Image Credit Blended Learning: First, in all of the blended programs, the students learn in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home at least some of the time. Second, the students' experience online delivery with some control over the time, place, path, and/or pace. (Reference) In the rush to digital learning, school districts may be … Continue reading Starting an Online Program: To Blend or Not to Blend
Category: 21st Century Fluencies
Starting an Online Program: The Target Student Group
Image Credit School administrators are being bombarded with encouragement to use digital learning in their classrooms. Neighboring districts may be employing blended learning or fully online learning; the local leadership feels pressure from its peer districts and its community to do something, anything. To start a digital learning program, it is essential to look at … Continue reading Starting an Online Program: The Target Student Group
Innovation and Democracy
Image Credit Is innovation a democratic process? Innovate: to introduce something new; make changes in anything established. (reference) In Disrupting Class, author Clayton Christen informs school boards that introducing digital learning into schools may be hampered by purposeful democratic processes that are part of schools' cultures. Cooperative tools like "financial incentives, negotiations, vision statements, training, performance metrics, and even litigation . . … Continue reading Innovation and Democracy
Student-Teacher Interaction Essential in Online Courses
(Click the image to see it larger.) Student-teacher interaction is essential in online courses. Online courses require rich content that includes many modalities for students to choose their learning path, including text, audio, video, kinesthetic and other modes. This is one of the features of online learning that is difficult to produce and separates from … Continue reading Student-Teacher Interaction Essential in Online Courses
Deregulation of Education 3: Show Me The Money
Image Credit Wes Freyer recently reported on a digital learning conference in Oklahoma. In this report he included a video about the money potential in digital learning that is embedded below. The presenter outlines the money in Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Schools along with the scope of the money involved in digital learning and executive salaries. … Continue reading Deregulation of Education 3: Show Me The Money
Normal is Revolutionary
Image Credit "What's revolutionary for adults is normal for kids," stated Jaime Casap of Google to technology leaders at a meeting of the Illinois Chief Technology Officers today. Casap implored school leaders to build great teachers, appeal to students' motivations, focus on the basics, and prepare students for more education after high school, although not necessarily a four year … Continue reading Normal is Revolutionary
Technology is Distraction in Schools
Image Credit Ron Packard of K12.com spoke today at an Illinois Policy Institute program today in Chicago. He thinks technology is a distraction in schools because it in not fully part of the core learning. A classroom may have a few computers at the back of the room and they become diversions from learning rather than being core parts of … Continue reading Technology is Distraction in Schools
Online learning: Shouldn’t We Do better?
Image Credit With online learning, shouldn't we do better? Shouldn't we have higher expectations? Shouldn't we stop telling partial truths? Partial truths don't help online learning initiatives. All learning through technology is not all powerful. When I was in elementary school, the teachers used controlled reading projectors. These contraptions used modified film strip projectors to … Continue reading Online learning: Shouldn’t We Do better?
Notes From the Virtual School Symposium 2011
Over 1,900 conferees assembled in Indianapolis for the Virtual School Symposium November 9-11, 2011. My notes from the day follow. A wiki is available for the event. On Wednesday, I participated in a day long workshop for participants starting online programs. Holly Brzycki, John Canuel, David Glick, and Phil Lacey presented about their specialties: curriculum, leadership, … Continue reading Notes From the Virtual School Symposium 2011
The Deregulation of Education II: The Measures of Quality
Image Source In 1937, F. Dean McClusky was asked to study why there had been a failure of commercial film makers to make successful educational films. In McClusky’s report: “Commercial interests have failed to grasp or to study the nature of instruction and the complexity of educational organizations.” (Paul Saettler, 1990, p. 106). It appears … Continue reading The Deregulation of Education II: The Measures of Quality