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The New 3 E’s of Education: Enabled; Empowered; Engaged

On 05/13/2011, in 21st century, budgets, digital learning, education, education reform, education technology, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, hybrid learning, ideas, K-12 related, leadership, library / librarians, mobile learning, online learning, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, by Daniel Christian

The New 3 E's of Education: Enabled; Empowered; Engaged -- May 2011 from Project Tomorrow

 

Excerpt from introduction (emphasis DSC):

Three factors are driving this new interest and enthusiasm for digital learning by educators. First, teachers and administrators are increasingly become technology-enabled themselves, using emerging technologies such as mobile devices, online classes and digital content to improve their own productivity. This development of a personal value proposition with the technology is propelling educators to think creatively about how to leverage these same tools in the classroom. Second, students and increasingly parents are demanding a different kind of learning experience and that is forcing even the most reluctant teachers and administrators to re-evaluate their perspectives about the value of technology within learning. As noted in prior Speak Up national reports, students have a very clear vision for 21st century learning. Their preference is for learning environments that are socially-based, un-tethered and digitally rich. Parents are also supportive of this new learning paradigm and as we noted in our first Speak Up 2010 report (released in April 2011) the emergence of a new trend of parental digital choice is an indication of this unprecedented support level. And schools and districts are waking up to this new trend. Concerns about parents’ capability to, for example, enroll their children in non-district provided online classes are compelling many districts to start virtual schools themselves. The third factor, the economy, and its resulting financial pressures on school and district budgets, has created a sense of urgency to more fully investigate how technologies can help educators meet their instructional goals with less expense.

All three factors converging at the same time has opened up a new window of possibilities for achieving the promise of technology to transform education. Evidence of this shift in perspective and vision by educators is noted in some comparative Speak Up findings over the past few years.

…

This report is the second in a two-part series to document the key national findings from Speak Up 2010.
…
In this companion report, “The New 3E’s of Education: Enabled, Engaged, Empowered – How Today’s Educators are Advancing a New Vision for Teaching and Learning,” we explore how teachers, principals, district administrators, librarians and technology coordinators are addressing the student vision for learning around three key trends. These trends have generated significant interest in the past year at conferences, in policy discussions and within our schools and districts: mobile learning, online and blended learning and digital content.

While each of these trends includes the essential components of the student vision of socially-based, un-tethered and digitally-rich learning, they also provide a unique backdrop for investigating the role of educators to engage, enable and empower students through the use of these emerging technologies.
• Role of Librarians and Technology Coordinators: To enable student use of the emerging technologies through their planning, support and recommendation responsibilities.
• Role of Classroom Teachers: To engage students in rich, compelling learning experiences through the effective use of these technologies in the classroom.
• Role of School and District Administrators: To empower both teachers and students to creatively envision the future of digital learning, and to provide opportunities for exploring the elements of a new shared vision for learning.

 

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One of the storm fronts of higher education’s perfect storm

On 05/12/2011, in budgets, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Is there any doubt anymore that we are in a game-changing environment? This is but one of the storm fronts creating the perfect storm within higher education. The graphic I created below lays out some of the other storm fronts (and I’m sure I missed some of the other pieces, but these are some of the key drivers of change).

NOTE:
I don’t mean to be a chicken little here or a doomsdayer — rather what I’ve been saying is not speculation. It is reality. Those who choose not to deal with things as they really are — and will be — will be the ones most likely to be broadsided in the months/years to come.


 

Universities slash budgets nationwide — from ABC News by Teresa Lostroh

Colleges across the country are facing layoffs, program cuts, tuition hikes and possible campus closings as they brace for major reductions in state funding — again.

The leaders of Penn State University are wondering if they’ll have to close some of their branch campuses next year, and more than 400 faculty positions may be on the chopping block.

In California, class sizes are swelling while class offerings are shrinking. One community college district in San Diego has cut 90 percent of its summer courses. And in Washington, universities are increasing the enrollment of out-of-state students, who pay about three times as much as in-state students, while considering trimming resident enrollment.

Colleges and universities, which can levy revenue through tuition hikes, are a primary target for cuts when states are in a budget bind.

“This year is going to be the hardest year on record,” said Dan Hurley, director of state relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which has 420 member institutions. “Any new revenue at the state level is being gobbled up by Medicaid and K-12 education,” he said, and much of the federal stimulus money expires this year, setting up the perfect storm for higher education.

