Tom Vander Ark: How Edtech will Benefit Low-Income Students

Digital learning will benefit all students—particularly students from low income families where education leaders are proactive.  In light of the ‘OER exacerbates the gap’ flap  launched by Justin Reich’s blog and Audrey Watter’s response (see the post below this one for links), I thought it would be worth expanding on the ways in which Edtech, blended learning, and open education resources (OER) will benefit low income kids. Click here to see my 10 ways that digital learning will benefit low income students.

Guest Commentary: Open Education Resources and Educational Inequality

Audrey Watters is a technology journalist, freelance writer, ed-tech advocate, recovering academic, and a self-proclaimed rabble-rouser at her blog "Hack Education."
Earlier this month, Watters took aim at a  post on the blog "Educational Technology Debate" by Justin Reich on Open Education Resources and the Digital Divide.
"Reich’s story, along with his related research, raises important questions about whether or not the push for more OER is really benefiting all students in the ways that we pat ourselves on the backs, thinking that it is," she writes.
"Everyone benefits, yes. But in practice, Reich argues, not everyone benefits equally, nor in a way that’s going to close any sort of achievement gap. Rather, more affluent students may actually benefit disproportionately from OER, in part because both teachers and students have the time and the technological capacity to do more with the material," Watters adds.
Click here to read more.

Guest Commentary: A 10-Year Update on Tech & Education

Interactive Learning, a web site is dedicated to demonstrating how schools can use technology for teaching and learning, recently published an excerpt from "Technology in Schools: What the Research Says – A 2009 Update,"  a report issued by Cisco and the Metiri group, and written by Cheryl Lemke, Ed Coughlin, Daren Reitsneider.

The authors ask some provocative questions. 

"Have we over-promised and under-delivered with technology? A recent report suggests that the lack of dramatic results attributable to technology in schools is not the fault of the technology, but rather the lack of systemic changes needed to accommodate the technology, writes Jim Rosso, who authored the Interactive Learning overview.

"After three decades of technology in the schools, some people are expressing concern about the lack of transformative change that has resulted. As the report states, 'The reality is that advocates have over-promised the ability of educators to extract a learning return on technology investments in school,' " Rosso writes.

Where did virtual education advocates go wrong?

"The error was in underestimating the critical need for the system changes required to use technologies effectively in learning," Rosso attributes to the report.

Click here to read more about this thought-provoking report.

Guest Commentary: Michael Petrilli Praises 'Performance Pay--for Online Learning Companies'

The virtual education community continues to be abuzz about a New York Times article on K12 Inc.
Michael Petrilli, executive vice president at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, recently took aim at the Times article in a piece for the Education Next website.
"Whether you consider yeserday’s New York Times article on K12.com a “hit piece” (Tom Vander Ark) or a “blockbuster” (Dana Goldstein), there’s little doubt that it will have a long-term impact on the debate around digital learning," Petrilli wrote.
"Just as these criticisms aren’t going away, neither is online learning itself. The genie is out of the bottle. So how can we go about drafting policies that will push digital learning in the direction of quality?" he added.
Click here to read Petrill's complete post.

Guest Commentary: NRO Contributor Looks at 'States vs. Digital Learning Revolution'

The work of Lance T. Izumi, the senior director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute and co-author of "Short-Circuited: The Challenges Facing the Online Learning Revolution in California" frequently appear in the Liberating Learning Blog.
Recently, Izumi contributed an article to the National Review Online in which he asserts that state governments and teachers unions are setting up roadblocks to the expansion of digital learning.
"Digital learning is not just the wave of the future; it is the tidal wave of the future. Government and special interests need to get out of the way and let this future in so that parents can exercise their fundamental right to choose the type of education that best meets the individual needs of their children," Izumi writes.
He even quotes Terry M. Moe, co-author of  the book "Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics and the Future of American Education" in the article.
Click here for the complete post.

Tom Vander Ark: A Kentucky Blend

Recently, I met with Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday and the Kentucky Board of Education. Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core and will soon it will shift to online assessment.
With Kentucky Virtual, the state was an early leader in providing virtual learning options.  But now, through intra-district arrangements, Jefferson County eSchool and Barren Bavel Academy serve far more students statewide.  In keeping with Digital Learning Now recommendations, I’ve been recommending that the state shift from provider to authorizer and invite more providers to expand student options.
Like other states, the Kentucky board is beginning to think about how encourage quality digital learning. Click here to learn more about my discussions with Kentucky education officials and why I believe Kentucky will be a state to watch in 2012.

