Sophia – social teaching

A recent eSchoolNews article highlighted Sophia, a free website that takes Wikipedia to another dimension.  Sophia is a social teaching and learning platform that offers free academic content.  Anyone can register and create “learning packets”, essentially tutorials including a variety of multi-media components to teach a skill or concept.  Visitors can engage in a “Q&A” with the author (and others) around the content, serving as a supplemental source of instruction.

Sophia relies on a dual-review process whereby visitors can rate and review content for usability and appeal and “self-declared subject matter experts” can also rate and review content for accuracy.  When three reviewers have declared the content valid, the learning packet is deemed “academically sound.”  I know, I know, perhaps a little concerning in the K-12 realm but think about the teaching opportunities for emphasizing the concepts of author bias, credibility, purpose, etc.  There is also the option to create a private group (invite only) which would certainly ensure that students only have access to reliable information within the environment.

Recognizing that Sophia is only as good as its content and users, the “Sophia Score” is designed to drive quality activity in the environment by leveraging gaming and social networking appeal.

When you visit the well-designed site be sure to check out the “Sophia for Educators” page.  There, you’ll find great application ideas such as asking students to create learning packets to demonstrate their understanding or asking students to review certain learning packets to determine the accuracy and validity of the information.  Perhaps a new tool or resource for your classroom?

Blended-learning

The InnoSight Institute published an interesting (and hefty) report on blended-learning models, describing online learning as a disruptive innovation.  The author analyzes online learning and identifies various forces (bleak budgets, NCLB, the Common Core State Standards initiative, the rise of online curriculum providers, etc.) that contribute to the acceleration of this trend.  “Blended-learning” is defined via a matrix which helps to address the confusion surrounding multiple definitions of the term.  The report profiles 40 blended-learning programs – not necessarily the “top 40” but rather a sampling.  The report also identifies the technology tools/resources utilized by each program.  Click here to read the author’s blog post which summarizes the key findings of the report.

Policy suggestions for digital learning

An Education Week article today features a new report “Digital Learning Now” published by the Digital Learning Council that identifies 10 ways for states to change policy to increase access and equity in digital learning.  Here are the 10 ways:

1. Make all students eligible to be digital learners.
2. Give all students access to high-quality online courses and content.
3. Allow students to customize their learning via online content.
4. Allow students to advance at their own pace.
5. Ensure that all online content is high-quality.
6. Ensure that instruction and teachers are high-quality.
7. Allow students access to multiple providers of content.
8. Measure content and instruction by student learning.
9. Create funding and pay incentives for performance.
10. Build infrastructure to support digital learning.

While some of the suggestions seem repetitive and somewhat obvious (i.e. high-quality online learning should be self-paced.  That, to me, is a no-brainer.), I like the general sense of empowering the student, making them accountable for their learning.  “Allowing students access to multiple providers of content” is particularly empowering.  Think about this scenario:  A student opts for online learning for algebra.  The student, then, selects from a menu list of providers (all high-quality and ‘pre-approved’ by the school or Hawaii DOE) based on his/her learning preferences (i.e. more video-based lectures and projects versus text-based instruction and multiple-choice tests) and educational needs.  Of course, there needs to be some education for the student to determine how he/she best learns.  The exercise will help the student build his/her metacognitive skills; skills essential to success in life.  And, of course, there needs to be a  teacher or counselor at the school to support the student in making an informed decision as well as to provide ongoing support to the student as he/she completes the course.  Do you think students would feel more ownership of their learning, be more engaged, and perhaps perform at a higher level?

Online teaching best practices – from the K-12 Online Teacher of the Year

The nation’s first-ever K-12 Online Teacher of the Year is Teresa Dove of the Florida Virtual school.  The award was created by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).  I’m not clear on how the winner was selected (seems like a difficult task!) but I did think Dove’s five best practices are interesting and worth dissecting a bit.  According to Dove, these practices make her effective in an online environment:

1. Keep the student at the center of every decision that needs to be made.
2. Foster relationships with students and parents, because parents can be a teacher’s biggest help.
3. Talk with your students every day by phone.
4. Celebrate every effort and success, no matter how big or small.
5. Build relationships with fellow teachers.  Share resources, best practices, and stories to feel less isolated or alone in the home office.

Wait – aren’t these relevant for the traditional classroom as well?  What does this tell us about online learning?  Does it mislead teachers to believe that it is an easy transition from a traditional classroom to an online learning environment?  An online learning environment is actually quite different from a traditional one.  I would love to hear more from Dove about the tools and specific techniques she uses to celebrate success or foster relationships with parents.  Does she leverage social networking tools?  What about tips on how to communicate effectively – over the phone and via email/chats?  We all know that email messages can easily be misinterpreted, causing unnecessary confusion.   There is quite an art to creating a vibrant, enriching community among students who never (or rarely) see each other in person… I’m not sure that is emphasized enough in the eSchool News article and via Dove’s best practices.

