January Series guest Sajan George on Inner Compass this Sunday

Transforming Troubled Schools
A factory still using production systems from the 1950s would not make sense in today’s technological world. Unfortunately, some K-12 schools still use decades’ old educational techniques and policies. January Series guest and turnaround specialist Sajan George describes progressive technologies and approaches currently under consideration to turn around troubled school districts. Karen Saupe hosts.

Airs this Sunday on local PBS station WGVU-TV at 1:30 p.m.  (channel 35 & cable channel 6 in G.R. and channel 52 in Kalamazoo.)  National broadcast topics, dates and times vary.

Inner Compass episodes may also be viewed after local broadcast through:

www.calvin.edu/innercompass
— iTunes Store podcasts section
— and other methods for thos in the Grand Rapids, MI (USA) area

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Attentionomics: Captivating Attention in the Age of Content Decay -- Steve Rubel

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Technology integration: Plan backward

Technology integration: Plan backward — from Learning Objects by Nancy Rubin

Excerpts:

Backward Design is part of the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework proposed by Wiggins and McTighe offering a three-stage process to assist teachers in designing curriculum and assessments around big ideas, essential questions, and authentic assessments.

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Commentary: Universities on the brink — from Forbes.com by Louis E. Lataif
The ever-increasing cost of education is not sustainable.

From DSC:
Regular readers of this Learning Ecosystems blog can point to numerous postings that illustrate that those of us in higher education are in a game-changing environment. Alternative methods of acquiring an education are springing up more frequently now — disruption is here. The status quo is a dangerous path to be on.

If…

  • learning engines hooked into web-based learner profiles occurs — ushering in an era of unprecedented customization/personalization of learning on demand…
  • web-based educations cost a small fraction of what you have to pay elsewhere…
  • the rates of tuition increases continue in colleges and universities across the land…
  • the Internet brings the level of disruption to higher education that it has brought to other industries…

…then what are our plans for remaining relevant and accessible? How are we planning to deal with these trends? What is our response(s)? What is our vision?

Curiosity-Driven Education — from Futurist Thomas Frey

Curiosity-Driven Education

“If a teacher can be replaced by a machine, they should be.” – Arthur C. Clark
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Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen became famous for “accidentally” discovering x-rays. Roentgen found something in nature that seemed useless, but fascinated him. He devoted countless hours to studying how electrons move from one point to another within a gas. He did this because he had an amazing sense of curiosity that was driven by a need to understand nature.

X-rays weren’t discovered by chance. Chance is when something comes from nothing. Yes, his discovery was serendipitous, but it was followed by a lot of hard work. Today, a scientist in a similar situation would be confronted with the challenges of finding the funding to proceed with this type of research.

Roentgen’s story is a classic example of a scientist who didn’t begin with a well-defined question. So, how do we remove the constraints and incentivize people to build on a hunch, with the remote possibility that their hunch may lead to an enormous breakthrough in society?

We do it by creating systems that empower our curiosity.

Simple tools for digital classroom — from November Learning by guest blogger Geoff Gevalt
The hardest thing for teachers to do is make the transition from paper and pencils to online media: Not enough computers, not enough knowledge, not enough time and a whole new way of doing things. We work with hundreds of teachers in the same situation and we offer this advice:

  • Take small steps.
  • Find a couple of tech-savvy kids in each of your classes to help.
  • Explore the digital world on your own.
  • Seek out people in the school or in professional development spheres to mentor you.
  • Don’t be afraid to fail.
  • Don’t be afraid if you don’t have all the answers – your kids will help.

Teacher Knowledge — Exploring, a few links…

Who wants a self-paced, free, world class education? — from OpenSesame.com

From DSC:
I work within higher education…so why am I posting this? For several reasons:

  1. To help those folks who may not have the funding to attend a college or university.
  2. To help those students who are already in a college or university and who want further resources on a particular discipline.
  3. For lifelong learners — and for those who love to learn — who want to pick up further knowledge re: a discipline.
  4. To prompt leadership/management within higher education to talk about their strategies in how to respond to this game-changing trend/environment. Such disruptive trends can be opportunities or threats.
  5. It’s published at OpenSesame.org — an organization that is forming another online marketplace/exchange that involves education.
  6. It relates to my thoughts on The Forthcoming Walmart of Education (and also here). Something that all universities and colleges will have to deal with…sooner or later.

