Tom Vander Ark: Thoughts on Education Nation

Outgoing NBC chief Jeff Zucker and news head Steve Capus deserve credit for an all in multi-channel commitment to Education Nation.
Despite rain induced facilities challenges it was a good first year outing. The NBC family, especially MSNBC, may a pretty strong embrace of the administration and the aligned edreform community.
There were a lot of media folks but few of the edtech crowd (many of which were at the simultaneous EdNet in Boston).
Panels seemed about a third off–heavy with sponsors, short of interesting people. NBC made a strong effort to have 50 great teachers around and in each session.
Tom Brokaw set a great tone and did a nice hour segment with Secretary Duncan on recruiting new teachers. Duncan was more compelling than Obama during his hour with Matt Lauer where he was articulate but uninspired.
As is always the case at conferences, the hallway chats were the most valuable.
That said, here is another perspective, which I titled On the Brink, but of What? on the edreformer.com blog.
This note from Joe Williams, Democrats for Education Reform, was important enough that I thought I'd share it in full:

Babson Survery Research Group: American High Schools Administrators Increasingly Embrace Online Education

High school principals like online learning. At least that's the conclusion of a Babson Survery Research Group report called Classon Connections: High School Reform and the Role of Online Learning.
Using data collected from a national sample of more than 400 high school principals, the study found these administrators see online learning as meeting the diverse needs of their students whether through advanced placement, elective college courses, or credit recovery.
The major reason cited for online and blended offerings is to provide courses that otherwise would not be available.
Study coauthor Anthony G. Picciano of The Graduate Center and Hunter College at City University of New York, pointed out the critical importance for online education among the smaller and rural schools.
"High schools in all locales are facing serious challenges, but rural schools probably have the most difficulty. Online and blended learning are a critical part of the strategy they are employing to deal with limited tax bases, low enrollments, and difficulty in attracting and keeping certified teachers," he said.
Some of the report's key findings include:

• Credit recovery is the most popular type of online course being offered at the secondary level. Urban high schools, which historically have the lowest graduation rates, are embracing online credit recovery as a basic part of their academic offerings.


• High school administrators consider online elective college-level courses an effective means for the more able students to begin their college careers.


• Survey respondents report that offering online and blended courses makes financial sense when trying to meet specific needs for small groups of students.


• Rural schools are in the vanguard in offering online and blended learning programs to their students—using online courses to overcome significant problems in funding, teacher certification, and small enrollments.

Click here for pdf of report.

Be Part of Sept. 29 Live Chat with Liberarting Learning Blog Contributor Michael B. Horn

Michael B. Horn, coauthor of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (McGraw-Hill) will be part of a live chat with EdReformer.com's Douglas Certs and Andrew Barras on Sept. 29 at 12 noon EST.
Horn is the Executive Director, Education, of the Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank devoted to applying the theories of disruptive innovation to problems in the social sector. A new, updated edition of Disrupting Class was published and is now available.
For more information about the live chat, go to edreformer.com.

Guest Commentary: Nev. GOP Central Committee Member Asks Gubernatorial Candidates to Consider Online Schools

Jim Clark, president of Republican Advocates, a vice chair of the Washoe County GOP and a member of the Nevada GOP Central Committee, believes expanding virtual schools is one way to solve the state's budget crisis.
What's more, he tells the candidates running to become Nevada's governor that they need take a stand on virtual education.
"Both candidates promise voters that education will not suffer but offer no details," Clark writes in the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza.
"If technology can really whack down education spending yet deliver superior educational services why aren't both governor wannabes promoting this? In a word: Teacher unions," he adds.
Click here to read the entire article.

Tom Vander Ark on 5 Categories Where Private Investment Will Help Education

The expansion of broadband, reduction in price of access devices, and powerful application development platforms—all primarily a result of private investment—have changed the opportunity set.
Equally exciting is the development of social entrepreneurship—impact-oriented enterprises with a return-seeking or at least sustainable business model.
The worldwide recession accelerated the instincts of and opportunities for the Millennial generation to do meaningful work. Talent is being attracted to problems in global education with the expansion of career options in addition to being a teacher.
The amount and quality of proposals makes it easier to seek high impact and high return.
Click here to read the 5 categories I believe where private capital will play an important role. You will also find a link to my AEI paper "Coordinated public-private partnerships (PPP) will be key to meeting the unique challenge of rapidly scaling access to quality education. Private investment will not fix the problems with education, but it will not be fixed without it."

