The Horizon Report showcases a number of different examples of institutions that are using learning analytics in different ways.
Via L. García Aretio
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education policy, emerging movements, school reform
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Linda Alexander
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Rescooped by Linda Alexander from Educación a Distancia (EaD) onto Advancement of Teaching & Learning |
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Via L. García Aretio
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Editor's Note: Today, Secretary Duncan will highlight President Obama's High School Redesign initiative during a roundtable event at Aviation High School in New York City. More details can be found on the Department's website.
Linda Alexander's insight:
I am including only a portion of a great write-up by Greg Whitby with the link to the White House announcement. Enjoy, Linda Use by date for schools?by Greg Whitby
In 2008, I heard Stephen Heppell talking at the Curriculum Corporation Conference about re-designing schools. He was in the throes of co-designing a school with students in the Cayman Islands. Heppell spoke about the need to move away from these industrial factories of 250+ students to small communities of learning with 10 or less students. He explained how agile learning spaces could be re-configured to meet particular learning needs but what if schools were re-configured to meet students interests? This is the evolution of schooling. It is the convergence of personal interests, partnerships and technology (think big data and the ability to personalise learning). Last week Dan Pink was in Australia at the EduTech conference talking about the rise of specialist schools. He mentioned something called Big Picture Learning or Big Picture Schools, which have sprung up across America. Even President Obama has recently announced an initiative that challenges school districts across America to redesign high schools and 'transform the high school experience'. The initiative is underpinned by a strong desire to prepare students for a knowledge age and a global economy. What is interesting about the High School Redesign initiative is a focus on personalised learning and on providing career related experiences or competencies. This is about taking PBL out of the classroom and into the real-world. It places greater focus on developing partnerships with community, business and industry to enable students to complete internships and/or mentorships. This is the evolution of schooling as John Dewey saw it - schools as microcosms of society. The US Department of Education states, 'students learn best when they are engaged in complex projects and tasks aligned with their interests.' This is the foundation of Big Picture Learning schools. As Dan Pink explained these schools configure the entire curriculum around each student’s interests. Pink gives the example of a student who say was interested in martial arts. One component would involve an internship at a martial arts studio and then the academic component would be learning about the origins of martial arts, the Japanese language and the physics behind the martial art.
The concept of bringing students into the real-world to deepen their learning is why partnerships with business and industry will become critical in the evolution of schooling. In this model, I envisage schools as conduit between identifying students' interests and connecting them with their 'adult-world' tribes. In this sense, nothing is fixed.
According to Washor and Mojkowski, if you want to create disruptive innovations rather than merely sustain mediocre ones, you need to have ideas that are 'crazy enough' at the edge to make a difference to what happens in the middle. There is value in looking at the Big Picture model especially in how we create valuable partnerships that bring students into the world and the world into schools. Greg Whitby | June 14, 2013 at 10:10 am | Delete the scoop?
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There is conservative concern about the stability of the Roberts Court’s narrow majority. Delete the scoop?
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I'll begin posting new questions and answers in late August, and during the summer will be sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past two years.
Linda Alexander's insight:
This is in case you missed something and need summer reading! Delete the scoop?
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MINDDRIVE is a non-profit organization in Kansas City that works with at-risk high school students on math, science, and technology through hands-on teaching... Via Susan Bainbridge
Linda Alexander's insight:
Well done video with the students as narrators. Hand-on learning...they built a car! Delete the scoop?
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Student Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit discrimination against public school students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (RT @HRC: #LGBT Students in Public Schools Would be Safer with Student Non-Discrimination Act.
Linda Alexander's insight:
The stats speak: "LGBT youth are twice as likely to experience verbal harassment, exclusion and physical attack at school as their non-LGBT peers. Among LGBT youth, 51 percent have been verbally harassed at school, compared to 25 percent among non-LGBT students; 48 percent say they are often excluded by their peers because they are different, compared to 26 percent among non-LGBT students; and 17 percent report they have been physically attacked at school, compared to 10 percent among non-LGBT students." Delete the scoop?
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In a wide-ranging consideration of 21st century education, Noam Chomsky argues that much of what passes for education reform is 'a way of turning the population into a bunch of imbeciles.' Via Keith Heggart, juandoming
Linda Alexander's insight:
Noam Chomsky peers from above society and the various winds of change and offers broad, sweeping thematic conclusions. While I am not confident that everything is quite so maliciously calculated in American society as he purports, but rather the behavioral trappings of a consumer culture gone awry and an American psychological profile historically embedded with independence at all costs, he certainly makes one think deeply about the grave consequences of corporate, governmental and individuals actions and inactions, and the underlying ideals and interconnectedness of all our ways.
p.s. His views on education are spot-on....what makes learning rich and rewarding. 