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2011 Online Spring Focus Session: Seeking Evidence of Impact

Join us April 13 and 14 for “Seeking Evidence of Impact,” the 2011 ELI Online Spring Focus Session, where we will engage the teaching and learning community in exploring initial questions on seeking evidence. Do our innovations accomplish our desired outcomes? How do we define “impact”? How do we measure impact? Through plenary sessions and various institutional case studies, we will:

  • Examine research strategies designed to evaluate teaching and learning innovation and practice
  • Review various approaches and designs for collecting evidence
  • Explore evaluation tools and methodologies and how they can be used to effectively measure the impact of our innovations and practices
  • Discuss evidence-of-impact challenges and opportunities at various institutional levels and across various institutional types and controls (public, private, two year, four year)
  • Learn how to infuse instructional objectives and pedagogy into the evidence-seeking process
  • Tour institutional case studies and the research frameworks that have been used to evaluate their effectiveness and construct future improvements
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The 19,100-student Grand Rapids school district in Michigan launched blended-learning classes this past fall. The district has started with high school social studies and math classes.

“There was some initial resistance from the public—concerned parents with the perception that kids are just going to be stuck in computer labs—but that’s absolutely contrary to what [this] is,” said John Helmholdt, the director of communications for the district. “When you say blended, people don’t understand what that means. It took months of really trying to educate and raise awareness of really what it was we were trying to do.”

Moving to a blended model actually made teacher-student ratios better, according to Mr. Helmholdt, by layering on support-staff members to circulate when the students were completing work online.

In Grand Rapids, the blended classes go through a three-day rotation of face-to-face and online instruction. During the first day, students receive a traditional lecture-based class in a regular classroom where a new concept is introduced. On the second day, the class starts by going over the concept again and then beginning to use some of the online software and support tools that reinforce the concept. On the third day, the students work solely with digital resources. [Rest of article here.]

From DSC:
I am very glad that the Grand Rapids school system is moving in this direction!  It is a huge step in the right direction and I congratulate the district’s leadership for their vision and patience while this plane gets off the runway. This endeavor will help the students begin to build digital/information literacy. It will open their minds up to numerous creative possibilities — as well as career opportunities and goals. They are beginning to have
the world as their school“.

The updated monster list of 111 online learning resources — from Bloomfire.com by Nehemiah Chu

Categories include:

  • Instructional design
  • eLearning
  • Learning strategy
  • Tool talk
  • Industry news
  • Inspiration
  • Educational musings
  • Knowlege management

The State of the CIO 2011
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From DSC:
In other words, the future CEO’s will have a strong appreciation for — if not significant experience in — technology-related fields.

40 for the next 40: A sampling of the drivers of change that will shape our world between now and 2050 — from gerdleonhard.typepad.com and Toffler Associates

From the foreword:

We are in the midst of an accelerating, revolutionary transformation. Change is happening everywhere – in technology, business, government, economics, organizational structures, values and norms – and consequently affects how we live, work and play. As industry and government leaders, we must acknowledge that this change demands new ways of governing and of running our organizations. The ways in which we communicate and interact with each other will be different. The methods through which we gain and process information will be different. The means by which we earn and spend money will be different. Through the culmination of these and other changes, organizations will be radically transformed.

This change is not unexpected. Forty years ago, Alvin and Heidi Toffler recognized that the pace of environmental change was rapidly accelerating and threatened to overwhelm the relatively slow pace of human response. Through Future Shock, the Tofflers persuaded us to consider the future by imagining drivers of change and preparing for a wide range of resulting future environments. Now as we look towards the next 40 years, we continue to use these time tested methodologies, our founders’ legacy to Toffler Associates, for understanding the forces of future change. We focus on the convergence and interdependence of seemingly orthogonal aspects to connect the dots and develop strategies for future success. In this way, we recognize, as the Tofflers did, that preparation is the best defense against the future (emphasis DSC).

Here is a sampling of 40 drivers of change that – we believe – will shape the future.

From DSC:
Includes sections on Politics, Technology, Social, Economics, and the Environment.

Virtual classrooms: Online education is changing school hours, buildings, interactions — from mlive.com / The Grand Rapids Press by Dave Murray

Online education gathered steam in the past decade. But in the next 10 years, experts predict, it will have a profound influence on every aspect of education.

The size and shape of buildings. The hours they operate. The types of interaction students have with teachers and classmates — whether across the room or across the state.

“We’re finally reaching the tipping point,” said Jamey Fitzpatrick, president of Michigan Virtual University, which provides online courses to students in 400 districts, including in West Michigan. “Right now, we’re just scratching the surface. We will soon be able to transform every child’s education.”

About a quarter of all students will be enrolled in Internet-based classes within five years, and at least half of all high school classes will be offered through computers before the next decade ends, national experts predict.

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