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"New York City is experimenting with new tools and tactics with its Innovation Zone, a devoted unit for trying out new approaches to learning and sharing best practices with like-minded educators." "Schools across the system are trying out different learning approaches, including blended learning, online courses and project-based teaching. As with the most lofty aspirations of educators, the iZone's goals are to personalize learning, provide real-world experience, change the ways staff and students view their roles and take advantage of the vast number of tools available to students and teachers."

"The reality is that a quarter of all students currently enrolled at colleges and universities are taking at least one course online, and one-in-ten is enrolled in a degree program that is delivered entirely online." So, the question is "How are we as educators in Vermont preparing our students to be successful in college if we are not exposing them to online and/or blended learning experiences in high school?"

Great ideas here and very relevant to #VTed Schools. Not just article about online learning,but 1:1, blended instruction, and "flex" model schools.   

Yes indeed. IF we build out infrastructure. IF teachers train themselves to teach accordingly.

"The model, now in practice or under consideration in states including Louisiana, Michigan, Arizona and Utah, allows students to build a custom curriculum by selecting from hundreds of classes offered by public institutions and private vendors. A teenager in Louisiana, for instance, might study algebra online with a private tutor, business in a local entrepreneur's living room, literature at a community college and test prep with the national firm Princeton Review - with taxpayers picking up the tab for it all."

With little to no oversight this would be a disaster. But, what if...

What if there were a regional "school" that oversaw these External Learning Opportunities and Diplomas with Certificates of Focus? A student would be assigned to a Mentor Teacher who would help to: Design a plan to graduation...and beyond, Give prior approval and determine assessments of learning experiences, Provide awareness and approve formal online opportunities such as VTVLC, VHS, Aventa Learning/K12, Provide awareness and approve formal online and traditional courses through Dual Enrollment at CVV and other local colleges, Connect students to local Internships, Apprenticeships, Connect students to programs such as TIPS, Medquest, etc., Guide students in inquiry-based Independent Studies, Guide students in developing and implementing Service-Learning projects, Bringing together like-minded students, community members, employers, educators together around specific college and career goals, and the list could go on. This could be a big draw for all students. This is could be a way to provide a highly individualized learning experience for students. With the right framework it could be amazing.

"MIT will make the MITx open learning software available free of cost, so that others ... such as K-12 school systems - can leverage the same software for their online education offerings.

I've used pieces of MIT's open courseware in the past for student ELOs. This could make that work very simple. The platform will be free. Plus, for what they say will be a "modest fee" they will grant a "certificate of completion" to students who demonstrate mastery of the subject.

FAQ's about MITx - http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/mitx-faq-1219

There are four big benefits of flex models: Competency-based: Students progress based on demonstrated mastery; they use cohort groups and teams when and where they are helpful. Customized experience: Flex models make it easy to customize the experience for each student. Portable and flexible: Students can take a flex school on the road for a family vacation or for a work or community-based learning experience. Productive operations: Flex models have the potential for more productive staffing and facilities solutions.

Lacks detail about HOW flex learning actually works, but the basic concept is appealing.

"Like diplomas, credentialing is a market signalling activity -- credentials tell the world what you know and can do. With all of the new learning options, it is becoming more important to have widely recognized means to show what you know and can do."

This is the evolution of education. Certificates of Focus, online learning, competency-based learning, internships, ELOs...the signs are everywhere. It is just going to take a school with the guts to blow up the system and make real and deep changes.

"Twitter has emerged both as an important source of news, information, and resources for educators, as well as a valuable way to engage in a meaningful professional learning network. This webinar will provide a useful overview of Twitter and how it can inform and support the ongoing development and networking of K- 12 educators." Webinar THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 | 3:00-4:00 PM EST

Research by Richard Light, the author and Harvard University scholar, and others indicates that when students are asked to write for one another, they write more effectively. This is perhaps counterintuitive. Wouldn't students do their best work for those grading their work? But students aren't eager to be seen as poor writers by their peers, so they step up their game when writing for other students. Also, they know that their peers don't understand the course content as well as their instructors do, so they tend to provide better explanations when writing for peers.

This is an uplifting read, very relevant to the themes of our upcoming conference.

"Anybody can be creative ... You just have to learn how."

"The best way to unleash creativity ... is to give students an "experience," or in d.school speak, a design challenge. Under his teaching model, however, students aren't just handed a problem to solve-they must define the problem themselves through research and direct observation."

"...it is behavioral change that enables students to gain innovation confidence, something he believes is as important as gaining literacy skills. "For me this is a mindset," he says. "It's a way of thinking that you can use in every part of your life."

A truly transformed school. Could be tweaked to include non-curriculars. Interesting collection. Video, article, slideshow.

"...the day is growing nearer when quality higher education confronts the technological disruptions that have already upended the music and book industries, humbled enterprises from Kodak to the Postal Service (not to mention the newspaper business), and helped destabilize despots across the Middle East." Ten years ago who would have thought that these institutions would be "threatened" by computers? Are schools evolving rapidly enough to meet the challenge?