Tom Vander Ark: 6 Reasons Kids Should be Allowed to Use Mobile Devices in School

Bans on student use of mobile devices exist for some good reasons—kids use them inappropriately at school and there are safety and security concerns. So why bother considering a change?
Click here to learn my six reasons for allowing kids to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
Click here to read my colleague Sarah Cargill's post "10 Unique Lesson Ideas for BYOD and BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology)."

Guest Commentary: The Bakersfield Californian Believes Digital Schools Must be Part of Golden State's Future

The Editorial Board of the Bakersfield Californian put it bluntly: "For a state that has been at the innovative forefront of digital technology since the beginning, it's alarming to note that California lags behind in the development and deployment of online learning in elementary and secondary educational settings."
Click here to read the complete editorial and find out why editors at the Californian say "state with education challenges as daunting as California's cannot afford to stand to the side and watch for long."

Christina Martin: Union's School Funding Fears Unfounded, Study Finds

Online charter schools offer kids even in the far corners of Oregon the chance to receive a public education tailored to their individual needs. Yet many districts and union representatives oppose Oregon's virtual charter schools claiming they drain money from local districts.
Due to these complaints, Oregon's legislature will consider allowing school districts to deny additional students access to virtual charter schools if 3 percent of the district's students have already enrolled in an online option.
But a report released earlier this month by the Cascade Policy Institute shows that these fears are unfounded. Overall, online school have had little impact on spending and actually can allow district to spend more per student.
Unlike ordinary public schools, online charters do not receive local funding and they receive substantially less per-student funding than traditional public schools. That means a student to an online charter school usually enables the student's home district, and the charter school's sponsoring district, to spend more money per remaining traditional public school student.
While virtual charters have little financial impact on school districts, they have a huge impact on each child who thrives in an online school. Instead of talking about limiting options further, legislators, district officials, and union members should celebrate success and look for ways to increase kids' educational opportunities.
Click here to read the full report.

Education As We Know It Is Finished

Clayton M. Christensen, my co-author on Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns and I teamed up again to write a article for Forbes.com.

In the piece, we look at the angst many districts are experiencing this summer—teacher layoffs, budget cuts, and a future of smaller revenue streams because of a reduction in property taxes, an outgrowth of the housing bust.

But out of the pain, there may be some gain. For example, the people who run many schools realize that they can save considerably by cutting back on traditional classroom versions of non-core courses--advanced placement, foreign language, economics and so forth--and instead offer them online, thereby aggregating demand across many school districts. Likewise they can cut back on the number of periods during which they offer certain classroom courses and still offer affordable methods to meet student demand by offering those courses online.

We hope that there will be some gain from this pain.

Guest Commentary: Ohio Editorial Calls for Policymakers to Follow Georgia’s Lead

Frustrated over Ohio’s slow acceptance of digital learning (there is a moratorium on creation of new state online schools), in an editorial, the Akron Beacon-Journal tells readers Ohio should look to Georgia for leadership.

“Georgia is committed to helping new high-quality virtual schools open. The state realizes this sector is evolving rapidly, and new great school models are being developed continuously ...

“As Georgia illustrates, the state can expand innovative programming for its students while also maintaining smart accountability.”

Guest commentary: Indiana newspaper praises shift to elearning

The editorial board of the Evansville Courier & Press reports that only a year ago "a dissatisfied public was demanding" that the local school board "do more to elevate the academic performance of its students."

The district took on the challenge, and according to a Courier & Press editorial, thanks to a new virtual academy, the "the public has been getting just what it demanded, through nontraditional programs and an infusion of modern technological tools."

More proof that when technology is paired with education the results are positive.

House ed bill favors more of the same rather than change

In the last few days, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to spend $10 billion to prevent teacher layoffs and, in effect, to allow our current failed school system to maintain the status quo.

In a sign that the leaders of this initiative, Representative David Obey and others prefer the status quo over changing the system, the bill cuts $800 million from the President’s key reform initiatives, such as Race to the Top.

Not that Race to the Top is the end all be all—it’s not—but spending money we don’t have to support an antiquated school system built to operate like a factory is far worse.

The budgetary crises into which all schools are plunging have created the opportunity for long-needed changes.

Although many schools have framed these looming cuts as a threat to the way they operate—despite the fact that the teaching force has grown 10 percent since 2000 even as student enrollment only increased five percent—others are seeing this as an opportunity to transform their model through the implementation of online learning.

But by pumping borrowed money in to maintain the status quo, we’re merely allowing our schools the luxury of avoiding these changes. This comes at a steep price. Charging education isn’t changing it.

While U.S. schools stand still, the rest of the world is moving forward, and this has a price tag — not just for individual children, but also for the nation.

President Obama has promised to veto the bill if it comes to his desk. If it does, he’ll be right to do so.

Guest commentary: The new classroom--online education and charter schools

You say you want an education revolution? Well you know, Gisèle Huff, chairman of the Innosight Institute, agrees with you. Recently she wrote, “We need to revolutionize the way our children learn; we can do that by harnessing the technology we already have at our disposal.”

In an op-ed for “The Hill,” Huff says, “Making technology an integral part of the curriculum and redefining the role of the teacher would lead to disruptive innovations.”

Huff got it right. Technology is one of the keys to better and more effective schools.

Oregon Board of Education Continues to Look at Virtual Charter School Issue

Oregon parents voiced their frustration to the state Board of Education about hurdles local school districts appear to be placing in front of children who want to participate in the Oregon Virtual Academy.

Parents told the board that is difficult to get the required release from the local school district so their children can enroll in the virtual school.

What’s more, parents must reapply for the release every year they choose to keep their children in the virtual school. They said some districts have denied reenrollment permission even after a child, who struggled in a traditional school, has shown improvement in the virtual school.

Watch the parents’ testimony and the board’s response. One interesting note: the board’s chairman said “virtual charter schools could become a more front-and-center issue in Oregon’s education policy in the next 5 to 7 years.”

Guest Commentary: Taking sides in the distance learning debate

Education Week writer Ian Quillen acknowledges that when he started covering the education and technology, “I entered this beat assuming most supporters of online education would fall into the progressive/liberal camp.”

His assumptions were short-lived.


Quillen found that distance learning has its advocates—and some distracters—on both ends of the political spectrum. In an essay on EdWeek’s “Digital Directions” blog, Quillen tries to sort it all out.