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Personalized Learning

Mobile Learning Maturing (Slowly)

Article worth reading in EdWeek on mobile learning.  I particularly like what Seth Weinberger at Innovations for Learning is doing with the $100 TeacherMate, a cool primary reading and math handheld game pad. See feature in next months Fast Company. Getting close to the device and price point…

Personalized Learning

Long Day, Long Year, More Learning

Checker Finn makes the case for a long school day and year in this WSJ piece.  Here’s the problem statement: In the face of budget shortfalls, school districts in many parts of the United States today are moving toward four-day weeks. This is despite evidence that longer…

Personalized Learning

Two Sisters Improve Reading Online

When I was superintendent in Federal Way, two of our best reading teachers happened to be sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  I had the good fortune to run into them on a flight this week.  They’ve published two great books, The Daily 5 most recently, and run an…

Personalized Learning

Games Will Change Everything

Games (and other smart adaptive learning media) will be part the core instructional program for most kids in a few years because they are: Adaptive: continuous performance assessment identifies and targets a student’s instructional level and provides instant feedback–it’s personalized learning; Engaging: good games use creative media to teach key…

Personalized Learning

Why Isn’t Everybody Learning Online?

Pretty good free online K-12 learning options exist in most states, so why aren’t more students learning online?  There are more than 2 million students learning online and that’s growing by more than 30% annually, but there are five significant barriers to more rapid adoption: Babysitting: Don’t underestimate the custodial…

Personalized Learning

Edu-Innovation, an Oxymoron?

In preparation for the New Schools Summit, following are a few thoughts for a great group. Acknowledging the difficulty of penetrating the complex decentralized maze of US public education, a New Schools regular asked a dinner gathering of notable reformers last week if education innovation was an oxymoron.

Personalized Learning

Rocketship Ready to Takeoff

Rocketship Education a charter network in development in San Jose, is working hard to create the future.  It’s an early hybrid–a blend of online and onsite learning. Kids spend about a fifth of their time learning basic skills online; this allows Rocketship to run a long day/year program and…

Personalized Learning

Building a Better Teacher (the Online Version)

New York Times Magazine got the title right but the story wrong.  Doug Lemov is great and his book, Teach Like a Champ, will be a big contribution to the sector.  But we’re still trying to solve a 1990 question—how does one teacher lift the achievement level of…

EdTech

CEOShare: My Idea Kicks Off at Dept of Ed Portal

CEOShare: My Idea Kicks Off at Dept of Ed Portal I was surprised this morning to have received a number of invitations to connect and emails about my project idea, which I had listed at the Department of Education’s Innovation Portal. At this stage, it is just an idea,…

Personalized Learning

The AYPF Oscars for Youth Development

American Youth Policy Forum recently released a report, How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond.  The programs (below) “have been proven to help young people successfully complete high school and be prepared for success in postsecondary education and careers.”  I’ve had the good fortune to…