EdTech

Data, Evidence and Digital Learning

Have you noticed lately that MOOCs are all over the news? It’s hard to imagine that just a year ago, most people had never heard of Massive Open Online Courses—courses that hundreds of thousands of people all over the world take online, free of charge and that are rapidly growing in number.

Personalized Learning

Getting the Plumbing Ready for the Flood of Data

Personal digital learning will helping more students achieve higher standards. The shift will require prepared teachers, effective communications, smart tools--and really good plumbing. The initiatives mentioned above are helping to create the data infrastructure for smarter education options. But for adult learners like you and me it often feels like drinking from a fire hose.

Personalized Learning

Ouchi is almost right and late to the party

Bill Ouchi, back in EdWeek, is still pitching decentralization a decade after a bunch of us showed that it was a thin theory.  In nearby districts, John Stanford and I both did the 100 flowers approach with pretty thin accountability.  We assumed that people knew what to do and would…

EdTech

Rodel-Backed Plan Wins in DE

There were lots of people scratching their head about Delaware’s phase one Race to the Top win yesterday.  It was not a last minute consultant generated application, it was the result of a decade of leadership from the Rodel Foundation–one guy that leveraged a small checkbook and a lot of…

Leadership

Private School Extends Impact With Online Learning

Oaks Christian School in west Los Angeles is offers a values-based world class secondary education. To extend their reach they worked with online learning provider SevenStar to launch Oaks Christian Online School in 2011. Director Vicki Conway describes the process.

Ed Policy

Leveraging Innovative Policy Options for Students

By: Jamey Fitzpatrick. In this Smart Parents series blog, Jamey writes about the role of parents in helping their children successfully navigate online learning options, and shares resources for learning more about supporting students in online learning environments.

Personalized Learning

Apolo Ohno, Online Learning Pioneer

Apolo Ohno is one of the biggest stars of the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.  Tonight he begins his quest to be the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics. What you probably don’t know is that Ohno was one of the first graduates of the Internet Academy, one of…