Posts by Guest Author
Time to Embrace Online Learning
To be successful, our public education system must continually evolve and adapt to take advantage of innovation that supports different ways students learn. Today, young people are spending a significant portion of their lives online and learning in ways that take advantage of a wide-open universe of information available to them 24/7. Educators must embrace this innovation and the power of online learning.
K12 Statement on the NYTimes Hit Piece
The New York Times article featuring K12 Inc. is unfair and one-sided, and advances an anti-parent choice policy agenda. Instead of presenting a factually accurate look at K12's online and blended learning products and education programs, the writer mostly editorializes, selectively picking and choosing some facts and omitting many others to satisfy a pre-determined narrative. The article omitted important information on the structure of online schools, student performance, teacher training and professional development, and the full scope of education programs and services provided by K12. It liberally quotes well-known critics but gives no room for leading voices supportive of technology-based education reforms.
A 2020 Vision for Riverside Unified School District
By: David Haglund The introduction of information technologies into virtually every aspect of our lives has led education leaders, parents, and students to think differently about where and how learning takes place. Traditional concepts of schools, classrooms, and learning are being challenged as technologies introduce new ideas and capabilities into the system and new school models are emerging (e.g., Riverside Virtual School www.rvslink.net). Beyond the school walls, the global business market is demanding a new set of skills from college graduates and has an increasingly growing pool of workers from which to draw the best qualified employees.
NYTimes Misses the Mark
Gail Collins uses her column to question the validity of online public schools for everyone except middle class homeschoolers and tries to make her case using some flimsy arguments, and familiar critics.
Fund the Child, Not the District
Mike Pettrelli and the Fordham Institute should be commended for starting the conversation on “school governance.” Mike’s two important posts on the topic can be found here and here. This triggered comments from the grande dames of the status quo, Randi Wiengarten and Diane Ravitch,. The discussion brings an important question into focus. Why do we even need “school districts?”
Is Your School Preparing Learners for Success? 5 Questions to Consider
This post by Shane Krukowski first appeared on Innovative Educator on 11/23/11. Shane is CEO of Project Foundry, a great project-based learning platform. “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” ~C. S. Lewis Redesigning education involves much…
How the Best Math Software Avoids the Worst Teaching Mistakes
Like many of us in the education community, my first year of teaching was a disaster. Five periods of Algebra I with 10th and 11th graders at an urban Los Angeles high school was a tough start, and on top of it I made pretty much every mistake in the book. Classroom management was one thing, but the bigger frustration was that I knew I was making no headway in actually teaching math to my students.
Equal Access to College Preparatory Curriculum
By: David Haglund. The California Student Bill of Rights Initiative, a project of Education Forward, seeks to remedy this inequity in access through an initiative slated for the November 2012 ballot.
SKYRIM: How far r uu??!!
Pretty far, compared with typical learning environments. Not just for kids either: according to the Entertainment Software Association, the average age of video-gamers these days is 37, with 29% over the age of 50! (You know who you are.
Uniting Online Learning and Self-Directed Learning – A New Relationship
The concept of self-directed learning has long fascinated researchers in the field of education for quite some time. Becoming a self-directed learner is found to be most important as we develop into adults. It is often cited as being one of the most important functions of education. However, research has shown that there needs to be a readiness for self-directed learning that comes with maturity.