Personalized Learning
Summers Are For Learning
Had I grown up in the early part of the 21st century, I believe I would have gravitated toward learning how to code. I liked math, and I liked solving problems. Maybe I would have found the wherewithal to apply for a grant to study with Girls Who Code, which was founded to reach under-served girls interested in STEM.
Personalized Learning
MentorMob: What’s On Your Playlist?
A few months ago, I discovered MentorMob (MM), which allows any user to create “learning playlists” to share or open up to other fellow learners who might want to add or edit the content in the playlist. The end product is the ultimate learning tool for students, especially when the playlist is populated with high-quality content, including visual, audio and interactive elements.
Personalized Learning
Common Core Will Save Not Cost Billions
Common Core State Standards lift expectations and create opportunity to compare results and share tools—a terrific set of benefits that America will reap for years. Fordham released a report today on the Cost of Implementing the Common Core. They concluded that states could save about $1 billion if they take full advantage of digital assessments and materials.
Personalized Learning
Infographic: How to Spend Your Summer
Summer is fast approaching. When the last bell rings and students head home for the summer months, many students experience what research is calling "summer learning loss," which largely contributes to the growing achievement gap in the U.S. The infographic below outlines effective ways students can brush up on their studies, skills and knowledge over the summer through internships, jobs, volunteer work and independent study.
EdTech
Nearpod: Go Mobile While Presenting
Nearpod is like the Join.me for iPad presentations - but better. I haven't seen a mobile presentation tool quite like this. I've seen iPad browser sharing tools and even presentation managers, yet nothing with the suite of tools Nearpod offers.
Personalized Learning
Should corporations run publicly funded online schools?
Private enterprise should be eligible for statewide operating contracts for public schools and programs. Private companies have the unique ability to provide quality services at scale. Private enterprise has three unique benefits compared to government agencies and nonprofits. The ability to raise and invest capital is critical to building quality content and learning platforms--investments that can easily exceed $100 million. The ability to rapidly respond to increased demand and operate at scale is another key advantage. The third benefit is the ability to manage to outcomes--data driven decision making combined with operational flexibility.
Personalized Learning
Making AP a Bigger & Better Competency-Based System
Two million high school students took AP tests this month. AP may be the world's largest competency-based learning system. There are at least five opportunities to make it bigger and better.
Personalized Learning
Can Music Really Aid Math Learning?
Most of us heard of the correlation between math and music – musical structures are mathematical in nature, of course, but can learning, or listening to, music really help us to learn math? Or are there specific musical techniques we can use to help our brains to process the learning techniques involved in decoding math problems?
EdTech
Q&A: Classroom Coding Creates Trajectory Toward Career Application
Educator Chris Bartlo at Wilson High School in Portland, Ore. joins us today to discuss the programs at his school and the importance of computer science for students’ futures.
Personalized Learning
From Chronology to Competency
This competency-based stuff sounds logical—kids should learn what they’re supposed to learn and show what they know—but tradition runs pretty deep. Parents that want their kid to have the best shot at a good college believe grade point is everything and they want junior to have the ability to earn that A with a little extra credit. The shift to competency rather than chronology as the foundational element of our education system is a more complicated shift than the tradition to digital. Here’s ten blogs on the subject of competency-based learning from the last 8 weeks.