage with and monitor student work in real-time, all from the same Kiddom platform on which they’re managing curriculum, assigning work, and communicating with students.

KinderLab Robotics showcased KIBO, the hands-on coding robot that teaches computer science, engineering, and computational thinking to young children (PreK-5^th grade). The curriculum is standards-aligned in computer science and engineering, and supports deep cross-curricular connections to science, ELA, math, and social studies. With KIBO, children build, program, decorate, and bring their own robot to life. KIBO is entirely screen-free, as children program their robots with “tangible code” made of wooden blocks. This approach takes advantage of years of research into providing physical manipulatives to allow young children to engage with abstract concepts like coding. KIBO is designed to be extended with craft and other building materials, providing a platform for imagination play, sturdy building, and the engineering design process.

Labster wdemonstrated its comprehensive edtech solution for high schools and universities. Labster simulations can be played on a variety of devices — from computers to tablets to Chromebooks — and integrated with existing tools including Google Classroom.

LEGO Education highlighted ways to bring joy back into the classroom. Redlands Unified School District discussed how they successfully adopted the LEGO Learning System in order to reimagine the way children learn computer science, starting as early as kindergarten. Educators also learned how to get involved in Build to Launch, a digital STEAM learning series created by LEGO Education and NASA, which has introduced thousands of teachers and students to exciting STEAM careers involved in successful space missions. 

Lexia Learning was on hand to showcase its All for Literacy lineup of products, including Lexia Core5 Reading, Lexia English, Lexia PowerUp Literacy, and Lexia LETRS suite of professional learning courses.

MakerBot, a Stratasys company, announced its ongoing commitment to making 3D printing accessible to more students with the donations of the MakerBot SKETCH®, MakerBot METHOD® X, and MakerBot Replicator®+ 3D printers and 3D printing materials to several organizations that support underserved and low-income communities across the United States.

Moozoom demonstrated its interactive, innovative “choose your own path” SEL platform where students get to improve their mental wellbeing through modeling videos based on real life scenarios.

MySmartCoach, a new adaptive learning solution from engage2learn (e2L) providing personalized and on-demand coaching support for educators of all levels, launched at ISTE. The platform offers: technology-enabled delivery of scaffolded support for educators at every level; a variety of coaching styles for teachers based on their needs and learning preferences; a range of just-right support options for new and veteran teachers alike; and district-wide coaching & growth analytics that don’t require more work for educators.

ParentSquare focused on managing parent engagement and ensuring great pathways for communication. COVID illustrated the need for family engagement and prompted more parents and caregivers to become engaged in the school community. ParentSquare’s single platform functions for everything from a district’s mass notifications and mobile app to conference sign ups and permission slips.

PowerSchool announced that it will provide schools and districts this coming school year with two new products: Unified Insights™ MTSS and Unified Classroom® Curriculum and Instruction. Unified Insights™ MTSS helps educators support the needs of the whole child by providing a single solution to analyze, collaborate, and act on critical student data. Unified Classroom® Curriculum and Instruction will better connect curriculum mapping and instructional delivery, which gives more time to focus on teaching and learning. In addition, PowerSchool announced today five updates to current products that support data accessibility, the needs of younger learners, and tools that increase teacher effectiveness.

Promethean, a global education technology company, announced the all-new ActivPanel with ActivSync that delivers the most robust, seamless, and secure user experience yet. With the new interactive panel, Promethean meets the needs of teachers and IT administrators with intuitive, cutting-edge technology that enables a seamless classroom experience. With its easy, secure sign-in options, streamlined connection to content, flexible lesson delivery software, and personalized user experience, ActivPanel 9 offers the tools needed to transform how teachers use technology.

Reading Horizons highlighted the expansion of its flagship solution, Reading Horizons Discovery, with the addition of Sound City. This expansion aligns with the science that informs reading development and empowers teachers to help K–2 students connect speech to print and decode and spell words with greater proficiency. Sound City provides skill assessments, review activities, and games to ensure student mastery, retention, and engagement. 

Ripple Effects, a provider of digital social emotional learning (SEL), mental health and behavior supports, announced the appointment of John Ray-Keil as its new CEO. Ray-Keil succeeds co-founder, Alice Ray, who will become chair of the board. Ripple Effects’ suite of PreK-12 digital programs provide a differentiated, multi-tiered system of support that empowers both students and educators to develop the social and life skills necessary to thrive in an academic setting. 

Robotical demonstrated Marty the Robot, a humanoid robot. The unique walking mechanism means Marty can walk, turn, dance, kick a ball and so much more. And, because each limb is controlled by specific motors, Marty is also more stable and robust than other walking robots.

The Safeguarding Company, a provider of software and training to systemically protect students’ well-being, introduced ‘Safeguarding’ to U.S. schools and districts. An educational practice established in the U.K. following the tragic death of a young elementary student due to neglect, Safeguarding addresses non-academic barriers to learning, such as an unstable home life, bullying, harassment, mental health and other well-being needs.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. showcased the future of education at ISTELive 2022 in New Orleans with its new interactive display—the 2022 Samsung Flip Pro (Model Name: WMB). Available in two large 75- and 85-inch models, the Flip Pro enables teachers to deliver dynamic lessons, spark active learning and inspire better learning outcomes for all students.