What kids learn from digital media

A forum on digital learning was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the National Writing Project, and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.  The hour webcast of the forum is a little long but presents some interesting big ideas about youth empowerment and digital media creation.  I’ve summarized some of the big ideas here:

• With today’s technologies and applications, there is a low barrier of entry to create media as well as a world wide reach.  “Universal authorship” is the future.
• The “potential” exists but need to be intentional in helping all kids become digitally literate.  We could see a “participation gap”.  The responsibility to help kids become digitally literate should not fall solely to schools but requires supporting students in all the spaces they learn (home, libraries, after-school programs, etc.).
• Four core principles:
  • Re-think the definition of who are teachers – i.e. bring in new media artists into schools, existing teachers can not be expected to teach it all
  • Create bridges between all the spaces where kids spend their time to address students’ feeling of disconnect between school and “real-life”
  • Ensure students have the opportunity to showcase their work – by having real audiences, students will iterate and put forth effort
  • Help students understand the pathways available via digital media – taking a lesson from video games where it is very clear what is required to get to the next level
• The role of the “adult” (whether that be the teacher, the parent, the mentor, etc.) in guiding and supporting youth in this space is essential and yet, hard to define, especially given the fact that norms and ethics change very quickly.

It’s a lot to digest… and because of this often gets pushed to the side.  However, the power of digital media creation and the overall changing ecology forces us, as educators, to be more thoughtful about engaging students in media creation.  Thinking about these big ideas is a start…

Intelligent Tutors that care too

Ah, the future of artificial-intelligence tutoring looks very cool!  According to a recent article in EdWeek, a new trend in the intelligent-tutoring arena involves integrating social and emotional support.  The concept is simple – “pedagogical agents” (or animated characters) are now able to not only offer content-specific feedback based on students’ responses but also are able to detect students’ emotional changes and mirror those feelings and offer encouragement.  The system picks up students’ emotional states through hundreds of sensors embedded in the computer, students’ chairs (to recognize different postures), as well as through sensors worn like a bracelet around students’ wrists.  In a project developed by the University of Massachusetts and Arizona State, students’ passing rates on state tests were 10 percent higher after a week of lessons with the tutor than they were for peers who spent the same amount of time learning geometry in a regular classroom, according to Beverly Park Woolf, a research professor in computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a leading researcher on the project.  More research needs to be conducted but the potential is there.  Major funders of such projects are the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

Online Learning Survey – state by state

The overall news is not entirely new or surprising (although very positive)… online learning continues to grow at a rapid pace. For the second year in a row, Florida was the No. 1 state in online education. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Hawaii ranked as fourth nationwide!

This data is according to a new survey conducted by the Center for Digital Education (CDE) and titled “Online Learning Policy and Practice Survey: A Survey of the States” “at least 25 states now lead statewide online-learning initiatives… a dramatic increase from the 15 states driving programs only a year ago.” Education officials from 44 states provided insight that informed the report. The CDE ranked state programs looking at key areas such as program offerings, funding, policies, enrollment trends, course offerings, K-20 ventures, teacher licensing, and reform efforts.

The report presents very general information about online learning, tracking trends across states. However, it is not clear how CDE determined state rankings. So, while I’m pleased to see Hawaii in the top ten, I’m not exactly sure why… if you’re interested, you can find the report here.

Q&A with Susan Patrick, CEO of iNACOL

Every time I hear or read Susan Patrick’s thoughts on online learning, I’m impressed.  She always presents real-world case studies and/or research to validate her claims/assertions.  I highly recommend this Q&A – she sums up the potential of online learning to transform education and current challenges very well.  It’s worth a review.

Case study: Florida Virtual School

The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) has served as a model given its status as the first statewide virtual public school.  Its story is an interesting one – well documented in this recently released case study authored by Katherine Mackey and Michael B. Horn of the InnoSight Institute.  The case study is a quick read (more of a story) about the vision, dedication, and policy that led to the “…development of a disruptive, scalable educational model that has impacted Florida and beyond…”

First, some key facts:

• Growth – the school opened in 1998 with 77 students in six courses.  By 2008, enrollments exceeded 154,000. 
• Vision – the developers created the motto, “Any time, any place, any path, any pace,” to “…reflect its philosophy that learning was an ongoing activity not confined solely to classrooms and class schedules.”
• Funding – the school was conceived with $200,000 grant in 1997.  Then, funding for the school became a line item in Florida’s legislature budget, providing a fixed amount and limiting the number of students served.  In 2003, the Florida Legislature voted to include FLVS in the state funding formula for K–12 education and approved a performance-based program in which the school would only receive per-pupil funds for those students who successfully completed and passed their courses.  “A performance-based funding system made FLVS more accountable in some respects than brick and mortar schools, and it also enabled the school to escape seat-time restrictions and thereby preserve the flexibility that was key to online learning.”

Online Learning & Social Skill Development

A recent article in The Wall-Street Journal discusses the advantages/disadvantages of online learning as it relates to appropriately developing students’ social skills.  There is no doubt today’s youth are socially active using technology via Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. but when it comes to growing social skills while learning online, is that a different story? 

Elizabeth Birr Moje, a professor of education at the University of Michigan who has studied online learning, says that one disadvantage of learning online is that students may not learn to work with people as well.  While on the flip side, Rand Spiro, a professor in education psychology at Michigan State University, states that online learning will better prepare students for the digital world, building deeper understanding of subject matter. 

Since limited research exists on online learning, people are looking to the home school population for conclusive data findings.  The main conclusion is that home school students tend to perform equally well on academic achievement tests.  However, no findings were mentioned about their social skills – perhaps because these are much harder to measure?  While the article does not provide a whole lot of substantial information, it does spark thinking, hopefully spurring online learning providers to be cognizant of the entire experience… again, a reminder that we must keep the whole child in mind.