Gamification.  I was first introduced to this term as we were preparing for our team’s session at SXSWi last spring.   Wikipedia defines gamification as, “the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences.”

There was a great article in the New York Times this weekend, “You’ve Won a Badge (and Now We Know All About You),” that explains how businesses are using gamification to deepen engagement with their brands.  For instance, Samsung Nation awards points for linking to Samsung from your Twitter account, making comments on their website, and answering other users’ questions online.  While Samsung Nation is using the offer of a free television to entice people to visit their site, other sites like FourSquare use intangible, nonmonetary rewards like “mayoralities” to entice people to play.

“Gamification: the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences.“

While this all may seem harmless, Ian Bogost, a professor of digital media at the Georgia Institute of Technology, isn’t so sure.  As he points out in the Times article, “Consumers might be less eager to sign up,” he argues, “if they understood that some programs have less in common with real games than with, say, spyware.’” Professor Bogost goes on to say, “’Why not call it a new kind of analytics?  Companies could say, ‘Well, we are offering you a new program in which we watch your every move and make decisions about our advertising based on the things we see you do.’”

Here is my question: if you replace the word “advertising” with “instruction,” isn’t that exactly what we want out of our education system?  Imagine if our educators had a way to analyze how, when, and at what pace students move through educational experiences and use that inform decisions on future lessons?  That sounds pretty cool to me.

Professor Bogost may be right; the use of gamification by companies to entice people to connect with them may offer little reward to customers.  I think using gamification in learning would offer the ultimate reward to learners: a relevant, authentic education that would benefit them through college, careers, and beyond.

Let‘s face it, when most of us open a computer and click the web browser, we immediately head to our favorite social media site and peruse the daily happenings (Whether that be Facebook, Twitter, or even the “hipster-fied” Tumblr). You could be doing this on your own time or maybe you’re trying to sneak in a quick peek of your notifications at work. Either way, you’re trying to stay connected with the people in your life.

Let‘s face it, when most of us open a computer and click the web browser, we immediately head to our favorite social media site and peruse the daily happenings (Whether that be Facebook, Twitter, or even the “hipster-fied” Tumblr). You could be doing this on your own time or maybe you’re trying to sneak in a quick peek of your notifications at work. Either way, you’re trying to stay connected with the people in your life.

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By Dr. Lisa Duty, Director of External Affairs at KnowledgeWorks Ohio, and Terry Ryan vice-president for Ohio programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

One could argue that 2011 was the year of “digital learning” in Ohio and across the nation. In September, the White House announced its “Digital Promise” campaign, while a number of states have been embracing initiatives and campaigns in this realm, aided and encouraged by national groups like the Digital Learning Council and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Ohio’s biennial budget signed by Governor Kasich in late June launched the Ohio Digital Learning Task Force and charged it with ensuring that the state’s “legislative environment is conducive to and supportive of the educators and digital innovators at the heart of this transformation.”

Our two organizations – KnowledgeWorks and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute – are committed to seeing Ohio become a leader in the implementation of digital learning opportunities for the state’s 1.8 million students. Ohio now stands at an important crossroads and 2012 could be a pivotal year on whether we move forward in the digital learning environment.

Our state has been a path-breaker when it comes to availability of full-time e-school options that leverage technology in learning. In fact, if all 33,000 children currently enrolled in Ohio e-schools were in one school district it would make up the state’s third largest district just after Columbus and Cleveland. Despite such numbers, Ohio has yet to harness fully the potential of digital learning for all students. And, given that digital learning can yield improvements in student achievement and offer solutions for more efficient spending, Ohio can’t afford to wait.

In 2011 Keeping Pace, a national review of policy and practices in digital learning, Ohio received the highest rating possible for its availability of full-time online learning opportunities for students due to the state’s 27 virtual charter/community schools.  Ohio e-school enrollment of 33,000 students is up 15 percent since 2008. But digital learning can and should take many different forms—from the full-time online options of e-schools to individual students seeking supplemental coursework to meet needs not met by their brick and mortar schools.