Ken Morrison's comment,
June 2, 11:14 AM
I was very interested in the part about farmers fighting for the right to not have systematic education for the masses.
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Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Pulitzer Prize-winning online news website that bears her name, was the speaker at Smith College's 135th commencem...
Linda Alexander's insight:
Funny, witty & always an amazing speaker! And, someone to learn from, Huffington also always does her homework prior to speaking... Delete the scoop?
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This 5-minute video depicts a theory of change from the Frontiers of Innovation community for achieving breakthrough outcomes for vulnerable children and fam... Via Carolyn D Cowen
Linda Alexander's insight:
This Harvard research report takes a whole systems approach to change. Skill building and programs in terms of the adults--community building--and focusing on how we address the toxic stresses within a neighborhood or the larger community.
DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu Delete the scoop?
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"In my 14 years of teaching and researching education, I’ve come to realize that 4 catalyzing actions, small steps that each of us can take fairly easily, can initiate change in positive ways from the ground up." Via Susan Bainbridge
Linda Alexander's insight:
There are two examples of alternative education systems contained within this blog site, including the newest venture, Open Road out of Portland, Oregon that is using crowdfunding, that really caught my eye. Delete the scoop?
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Sir Ken Robinson, Bill Gates, Geoffrey Canada and more take on big topics in the all-new TED Talks Education. Full feature presentation is here.
Linda Alexander's insight:
Save this post for summer viewing!
The program also features two short films profiling high school students with remarkable stories. The documentaries were produced by two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker Tony Gerber and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and MacArthur Genius Award-recipient Lynn Nottage. Musician John Legend hosted the event. Delete the scoop?
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by Sean Michael Morris
"I believe that community colleges are situated best among all institutions of higher education to open education to the lifelong, autonomous learner. Four-year institutions are limited by their own biologies, and the ossification of values of expertise, specialization, exclusivity, reputation, and relevance. But the anatomy of the community college gives it much greater flexibility, and therefore greater resiliency in the face of the challenges of new learning. The community college is based on far more humanistic, and more open source, values: personal achievement, complementarity between learning and life skills, diversity, citizenship, and autonomy. There are no “research one” community colleges; every one of these two-year institutions is founded on teaching, and on leading students into a greater understanding of their own intellectual potential." Via Hybrid Pedagogy, Miloš Bajčetić, Lynnette Van Dyke Delete the scoop?
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Linda Alexander's insight:
Should a tenured professor at Ball State University be allowed to teach religion (or intelligent design) in a course billed as "science"? This raging debate was initiated via the analysis of a University of Chicago professor who then flagged this course as quite troublesome--basically, a breach between the separation of church and state. On the flipside, Ball State students are not required to enroll in this particular course and we are not considering a K-12th grade public school, but a "public" college. Ultimately, would students know the true course goals and objectives given its framed as scientific? While a tenured professor may be able to teach whatever they so desire, (also debatable) can they do so in a manner that is less than transparent, open and honest? Overal, there are several academic and ethical issues at play... Delete the scoop?
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We have a romantic attachment to skills from the past which are no longer relevant on a curriculum for today's children Via Ana Cristina Pratas, Gust MEES
Linda Alexander's insight:
While I agree with the basis of this article, we do have a romantic attachment to the past, especially parents who want their children to experience schools as they DID, I don't completely agree with this article. There are reasons for understanding the "way things work" and there are reasons for knowing one's history--as Winston Churchill said, "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." That said, this article really speaks to the way we go about learning and, yes, that has really changed. 
Sue Osborne's curator insight,
June 16, 7:36 PM
At the centre of this article there is truth, which is that our children need "new" skills and new ways of developing and using the "old" ones. However, I think there is room for them all, if the curriculum is formulated the right way. Inquiry-based learning, letting the kids ask a question and then search for the answer using a number of resources, is definitely the way to go. Personally I think there will ALWAYS be a place for being able to do maths the old fashioned way, so you understand how it works, but there is also a time to let the technology take you further, to increase that understanding. Room for both. 
Allan Shaw's curator insight,
June 18, 1:24 AM
Linda Alexander summarised my thoughts beautifully!
'While I agree with the basis of this article, we do have a romantic attachment to the past, especially parents who want their children to experience schools as they DID, I don't completely agree with this article. There are reasons for understanding the "way things work" and there are reasons for knowing one's history--as Winston Churchill said, "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." That said, this article really speaks to the way we go about learning and, yes, that has really changed.'
Allan Shaw's curator insight,
June 18, 1:25 AM
Linda Alexander summarised it well!
