Super event! This is my second day here and I have really enjoyed seeing students engaged in learning – so many of them achieving skills in technology even though there may be no formalized programs in their schools (imagine if there were!). Truly self taught learners now being exposed to careers and college opportunities – breaking out of the bubble and creating a whole new core curriculum based on building a relevant knowledge base.

I’ve loved how the EDWorks Pinterest page has been working out. I’ve been swapping some really great online resources I never would have known about otherwise!

Great summary, Lisa and Terry.

“Despite [33,000 e-students], Ohio has yet to harness fully the potential of digital learning for all students.” Quite an understatement.
“Ohio can’t afford to wait.” Yea verily.

Lisa, consider Ohio’s Credit Flexibility as a wedge to reaching the rest of our students:
- CF is in place now
- it offers a next path to reach the early adopters from all our schools
- CF sets a “brand” if you will, for early blended learning.

Actions 2,3,4,7, and 10 above define the waypoints.

CF DOES end the practice of requiring seat time (action 10). It puts the definition of mastery and competency into the hands of the teacher.

CF unbundles(action 7). Educator roles can change dramatically. Teachers can and should work together across districts. New individuals can be drawn in as ether subject experts or as coaches. Retired teachers might make a wonderful resource, and many others.

The task now is to take CF to the level (action 3). After that, educators will demand and get funding (action 6). Getting to the next level,though, has to happen on the ground.

Right now, CF hinges on the student, and his/her ability to find a teacher with time. It’s up to us in the digital learning community to change this. To empower both student and teacher.

If we make the whole planning/evaluating process easier, it will take much of the burden off the teacher of record.

Toward this, ODE has rolled out a COP tool, and plans seminars. Yet there’s much more that can be done.

I work at this. I’d like to talk more.

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

Great column.

Send videos, more detail!

Yes! There are so many learning and collaboration opportunities out there; we just need to help facilitate them!

Ohio’s new Credit Flexibility law opens wide the doors to gain credit by working in the community.

For example, we run a small toy/doll museum. It needs interpretation, audio tours, perhaps video, marketing, a museum store set up, and more. The traffic now is quite low, but could be enhanced with programs and media. The right student could work miracles.

Under CreditFlex, we just need a willing teacher and an enthusiastic student. Once they created a plan with valid learning goals (business, media, writing, …) the student could build something they would really look back on as a highlight of their high school years.

Yet such plans need much more support. Teachers need building blocks to assemble credit-unit plans. Students and parents need to understand what’s possible. The community needs to know the program exists, and needs ways to reach out to students.

To help people contact each other, I run Ohio Credit Flexibility on Facebook. It’s a place to at least talk about the opportunities.

What I’d really like to be involved in is leading development of a more custom web app.

There, users could document, categorize, and assemble lessons from credit-flex options successfully completed. Teachers could see how other teachers have fit similar work into credit units. Students could relate their lessons learned. And community members could announce future partnership opportunities.

Jeanne, I guess this would be my response:
Good Try, Ohio. Now, Go Forward Anyway—Credit by Credit as published on Getting Smart/EdReformer.

“So, do we go back to the drawing board? For fiscal responsibility, yes. For improving our schools, we need more.

“As has been voiced here so often, blended learning can help in so many areas. So to Governor Kasich this week I’d say: while you are “taking some time” to “reflect on what happened here,” have someone give me a call.

“Ohio has in its education pocket an ace no other state has—Credit Flexibilty. We quietly launched it in 2010, but since then have largely left it up to a few students and their parents. More