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Common Core test is on track, State Board told
Four states have encountered serious glitches and system meltdowns over the past several weeks as they have moved their own state assessments online. But the head of the state-led consortium creating the Common Core tests for California and two dozen other states expressed confidence Wednesday that his organization is working closely with states and taking precautions to avoid significant problems. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is one of two state consortiums – the other is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Common Core standards, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, Technology, Tests & Assessments, Twenty-first Century Learning
Rocketship Education’s next phase: technology in a blended classroom
Palo Alto-based Rocketship Education has attracted national attention in the past few years for its innovative use of technology and impressive test scores for its largely low-income, Hispanic students. Now, as other districts and charter schools are starting to emulate the Rocketship model, which relies on computer-guided instruction as a key component, the K-5 charter school organization is considering leaving it behind, like a first-stage booster, and moving toward a different a 21st century classroom. Instead … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blended Learning, Equity issues, Featured, Online Learning, Reporting & Analysis
Innovative online developer to broaden college partnership
The marriage of innovative online course developer Udacity and San Jose State University is going so well that the partners are offering for-credit summer classes to 10 times as many students per course. “So far, so good,” said spokesperson Clarissa Shen, saying that the summer classes are considered an extension of the spring pilot, which offered three math classes, including Statistics. Based on the outcome of the summer program, Silicon Valley-based Udacity and San Jose State … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Online Learning, Reporting & Analysis, Technology
LAUSD approves $50 million in bonds for student computers
The Los Angeles Unified School Board has approved using $50 million in school construction bonds to buy tablet computers, install wireless systems and train teachers in their use at 47 schools. It’s the first step in what eventually would cost 10 times that amount to supply all 600,000-plus LAUSD students with portable computers. The board gave the go-ahead without having questions answered on whether students will be able to take the equipment home, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. (See an earlier EdSource Today article that discusses the wisdom and perhaps the legality of purchasing portable computers, with short life spans, for students through long-term bonds. Some districts do it; others avoid the practice.) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Facilities, Quick Hits, Technology
Rocketship’s cofounder departing for online learning startup
John Danner is leaving Rocketship Education, the innovative, Palo Alto-based K-5 charter school network he cofounded seven years ago, to become an entrepreneur again. He is starting an as yet unnamed company, he says, “out of my frustration that the online learning space never embraced student-centered learning, so we are going to try to do it right.” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blended Learning, Charter Schools, Featured, Online Learning, Reporting & Analysis
Silicon Valley charters get $1.7 million for ‘blended learning’
Two Bay Area charter school organizations that have ventured into “blended learning” will be the first to receive funding from newly created $25 million Silicon Schools Fund. Summit Public Schools, which runs four charter high schools, will receive $1.4 million to help open two more high schools next year in the Bay Area, and two-year-old Alpha Public Schools will get $300,000 to expand its first school, a middle school charter in San Jose. Both Summit and Alpha are doing innovative work with blended learning, which integrates technology in the classroom to foster personalized learning. This year, students in Summit’s two high schools in the San Jose area learning math at their own pace through a fluid combination of individualized computer programs, tutoring, small group lessons and larger project-based experiences. Its two new … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blended Learning, Charter Schools, Featured, Quick Hits
Chris Lehmann tells WestEd crowd: Technology can’t replace teachers
Chris Lehmann, the principal of a science-focused magnet school in Philadelphia and a rock star in the ed tech world, kicked off WestEd’s Board of Directors Conference Wednesday in San Francisco with this idea: Technology is no substitute for great teaching. “The purpose of tech should not, cannot ever be, to reduce the number of caring adults in the classroom,” Lehmann said. Don’t mistake that sentiment for a concern about the amount of technology in the classroom. Lehmann’s students at Science Leadership Academy each bring their own laptop, provided by the school, to class every day. They publish their work online. They use digital cameras to document their science labs. Smartphones are encouraged. Lehmann’s big idea is not that teachers should use this or that new ed tech solution in the classroom. It’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Quick Hits, Technology
Rocketship may ditch “learning lab” model next year
Rocketship Education charter schools, based in Palo Alto, might be eliminating their flagship “learning labs” where kids spend 90 minutes a day in front of a computer working with math and literacy software, according to a report on the PBS NewsHour. Why? Teachers say the labs just aren’t working well enough to provide them with quick and useful information on what students have learned and what should be done to add to that learning. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blended Learning, Charter Schools, Quick Hits, STEM
Districts face questions in spending long-term bonds for short-lived technology
(Update: Please note corrections at the end of the article on points marked with an asterisk.) Is it legal to buy personal computers for students using school construction bonds? And if it’s legal, is it wise to pay interest long-term on devices with a short shelf life? … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Parcel Tax, Reporting & Analysis, Technology, Twenty-first Century Learning
Udacity’s statistics course to offer insights into online learning
February 3rd, 2013 | 5 Comments | By Katie Kormanik / commentary
You may have heard of a new development in higher education: MOOCs, or massive open online courses, are challenging traditional notions of higher education. Allowing students to work at any time, any place, and any pace, MOOCs are free and are open to anyone. This is why they’re massive, often enrolling tens of thousands of students. This revolutionary medium of higher education may shift the entire paradigm underlying how education is delivered. So far MOOCs have … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Featured, Online Learning