Should schools ban spiral notebooks?
From the first-hand experiences of millions of students and teachers worldwide, it’s clear that paper notebooks are a deterrent to quality education. For generations, students have used them in class to scribble or doodle, pass messages to their friends, or construct wads, planes, and spitball projectiles. Given the numerous ways students can use their notebooks to derail learning, it’s a wonder that most schools still permit them in class, right? … Hold on a sec.
Post-secondary online learning is more developed than K-12
Evidence that online learning is more developed at the post-secondary level than at the K-12 level includes:
A higher percentage of college students than K-12 students take all of their courses online.
A higher percentage of college students take at least one course online.
Federal data systems at the post-secondary level are better at distinguishing online courses and online schools/programs from physical schools/courses.
Bridging the gap in a rural school district through personalized learning
In Putnam County, Tenn., with 23 schools spread across 400 square miles, we share many of the challenges faced by our fellow rural school districts nationwide, including inconsistent attendance, long commutes, and a high "mobility rate" - the rate at which students are moving in and out of the district.
Lessons from the rise and fall of the federal Learning Registry
Nov 9, 2011
Departments of Education and Defense to Launch “Learning Registry” Tools and Community
“The U.S. Departments of Education and Defense announced last night the launch of ‘Learning Registry,’ an open source community and technology designed to improve the quality and availability of learning resources in education. The launch is an important milestone in the effort to more effectively share information about learning resources among a broad set of stakeholders in the education community.”
Online learning for Pre-K children
As a researcher and practitioner in the field of K-12 digital learning, I’m frequently asked by people, “Are kids really learning online as early as Pre-K?” My answer to them is “yes.” It’s happening in part because of a Waterford Institute program called UPSTART (Utah Preparing Students Today for a Rewarding Tomorrow), a nonprofit organization that helps Pre-K students prepare for Kindergarten. Thanks to a 2015 Obama administration grant totaling $11.5 million, UPSTART is bringing early math, reading, and science lessons to four- and five-year-olds. These lessons are 15 minutes a day, and the program is funded at the state, school, or partner level. Families do not have to cover the cost of the program.
Who are great blended-learning teachers?
What does it take to be a great teacher in a blended program? To ask that same question in education parlance, what competencies—meaning motives, traits, self-concepts, values, knowledge, and skills—matter most for teachers who are substituting online learning for part of face-to-face instruction?
Is screen time for kids good or bad? It can be both.
A recent New York Times article (The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected) makes the case that schools are promoting too much use of computers, by saying that “America’s public schools are still promoting devices with screens — even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from class altogether.”
Update on Internet access from Ed Superhighway
Student access to the Internet in K-12 schools has grown rapidly over the past five years. Based on data from the EducationSuperHighway, more than 44 million students have high-speed Internet connections in their learning environments today compared to 4 million just five years ago. As mentioned in the recently published 2018 State of the States report report, a call to action from President Obama in 2013 for all public schools in the U.S. to have broadband connectivity has been a driver of this major increase. From there, the FCC updated the E-rate program, providing schools with money to help pay for connectivity. In addition to E-rate, matching funds were provided by select states, and some telecommunications groups helped to give schools deals on their connectivity packages.
Five myths in K-12 online learning
In a recent blog post by ABC news station WXYZ Detroit, Dr. Langen out of Baker College Online shared her thoughts on the top five myths of online learning in higher education. Although in general terms online learning is more advanced in post-secondary education than in K-12 education, these myths apply to K-12 education as well in ways that we explore below.
Welcome to the Digital Learning Collaborative!
Today we are pleased to announce that we are going live with the website of the Digital Learning Collaborative (DLC).
The DLC exists for two main reasons. First, we seek to fill a gap in available information about online, blended, and digital learning. We know that online, blended, and digital learning in U.S. K–12 schools are on the rise. Yet despite the growth, emerging practices, and examples of success, countless basic questions remain about policy and practice. The DLC exists to fill the information gap. Whether you are an educator, school board member, reporter, researcher, policymaker, or concerned citizen, the DLC can help you better understand the K–12 digital learning field and apply that knowledge to your work.