Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), part of Penn State University Libraries, has announced the Teaching and Learning Technologies Faculty Advisory Committee for the 2024-25 academic year. The committee is pivotal in guiding TLT on integrating technology within teaching and learning at Penn State.

D.J. Higgins, a filmmaker and assistant teaching professor of film/video and music at Penn State Schuylkill, has directed and produced award-winning films, including his feature film "The Documentary," which won The Mike Vezza Experimental Award. Additionally, he is leading a community course on mental health in cinema, fostering dialogue on social issues. Higgins’ work in teaching, filmmaking, and local arts underscores his influence in both education and the arts.

All Classroom Q&A posts sharing advice on Facing Gender Challenges in Education (from the past nine years!) are described and linked to in this compilation post.

Two Penn State Great Valley graduate students are collaborating with faculty — who received a University Presidential Public Impact Research Award — to conduct a research project that will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze demographic data to help predict and prevent opioid deaths. 

An overemphasis on calculus in high school may be harming students, writes Dickinson College professor Jeffrey Forrester.

The National Math and Science Initiative's new tool aims to help the field look for patterns in STEM data, so educators and policy folks can fill in holes.

Comic books and graphic novels, popular in many language arts and social studies classes, are just now tiptoeing into the world of K-12 math.

An educator's experience teaching math is important, but performance on math-content-certification tests is the best predictor of how well a teacher's students will perform in early algebra, finds a new study by the Regional Educational Laboratory Central at Marzano Research.

Political numeracy is as important as it is overlooked, argues Wellesley mathematics professor Ismar Volić.

This year at the sports and English camp in Bulgaria, the team noticed the fruit of building on relationships over time.

Keisha Oliver, who is pursuing a dual-title doctoral degree in art education and African American and diaspora studies, was named a fall 2024 artist-in-residence at the Penn State College of Engineering’s Learning Factory.

A state court ruled that Virginia must turn over growth data by school and classroom teacher, without redacting the teachers' names.

Two high-powered N.Y. officials have put out a blueprint for overhauling teaching in the state, aiming for more-coherent policies for the profession.

With the U.S. facing the largest pay gap between teachers and similar professionals of any country surveyed by the OECD, Marc Tucker asks when we will finally address the embarrassingly obvious.

Marc Tucker discusses a new report on teacher shortages from Linda Darling-Hammond's Learning Policy Institute and gives insights into how the U.S. can produce the high-quality educators it needs.

The current system for accrediting schools of education isn't working, argue two former senior U.S. Department of Education officials. They think school districts and philanthropists can help.

Teachers coming from alternative programs leave the profession at higher rates than their traditionally certified peers, and that gap is growing, a study finds.

Are you smarter than a teacher in 1966? Take this real test, taken from the "Equality of Educational Opportunity" report, to find out how you fare.

The hiring pool improved for schools when the recession squeezed teachers, study finds.

As teacher strikes sweep the nation, Marc Tucker compares the trajectory of teaching to that of the nursing profession, one of high standards of entry and rigorous preparation.

This week, you'll hear from guest blogger and longtime reader favorite Heather Harding. Heather kicks off the week by discussing reforms to identify, retain, and prepare high-quality teachers—and why it's still important that we pay attention to these things.

40 groups will band together to push principles for "modernizing and elevating" teaching, but many of the groups have contrasting agendas.

Over the last two decades, STEM teachers have become increasingly more likely to be female and well-qualified.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said that half of Chicago teachers were "illiterate" in a 2011 email, recently released to a city newspaper.

Marc Tucker explores why and how U.S. teacher education is holding our teachers, the profession and our schools back.

Building off of his piece last week, Marc Tucker looks at how the economics of higher education and lacking state governance combine to weaken schools of education.

Multimedia lessons for teaching about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are unveiled.

Education Week takes a close look at the obstacles and opportunities for American Indian children in finding success in school and beyond.

The Newseum in Washington has just launched Decision 2012: Exploring Elections and the Media, an online resource for teaching about the presidential campaign and election.