Savvas Learning Company, provider of PreK-12 learning solutions, is rolling out major enhancements to its Savvas Realize learning management system (LMS). Through a collaborative effort with educators and designed with them in mind, Savvas is revamping the Realize platform user experience to include a more streamlined interface with faster grading workflows, improved classroom management tools, and, new for the coming school year, seamless LTI-A integration with Schoology. Savvas demonstrated for ISTE attendees how it empowers educators and engages students with innovative, interactive, and personalized PreK-12 learning solutions on its newly enhanced Savvas Realize platform.

SMART Technologies demonstrated its new wellbeing and SEL integrations in Lumio, its digital learning platform. With the woes of the pandemic and the tragedy of recent events, developing and supporting the mental health of students and teachers has become a frontline issue of education, but a challenge in edtech advancements so far. 

SoapBox Labs announced a new partnership with Learning Without Tears, the veteran early childhood learning company, to bring speech recognition technology to its K-3 supplemental phonics program Phonics, Reading, and Me™ in order to give educators a more seamless and reliable way to assess students’ reading progress.

Sourcewell announced its acquisition of FilterED, a cloud-based platform for schools that collects, measures and analyzes school technology information via self-assessment surveys, or by surveying multiple stakeholders. FilterED contains three products known as modules that use surveys or inventories to give school leaders a full view of how their district uses technology so they can prioritize initiatives, track growth, and quickly and easily provide updates to their school board and community at large. Northland Learning Center is implementing student data insights platform Proliftic in 10 school districts for the 2022-2023 school year. This implementation will support educators as they seek to address the whole child and provide interventions for students of all backgrounds. 

In the Sphero booth, attendees got an exclusive first look at RVR+ (available in the U.S. in fall 2022) and its improvements for an enhanced classroom experience, as well as live demonstrations of Sphero’s award-winning robot for early learners, Sphero indi. Presentations on Sphero BOLT with Computer Science Foundations curriculum, creative inventions with littleBits, and more info on registration for the third year of the annual Sphero Global Challenge, the ultimate robotics competition for kids in early elementary, upper elementary, and middle school, will also be available. 

ST Math demonstrated how its patented approach – manipulating objects in space and time – is unique in the market. The program starts by teaching the foundational concepts visually, then connects the ideas to the symbols, language, and robust discourse. With visual learning, students are better equipped to tackle unfamiliar math problems, recognize patterns, and build conceptual understanding. Without language barriers, the problem is accessible to all students, regardless of skill level or language background. ST Math is mastery based, which means students must pass each level with a score of 100% (all puzzles correctly solved) before the next level in a sequence becomes available to them. Each student has their own personalized journey and takes as long as they need to achieve mastery. This ensures that students are building and demonstrating a strong conceptual foundation.

ThinkWrite Technologies demonstrated the TW300 REVO headphone, designed to provide unique solutions to equally unique listeners, altering the perception and experience of what an over-ear headphone can offer. Featuring a sophisticated silhouette, sonic superiority, unparalleled comfortability, and the literal and metaphorical flexibility to fit you and your lifestyle needs, the TW300 REVO combines state of the art technology with audio excellence to create an ideally affordable headphone that will satisfy the most discerning of listeners. The 250XG Victory Gaming Headset provides gamers of all ages newly enhanced levels of audio quality and an immersive experience previously unattainable at this price point. Full spectrum sound and unmatched voice connectivity – with both teammates and opponents – are all housed in a winning, over-ear style headset.

Turnitin, a leading provider of academic integrity, assessment, and writing solutions, announced that its Turnitin Draft Coach feature is now available on Microsoft Word for the web.

UWorld demonstrated how its online test preparation courses for the SAT,  ACT,  PSAT/NMSQT, and AP exams are just like the real thing — so that the real thing feels as easy as practice. Practice questions are carefully created by expert teachers and tutors to match the exam experience and reduce anxiety.

VEX Robotics, provider of educational and competitive robotics products to schools, universities, and robotics teams around the world, told attendees how teaching the fundamentals of STEM and CS learning at an early age is pivotal. Especially when done through fun, hands-on activities that help young students perceive coding and engineering in a positive way.

Wacom displayed its intuitive, easy-to-use digital pen technology, which is helping schools and universities keep up with the pace of change. Wacom’s products boost collaboration and interaction, creating a classroom feel – even when students aren’t physically in one. Designed to work seamlessly with your IT infrastructure, they’re proven performers in any learning scenario.

Earlier this year, zSpace, Inc. announced the latest evolution of its evidence-based, AR/VR learning solutions – Inspire! The glasses-free AR/VR laptop allows users to interact with three-dimensional content without a headset or goggles. With high-capacity performance, eSports and model and simulation programs are supported. zSpace is ideal for STEM and CTE in K-12 and higher education.