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Early Wins and Alpha’s Top Ten List for New Blended Operators
“How is your year going?” It is a seemingly innocuous question, but anyone who asks this of a first-year, blended model school operator should be prepared to pull up a chair and get comfortable. Conditions on the ground are… fluid. Sometimes, the best you can hope for is controlled chaos. Other times, a sprinkle of hardworking teachers, a pinch of over-eager children, and a heaping portion of innovation leads to what, for the sake of those with delicate constitutions, can best be described as a clustermuck. And so, from my...
read moreTechnology Tools Can Increase Student Advocacy
Over the past few months I have had a number of encounters that I can only categorize as magical. On several occasions, when working with either students or teachers, I have had the pleasure of sharing in moments that take my breath away. What unifies these moments is they are all instances of people advocating for themselves, their own interests, their own goals, their own vision. Let me tell you a little bit more about these moments. Several months ago I was approached by a student who was interested in buy a tablet. The student had done...
read moreMotivating Students with (and without) Disabilities to Use Technology in the Classroom
Using technology (whether it be a computer, an iPad or an app on a cell phone) is something that seems to be inherently exciting for children. What’s not to love? At school, learning software quickly becomes addicting – children beg to read books on MyOn, and eagerly await the time to solve math puzzles on their laptops with ST Math. Frequently, behavior management (albeit in a different manner) becomes easier. Adding computer-based reading and math software to a child’s academic schedule is most often a win-win for teachers and...
read morePromise and Challenge of the LPS Oakland College Launch Program
As part of its Next Generation Learning Challenge blended-learning design, LPS Oakland has started a College Launch program utilizing online / hybrid courses to prepare first-generation students for college success. A year earlier, LPS had experimented with online college courses for a group of advanced students. This early pilot made clear why online courses have not proven effective for low-income freshmen. The challenges were myriad: inadequate typing skills, difficulties with the amount of unsupported expository reading, lack of...
read moreReal-World Experiences
Relevance We’ve all had some version of the question, “When will I use this in real life?” from students. Just because we’re now delivering content through blended learning and incorporating technology does not mean we have magically made all content relevant to our students. To keep students engaged in content in a meaningful way, we have to continue to connect to their experiences and goals. At Cornerstone Charter Health High School in Detroit, MI, we do this though a required class called Relevance that is held twice per week....
read moreBlended Learning and Teachers Unions
“Rules and models destroy genius and art,” said English writer William Hazlitt. When it comes to blended learning, some school leaders say that strict union rules severely limit innovation. Are districts with strict teachers union contracts doomed to preserve the status quo, or can they innovate? The answer is mixed. On the one hand, rule-bound districts have more options than they might realize. Consider this true scenario of a school with two rigid union restrictions. First, paraprofessionals cannot supervise students while they learn...
read morePathway to Possibility: A Framework is Renovated and Refined
Last September, Next Generation Learning Challenges published a white paper laying out our perspective on what next generation learning is and what it requires. The six dimensions of the framework were built out of observations of the work of NGLC grantees and a scan of the field. Since then, we have been collecting comments, feedback, and suggestions for making the framework “work” for a broad audience, so that it may serve as a guidepost for those who are planning and designing technology-enabled next generation learning—including...
read moreWhat Can Blended Model Schools Do To Increase College Graduation Rates?
Why aren’t more students who graduate from high-performing, no-excuses charters also graduating from college? I know very few people who would answer this question without referencing the work of Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, or Paul Tough. This was not the case when KIPP released its College Completion Report in April 2011. I (like many) was surprised to learn that only 33 percent of students who completed a KIPP middle school 10 or more years ago had graduated from a four-year college. I remain impressed by and grateful for KIPP’s...
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