Personalized Learning

5 Characteristics Connecting Montessori Ed & the Personalized Learning Movement

At first glance, the intersections between Montessori education and high-quality digital learning are not immediately apparent. To those of us with some knowledge about Montessori methods—based on formal training, general awareness or, as in my case, the observations of a parent whose children attend a Montessori school—its natural materials and deep traditions seem to stand in opposition to the vision of a futuristic, technology-rich digital or blended learning environment.

Personalized Learning

Time for More Simulations in Class & On Tests

John Behrens is an assessment guy that doesn’t like to talk about items. “Items pose questions and have specific answers.” Behrens adds, “Items don’t tell us much about the learner, items are a relic of the pre-automated world.”

Personalized Learning

How P2PU is Reshaping Professional Learning for K-12 Teachers

Professional learning for K-12 teachers is an exciting space with great demand and high payoff for successful models. However, much of the professional development currently done for in-service teachers reflects old, industrial-era models of learning: rows of desks, teachers standing front and center, seat time, and lecture. Current models of granting credit to teachers are similarly antiquated and are rarely designed to prompt innovation in the classroom.

Personalized Learning

Gamification: Accelerating Learning For Business & Education

Anyone who has children or who has been around them for a while knows that kids, as well as young adults, are attracted to video games like flies are attracted to light. And while older adults may think the kids are being lazy or using their time idly when they’re connected to their Wii or Xbox using a Kinect, in reality the kids are paving the way for business training and education.

Personalized Learning

Edmodo: Instant Blend, Quick Flip, Easy BYOD

Greg Wilborn and I have been at a couple of the same edtech conferences lately. He leads personal digital learning in Colorado Springs. We had breakfast with Edmodo chairman Rob Hutter today at Sharefair in Denver.

Personalized Learning

Khan’s Big Contribution Will Be Competency-Based Learning

Carrie Morgridge kicked off the 4th Sharefair at the University of Denver’s Richie Center with a description of the benefits of blended learning. The Morgridge Family Foundation has been a big supporter of DU and the adoption of personalized learning technology by Colorado and Florida schools.

EdTech

NewSchools: Ten Conversations with Edupreneurs

The NewSchools Summit (#NSVFsummit), co-hosted with the Aspen Institute, was held in an SFO airport hotel this week. Summit attendees start with equity as the North Star. Kids are the focus. Entrepreneurship is their path. Ten hallway conversations stood out as emblematic of the struggle to improve American schools.

EdTech

Out of Poverty Into Opportunity

Dr. Idit Harel Caperton. At the NewSchools Venture Fund SUMMIT2012 (in collaboration with The Aspen Institute) this May in San Francisco, NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell gave an inspiring address to one thousand members of America's leading education reform movement.