Guest Commentary: Georgia Public Policy Foundation Editor Takes on Gubernatorial Candidates Over Virtual Education

Mike Klein, editor with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, an an independent think tank that proposes practical, market-oriented approaches to public policy, writes “Public school education agendas proposed by the two major candidates for Georgia Governor leave wide open a hole that any running back would appreciate.”
Republican Nathan Deal and Democrat Roy Barnes put forward plans that give only slight mention to digital learning. They're overlooking a significant education priority for the state's children, according to Klein.
Education agendas from Georgia’s two major party gubernatorial candidates are politically safe proposals that seek to ensure voters the children will be in good hands and teachers could stop worrying about their pensions and furlough dates.
Klein says Georgia deserves better. The candidates’ agendas should be bolder.
Click here to read the entire article.

Guest Commentary: Principal from State of Washington Describes Pros and Cons of Online Learning

Tim Driver believes online learning is the single biggest paradigm shift facing education in the last 100 years.
He should know.
The Kirkland, Wash. principal has been in the hallways and classrooms of traditional American education for the past 20 years.
Now, he is trying virtual education. He likes what he sees, but has no illusions.
In a straight-ahead, matter-of-fact manner, Driver lists what he sees as the advantages--and disadvantages--of online schools.
His conclusion?
"After almost 20 years in a brick and mortar setting, I decided to become an online principal. I have seen both sides of it, and I decided to embrace the future."
Click here to read his entire article.

A sneak peek at the NYT Mag's 'Education and Technology' issue

There's an old adage in journalism that goes something like this: "It's news when it happens next door to the editor."

Well, the kid next door to some New York Times editor must be attending a virtual school because most of the Sept. 19 the New York Times Magazine is dedicated to the impact technology is having on education.

It's about time.

The Times is catching up with the debate, the politics, the policies, and the trends that have been at the cutting edge of the education community for more than a decade.
In great Grey Lady Fashion, the magazine coverage tries to be positive, comprehensive and folksy, in an Upper West Side of Manhattan fashion.
Here are some highlights:

• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gives a nod of support to online education in a Question and Answer session.


• A very cool interactive timeline shows the history of classroom technology. (Anyone else remember the Bomar Brain, one of the first handheld calculators?)


• The article, "Anytime, Anywhere," makes the determination that "online courses have become a standard part of normal public education."


• Cellphones are declared to be friends, not foes, of education.


• Video games--appropriate video games--can be used as learning tools.

Lots of good reads, no matter what platform--digital or print--you use to read it.

Guest Commentary: N.C. educator on 5 things school chiefs need to do to create a digital learning environment

Dr. Donna Peters, former superintendent of North Carolina's Montgomery County Schools and North Carolina's 2010 State Superintendent of the Year, used her blog to post a digital learning action plan for school leaders.
"We all know that no one likes change but babies," she wrote. "However, the resources available to students and staff in a blended learning environment are immense, and change must happen for our students and school systems to have a chance of success in today’s complex and open world!"
Peter outlined five basic steps that school leaders must take in order to nurture an environment in which digital learning can thrive.
"The superintendent or administrator leading change for digital learning will need to intentionally create the sense of urgency (the why) and develop the vision (the what)," Peters continued. "Then, a plan must be developed for building capacity and providing the necessary resources for digital learning."
Click here to read the complete post.

Guest Commentary: Online Schooling Reshaping 21st-Century Classroom

The editorial board of the Oklahoman, which bills itself as "the most trusted news source" in Oklahoma, took a step away from the swirling controversy between a small school district that wants to create a virtual charter school and the state's Department of Education.
Instead of rehashing the same old arguments that involve Epic 1 and state education officials, the editorial acknowledges that virtual education is here to stay. What's more, it states that it's time that Oklahoma gets with it.
"A 2009 legislative task force found that the number of Oklahoma students enrolled in a full-time online program more than doubled between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. Those numbers will continue to rise if the recent controversies are any indication," according to the editorial.
Click here to read the entire editorial.

