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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."

"Learning Futures was a programme designed to get young people engaged actively and positively with their learning, achieving better outcomes and retaining a commitment to learning beyond school. We are now looking for people interested in becoming an 'Engaging School'."

Many great links to resources, tools, and related documents.

A recent study in the US found that: * 98 percent of students feel bored at school at least some of the time; * Two-thirds of students feel bored every day; * A quarter of students feel unchallenged by lessons

"The perceived 'soft' service component actually raises the learning challenge in a course. Service-learning students must not only master academic material as in traditional courses, but also learn how to learn from unstructured and ill-structured community experiences..."

"In isolation neither the research nor the teacher seems to have much of a chance for sustained discovery, growth, and positive change." (p. 39) "Faculty members are changing how they teach and making informed choices when it comes to teaching strategies. They feel empowered and are encouraged to take risks, are fostering collaborations in their teaching and are talking about teaching. For some, the change in how they teach has been radical. For others, the change has been small but still noticeable." (p. 42) And to what do the conveners attribute this success? "We saw that we are learners together in this learning community and we are our own best resource: Our collective knowledge is an invaluable asset." (p. 43) Retrieved from: http://www.cs.kent.edu/~volkert/science-learning/files/sirum-madigan.pdf

As educators do we model those "best practices" for learning which we expect from our students? How do we... "Engage ... in active learning experiences; Set high, meaningful expectations; Provide, receive, and use regular, timely, and specific feedback; Become aware of values, beliefs, preconceptions; unlearn if necessary; Recognize and stretch ... styles and developmental levels; Seek and present real-world applications; Understand and value criteria and methods for (our own) assessment; Create opportunities for (peer to peer) interactions; ...; Promote (peer) involvement through engaged time and quality effort" Retrieved from: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/cii/resources/outcomes/best_practices.asp

"What if students instead came to each course or classroom with a digital backpack of data about their learning levels, preferences, motivations, and personal accomplishments? How would this improve each teacher's ability to tailor learning to meet the needs of individual students? What if parents and students could easily access their child's records to share the information with afterschool providers? How would all of the personalization this affords add up to deeper learning and improved college and career readiness?"

The experience of using portfolios in the past may lead to some push back from veteran educators. Reframing ePortfolios as tools to help them might be a good way to begin a process of an indiscernible evolution rather than attempting to implement sudden change. ~jf

"What do teachers wish they knew about new students? In what environment do they learn best? Are they meeting the standards in key areas like math, reading and writing? What goals have they identified for themselves? What level of support do they have at home? Do they participate in any community programs or organizations? Do they do best when working alone or with peers? What are their outside interests that I can use to motivate learning? Is there anything in their learning history that I should flag for follow-up or special attention? What did other teachers note about their strengths and challenges?"

These films look specifically at ways in which school leaders and educators are testing and proving project-based models for a new, student-centered model of learning.

Lauren and Laura, You'll be interested in the video on this page called "Designing Schools for 21st Century Learning" featuring Randall Fielding. The "...focus of his work is to lead communities in the design of environmentally responsive campuses that foster personalized learning and strong connections to the community."

"... one of the world's leading psychologists, Professor Carol Dweck visited the RSA to discuss how students' mindsets shape their motivation and learning. She discussed new research showing: a) how parents' and teachers' praise can create fixed mindsets and undermine children's motivation, b) how fixed-mindset school environments can decrease the representation of women and minorities, and c) how teaching students a growth mindset increases their success in school."

Is "grit" something that educators need to develop in students? Or rather, is grit inherent in all children? If so, instead of asking if it needs to be developed in their learning, should we be more introspective and work on not suppressing it through our teaching?

Praising a student on process and effort contributes to their learning and their desire to learn more. Praising success based on intelligence has the opposite effect...it actually inhibits growth. What implications does this have on how we assess student learning and communicate those assessments?

"…service-learning inherently teaches the kind of thinking skills and knowledge application necessary for success outside academia. Student products of service-learning, including comprehensive projects and analytic journals, require demonstration of critical thinking and problem solving skills in multiple contexts. In addition, service-learning often provides the right balance of challenge and support to foster intellectual growth and development (Eyler & Giles, 1999)."

