By Dian Schaffhauser
2020 packed a wallop unlike any other period in living memory. The pain is still with us — and will continue to be for a long time. But the start of this new year brings an opportunity for us to renew our hope and energy. How will that play out for K-12 education, especially in the area of technology? We turned to a number of education leaders to find out what they expect — or look forward to — in 2021. Here's what they told us.
By Dian Schaffhauser
A nonprofit dedicated to growing esports in high schools is going independent. After two and a half years of support by the Samueli Foundation, the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) will begin operations as an independent entity run under the new World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation (WWSEF). The change becomes official on Jan. 1, 2021.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Online learning quiz tool Kahoot has acquired Drops, a company that produces language learning apps. Drops uses game-like activities to help people pick up a new language in daily five-minute sessions.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Online learning quiz maestro Kahoot! has acquired Drops, a company that produces language learning apps. Drops uses game-like activities to help people pick up a new language in daily five-minute sessions.
By Dian Schaffhauser
GGLeagues said it would launch its first season of 2021 on Jan. 16.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Learfield IMG College and game producer Electronic Arts have announced a new college esports league. "Level Next," as the new league is called, will serve as the home of EA's college esports contests.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Two education organizations are teaming up to launch an esports league and tournament in California. California League of Schools, which provides professional development to teachers and administrators, is working with Mastery Coding, which develops computer science courses, to launch the California League of Esports.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Learning quiz program company Kahoot! has announced an integration with Zoom, allowing users to access, host and play Kahoot games directly in Zoom meetings.
By Dian Schaffhauser
Learning quiz program company Kahoot! has announced a new version of its application specifically for Zoom, allowing users to access, host and play Kahoot games directly in Zoom meetings.
St. Mary's University in Texas has partnered with Spectrum Enterprise to establish the institution's new Spectrum Esports Arena and power it with a dedicated Fiber Internet Access circuit.
By Dian Schaffhauser
The North America Scholastic Esports Federation is hosting the first NASEF 2021 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest. Throughout this fall, teams of students will compete by imagining, designing and building machines using the block-oriented game; then, during the second half of the academic year in 2021, there will be a finals challenge when students will string together a series of designs to create a zany chain-reaction Rube Goldberg Machine.
By Dian Schaffhauser
The State University of New York is working with Extreme Networks to launch a systemwide esports league. The goal: to promote "safe competition, connection and camaraderie" among students at SUNY's 64 campuses, while they're being encouraged to physically distance from each other.