New blended learning options like Rocketship in California have shown significant academic gains for traditionally under-served students, while Carpe Diem in Arizona improve the student experience because they allow for customization and personalization of learning in a way that is both “high-tech” (through the seamless integration of appropriate technologies with teaching practices) and “high-touch” (through meaningful and relevant learning experiences with in-person teachers to complement online instruction).

There are districts, schools and teachers in Ohio that are starting to show the way as well. The Dayton Regional STEM school, for example, teaches its students Mandarin Chinese through an online course, while the Clermont County Educational Service Center has partnered with area districts to create a Virtual Talented and Gifted program at a time when traditional programs are being scaled back or otherwise eliminated.  But, to maximize digital learning opportunities for all its children Ohio has to develop systems for learning that are radically different to what was crafted long ago for a place-bound, 180-day school year where children sat in rows of desks from morning to early afternoon.

To move Ohio from its industrial model of education to one better suited for education in the digital age we propose the following policies for 2012.

Remove barriers to digital learning
•    Remove teacher-student ratios and class size limits created for a traditional classroom.

•    Establish competency-based learning models that allow students to advance upon demonstrating mastery of knowledge or skills, not seat time.

•    Educate students and parents about their right to choose high-quality online courses and make available credible information about which digital courses or programs work best under what conditions as well as the costs of those courses or programs.

Encourage innovation
•    Provide all students in all grades access to a robust offering of high-quality courses from multiple high-quality providers in a competitive, data-driven marketplace.

•    Define in law blended brick-and-mortar schools so as to encourage new designs, generate pilots, and attract proven models while ensuring their funding.

•    Guarantee that funding follows the child to the individual course provider of their choice, evaluate providers based on student performance, and pay them in installments that incentivize completion and achievement.

•    Unbundle, define and enable new educator roles and challenge universities, the private sector and others to prepare adults to serve in new capacities.

Promote equity
•    Weight the funds for low-income and/or hard to serve students so as to control for the unintended consequences of digital providers selectively serving only students who are likely to demonstrate competency.

•    Power up all regions of Ohio by aggregating purchase request data and leveraging bulk discount pricing to support connectivity and device acquisition for all.

Create accountability for a new era of learning
•    End the archaic practice of funding seat-time, and fund course providers based on student performance instead of attendance.

•    Require student performance and student and family satisfaction data are published as indicators of quality of course providers.

High-quality customizable learning options should be the rule rather than the exception.  To more fully realize this goal in 2012 and beyond, Ohio lawmakers and policy makers need to embrace policies in education that encourage and support schools to innovate with digital learning technologies and opportunities, while ensuring all innovations are held accountable for performance and funded fairly and equitably.

Dr. Lisa Duty is Director of External Affairs at KnowledgeWorks, a social enterprise that incubates and scales up innovative schools and education initiatives.

Terry Ryan is vice-president for Ohio programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and is a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

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Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, a passionate champion for digital learning, often says, “The U.S. education system currently operates as an eight-track tape in an iPod world.”

Today, February 1, marks the first ever Digital Learning Day, a nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and learning through digital media and technology that engages students and provides them with a rich, personalized educational experience. More than 30 states, hundreds of school districts, thousands of teachers, and more than a million students will encourage the innovative use of technology by trying something new, showcasing success, kicking off project-based learning, or focusing on how digital tools can help improve student outcomes.

KnowledgeWorks, is a national sponsor of Digital Learning Day along with the Alliance for Excellent Education (headed by Wise), Google, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Intel and others.