Mary Michael Shelley has been carving out a life in Ithaca, New York, since she graduated from Cornell University in 1972. The folk artist is sharing works representing the evolution of her 50-plus-year career in an exhibition at The Gallery at Penn College through Nov. 26.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Diesel Performance Club has captured another first place in drag race competition. The club's 1959 B-61 Mack drag truck, known as “Accelerated Learning,” won top honors in the “Big Rig Auto” bracket at the October Truck Fest at Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey. That victory qualified the truck for the “King of the Island” bracket race, where it finished in second place.

The Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology conducted a flurry of workshops in October, delivering training to 25 professionals, representing 14 companies, four states and Canada.

More than 100 middle and high school students and teachers from throughout the state learned valuable lessons during the recent Cyber Challenge Day at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Tina Marie Kline, associate professor of nursing at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently completed a doctorate in nursing education and administration from William Carey University.

A newly discovered protein naturally houses an unusual binding site that can differentiate between rare earth elements, and researchers at Penn State have made it even better. Rare earth elements are key components used in everything from modern tech to gasoline production. The protein, called LanD, enriches neodymium and praseodymium over other similar rare earth elements and has the potential to revolutionize industrial mining, researchers said.

Using a new method to turn stripped-down plant cells into other types of cells, Penn State biologists explored how structural banding patterns increase the stability of cell walls. They also explored how their assembly goes astray in mutant plant cells, which could inform methods to break down plant cells for biofuels.

The Penn State Climate Consortium has awarded funding to four research projects that look to put promising climate solutions into action through interdisciplinary partnerships. 

Penn State University Libraries’ Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) has named 13 recipients of the 2024 Faculty Engagement Award with this year’s theme of “Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Teaching.” Recipients will collaborate with TLT staff to identify potential uses, constraints and best practices for using generative AI for teaching purposes. Faculty will utilize available generative AI tools including Microsoft Copilot and Adobe Firefly to assist in content creation, course planning and content delivery.

Flathead catfish — native to the Mississippi River basin — were first detected in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania in 2002, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In the two decades since then, the invasive species has spread throughout the river basin. The impact of the large predator on the waterway’s food webs and ecology was unknown, but now a team including researchers from Penn State is beginning to understand what Susquehanna flatheads are eating and how their presence is affecting native aquatic species in the river.

Jonathan Lynch, distinguished professor of plant nutrition, retired this fall after an innovative and impactful 33-year career in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, focused on conducting research to alleviate world hunger and enhance crop production by subsistence farmers in developing countries.

The effectiveness of national voluntary programs asking companies to pledge to lower their pollution and greenhouse gas emissions depends on pressure from the public, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher.

A Penn State Extension land-use webinar on Nov. 20 will guide local officials on the ins and outs of implementing “active transportation plans.”
 

The latest episode of "Growing Impact" explores how a research team is using computer modeling and animations to visualize future flood and levee failure scenarios.

Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), part of Penn State University Libraries, is accepting proposals for the 2025 TLT Symposium, scheduled for March 22, 2025. Open to Penn State faculty and staff, the event showcases ways technology can enhance teaching and learning in higher education. Attendees will share unique ways they use technology, network with colleagues, and generate new project ideas.

A new professional development course explores how Penn State faculty members and staff can help the parents, guardians and spouses of online learners while following federal and University privacy policies.

Ron Gebhardtsbauer and Greg Wright hope their $1 million estate commitment will help Penn State attract the type of high-achieving student for whom a scholarship offer can be the deciding factor between attending Penn State or another institution.

A Kenyan court ruled on Friday that Facebook's parent company Meta could be sued in the East African nation over the dismissal of dozens of content moderators by a contractor.

In a small neon-lit factory in Maputo, a dozen workers are hand-rolling premium cigars intended for the global market, seemingly undisturbed by the pungent tobacco smell.

SINGAPORE, Nov 8 - Asia and even China are shaping up as surprisingly resilient investment markets as Donald Trump returns to the White House, with fund managers optimistic the region can withstand tariffs better than Europe.

As 1 million people head to cast ballots, the election results are likely to be announced on Monday.