Category: Microsoft Windows

PANORAMA EDUCATION NAMED TO THE GSV 150, A LIST OF THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE COMPANIES IN EDUCATION

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BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Panorama Education, an education technology company that helps students achieve academic success and well-being, has been named to the GSV 150, a list that represents the world’s most transformative private companies in education. These 150 companies are at the forefront of innovation and are constantly evolving to meet the needs of learners, educators, and district leaders.

Panorama Education provides teachers, school district leaders, and parents with the tools to help foster two key components of student success—academic progress and well-being. The company does this by connecting what students, families, and teachers want to see in the classroom with the school districts who can make it happen. Today, Panorama proudly supports over 15 million students in 25,000 schools in 2,000 districts across the United States.

Educators use Panorama’s platform to understand and support students across academics, attendance, behavior, and life skills—all of which lead to greater academic success. District leaders use the same platform to track progress toward strategic goals, such as literacy and graduation rates. The company’s positive impact on schools across the country have resulted in GSV selecting Panorama from over 4,000 venture capital and private-equity-backed companies that are revolutionizing the world of education technology.

“Our work ultimately fosters school being a place where students can thrive,” said Panorama CEO and Co-Founder, Aaron Feuer. “We help educators see what their students, teachers and parents need at a local level so they can address those needs specifically. Identifying the areas where individual communities need support is critical as we continue pandemic recovery in the classroom.”

The GSV 150 is distributed across the areas of Panorama’s focus, K-12 and workforce skills, in addition to early childhood, higher education, and adult consumer learning. This year’s GSV 150 companies are committed to

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Where to Buy Windows 10 When Microsoft Stops Selling It

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Image for article titled Where to Buy Windows 10 When Microsoft Stops Selling It

Photo: g0d4ather (Shutterstock)

My friends, it’s been a great run—but Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 on Tuesday, Jan. 31, one week from this article’s publication. The news isn’t necessarily shocking, since the company has been full-steam-ahead with Windows 11 since October 2021. However, it’s still a sad development. Windows 10 is the preferred OS for many PC users who still can’t stomach upgrading.

Of course, Windows 10 isn’t dead. Microsoft will continue to support both Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro until Oct. 14, 2025, giving plenty of us on PC an excuse to keep running the OS until then. If you already have Windows 10 running on your PC, you’re good to go. But if you’re going to build a PC, you’re going to need a new license to install the beloved OS. Here’s where you can get one.

Buy Windows 10 from Microsoft directly (while you can)

As of this article, Microsoft is still selling Windows 10 licenses on its website. You can buy Windows 10 Home for $139, and Windows 10 Pro for $199.99. If you want to buy a legitimate copy of Windows 10 before Microsoft’s end-of-month deadline, now’s the time to do it.

Come Feb. 1, though, you won’t have any luck making purchases on Microsoft’s site. So, where can you turn?

Brick and mortar stores

Just because Microsoft is no longer selling Windows 10 doesn’t mean every other store is pulling the plug. Look to established outlets like Best Buy, Staples, or OfficeDepot for copies of Windows 10. Depending on the store and inventory, you might find a digital download or a physical copy of the software.

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Ed. Dept. Outlines How Schools Can Use Federal Funds to Sustain Tech Programs

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School districts have a host of options for using federal funds to support digital learning programs started during the pandemic, a top U.S. Department of Education official told school district and state education leaders.

In a Jan. 25 letter to K-12 leaders, Roberto Rodriguez, the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development at the department, emphasized that any tech investments made with federal dollars need to be part of a broad strategy to bolster teaching and learning.

“Technology itself is not a panacea,” he wrote. “Technology can help improve learning and educational outcomes for students only when teachers are well supported with appropriate resources and have an opportunity to integrate technology with high-quality instruction.”

The letter—which aims to offer advice and clarify existing laws and regulations for K-12 leaders, not direct spending decisions or make policy changes—comes as recent ed-tech investments approach a critical juncture. Within the next several years, many digital tools purchased with billions of dollars in one-time COVID relief funding will need to be replaced, almost certainly without another federal windfall to cover the cost.

At the same time, many schools—particularly those that serve high numbers of children living in poverty, students in special education, and English learners—still don’t have the technological infrastructure they need to close achievement gaps and help kids recover academically from the pandemic, the letter noted.

Schools generally have until the fall of 2024 to use the last of their federal COVID relief dollars. Though early spending was sluggish, most districts are on pace to meet that deadline, according to a tracker created by the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

The department’s recommendations can help districts still pondering how to use the remainder of their relief funds, Kristina Ishmael, the deputy director for the Office of

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The Windows 11 File Explorer is getting a big redesign… again

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The upcoming File Explorer update will show recommended items, activity history, and more directly in Windows 11’s interface.


Microsoft is working on a big update for the File Explorer in Windows 11, bringing with it a modernized design and additional features. This is on third round of significant changes bein made to File Explorer, after the initial Windows 11 release, and then the addition of tabs in the first “moment” update for Windows 11 version 22H2.


The information comes from Zac Bowden of Windows Central, and the report comes with a look at some of the upcoming changes. One of the first things you’ll notice is the new Recommended section in the Home screen, which ties into broader plan to integrate Microsoft 365 more deeply into the experience. Recommended files are pulled from SharePoint and OneDrive locations, and they’re shown with large thumbnails so you have a clearer view of the files that are being recommended.

Screenshot of a redesigned Windows 11 File Explorer with a Recommended section showing files with large thumbnails.

Image credit: Future

This integration goes deeper, too, as the Details pane for a file is also being modernized to show even more information. You’ll be able to see recent activity on shared files, as well as recent comments on a file, whether that file is shared through the cloud or via email. One of the images shared also shows a section for related files, which give you more context for a specific case you may be working on.

Screenshot of the Details pane in Windows 11 showing recent activity on a shared file

Image credit: Future

Another change, although we don’t have a look at this one yet, is a new Gallery view that’s being added to File Explorer to make it easier to browse and view pictures. According to the report, you’ll be able to hover over a photo to see a larger preview of it. Microsoft is also apparently considering adding tags to files, similar

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California’s SB 876: A Missed Opportunity for Education Technology

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California’s SB 876 is a bill that would create a state Digital Education Equity Program (DEEP). This program will be run by the California Department of Education, and the sponsors of the bill argue it would give help and training to schools and other educational organizations in using technology in their classrooms.

The bill would require the California Department of Education to authorize grants to each of the state’s 58 county offices of education. Each county office of education would have to tell the department of education what they did with the money, who they helped, and how much money they used every year. (One of the co-authors of this post sat for some years on a county board of education and can testify that county offices don’t have the capacity to properly evaluate grant proposals in this area.)

Much of the impetus for the bill appears to be addressing the “digital divide” in education. The digital divide refers to “the gap between those with sufficient knowledge of and access to technology and those without,” per an American University blog post. 

According to the bill’s author: 

Educators in many schools lack access to sufficient information and professional development to cost-effectively plan for and implement current and emerging technology to support instruction. … Without a coordinated State and regional focus on policy, programs, and funding, many districts do not have equal access to the resources needed to select, access, and implement technology in classrooms effectively and to provide students access to these resources from homes.

In theory, DEEP would aim to help schools improve their use of technology in the classroom by providing funding for things like teacher training, resources and equipment, and online instruction. It would supposedly also help align technology use with the state’s education standards.

However, SB

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