At KnowledgeWorks, we’re cuing that iPod today with a robust set of opinions from our team of thought leaders who are sharing perspectives on digital learning:

Jeanne Bernish, Social Media Manager, KnowledgeWorks
Digital Learning Day – Ohio

Lillian Pace, KnowledgeWorks Director of National Policy:
Technology advances beginning to change education landscape
Arguing over the merits of digital learning
ESEA Waivers: The one missing piece

Lydia Dobyns, President, New Tech Network, writing in the Huffington Post
Students are all right — it’s the parents who need to learn to communicate

Jillian Darwish, Ph.D., Vice President, Organizational Learning and Innovation, KnowledgeWorks
Model teacher in a digital world isn’t John Henry or Watson

Jesse Moyer, Manager, Organizational Learning and Innovation
A student idea: Promoting digital learning by using tablets

Lisa Duty, Director of External Affairs, Knowledgeworks
2011: The year that online and blended learning went digital

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In honor of Digital Learning Day, we wanted to post an essay written by Josie Benson, a junior at Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Ohio.  Josie submitted the proposal below as part of a contest sponsored by Olive Garden, which would provide winners with $5,000 to implement their idea.  In Josie’s case, she would like to use a combination of iPads and  language software to learn foreign languages that are not offered by her district.

Speaking of Tablets: An idea to promote digital learning in my school

Every school offers languages. At most schools the choice is simple: French or Spanish.  My school offers these two obligatory languages and German. Really, these choices only begin to scratch the surface of languages. I propose that my school invest in language software and tablet computers. Then, as a class or an extracurricular option, students would be able to use these tablets and software in order to master a language outside of the usual constraints of a classroom. With this software, students needn’t rely on having a capable teacher, can move at their own pace; one student could work on implementing the subjunctive, while another ensures he can apply the basic conjugations. Also, those fluent in a language can more easily switch to one that would be more applicable in their lives. So, instead of taking French or German next year, having finished all the available Spanish courses, I could learn Portuguese, allowing me to travel all of South America. Personal software, while not overwhelmingly expensive, would still be a large commitment for most families in my school district, at $500 for all 5 levels per language. Both companies offer discounts for schools, which would maximize the effect this program could have. To boot, Ohio’s credit flex option would allow students who can demonstrate proficiency to earn credit for their work, even if the learning occurred outside of school hours. To compete, we need to expand linguistically and I can think of no better place to improve than a Midwestern public high school like mine.

We don’tknow about you, but we are extremely impressed with Josie’s ability to think outside of the tradition “education box” to leverage educational technology in order to meet her needs and the needs of other learners.

To follow the acitvities of Digital Learning Day on February 1st, you can follow the hashtag #DLDay on Twitter or visit their website.

Thousands of students, teachers and administrators will commemorate Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1. The effective use of technology in the classroom may be reaching new levels of acceptance, but for many of us

Thousands of students, teachers and administrators will commemorate Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1. The effective use of technology in the classroom may be reaching new levels of acceptance, but for many of us in the educational arena we live and breathe technology daily and consider its use as natural as using calculators or pens. To our tech savvy students, all the hype around technology or digital learning evokes a 'what took you so long?' attitude.

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Mark your calendars America. In addition to Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day to name a few, February brings a new day for celebration – Digital Learning Day. On February 1st we pay homage to the flurry of gadgets that have transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. Without these innovations, we would still find ourselves beholden to the Dewey Decimal System, the overhead projector, and the dreaded folding maps that pose a danger to everyone on the road.

As we celebrate our favorite technological breakthroughs, I can’t help but anticipate the wave of digital innovations coming to America’s classrooms. After a quick review of abstracts for Round 2 of the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) competition, I find it both compelling and encouraging that more than half of the 23 awardees included a strong digital component in their proposals. There is no question that digital learning has become synonymous with innovation.
Here are highlights from a few of the winning applications. Visit the Department’s webpage to view all of the abstracts and full applications.