"Service-learning can help students improve their standardized test scores because it makes learning interesting and real - in a word - exciting. Research has shown that involvement in quality service-learning projects makes students more engaged in the classroom, less likely to skip class, more apt to discuss school outside of the classroom, and understand the importance of hard work (Morgan and Streb, 1999; Melchior, 1998)."

"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.

"We are moving away from the model in which learning is organized around stable, usually hierarchical institutions (schools, colleges, universities) that, for better and worse, have served as the main gateways to education and social mobility. Replacing that model is a new system in which learning is best conceived of as a flow, where learning resources are not scarce but widely available, opportunities for learning are abundant, and learners increasingly have the ability to autonomously dip into and out of continuous learning flows."

This is my second MOOC; I am already addicted to learning this way. I have been taking ideas on how to move the platform for advisory discussions onto a Google+ Community.

I am completely energized by the MOOC experience. One of my seniors tried it: a human physiology course out of Yale. She was overwhelmed, but grateful to experience the caliber of a "university" course. She ended up dropping after a few months. The pace and rigor were beyond her horizons, but she tried it. We had a conversation about when is it okay to fail. She was finally in a place where she hit the wall. How many of our students hit the wall when they are in a college and paying for it? How many discover only too late that they are in the wrong major?

I can't wait to hear about your experience at our meeting. (Maybe with the extra time I have on my hands now I will give one a try...I've signed up for two, but never got started.) You have my gears spinning about MOOCs and the VTed community. First, I wonder how many schools would be willing to allow students, with oversight and guidance, to participate in a MOOC for credit? Second, what could a Rowland led VTed School Transformation MOOC look like? I see different fellows leading separate sections, sharing ideas and school transformation experiences with class participants who in turn share their own thoughts, inspirations, and challenges. Could have real potential to bring voices together from across the state.

"...summarizes the research on five categories of noncognitive factors that are related to academic performance: academic behaviors, academic perseverance, academic mindsets, learning strategies, and social skills..."

Publication Summary Page of CCSR Report http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/teaching-adolescents-become-learners-role-noncognitive-factors-shaping-school Great related blog post on Grit by Jonathan Martin "Developing Grit via Mindset and Learning Strategies: Learning from the CCSR report" http://21k12blog.net/2013/05/19/developing-grit-via-mindset-and-learning-strategies-learning-from-the-ccsr-report/

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.

New report - Optimal Learning Spaces Optimal Learning Spaces Design Implications for Primary Schools. Report is for primary schools, but same principles apply. Laura and Lauren, thought you might be interested in this fairly extensive report. Link to report on page is broken. Here is the report. Optimal Learning Spaces Design Implications for Primary Schools

"... enhancing teaching and learning outcomes by creating better built environments. It aims to link scientific knowledge to case-study examples "

"...three design principles emerge to support application in practice: the role of naturalness, the opportunity for individualisation and appropriate levels of stimulation."

"Beyond the young people the organizations directly involve, community-based service-learning benefits the people served, their communities, and, ultimately, society..."

"...research demonstrates service-learning's success as a youth engagement tool. It enhances students' sense of self-efficacy, improves self-esteem, and decreases their likelihood to engage in at-risk behavior. Service-learning has the potential to improve attendance. -percent of students at low-performing schools said their feelings would be more positive if they were engaged in service-learning at school."

"On August 4-6, 2010 in Boston (MA), 150 invited education leaders convened at the SIIA-ASCD CCSSO Symposium on [Re]Design for Personalized Learning. They gathered under the common belief that today's education system is inadequate to meet the needs of tomorrow, and focused on identifying changes essential to transform learning for each student. Following are the Symposium participants' key findings about how to redesign our current education model to a student-centered, customized learning model that will better engage, motivate, and prepare our students to be career and college ready."

"Implementing proficiency-based learning options for the long term requires purposeful and specific components to ensure that practices can be sustained and result in a new learning culture that improves student achievement."