 

(9/10/10) Graphic from DSC:

Also see:

 

 

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(From DSC: This is not right) K12Online and South Carolina Virtual Charter School leave children with special needs behind [Herrera]

On 05/11/2011, in assessment, budgets, change, education reform, K-12 related, online learning, virtual K-12 schools, by Daniel Christian

K12Online and South Carolina Virtual Charter School leave children with special needs behind — by Gretchen Herrera, parent of a child being left behind

…as accessed via The Innovative Educator blog

Excerpt:

I have been working for years to advocate for the needs of my son. Recently when I requested to opt-out of our state’s standardized test, I was met with not only resistance, but threats. Threats that my son would be removed from South Carolina Virtual Charter school powered by K12 Online and returned to the hostile environment he escaped from should we not comply.

…

Deeply concerned about my son’s well-being, I reached out in writing twice to the director of South Carolina Virtual Charter school who ignored my outreach.  I also called and spoke with  the counsel for the South Carolina Department of Education and was told, begrudgingly, there isn’t a state law that says my son has to test. However, I received threats from the Department.  She said if I didn’t produce my son on the day of testing and he didn’t participate, he would suffer consequences. His absences could trigger truancy through my “unlawful actions”…even though there was no law against me following his doctors orders and my instinct about what was best for my child. She explained I could NOT “opt-out” for pieces of a child’s education and how every district can instill their own penalties. Of course, I was not opting out of the education.  I was opting out of the assessments which my son, my doctors, and my instincts tell me are wrong for my child.  I was told the penalty for my doing what was best for my child was that I would no longer be allowed to have my child attend the only school he was ever safe in. She also informed me that if I didn’t make my child available for their testing, there would be a compulsory attendance issue and that I could then be held liable and may face charges…even though I assured them he would be engaging in real learning activities in alignment with his passions, talents, and interests.

Why must I be forced to do what my doctors, my son, and I know will harm him? I want my son to have access to the joyful, useful, relevant, real, and interesting learning experience that our tax dollars pay for?  I’d happily take my tax dollars elsewhere, but unfortunately, our compulsory system of compliance doesn’t afford parents such options. I am forced to subject my son to that which will make him physically and emotionally ill if he is to get the education he he deserves. The system has failed and my child is being left behind.

 

From DSC:
In hopes of building pressure for change here — I re-post this here at the Learning Ecosystems blog; sounds like the system needs additional methods of assessment.

 

 

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Number of the week: Class of 2011, most indebted ever [M. Whitehouse]

On 05/09/2011, in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Number of the week: Class of 2011, most indebted ever — from The Wall Street Journal by Mark Whitehouse

Excerpt:

$22,900: Average student debt of newly minted college graduates

The Class of 2011 will graduate this spring from America’s colleges and universities with a dubious distinction: the most indebted ever.

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Boosting productivity in US higher education [Cota, Jayaram, Laboissière]

On 04/29/2011, in budgets, business side of he, education technology, higher education, United States, by Daniel Christian

Boosting productivity in US higher education — from McKinsey Quarterly by Cota, Jayaram, Laboissière

Excerpt:

The United States needs more college graduates. Opinions vary on exactly how many, but McKinsey estimates that the nation will need an additional one million each year by 2020 to sustain its economic health. That would mean increasing today’s annual total—2.5 million—by 40 percent.

To meet this goal, universities and colleges would have to increase their output of graduates by 3.5 percent a year over the next decade. That’s a daunting task for two reasons. First, it would cost an additional $52 billion a year, based on 2008 costs to produce a graduate. Yet many states, plagued by fiscal woes, have recently lowered spending on higher education, a trend that’s unlikely to be reversed. Second, to achieve this increase, colleges would need to enroll many more than 3.5 percent more freshmen each year, because today, on average, only 40 percent of students who enroll go on to graduate.

 

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Higher education’s toughest test [Bischke & Shah]

On 04/26/2011, in accreditation, budgets, business side of he, change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, disruption, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, innovation, leadership, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, traditional / tradition, trends, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Higher education’s toughest test — from by Jon Bischke and Semil Shah

In the debate sparked by Peter Thiel’s “20 Under 20 Fellowship” (which pays bright students to drop out of college), one fact stands out: the cost of U.S. post-secondary education is spiraling upward, out of control. Thiel calls this a “bubble,” similar to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, where hopeful property owners over-leveraged themselves to lay claim to a coveted piece of the American dream: home ownership.