• Texas Tech University, Lubbock ISD, Teachscape and Texas Instruments will implement and test a competency-based model of educator preparation and school intervention that uses innovative technology to constantly observe & shape teachers’ classroom competencies.
• The New York Hall of Science will develop, implement, and evaluate a new system of technologies, SciGames, designed to bridge formal classroom and informal playground science learning environments in hopes of increasing the number of individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM.
• Baltimore City Public Schools will provide additional out of school time focused on mathematics instruction and VEX Robotics through its Middle School STEM Summer Learning Program to help students increase their mathematics grade-level, develop interest in technology and STEM, and encounter a college-going culture.
• Old Dominion University Research Foundation will establish an innovative, high-quality, multi-tiered approach to professional development that employs school based math coaching, an on-line platform, and teacher-made videos of their own practices in a multi-tiered community of learners design. The use of technology will help provide professional development to rural and urban areas in a cost-effective way.
• The College Board will develop, pilot, and evaluate new technology-enabled student- and classroom-level feedback reports that build on a system of formative and interim assessments and professional development, with the ultimate goal of producing measurable increases in the rates at which high-need students succeed on the AP Biology Exam.

KnowledgeWorks, in partnership with the Riley Institute, is honored to join the above group of Round 2 awardees for our proposal to establish two STEM-focused New Tech High Schools along the economically depressed I-95 corridor in the southern part of South Carolina. These schools, one of which served as an initial plaintiff in the historic Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case, serve a high population of disadvantaged students that deserve better educational opportunities than those promised to them when the Brown v. the Board concluded more than fifty years ago. Thanks to this award, the New Tech Network will have the resources to transform these schools into a learning environment that thrives on one one-to-one computing, project-based learning, integrated classes, and an online learning management system that links all educators in the 85+ school New Tech Network. College and career readiness will no longer be an anomaly, but the expectation for every student enrolled in these programs.

Each of these proposals holds great promise as technologies are evaluated, fine-tuned, and scaled to fit the needs of students all over the country. I am anxious to see these innovations take hold as digital learning becomes the new norm and the field of new graduates continues to push the envelope of what is possible for America’s classrooms.

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This was bound to happen. Advocates of project-based learning are strong believers in collaboration. Many are also adept at using technology tools to communicate and connect. So it was only a matter of time before PBL educators would start their own regularly scheduled chat on Twitter.

This was bound to happen. Advocates of project-based learning are strong believers in collaboration. Many are also adept at using technology tools to communicate and connect. So it was only a matter of time before PBL educators would start their own regularly scheduled chat on Twitter.

Launched in December, the weekly meet-up known as #PBLchat has quickly attracted a loyal following. The first chat saw more than 1,100 comments in just one hour, and the event continues to grow. It happens Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern.
Kickstarting Collaboration

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Imagine a learning landscape where it is possible for each student, and all students together, to be persistently surrounded by the resources, support, experiences and connections they require to develop their unique human potential.  This is the vision that drives us every day at KnowledgeWorks.  Bringing to life what we call a World of Learning in which every learner thrives, not just for a school year but for a lifetime, will demand much from all of us.  If there is one role, however, that can be identified as most important, it is surely that of the teacher.  But how will this role, and its relationship to technology, be defined in the current digital age when our most basic relationships and assumptions within our organizations, systems, and communities are being re-imagined and re-created in new ways?

To reach the ideal model for our current age, there are some notions we must, once and for all, leave in the past.  In recent documentaries and widely circulated publications, for instance, we hear and read the stories of extraordinarily dedicated teachers who, without the aid of systemic support or enabling technologies of nearly any type, have inspired nearly miraculous student growth. While their greatness is inspiring to us all, super human feats cannot be our default strategy for student success.  It is untenable for a system and unsustainable for individuals, as the postscript for these stories is frequently burnout and turnover. Although, not a perfect analogy, I think of this as the  John Henry model of teaching – John Henry being the character from American folklore who exerted himself to the point of a bursting heart as he tried to complete a challenge without assistance of any sort.

There is also much to read and see about nearly miraculous digital technologies, as in the case of Pranav Mistray’s work which dissolves the separation between our digital and physical worlds or Google’s fully, self-driving car.  As technology continues to advance at nearly incomprehensible speed, new digital learning tools for learning are dramatically affecting student outcomes. With these emerging successes there are models that rely solely, or largely, on computer-based instruction. I think of this as Watson model of teaching – Watson being the computer who resoundingly beat human opponents in Jeopardy in February of 2011.  Although this model offers efficiencies in terms of both time and money, it misses the recognition that the best in learning requires more than adaptive content and performance feedback.  In the wise words of Jim Collins, this model forgets that technology is not a strategy, but only an amplifier.

