◉ ◉ ◉ Ten posts we've been reading on blended learning
Supporting personalized, competency-based learning in Ohio Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL, testified to the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education in support of House Bill 64 and its pilot program for competency education. (March 2015) The Hechinger Report's whirlwind tour of Ohio Writer Nichole Dobo hints at all of the fun she had touring schools in Ohio in March in advance of writing about blended learning inThe Hechinger Report’s new Blended Learning Newsletter. First up: Robot teachers at Nexus Academy. (March 2015) Debates, taboo words, and tough talk at SXSWedu
OK, Nichole Dobo of The Hechinger Report was not just in Ohio. She went to the SXSWedu in Austin and chuckled along with everyone else when two prominent education innovators could not meet the challenge of avoiding buzzwords and jargon. (March 2015) EdTech 10: Live from SXSWedu 2015 The Getting Smart team was also at SXSWedu, which they assert serves as the launch pad for the year’s upcoming innovations in learning. The team learned of news and innovation updates firsthand and offer 10 announcements to note, share and follow. (March 2015) SXSWedu: Smart Cities
Tom Vander Ark of Getting Smart highlighted a SXSWedu panel discussion on Smart Cities, which advances the premise that every region needs to improve learning opportunities fast. (March 2015) Collaboration fuels Meriden's blended learning successOne of those Smart Cities may be Meriden, Conn., which Tom Vander Ark highlights as a great example of a district making progress on personalized learning, improving access to technology and identifying and cultivating teacher leaders. (March 2015) The invisible currency in education reform: social capital Researcher and blogger Julia Freeland offers in the first of two posts how students need to develop social networks - reservoirs of social capital and the ability to bank on that capital. She maintains those networks are developed entirely at random. (March 2015) Blogpost #2: The EdTech disconnect and social capital Julia Freeland continues to make the case that students need to develop social networks and that the education system doesn’t do that very well. In this post, she notes that education technology does not focus on this connectivity for students. (March 2015) Disruptive innovation can help solve nation's teacher shortage Michael Horn of the Christensen Institute makes the case that without the disruptive innovation of personalized learning stakeholders and schools will not be able to ensure that all students have access to highly-effective teachers. (March 2015) Helping you make really good decisions on digital content Education Elements is offering an online course to help schools navigate the digital content marketplace and create a digital content portfolio to meet their needs. “Getting the Right Product Fit” debuted on the company’s web site. (March 2015) ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ The Number: 40 The number of U.S. states in which competency-based education is currently being advanced. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Last Word “Those concerned with teacher quality should stop dismissing disruptive innovation and online learning." - Author Michael Horn in his blogpost on disruptive innovation and teacher shortages ◉ ◉ ◉
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