…

Today, however, the credentialing provided by universities is becoming decoupled from the knowledge and skills acquired by students. The cost of obtaining learning materials is falling, with OpenCourseWare resources from MIT and iTunes U leading the charge. Classes can be taken online on sites like Udemy and eduFire, either for free or a fraction of the cost to learn similar material at a university, and sites like Veri, which recently launched at TechStars NYC Demo Day, aims to organize and spread one’s accumulated knowledge.

…

The fresh cadavers from the shakeouts in the music and publishing industries should provide motivation to presidents, chancellors, and provosts to look seriously at this problem, as many of the same dynamics that disrupted those industries are now at play in higher education. As students around the world start preparing for their year-end exams, it will be interesting to see how seriously leaders of universities prepare for one of the toughest tests that they’ll ever face.

 

From DSC:
I have been trying to get these trends/warnings/messages across to others for years — more people are starting to raise the same red flags on some of these same topics as well.

There is great danger in the status quo these days. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a firm believer in education, especially liberal arts education. But the traditional model is simply not sustainable — it continually shuts more people out of the system and/or puts such a burden on students’ backs as to significantly influence — if not downright limit — their future options and experiences.

But as the saying goes, “Change is optional — survival is not mandatory.”


Addendum:

 

 

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Some items re: educating homeless children

On 04/20/2011, in budgets, education, future, K-12 related, society, student-related, by Daniel Christian

National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth

 

Also  see:

  • Homelessness Hits Home
    “I’m seeing interest [in the plight of homeless families] from people that I’ve not seen interest from before,” said Christina Endres, Indiana’s homeless education coordinator. “It’s not just the liaison who wants to know anymore. It’s the principals. It’s the administrators. It’s not something that people in Indiana can say, ‘Oh, well that’s a New York problem.’ It’s very real for them.”
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Poll: No matter what their major, today’s college students getting hard lessons in finance

On 04/20/2011, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, economics, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Poll: No matter what their major, today’s college students getting hard lessons in finance — from WashingtonPost.com by Associated Press

WASHINGTON — In these tight times, college students are getting a lesson in economics no matter what their major. Students say money influences everything from what school they attend and what career they pursue to how quickly they complete their degrees — or whether they graduate at all.

Money problems, not bad grades, are the reason cited by most college students who have considered dropping out, an Associated Press-Viacom poll finds.

…

Recession-battered parents have less money to spend on their kids’ tuition. Jobs that used to be waiting upon graduation aren’t there anymore — consumed by the nation’s 8.8 percent unemployment rate. And college prices keep going up, as states struggle with budget deficits. Average tuition, room and board rose to about $16,000 at in-state public schools this year and $37,000 at private schools.

 

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Infographic re: student loans

On 04/15/2011, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, higher education, legislatures / government / legal, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I post this because this makes me mad! I don’t have time to verify each piece of information here. But I ask:

  • How is it that Wall Street gets bailed out? Or car manufactures, other corporations, or financial institutions too big to fail?
  • How is it that white-collar crime can strip the nest-eggs of millions of Americans?
  • How is it that our Senators and Representatives have a different health care plan than the rest of us?
  • What happened to our democracy?
  • What happened to our hearts?

Bottom line:
If you are a student, work as hard as you can to not get into debt — or at least not more debt than you can handle. Know what you are getting into. Have a plan for paying it off. Otherwise it looks like you will be hit with a major, expensive hurt!

Don’t get me wrong, we need to pay off our debts. If we take out loans, we need to pay for them.  One quick scripture along these lines says:

Romans 13:8
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

But some of the “fees” and “charges” below make me sick.

Infographic by College Scholarships.org

 

Student Loans Scheme.

Infographic by College Scholarships.org

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Kalamazoo Christian lowers tuition as part of remake to boost enrollment

On 04/13/2011, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, faith, K-12 related, Michigan, by Daniel Christian

Kalamazoo Christian lowers tuition as part of remake to boost enrollment — by mlive.com by Julie Mack

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On track for $1 trillion: Student loan debt greater than credit card debt

On 04/13/2011, in budgets, cost of getting a degree, economics, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, society, student-related, by Daniel Christian

On track for $1 trillion: Student loan debt greater than credit card debt — from GOOD Education by Liz Dwyer

student.loans

Last June, for the first time in history, Americans owed more on their student loans, a record $833 billion, than on their credit cards, $826.5 billion. The amount owed on student loans increases at a rate of about $2,853.88 per second, meaning we’re on track for total student debt to cross the $1 trillion mark sometime this year.