Michael B. Horn: Is Mandating Online Learning Good Policy?

I’ve never been bullish on mandates. As a general rule, they tend to distort markets and sectors, have unintended consequences down the line at best and immediately at worst, and lock in ways of doing things at the expense of innovation.
That said, an increasing number of advocates for online learning have come out in favor of mandating that states require students take at least one college- or career-prep course online to earn a high school diploma. Digital Learning Now!, a national campaign chaired by former Govs. Jeb Bush and Bob Wise to advance policies to create a high quality digital learning environment for each student–and where I serve as a “Digital Luminary,” is on board as well.
States are taking notice. Michigan jumped in first with an online-learning requirement for graduation five years ago, and Alabama quickly followed suit. In the last year, Florida and Idaho have jumped on board as well, and districts, such as Tennessee’s Putnam County schools, have adopted an online-learning graduation requirement, too.
But is an online-learning requirement a good idea?
Click here to read more about my thoughts.

Guest Commentary: Lessons Learned from a Blended Learning Pilot

Remember that assignment you got back in the fall? The one where you were asked, "What did you do this summer?" Well Envision Schools, Google, and the Stanford University D. School ( the Hasso Plattner School of Design) finally turned their report in. 

This report is a game-changer and a must read.

"Blend My Learning: Lessons Learned from a Blended Learning Pilot,"  is a dispatch from the frontlines of disruptive innovation in education. The goal was "to chronicle the performance and engagement of low-performing high school algebra students receiving a mix of traditional teacher-led instruction and self-guided instruction through the Khan Academy website," according the researchers.

"The quantitative results show that students in the 'control' or traditional summer school course increased their average percentage of correct answers by 5.2% over the five-week period, while the students in the 'treatment' or Khan class, on average, showed a 6.4% increase in their percentage of correct answers," the report added.

Now don't get the impression that this report swoons over the so-called "Flipped Classroom" model. The report asks some tough questions, which the researchers report there are no easy answers.

This report provides a realistic take on a blended learning environment using Khan videos. From classroom set up to software and hardware (students used Google Chrome laptops) the the pluses and minuses of the Khan system (yes, there were some short-comings to the Khan program, which according to the report, led to changes). The researchers even warned readers to take the above mentioned results with a grain of salt. Yes, they are high on the future of blended learning, but the researchers still had a lot of questions on whether Khan's videos and blended learning will work on a large stage.

Click here to read the complete report. (H/T EdSurge.)

Tom Vander Ark: How Will the Shift to Digital Learning Happen?

I visited Wireless Generation last week and received so many great questions, I’ve been answering a few at a time.
Click here to read the Q & A and to learn about my 10 change strategies that build on trends and may accelerate the transition to personal digital learning.

Guest Commentary: CQ Researcher Pro/Con 'Should Schools Use As Much Digital Technology as They Can Afford?'

CQ Researcher, the backbone for general research in politics, public policy, and American institutions of all kind, has taken an in-depth look at the growth and future of K-12 online learning in the United States.
The report, "Digital Education: Can technology replace classroom teachers?" includes a debate between Curt Bonk, an Indiana University technology professor and Paul Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University.
Their topic: "Should schools use as much digital technology as they can afford?"
Bonk is a definite "yes."
"Effective learning requires an environment designed for multiple paths to success," Bonk writes. In the 21st century, digital technologies--social networking, e-books, shared online video, mobile applications, virtual worlds, collaborative tools, etc.--enhance the learning opportunities for untold millions of learners."
On the "no" side, Thomas warns that "the foundational principles of public education for democracy and human agency must not fall prey to preparing children for the future by perpetually acquiring new technology because we can never know that future."
Click here to read both sides of the debate.
(H/T to CQ Researcher for citing Liberating Learning's 50-State Wiki Project as a place to track state developments in online learning politics and policies).

Tom Vander Ark: Questions About Digital Learning

I visited Wireless Generation, a leading education technology company, in Brooklyn this week.  In a discussion about my new book "Getting Smart," a couple dozen employees including teachers and technologists asked great questions about the future of learning.

Question: Your book includes a lot of “in 5-10 years” predictions, but online learning has been around for over 10 years and it still hasn’t been widely adopted by schools.  So why now?  Why haven’t we already seen the digital learning revolution, and what’s different about today that makes schools ready to accept these new forms of learning?
Click here to read the answer to this question, and the others that made for a lively debate.