Dive Brief:

• Schools nationwide are turning to an online gaming platform to teach character education, using Happify as an element of a social-emotional learning program designed by Cincinnati-based Mayerson Academy, Education Week reports.
• In the program, students start with a survey about their character strengths that identifies their top five while acknowledging they have some capacity in all 24, and while schools have come to prize the platform, some parents worry about privacy and overexposure to digital tools.
• The technology has its critics who question its effectiveness, but districts like Deer Park Community City Schools, just north of Cincinnati, maintain the digital tool is an element of a broader social-emotional learning strategy, not the driver of the program.

Dive Insight:

Social-emotional learning has gotten increasing attention in recent years and is expected to get even more with the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which requires an expansion of accountability metrics at the state level and a move away from a laser focus on testing. Many schools have discovered that short periods of focus on social-emotional skill-building can actually increase the quality of the remaining instructional minutes, allowing teachers and students to be more productive throughout the school day.

On the topic of parental concern over a growing reliance on digital tools in the classroom, data privacy should always be a focus area for administrators considering new products and vendor partnerships. Negotiating down the amount of student information these companies need can be a selling point for administrators in discussions with parents.