future of learning
Personalized Learning
5 charter authorizing strategies to max RttT
It’s time to rethink charter school authorization.  There are 5,000 charter schools in the US (about 5% of the total number of schools) and a push from the Department of Education for more.  Given that half of the charters aren’t any better than traditional public schools, there has been a push…
Personalized Learning
Post-inflection learning ecosystem for entrepreneurs
National Journal asked us to review a Springboard (Business Roundtable) report.  My reaction was, “Where’s the entrepreneurship?”  Springboard made some sound recommendations, but it reads like the predictable managed economy platform of big biz/labor. In contrast, yesterday Tom Friedman noted the Great Inflection and the ‘maker economy.’ …
Personalized Learning
DOE is major venture investor (but not ED)
The WSJ reports that the Department of Energy has quietly become the biggest venture capital investor: The DOE hopes to lend or give out more than $40 billion to businesses working on “clean technology,” everything from electric cars and novel batteries to wind turbines and solar panels.
Personalized Learning
Blog premise (or a TOC if you will)
With over 300 posting, I think I‘m getting closer to figuring out what this blog is about. Here’s a summary of the logic chain (or as my friends at Bridgespan would say, my theory of change): Excellence and equity in education is the most important issue for the America economy…
Personalized Learning
What a state with no online options should do
There are still a few states where students can’t all or part of their learning online. Here’s three reasons it makes sense to adopt online learning policies: With the push for high common standards including advanced math and science, there simply aren’t enough qualified teachers to fill needs in many…
Personalized Learning
Learning platforms to come
The next generation of transformative learning platforms will include personalized instruction, social learning, and related services.  They will integrate the functionality of learning management, student information systems, and longitudinal data systems.  They’ll take advantage of the explosion of data that will come along with assessment embedded in digital content (e.g., score…
Personalized Learning
PTO: could Preferred Teacher Org provide blended services?
For years, Ted Kolderie has been talking about teacher ownership. Â After writing the nation’s first charter law in MN in 1991, Ted helped teacher in Henderson set up a coop and apply for a charter. Â Ted thinks educations should have a variety of professional options like doctors, lawyers, and…
Personalized Learning
Homework: play a game
eSchool News ran a fairly extensive piece on serious games. Here’s a few excerpts: Moving Learning Games Forward: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Openness,” by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen of the Education Arcade, an MIT research division that explores games that promote learning through play,…
Personalized Learning
Learning a la carte (and how to make it coherent)
Rick Hess has laid out a market-friendly education agenda at American Enterprise Institute, something I appreciate, and recently hosted a form on the demand side of quality education.  I participated on a panel; everyone else wrote a paper; I got off easy as ‘discussant’. Kim Smith, founder of…
EdTech
Feds propose to make it harder to fund start ups
There is little public or private investment in innovation. As pointed out this week, federal spending on edu-R&D is a fraction of what they do in other sectors. Private investors—angel, venture, and private equity—are also leery of a fragmented market that is difficult to penetrate. It’s difficult for edu-entrepreneurs…