Rethinking Student Motivation

In Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, the book I coauthored with Clayton Christensen and Curtis Johnson, we discuss how to transform the education system to customize learning for different student needs. We are now publishing a revised and expanded edition of that award-winning book, which includes a new chapter on student motivation among other updates.
Titled Rethinking Student Motivation, this paper explores how educators can crack the code on motivating students—which is crucial for learning—through the lens of the famous “jobs to be done” concept that Christensen pioneered. We assert that schools—just like businesses that are trying to make critical connections with their customers—must seek to understand what “jobs” students are trying to accomplish in their lives and answer the question, “What job might they hire schools to do?” Our research shows that the two core “jobs” students set out to do each day are “feel successful” and “have fun with friends,” but schools often fail at integrating these core jobs into their operations. We provide insight into how schools can change to enable students
to do these jobs through project-based learning, computer-based learning, and other innovations.

Here's a taste:



"One reason why we take an assertive position in Disrupting Class on the wisdom of using computer-based learning as the mechanism for achieving student-centric learning is that by the very nature of software, achievement can be integrated with the delivery of content in ways that help students fell successful while they learn, every day. Often this come in the form of reviews or examinations that are built into the software, which require students to demonstrate mastery before they can move to the next body of material. Feedback can be delivered frequently and in bite-sized pieces, as necessary, to help each student feel successful. In traditional monolithic batch instruction, in contrast, examinations are offered every few weeks. Then, because this
system is deigned to categorize students as excellent, average and below average, it causes most students not to feel successful as they learn."



I invite you to download an adaptation of that new chapter for free from our website. To download the paper, click here.
And to learn more about the second edition of Disrupting Class visit the Amazon page here.

Guest Commentary: Massachusetts should be pioneering online education, not restricting it

Recent headlines in the Massachusetts news media hailed the arrival of the state's first statewide virtual school, the Massachusetts Virtual Academy. The school offers classes to students from throughout the state.

While the news stories make the opening of the school seem easy, the back story reveals a different tale.

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education issued ruling after ruling that have placed hurdles in front of the creation of this virtual school. The rulings may also serve as a warning to others that, at least in Massachusetts, online education in not an education reform route to take.

Two Massachusetts state representatives--Marty Walz and Will Brownsberger--wrote an opinion article for the Boston Globe in which they detail how their state can--and should--become a leader in the virtual education movement.

"In a state where digital pioneers flourished, the educational system should catch up to the students," the representative write.

Click here to read the complete article.

Guest Commentary: Oklahoma School Board Should Continue to Eye Virtual Schooling Providers

The Oklahoman Editorial Board likes virtual schools and the direction it is taking education.
But most Oklahomans are slow to accept change. Any change. That's why the editorial board advises the state's ed board to take it slow when it comes to virtual school issues.
The newspaper's editorial says it views for-profit companies that provide curriculum, instructors, and school management with some wariness. It's not that their against the for-profits, it's just that for-profit companies being so hands-on in providing classroom experiences--even online classroom experiences.
"It's OK to wade in carefully," the editorial states. "Credible providers won't mind answering all the questions officials can muster."
Read the complete editorial here.

Closing the Digital Curve

The National Journal has an Education Blog where education activists, policymakers and reformers debate issues of the day.
Recently, the blog sought responses to these questions: "In education, how can and should technology be used to close the digital gap (that is, overcoming obstacles to bring the potential of education to technology to more students) rather than exacerbate it? What can policy makers do to help advance the promise of technological benefits in the classroom?"
My response was titled, "Changing the Curve." I start the piece by saying, "Digital learning is the first chance in history to change the learning curve and extend access to quality education. Personalized digital learning is engaging students and boosting achievement."
Click here to read my entire article.
Click here to read all of the responses, including one by former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, who is now president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, and, along with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of the founders to the Digital Learning Council.