So what is the ideal model for teaching in the digital world?  It is that of the augmented and amplified human who marries the best of human capacities with the best of digital technologies.  It is the teacher who reconstructs the student teacher compact, and integrates the human and digital functions by:

• Bringing ubiquitous digital content resources and support into the classroom, instead of keeping them at bay, shifting the emphasis from memorization and recall skills to higher order capacities including application, judgment, analysis, synthesis, and elaboration that emerge from relevant and authentic learning experiences designed by an instructional expert.
• Integrating digital tools such as games and simulations that make use of embedded data streams to provide adaptive learning and just-in-time feedback in order to  help teachers understand and meet the needs of individual students, while also incorporating small group and individual work for more direct teacher attention.
• Constructing learning experiences that allow students to see the power of collective sense-making by collaborating with networks of learners around the world, taking on leadership roles as they emerge in these  communities, and looking to the teacher to provide guidance, support and “trajectory management.”

These shifts are just the beginning of a complete list.  There is much more. And there will be even more in the future as we continue to explore all the possible combinations of the emerging digital building blocks and how they can be architected to create value in the growing digital world.

My recent blog on school culture struck more than a few chords among readers eager to have the role of parents included in the education dialogue. Parents ARE critical role models for students. In a way, parents go to high school, too.

My recent blog on school culture struck more than a few chords among readers eager to have the role of parents included in the education dialogue. Parents ARE critical role models for students. In a way, parents go to high school, too. But the role of the parent is complicated. I decided to go "to the source" -- and ask parents about their current experience with high school.

Emily emerges from her shell

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This has been a difficult post for me to write.  I don’t know if it’s because I am thinking about some seriously abstract concepts.  Or because there are so many moving parts.  Or because when I think about innovation in education my mind moves from one thing to the next faster than a toddler with new toys.

Anyway, when Chad Wick sent me the link to this story about Apple’s education announcement, I responded to him that Apple was democratizing education that same way they had done with music.  After thinking about this statement, I realized that Apple wasn’t democratizing education; rather they were democratizing information.  You might think this is a subtle difference, but I’m not so sure.  Neither is this Forbes article.

After reading the article, my biggest take away is that an array of innovations are needed to change our culture from one that puts immense value in credentials (think a piece of paper with diploma printed on it) to putting the same amount of value in applicable skills.  As the author points out, there are many people and organizations trying to do this including MITx, Khan Academy, and Peter Thiel.  The author goes on to say,

“We need experiments in curricula, delivery media, teaching methods, teacher types, and school organization, all at varying price points – ideally without massive subsidies from government to inflate prices and muck up feedback loops.”

The author correctly points out that changing our culture is going to take time.  During this change, many questions will arise and most of them will be answered.  Some of these questions might include,

“Do employers merely value skills? Do they still want four-year degrees? How much are we willing to pay for status versus learning? What kinds of credentials matter? Do students and parents want pure academics, or do we want the ‘college experience’? What can we afford?”

While moving through this cultural change will certainly be difficult, I would say it may be one of the most important changes we will make as we continue to transition to the information age.

For anyone looking for signs of optimism in education, look no further than to recent events in the state of Arkansas. A truly amazing collaboration of individuals, schools, government agencies and private business have come together in a unique way to take action to prepare today’s students for the future…not just their future, but the future of the state, nation and the world.

 

For anyone looking for signs of optimism in education, look no further than to recent events in the state of Arkansas.  A truly amazing collaboration of individuals, schools, government agencies and private business have come together in a unique way to take action to prepare today’s students for the future…not just their future, but the future of the state, nation and the world.

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In partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education and Getting Smart, KnowledgeWorks and Ohio Education Matters are pleased to announce Ohio’s participation in the first-ever Digital Learning Day on Wednesday, February 1, 2012.

