Online Learning in Northern Illinois

On October 18, 2011, 35 individuals representing 27 organizations attending a start-up meeting at the DuPage County (Illinois) Regional Office of Education to discuss an online learning initiative in the region.  The presentation is included below.   Participants identified several areas for further discussion: Standards, Practices, Policy Technology for online learning, LMS, teacher technologies, student technologies … Continue reading Online Learning in Northern Illinois

Help me with this picture!

Image Credit Help me with this thought.  Recently, I listened to other technology leaders talk about virtualizing iPads so the schools could run Windows applications and Flash content on those devices.  This seems counterintuitive to the idea of portable technologies as well as vastly increases the costs of putting mobile technologies in schools. Several years … Continue reading Help me with this picture!

The Deregulation of Education: From Bubbles to Clicks

Image Credit We need leaders who can work with the education community and the "education reformers, proponents of " the status quo" and the "change agents." Finances, changing demographics, and performance measures are putting pressure on the current system. We need change, but is it "market-driven" change? Does market-driven change focus on students and their … Continue reading The Deregulation of Education: From Bubbles to Clicks

Blackboard World 2011 Notes

The Venetian was the site of Blackboard World 2011 I recently attended two days of the Blackboard World conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Below are notes for sessions I attended, my session presentation, and random thoughts. Session: Seven Best Face to Face Practices for Blended learning, Dan Lim and Jinyuan Tao, Florida College of Health … Continue reading Blackboard World 2011 Notes

“Blended Learning” Thoughts

Blended Learning Image Source    Here are some thoughts about "Blended Learning:"   Blended Learning is a new catch phrase of online learning enthusiasts, a modification of the term "hybrid courses."  Essentially part of a student's learning is a traditional classroom and the other part is in mediated instruction -- computer based learning at the student's … Continue reading “Blended Learning” Thoughts

Written Comments to the Senate Education Committee

  Image Credit Comments for House Bill 3223 for Senate Education Committee May 13, 2011 My name is Jeffrey Hunt. I am the director of e-learning at Indian Prairie School District 204 in Aurora, Illinois. I am an educational technology practitioner with practical experience implementing learning technologies in traditional classrooms as well in electronic settings, … Continue reading Written Comments to the Senate Education Committee

Notes from District 219 Technology Conference, 04/09/11

Notes from the D219 Technology Conference, April 9, 2011 Keynote: Cracking the Native Information Experience -- David Warlick Handouts at http://Handouts.idave.us Starts presentations with something he did not know yesterday.  (Books everyone should read, info graphic) Teachers must be master learners. They must be able to teach themselves something new.  The question is, how do we … Continue reading Notes from District 219 Technology Conference, 04/09/11

Notes from iNACOL’s Midwestern Regional Professional Development Symposium

Random Notes from the meeting, April 4, 2011.  Symposium wiki. Susan Patrick's Keynote.  It's a new landscape with new leadership at the state levels and in state houses. Global trends (from Educause):  mobile learning, cloud computing, 1:1 computing, ubiquitous learning, gaming, personalized learning, redefinition of learning spaces, open content, smart portfolio assessment, teacher managers and … Continue reading Notes from iNACOL’s Midwestern Regional Professional Development Symposium

Virtual School Symposium 2010

Nearly 2,000 conferees assembled in Glendale, Arizona for the 2010 edition of the Virtual School Symposium, the annual conference of the International Association for K-12 online Learning, November 14-16.  The theme of the conference:  Online and Blended Learning:  The Future of Education. Preconference sessions looked at starting programs, free or nearly free content sources, diversity … Continue reading Virtual School Symposium 2010