Personalized Learning
Personalized learning is a mindset and approach to teaching that focuses on meeting each learner where they are and tailoring a curriculum that considers their interests, prior knowledge and skill level, and pace. Such a demand on the teacher requires sophisticated usage of technology in a combination of personalized, blended and online learning.
Responding To Tennessee State Representative Craig Fitzhugh
I couldn’t let this column by state Rep. Craig Fitzhugh (D-TN) titled, “Virtual Schools Bad for Education Reform” go by without responding. It was so full of errors I almost didn’t know where to start. I don’t know Rep. Fitzhugh, so I won’t suggest he was intentionally misleading readers. I’ll just give him the benefit of the doubt and presume that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Let me attempt to dissect it.
OpenEd: Changing the Way the World Learns
A New York Times article last week suggested that big ideas are dead. At Open Education Solutions, we don’t think so—we want to change the way the world learns. We see evidence of new approaches to learning that work better. Following are four examples of how we’re helping to deploy new strategies, structures, and technologies.
Why States Should Require Online Courses
EdWeek reposted a Miami Herald story reviewing the pros/cons of the recent addition of a Florida requirement that every high school student take an online course. There is a good deal of speculation in the article that the requirement is just about saving money, noting that “Florida spends…
The Name Game
It’s silly season again, and I’m not referring to the Republican primaries. No, I’m thinking about the all-out battle for proponents and opponents of “reform” to stick a nasty label on the other side and claim the mantle of truth and goodness for themselves. This is nothing new, of course (Sean Cavanagh had a smart piece in Ed Week about this in March). But the battle continues apace.
Celebrate Tagore With a Poem about Schools
It's Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birthday. Here's a Tagore poem that describes a great school including interdisciplinary studies, real rigor, and freedom of thought.
Demonstrated Competence
The goal of school is learning but we still manage it based on time. Students still progress a year at a time after a 180 day school year along with other kids their age. Occasionally politicians call for an end to social promotion, but just mean making struggling students repeat a grade. We didn’t really have a better way to manage matriculation in the era of data poverty.
No More Big Ideas? 10 Edupreneurs Suggest Otherwise
Neil Gabler suggested in last Sunday’s NYTimes that there are no more big ideas. This week I talked to/about 10 edupreneurs with big dreams that suggest otherwise.
Reflections on Inflections
Inflection points marks the beginning of a different future. We recently hit three inflections in education, and there are three more to come that have the potential to change the world.
PDK/Gallup Poll: Surveys Look Back, Innovators Look Forward
Surveys reflect the questions asked. The annual Phi Delta Kappan International (PDK) and Gallup poll asked a bunch of rear view mirror questions and got unsurprising responses: the public appreciate teachers, local schools, and school choice. The survey reflects broad concerns about public education and budget cuts in particular.
Bring Your Own What, and Why?
This article was originally published by Bruce Dixon on the AALF.org Blog. At several recent conferences at which I have been speaking, there has been a lot of interest in the concept of students bringing their own computers, laptops, technology or devices…depending on how you like…