CoW break down the walls of these rooms and provide an open space or arena for collaboration?
virtual CoPs need to make good use of internet standard technologies and users need to possess ICT skills.
CoW members would need to develop a sense of belonging
After initial enthusiasm, where a number of co-authors introduced themselves, things fell quiet, and I myself was as guilty as anybody else in not checking the forum any more after a few weeks of inactivity
– the collaborative writing of the final chapter – was moved to Google docs,
used a blog and wiki to write a 1,500 word essay in her discipline online and in real time.
http://anessayevolves.blogspot.com/
On the wiki, topic-related material was explored and drafts were constructed
In the online environment contributions were overwhelmingly supportive, non-hierarchical and candid.
wiki as a framework to create a comprehensive online knowledge base which covers the entire veterinary curriculum.
As part of the wiki, students maintain a personal profile which allows them to reflect on the experience
How would their writing contributions – often practice based – fit in a CoW inhabited by academics writing for scholarly publications?
. Firstly, the need to find a medium for your CoW that works, that is widely used, and with which the would-be participants are familiar and comfortabl
ow is a CoW initiated? Can it be self-perpetuating or does it need leaders/mentors to drive it?
There is a risk that the mistakes of the past – both teaching to the test by schools and micro-management of the school system through the means of exams and league tables – may be repeated in the EBC.
nternational evidence from high-performing education systems suggests more formative assessment during schooling would be beneficial
But an over-reliance on summative assessment can distort the quality of education by becoming the dominant focus of school activity.
Removal of the currently over-specified and repetitive national curriculum from primary schools in favour of clearly defined goals on literacy, numeracy, science and computer science.
more stretching
judged by Ofsted
Move the focus of our exam system to 18 and develop clearly rigorous and stretching standards for both academic and vocational A-levels, with maths and English retained until 18 for both
A study
should be commissioned to advise on the right balance of timing and the optimal mix between formative and summative assessment
Clear indication that the system as a whole is not supporting a generally accepted set of goals. Instead, the schools are trying to achieve a goal they see as important at worst while fighting the systemic demands.
One such school leader told us they had taken a conscious decision with one group of young people to focus on five key subjects and some life skills, knowing that the accountability system would score them down for it, as it expected eight qualifications from all students at that time.
Our system should reward schools making brave decisions which focus on boosting long-term outcomes for pupils, not punish them.
It should be able to survive changes of government and provide the test against which policy changes and school actions are judged
shine the light on whether the system is truly addressing the needs of all students, rather than just the few required to meet a government target.
Focus on raising the ambition and attainment for every child as far as their abilities permit
guide young people effectively on their choice of enabling subjects…
thos and culture that build the social skills also essential to progress in life and work, and allow them time to focus on this
Have a school accountability and assessment framework that supports these goals rather than defining them.
social literacy
a range of core subjects
ncluding critically maths, English, the sciences
effective use and understanding of computer science.
‘enabling subjects’
humanities, languages, arts, technical and practically-based subjects
equip a young person to move on
o university, or to an apprenticeship or vocational qualification
a set of behaviours and attitudes,
An exclusive focus on subjects for study would fail to equip young people with these, though rigour in the curriculum does help
‘employability skills’
Behaviours can only be developed over time, through the entire path of a young person’s life and their progress through the school system.
right context at school
A supportive culture, pastoral care and the right ethos are all needed to make the difference.
a long tail of pupils failing to achieve the desired outcomes can no longer be accepted.
enable all of our young citizens to reach the desired standards.
conflicting expectations placed on schools.
renewed system should be able to judge performance against the goals based on more complex metrics.
judgement
on overall culture and ethos, teaching and governance
group of data points, including testing but also outcomes data.
Development of a clear, widely-owned and stable statement of the outcome that all schools are asked to deliver.
beyond the merely academic, into the behaviours and attitudes schools should foster
basis on which we judge all new policy ideas, schools, and the structures we set up to monitor them
Ofsted
asked to steward the delivery of these outcomes
resourcing these bodies to develop an approach based on a wider range of measures and assessments than are currently in use,
The Partnership for Innovative Instruction is a project of the MN Learning Commons. Our goal is to leverage the power of collaboration and digital resources to launch teachers and students into new learning frontiers.
I have been to a different school nearly every single year of my life trying to find the "perfect" school. OHSU is my perfect school. This is my second year at OHSU and the teachers here are amazing! They call me weekly just to check up on me and offer to tutor me whenever I am struggling. The courses and curriculum are great. It is easy to navigate and understand the material and if I don't understand something, my teachers are only a Skype call away! I also love OHSU because it is very flexible. It makes school a lot easier to do when I can finish my schoolwork on my own time. - Michael D.
Insight Schools is part of the nation's leading network of online public high schools offering a rigorous full-time curriculum, experienced state-certified teachers that know how to inspire, and a diploma recognized by colleges and universities nationwide.
Apex Learning is the leading provider of blended and virtual learning solutions to the nation's schools. Our digital curriculum provides an active learner experience that engages all students in rigorous coursework to prepare them for college and work. The standards-based digital curriculum - in math, science, English, social studies, world languages, and Advanced Placement - is widely used for original credit, credit recovery, remediation, intervention, acceleration and exam preparation.
In education, our research and development ("R&D") systems are curriculum development and professional development. These are the primary systems we utilize to improve instruction, and these systems are traditionally hierarchical and organized around school or district boundaries. We rely on top down policies and approaches such as standards and state-level assessments to influence the improvement of these systems even though there is significant lag time, often several years, between the development of standards and the implementation of their related assessments.
In a move to link pay more closely with performance, the main pay scale for classroom teachers will be abolished, handing sweeping new powers to heads to decide pay levels.
the move would “effectively demolish the national pay framework”, and cause “inconsistency and unfairness” for teachers
changes would allow schools greater power to “reward their best teachers”.
"Schools face the prospect of widespread strike action after ministers announced a fundamental overhaul of teachers' pay that will scrap automatic rises for tens of thousands of staff."
"Performance pay changes being suggested for UK teachers means that their eduction system will focus on partial performance metrics instead of curriculum innovation and student behaviour. Sadly, a similar change is being considered in Victoria."
This is a great site for creating all sorts of online cloze text of missing words and sentence ordering activities. It's great for sentence and grammar work, as well as using text about topics from across the curriculum. Register for free to create text activities to share and embed.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Cross+Curricular
Curriculum planning in…"an unreal world" Some quick thoughts on teachers as central to curriculum planning. Also a link to the PFD of Ben Wiliamson's The Future of the Curriculum (available as a free download from the MacArthur Foundation and the MIT Press).
Curriculum 9/15/2004 By: Sara Armstrong and David Warlick Recently, Edgar Murphy of the North Carolina State Board of Education delivered a presentation to a group of technology-using educators in the Raleigh area. He stated that of all the positions he has held in his life, he was technically qualified for only the first one.