Digital Academics

“What we are seeing today is a certain amount of familiarity for the millennial generation around using technology. Whether it is a mobile phone, a tablet or computer, or also doing things with television, video recordings, gaming, there is a particular set of skills that they have developed,” says Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corp. “However, we also know that just because you’ve had familiarity with the use of a device, it may not necessarily lead to proficiency in the use of technology where youth are effectively using technology to better their lives through a job, start something, or undertake further studies.”

Plan for the shift to personal digital learning in phases over the next three years. You need six, coordinated plans considering content and instruction, assessment and data, devices and broadband, staffing and professional development, fiscal impact, and communications.

Thoughtful commentators agree (as noted in June) that the innovation economy requires two things: Growth oriented policies – low tax rates, transparent and efficient government – and An opportunity platform that includes effective education and health services and efficient energy and transportation infrastructure.

You could probably add culture of confidence to round out the innovation formula: opportunity, incentive, and culture.

We need everyone starting something! Therefore, we should aspire to be the world’s best launching pad because our workforce is so productive; our markets the freest and most trusted; our infrastructure and Internet bandwidth the most advanced; our openness to foreign talent second to none; our funding for basic research the most generous; our rule of law, patent protection and investment-friendly tax code the envy of the world; our education system unrivaled; our currency and interest rates the most stable; our environment the most pristine; our health care system the most efficient; and our energy supplies the most secure, clean, and cost-effective.

1. Offer courses through the Digital

2. Flip a Classroom.

3. Blend.

Among the key conclusions of that analysis is that students in virtual schools run by K12 are performing worse academically and dropping out of courses at much higher rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

Such recommendations have been supported by some virtual school advocates, including a structure where funding is based on course completions and not course enrollments, such as the Florida Virtual School's funding model.

Two-thirds of students want to use technology more often in their classrooms, and 76 percent of IT staff said faculty members show increasing interest in implementing educational technology.

But 87 percent of IT professionals said they would need to upgrade their infrastructure before they can incorporate much more technology in their classrooms, and almost nine in 10 faculty members anticipate problems moving away from the traditional lecture model.

“Schools need to have resources equal or better than what [students] have at home,” Washington said.

Scrabble

Words with Friends

Anymals Plants and Wildlife

Many inputs go into the costs behind a blended-learning school: the number of teachers and administrators; their specific salaries; the instructional materials and technologies; student services; and other school operations.

The paper reaches the conclusion that the costs of blended learning are significantly lower than the $10,000 national average for traditional brick-and-mortar schools. They find that, on average, the costs range from $7,600 to $10,200.

Our own view is that blended learning will and should help schools--and ultimately the public--save money. But the overriding reason to adopt a blended-learning school isn't because of its cost savings, but instead because of the benefits for students that can result. Ultimately blended learning should help schools and policymakers move our education system to a student-centric one that educates children both more effectively and efficiently.

Consider your learning goals

Figure out your digital curriculum strategy

Pick your management style

the trend among schools was to let students bring their own devices. “We’re seeing BYOD taking off in schools,”

“I certainly think there is a lot of conversation around BYOD … but these introduce challenges as well.” He explained: “I think you need to define the common technology needs and goals and determine if BYOD can meet those needs.”

tablet owners more than quadrupled among college-bound high school seniors during the past year, with 17 percent surveyed this year claiming a tablet device as their own.

It also more than tripled among college students, with a quarter of this year's respondents owning a tablet.

69 percent of high school seniors and 63 percent of college students said they believed tablets would effectively replace textbooks within five years,

Through a combination of blended learning, individualized instruction, and enthusiasm, online biology teacher Leslie Fetzer’s dedication to helping her special-needs students develop core learning skills contributed to her new title as the 2012 National Online Teacher of the Year for K-12 education.

Fetzer said that teaching online lets her instantly individualize instruction for her students, and she is able to personalize lessons to appeal to each student’s own areas of interest or preferences. Access to different online tools and technologies is an added benefit.

There's been some dispute to these numbers. Lee Wilson, a veteran of the education industry, blogged exhaustively that Apple e-textbooks actually cost six-to-seven times more than print textbooks. Using estimated data from his own experience and from technology directors, he determined Apple textbooks cost $71.55 per student, per class, as opposed to $14.26 for print textbooks. He factored purchase of the devices into cost. (I urge you to read his post, and his follow-up, and judge the numbers yourself.)

Either way, if the price tag for iPads and e-textbooks ends up being too costly and districts aren't seeing much of a different from their print past, meeting Arne Duncan's digital textbook goals may be tough.

If we drill down, it appears that 2012 will be the year where five mostly disconnected streams of tech-rich K-12 learning are finally connecting:

Digital learning:

Online learning:

Children born in the 1990s, dubbed the “iGeneration” by Rosen, live in a time of rapidly changing technology, in which they are constantly connected to a number of mobile technologies. Rosen said the “i” stands for both the technologies these students use—such as the iPod, iPhone, and Wii—and the individualized ways in which students use these tools.