By participating in Digital Learning Day, Ohio strives to build momentum for a wave of innovation that changes policies, shifts attitudes, and supports wide-scale adoption of promising instructional practices. All events will be held in Columbus and include:

• “Getting Smart” Book Chat with Tom Vander Ark

• The Education Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives of the 129th General Assembly will begin its February 1st hearing with testimony on digital learning from Tom Vander Ark, and a cadre of digital learning stakeholders.

• Ohio Digital Learning Day Reception

• Town Hall Meeting in Nation’s Capital Featuring Ohio’s New Tech West

Please register here for Ohio’s Digital Learning Day.

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As you may have heard, Apple made a rather exciting education announcement this morning.  This post is meant to be a mash-up of the news of Apple’s announcement.

Let’s begin with the most comprehensive prediction of what the announcement would be.

“While speculation has so far centered on digital textbooks, sources close to the matter have confirmed to Ars that Apple will announce tools to help create interactive e-books—the “GarageBand for e-books,” so to speak—and expand its current platform to distribute them to iPhone and iPad users.

Along with the details we were able to gather from our sources, we also spoke to two experts in the field of digital publishing to get a clearer picture of the significance of what Apple is planning to announce.

So far, Apple has largely embraced the ePub 2 standard for its iBooks platform, though it has added a number of HTML5-based extensions to enable the inclusion of video and audio for some limited interaction. The recently-updated ePub 3 standard obviates the need for these proprietary extensions, which in some cases make iBook-formatted e-books incompatible with other e-reader platforms. Apple is expected to announce support for the ePub 3 standard for iBooks going forward.”
Apple to announce tools, platform to “digitally destroy” textbook publishing, Ars Technica

Next, let’s move to Mashable’s live blog from the event.

Live From the Apple Education Announcement, mashable.com

 Finally, here’s what you need to know about Apple’s big announcement.

Apple’s education announcement: what you need to know, engadget.com

Last week I visited Central Collegiate Academy, a Detroit Public High School. Principal Steven McGhee spent a good part of his very busy morning with us talking about the special challenges and opportunities faced by educators and students in the urban core of America. Later we were joined by Crystal Jackson, a teacher at Central who most deeply experienced the change in technology, instruction and climate as a result of coaching services provided by our EdWorks subsidiary over the past three years.

Michigan's first public high school has a proud tradition.

I am excited to have had the privilege to visit this school and to work with MicroDocumetaries to create a video series that captures some of the positive energy I witnessed there. This truly is a school to watch! Look for the videos in February!

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The Thomas B. Fordham Institute has published another working paper on creating policy for online learning, this time dealing with the costs associated with digital education.  The paper, entitled Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning: The Costs of Online Learning, “attempts to estimate average costs—and a range of costs—for online learning as currently practiced in the U.S.” 

The paper correctly points out that the question that must eventually be answered is: can digital learning improve student outcomes while reducing, or at the very least maintaining, current per-pupil cost.  Because of the major variations in quality and efficiency of digital learning, the paper compares the average cost of traditional brick-and-mortar schools, a fully virtual model of education, and a blended model.  Below is a graph that explains the comparisons on a per-student basis.

As the chart above shows, there is the potential to save $1,100 per student using a blended model and $3,600 using a fully virtual model.  That said, the paper does explain that while per-pupil instructional costs may be reduced through the use of online models, this doesn’t always equate to overall savings for the district.  The money, or resources, saved through instructional costs may be reallocated to other areas of a district’s budget including professional development, infrastructure improvements, instructional acquisition, and others.

 While the paper explains that, to date, online learning has not shown a great impact on student outcomes, it does offer a path forward.

“In order to shift this paradigm, we must begin to examine not only costs but also outcomes. We must shift the focus to productivity—how to improve and maximize student achievement relative to the money invested.

…there is no “silver bullet” solution, there is evidence to suggest that virtual learning (both part-time and full-time) can provide significant opportunity to save money. Future innovation should include careful tracking of quality and outcomes to continue to provide more robust options for those experimenting with lower-cost delivery of instruction.”

