After a year of remote instruction, video platforms continue to evolve and it's likely they'll be part of learning going forward, writes Betsy Corcoran, co-founder of EdSurge. In this commentary, Corcoran compares various platforms for engagement, use of artificial intelligence and how they navigate student privacy concerns.

Some teachers in Maine are engaged in synchronous teaching and learning -- simultaneously teaching students at home and in the classroom. In one district, officials purchased iPads to serve as cameras to enable students who are learning remotely to see and hear their classmates and teachers, as well as their teachers' screens, to improve the experience.

Radford City Schools and at least a dozen other rural districts in Virginia have teamed up to create an online virtual academy that can continue to operate after the pandemic. The idea was formed after 80 students -- and $560,000 in federal funding -- left Radford schools when remote learning began, and now Radford has gained students as well as much of the lost funding.

Middle-school students in New York City have been allowed back into classrooms for the first time since November. Mayor Bill de Blasio said students were happy to return to classes and hopes to announce in a few weeks when high-school students can come back.

Kimball Sekaquaptewa, chief technology director at Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico, worked over the past year to expand access to remote instruction in an area where about 2 in 5 students have at-home access to high-speed internet. Sekaquaptewa says every student and staff member at the school now has access to the internet via wireless-enabled laptops with a SIM card loaded with data.

There are four key US Supreme Court cases that govern students' speech in a school environment, according to Scott Johnson, law professor at Concord Law School. In this commentary, Johnson reflects on the current law and on the court's potential to expand the scope of the law when it hears the case of a high-schooler who was penalized for profanity-laced Snapchat posts about the school.

Project Rebound, a program installed at 14 institutions in the California State University system, helps people who have been incarcerated earn a college degree. This article talks about the program's success at California State University, Bakersfield, which has graduated 12 students since its launch in 2016.