Posts by Guest Author
Personalized Learning
Christensen’s Curve & The Digital Learning Revolution
In the prophetic Disrupting Class: How Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (2008, 2011), Clayton Christensen argued that innovations in technology will proliferate in the 21st century, generate “student-centric” forms of digital learning, create customized learning for the individual, and provide innovative alternatives to traditional teaching and learning tools.
Personalized Learning
The Online High School Graduation That Was: My View From The Trenches
Utah Connections Academy (UCA) Inaugural Graduating Class of 2012 - eight eager faces, eyes sparkling with a sense of pride and accomplishment - for many of them an accomplishment that would not have happened without the transforming powers of digital learning.
Personalized Learning
North Carolina Should Welcome Online Schools
As a state, North Carolina should welcome more digital learning options, including online schools, that can meet the individual needs of children, rather than clinging to a one-size-fits-all model.
Personalized Learning
Student Warns “Doing Technology” Isn’t Enough
A guest blog this week at edweek.org gave a student the chance to tell us what he thinks is important about technology in the classroom. The perspective of the learner doesn't often get much air time. What this learner has to say deserves attention.
EdTech
Steelcase Invites Students to Imagine Their Future
This year, Steelcase launched the 100 Dreams Classroom Project as a part of our “100 Dreams, 100 Minds, 100 Years” centennial celebration. Steelcase is a company dedicated to providing great environments where employees can do their best work. To commemorate its 100th anniversary, the company is looking to the leaders of tomorrow to see what dreams they have and how they hope to achieve these advancements. For the project, we designed a simple lesson plan for teachers to download online and implement in their classrooms, which invites children to use crayons to envision the future.
Personalized Learning
5 Steps to Getting the Most Out of Online Education
For a countless number of people all over, online classes are one way to get ahead while still maintaining some flexibility in daily life. But, in order to get the most out of those online classes and make sure the experience is as rich as possible, you need to be able to know just what kind of mistakes to avoid.
EdTech
Who Governs The Child?
North Carolina is host to the latest battle over expanding digital learning, charter schools, and parent choice. It involves attempts by the State Board of Education (SBE) and the NC School Boards Association to block a proposed online public charter school, North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA) from serving students this Fall. Yet, beyond the details of this one new charter school, this issue has sparked a renewed debate over governance, and whether the principal virtue of “local control” in education is district control or parent choice.
EdTech
Adobe Foundation & Discovery Education Host a ‘Day of Discovery’
In coordination with the 2012 ISTE conference, the Adobe Foundation and Discovery Education hosted a ‘Day of Discovery’ and kicked off the event with an announcement on a partnership between the two. With a shared passion for the power of technology in enhancing teaching and learning, the Adobe Foundation and Discovery Education partnered to provide a first look at free media making curriculum and resources for educators.
EdTech
3 Signs of Quality You Should Look For In Instructional Content
The future will bring amazingly better instructional content for teacher and student use. If the market notices key signs of this, then more effective, comprehensive content will be broadly and rapidly adopted, to the benefit of teaching and learning. I believe there’s three signs the market should be looking for.
EdTech
Informal Learning for a Better World
nformal learning should not be seen as a threat to the formal education system, but as a challenge, model, and important counterpart. With the rise of the open content movement, some of the world’s best educational content — from TED talks to MIT’s OpenCourseWare — is now freely available online.