To read about previous working papers Fordham has published as part of its working paper series, you can visit our previous post on Edtech’s Ability to Revolutionize Teaching.

“You must guard against elation. Do not look at the past as a thing that should be satisfying, look at it only as something in general that was well done. Thank God for it, but go out and do something better.”  This is one of my favorite quotes and something that I try to apply in every day life.  But, the end of one year and beginning of a new one gives me an excuse to reflect on the last year, the highs, the lows, and some of the events that didn’t seem like a big deal at the time but turned out to be significant.

And so it is with education.  As 2012 begins, I wanted to dedicate the first post of the year to looking back at 2011 and, as you could probably guess from the title of the blog, to a look at the upcoming year. 

The Digital Education blog on Education Week did a great job of summing up the five biggest educational technology themes from 2011.  They include changes in state policy, the loss of federal funding research, new investments (both large and small) from the private sector, those opposed to these new investments, and the rise of the iPad.

On his blog, Rick Hess Straight Up, Rick Hess outlines the top 10 education stories we will be reading in 2012.  Of particular interest is a backlash against the anti-bullying campaigns, the abandonment by some states of the Common Core, and people questioning the effectiveness of the “flipped classroom” model.

It was a very exciting year in 2011 and we look for more of the same in 2012!

A recent visit to Cleveland's East Tech@New Tech High School stopped me in my tracks.

A recent visit to Cleveland's East Tech@New Tech High School stopped me in my tracks. My student ambassador, Brittany, pointed out that she had the best attendance record in the school. She showed me walls depicting what students felt made East Tech special: attendance, a photo collage highlighting student responsibility and trust and walls that were decorated with upcoming graduates. East Tech shares a campus with a traditional high school with the same types of students, but distinctly different outcome. One of the striking differences?

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Last week, the Commission on Effective Teaching and Teachers (CETT); a national, independent commission created by National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel to study the teaching profession and make recommendations on maximizing teacher and teaching effectiveness; released its report, Transforming Teaching: Connecting Professional Responsibility with Student Learning.  (Full disclosure: Dr. Jillian Darwish and other members of the Organizational Learning and Innovation team at KnowledgeWorks worked with the commission during their time together.)

 If you’ve spent time on this blog or with the 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning, you know we think a lot about what the future of teaching and teacher roles will look like.  We specifically address what the work of learning agents – educators of the future – will look like in the 2020 Forecast Update:

• Work together to facilitate the use of next generation digital media such as immersive games, simulations, and technologies of cooperation to create rich learning experiences that are tailored to the learning profiles and needs of each learner
• Amplify their ability to serve “the whole student” by creating connections with their immediate communities and with experts and resources around the world
• Integrate multiple types of data streams to make continuous authentic assessment processes transparent to learners, parents, and other key stakeholders.  

As we see it, the bullet points above manifest themselves into the roles discussed in the video below:

In their report, the CETT proposes “a teacher career path that: (1) acknowledges the diverse expertise teachers acquire during their careers; (2) identifies specific roles and responsibilities; and (3) defines the professional knowledge and skills teachers must acquire to fulfill each role.”

While CETT’s vision for future roles of teachers may not be as prescriptive as what’s contained in the 2020 Forecast or 2020 Forecast Update, in order to achieve what we’ve outlined for the future we must assign teachers to specific roles based on diverse expertise while continually supporting learning agents through the acquisition of the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed.  Through their report, the CETT has done a great job of laying the groundwork to move our current World of Schooling toward the World and Learning.

While I loved seeing all the students using computers as an integral part of what they do every day, some of my greatest learnings were around the potential for project-based learning.

On Monday I had the honor of getting to spend some time at the New Tech East High School in Cleveland, Ohio. They’re a program that follows the New Tech High School model of blended learning. Basically, they emphasize 1-to-1 computing in a f2f environment combined with fully project-based learning.

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