Staff Picks: Big Data, OER, Teacher Professional Development

Tom Picks “BIG Data”

Tom says, “A great McKinsey Quarterly article asked, ‘are you ready for the era of ‘big data‘?’  In addition to business leaders, that’s a great question for education leaders and policy makers.  The transition from data poverty to data abundance will enable informed teaching and customized competency-based learning.”

Karen Picks “The State and OER”

Karen says, “For once Washington State is on the forefront of state funded OER courses with the state Community and Technical College System launching an open course library.  This move puts the system ahead by setting an example of how open courses can save both students and the system money and allows funds to be freed up for financial aid programs.  State Representative Reuven Carlyle, once a member of the State Board for Technical and Community and Technical Colleges, was key to pushing through the legislation.  Rep. Carlyle is a great friend to education.”

Caroline Picks “Sacramento mayor, former NBA star Kevin Johnson in Tacoma tonight”

Caroline says, “On Thursday our staff attended a League of Education voters speaker series event in Tacoma, Wash. It was a great night filled with energy and laughs. As a sports fan I loved hearing how Kevin used his NBA trips to cities around the country to meet with education leaders like Ted Kennedy and superintendents. He urged Tacoma to set high standards for their students and back those standards with community support. Kevin’s charter schools in Sacramento are closing the achievement gab and helping students succeed. It was great to see the students in the audience so excited about a role model like Kevin.” [see Tom’s post Kevin Johnson: Read to Succeed, and T&K with KJ]

Sarah Picks “Digital Age Teacher Council Outlines Teaching Transformation”

Sarah says, “This week, the Digital Age Teacher Preparation Council launched the report Take One Giant Step, which outlines the ways that we can improve professional learning and development to ready teachers and students for the 21st century. I’m pretty excited about the attention that professional development has received these last few weeks and months. This is the exact planning that needs to occur to reform the paradigm of teaching so that students’ learning is reflected in the skills we want them to have in the future. We want more technology in schools, but we also want teachers to be best equipped with the skills and teaching methods to make this shift effective in the classroom.” [also see iNACOL National Standards for Teaching Online]