Archive
component:for-whom.credentials
What I’m Seeing: Show What You Know
It’s the beginning of the end of pointless post-secondary. Thousands of young people accumulated mountains of debt from college degrees that aren’t worth much–they didn’t learn much and they aren’t employable. The last two days in GettingSmart.com I’ve discussed the increased focus on outcomes and the development…
What I’m Seeing: Productive Post-Secondary
Wow, the edtech space seems to have exploded. The number and quality of startups is remarkable as is the inflow of talent and investment. Over the next weeks I’ll discuss some of the emerging capabilities I’m seeing in these ten categories: Productive post-secondary: taking outcomes and value seriously…
NYCan Makes the Case for Early College
NYCan just released Start College Early, Finish College Strong. Students participating in early college programs can earn up to two years of college credit while in high school and potentially graduate with an associate’s degree. As the NYCan blog says, “Right now, these programs are only reaching a small portion of the kids who need them most.” Read the story of Precious and tell me why we shouldn’t dramatically expand early college.
Badges Will Be Big
We need a great Common Core-aligned merit badge system that motivates and recognizes achievement. It should be free and open. Badges should be awarded based on multiple forms of assessment. Badges should be linked to multiple forms of instruction. Badges will be a core component of emerging learning platform ecosystems.
Innosight Institue Announces New Case Study On Data Systems for Competency-Based Learning
Innosight Institute announced today the release of “The engine behind WGU: Configuration of a competency-based information system,” a new case study by Senior Research Fellow Heath Staker about the Western Governors University (WSU) data system used to support competency-based learning.
Competency-based Approach Can Support Personalized Learning in Ohio
Nearly 40 percent of college freshmen in Ohio need to take remedial courses because they are unprepared for college-level work. The total bill for remedial classes in 2009 came to $130 million, rising to $147 million in 2010. Remediation is most costly to students who take longer to complete their degrees and are more likely to drop out.
A Case for Certification
The U.S. needs more college grads or more preciesly a more job ready workforce. A portion of that need will be meet via informal learning strategies and recognized by certification and badging systems.
Infographic: Tomorrow’s Business Leaders Also Lead Cheating
Cheating is a growing problem and concern among K-20 institutions. Students are equipped with technologies that increasingly blur the lines of cheating. OnlineMastersDegree.com published an infographic this week on "Cheaters: Kindergarten to High School, College to Working World," which looks at the ways cheating begins and carries out through students' professional lives.
Building a Thoughtful Blend
Innosight Institute’s report The Rise of Blended Learning defines it as “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.” To their definition, I add a requirement that the shift to an online environment for part of the student is intended to boost learning and operating productivity. Here's a description of rotation and flex schools and tools.
Q&A: Nancy Hoffman On Vocational Education
In her book, Hoffman outlines the ways that vocational education and training (VET), which couples hands-on work experience and traditional learning to develop 21st century skills, can better prepare students for higher education and life. In the Q&A below, Hoffman discusses the outlook of VET programs around the world, the differences in the US and the challenges Americans face in producing comparable programs for students.