According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com, this increasing student debt has long term, macroeconomic implications for our society. He told NPR’s Marketplace that the amount of money students owe—on average, $24,000—is usually repaid over a 20-year time frame, which means

more and more students are going to still be repaying their own student loans when their children enroll in college. That may make those families less willing to borrow to pay for their children’s educations. It also means that they aren’t going to be as capable of saving for their children’s education or even for their own retirement.

…

The other insidious consequence of the debt is that students are less likely to purse nonprofit careers or work they truly enjoy.


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Excerpt of “Rethinking colleges from the ground up” [Frey]

On 04/05/2011, in budgets, business side of he, cost of getting a degree, education reform, face-to-face, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Not that I’m on board with everything here…but the following excerpt from Rethinking colleges from the ground up — from the World Future Society by Thomas Frey — is worth reflecting upon; and so are some of the questions listed at the bottom of this posting. 

(NOTE: You may need to be a member to access this article in its entirety; emphasis DSC)

 

So What’s Changed
The obvious question to start with is simply, “What’s changed?”

Why is it that an education system that has produced some of the world’s top scientists, engineers, and business executive is no longer good enough to serve today’s young people?

The answers can be found in the following five areas:

  1. From information poor to information rich
  2. Fierce competition
  3. The cost to benefit ratio is changing
  4. New times require new intelligence
  5. Shift from individual intelligence to group intelligence

The following are but a few of the reasons why changing times demand different solutions…

…

Colleges are being pushed in a number of directions but the big dividing points will be oriented around in-person vs. online, and for the in-person side of the equation, doing the things in-person that cannot be done through online education.

 

Also see:

What does the “new normal” of shrunken classroom budgets, greater reliance on information technology and the ongoing science and math skills shortage mean for the future of education? Join fellow futurists this summer in Vancouver to solve these and other questions during our two-day WFS-exclusive Education Summit. This year’s speakers include FUTURIST magazine authors Maria H. Andersen, David Pearce Snyder, and Tom Lombardo among many others.

Sessions include:

  • Defining the “New Normal” for Education
  • Education as a Service
  • Where’s the “Learn This” Button?
  • Learning in Depth: A Simple Innovation That Can Transform Schooling
  • A New Education Vision: Reinventing School-to-Employment Systems for Knowledge-Based Global Economies
  • The New Tech Network
  • Jump-Start Your Career as a Foresight Educator
  • Reinventing Educational Activism by Creating Linkages: Technology, Content-Driven Collaboration, and Financial Literacy
  • A New Century: A New Instructional Paradigm
  • Educating the Wise Cyborg of the Future
  • Deconstructing the Education Monopoly in the United States
  • Futurists and the Future of Education

WorldFuture 2011 Education Summit: $295 for WFS members/$345 for nonmembers. Learn more and register here.

 

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School budget cuts fueling virtual high school growth

On 04/05/2011, in 21st century, budgets, K-12 related, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, trends, virtual K-12 schools, by Daniel Christian

School budget cuts fueling virtual high school growth — from prlog.org (originally saw this at Ray Schroeder’s blog)
Faced with budget cuts that have forced the cancellation of low enrollment AP and enrichment classes, schools in 10 states have started their students with VHS online courses this semester.

Mar 21, 2011 – Maynard, MA – Virtual High School Global Consortium (http://www.govhs.org), the pioneer of K-12 online learning and course design for teachers, today announced the addition of 17 new member schools in 10 states this semester, bringing their total membership to 770 member schools worldwide. Many of these schools are using Virtual High School (VHS) to provide their students with access to courses affected by budget cuts.

Virtual High School Global Consortium Logo

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Cal State University to cut enrollment, faculty, staff and more

On 03/23/2011, in adjunct faculty, budgets, business side of he, change, faculty, game-changing environment, higher education, legislatures / government / legal, organizational change, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

Cal State University to cut enrollment, faculty, staff and more — from The L.A. Times by Carla Rivera
Facing an 18% cut in state funding, Cal State plans to reduce enrollment by 10,000, cut $11 million from the chancellor’s office and shrink campus funding by $281 million. No tuition hikes are planned, chancellor says.

Also see:

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The ultimate financial terms glossary [Alex Tenorio]

On 03/21/2011, in budgets, business, by Daniel Christian

The ultimate financial terms glossary — my thanks to Alex Tenorio (Seattle, WA) for this resource

Also relevant/see:

 

.

Addendum (3/22/11):

 

 

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