'While I agree with the basis of this article, we do have a romantic attachment to the past, especially parents who want their children to experience schools as they DID, I don't completely agree with this article. There are reasons for understanding the "way things work" and there are reasons for knowing one's history--as Winston Churchill said, "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." That said, this article really speaks to the way we go about learning and, yes, that has really changed.' Delete the scoop?
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Poor schools underperform largely because of economic forces, not because teachers have it too easy
Linda Alexander's insight:
I am never one to broadly blame hard-working teachers for anything. However, this take-no-prisoners article about "reformers" even sounds angry. While, true, economics are the single most important predictor in terms of overall school performance, not race or any other factor, I encourage some of the highly successful Breakthrough Schools in Cleveland, Ohio to chime-in here (e.g., Citizens Academy, Citizens Leadership Academy, The Intergenerational School, E-Prep, Village Prep, etc.) These local charter school folks, reformers if you will, do not fit the profile of this article; they're extremely hard working and always on mission. These collective urban charter schools, as an example, view every child in a"no excuses" manner and their philosophy and practices are embraced by some of the new, innovative Cleveland Public Schools. While there are certainly for-profit entities misusing taxpayer monies, we have a number of successful examples in Cleveland, Ohio that flat-out counter the broad-brush claims of this article. (We really should focus on "what works and grow it," in the spirit of appreciative inquiry, rather than this opposite approach)
We are also a City where a range of schools, independent, private, charter & public are working hard to co-exist, learn best practices from each other, and the adults are trying their best to play nice in the sandbox. It isn't perfect by any means, but the start of a healthy educational eco-system that benefits children. Ultimately, it's about the children and not the adults.... Delete the scoop?
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Cuyahoga Community College says it won't cut part-timers' courseloads, but new formula for calculating work hours is said to prevent instructors from accessing health coverage.
Linda Alexander's insight:
I can't imagine using a 1:1 ratio for classroom instruction versus out-of-class prep will be accurate for the vast majority of adjunct professors. This ratio clearly needs further study. This article reviews many of the issues brewing in Ohio that will very likely spread to other states as the new health care laws grabs hold. Delete the scoop?
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A conversation with Jeffrey Selingo, the author of “College (Un)Bound,” who argues that the higher-education system is both vital to the American economy and “broken.”
Linda Alexander's insight:
Summer reading list... anyone? Delete the scoop?
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Linda Alexander's insight:
Simply taking another test is not grounded in research proving that "test taking alone" serves to improve curricula and/or teaching & learning. Indeed additional test-taking in America's classrooms may have the opposite impact... Delete the scoop?
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Drop high-stakes tests and let teachers teach; exam-driven curricula are ruining U.S. education: David Patten
Linda Alexander's insight:
This is an important op-ed on how "sorry" is the cheapest word in the English language---for a teacher who originally thought he was hired for his expertise! Delete the scoop?
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Proposal would exempt some private schools from state tests Cincinnati.com Teenage students at some area private schools would be freed from taking graduation tests now required statewide at public high schools under a law being considered by the... Delete the scoop?
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By Ann Hoevel, CNN
Linda Alexander's insight:
What a wonderful commencement address! Delete the scoop?
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Memphis teacher Casie Jones takes issue with a union leader's recent statement that even the best teachers can't make a difference in poor communities.
Linda Alexander's insight:
This teacher expresses all the ingredients that make a difference, including optimism and direct, personal contact with families. I rarely (if ever) post Ed Week articles, but this deserves everyone's attention, particularly anyone in school leadership that wants to send out a less promising message about the impact of teachers on classroom learning... Delete the scoop?
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"New Trier High School is embracing a future with more e-books and iPads -- and fewer old-fashioned text books. But not all parents in the district are thrilled with having to pony up extra money for the gadgets. "We're in a wealthy district, but you can't assume that everyone's wealthy," said Mary Rita Kropp, a New Trier parent who addressed the school board on the topic at a meeting this week." Via Seth Dixon 
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
May 22, 3:05 PM
I'm all for using technology with education, but this article highlights the digital divide and some issues in implemental technological updates given diverse socioeconomic situations. Delete the scoop?
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In many schools, project-based learning happens in isolated cases: in certain teachers' classrooms here and there, or in the contexts of specific subjects. Bu
Linda Alexander's insight:
Here is an example of taking it to scale....and the results are included within the link as well. Delete the scoop?
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This session is designed to address the legal aspects surrounding the needs of children with dyslexia, and other learning disabilities (ADHD, non-verbal learning disabilities). An expert in dyslexia will join Sonja Kerr to explain ... Via Lou Salza
Linda Alexander's insight:
Worth knowing! 
Lou Salza's curator insight,
May 18, 10:10 AM
Never underestimate the power of a well aimed lawsuit! This is after all America!-Lou Delete the scoop?
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Extremely interesting research being conducted, especially at Stanford and a few other universities...