Guest Commentary: Blended Learning is the Best of Both World for Colorado Students

The Colorado Department of Education has a duty to fulfill the responsibilities set out for it in rules pertaining to online learning.
That's one of the conclusions of a wide-ranging report on the current status, and the future, of online learning in Colorado.
The report was written by the Denver-based Donnell-Kay Foundation as a way to show where Colorado stands "in terms of its digital and online offerings for public school students."
The report also discusses "why a shift to a blended model of learning that combines face to face, online and digital learning, is an important next move for Colorado."
The report is full of examples of current K-12 digital learning program in Colorado. It also offers a number of suggestions and policy recommendations to enhance growth of online learning in the state.
One of the suggestions in the report is to offer financial incentives to districts with established online and blended learning programs to expand these programs and partner with other districts and schools. Another idea is to attract education entrepreneurs to Colorado with start-up funding to develop digital and blended learning programs.
"We believe that this expansion of digital and online learning will begin to alleviate significant inequities that exist within our system today between students who have access to high quality teachers and a diverse array of courses and schools and those who lack such access because they live in communities that struggle to attract talent or lack the resources to provide the variety of options that a wealthier or larger district can offer," the report added.
Click here for the complete report.
Click here for an interview with Amy Berk Anderson, director of Strategic Partnerships at the Donnell-Kay Foundation.