The Future is Now?

Al,

Thanks for posting you last post, of course I posted my next one before I had a chance to read yours deeply. Interesting stuff, I would love to see how some of that is being implemented in the Izone or other schools. This is the closest thing we will get (for now) to your MRI machine that "captures" learning. So much talk around innovation in public school these days, it is too bad you don't see much of it in practice. Maybe the dire economic conditions right now will help make schools more innovative? As we know, the trend is to increase the school day for students to pack in more instructional time to their days and of course, there is the deadly "summer slide". As states and the federal government cut funding to schools, our schools have the possibility to become more innovative.
Makes sense right?
Less money to pay staff and less time spend on instructional time but the value of students spending more time on skills and content remains. Virtual (individual) education is more cost efficient! Schools may change pedagogy, bot because of what is effective but because what makes more financial sense. Look at what our own New York Post reported this week about Virtual Education.

"High school will become a virtual learning experience for more New York teenagers under a sweeping new state policy that promotes online instruction. The Board of Regents approved new rules easing the "seat-time" requirements that spell out how long a student must physically spend in a classroom to earn course credit. The regulations also lessen requirements for face-to-face interactions between students and teachers"

Overturning the "seat-time" requirement, so now students and teachers just have to prove that they have meet state standards for that content area. Isn't that what we have been wishing for? A real way to differentiate the progress of students in an advisory. We also see a lessen of requirements for the face to face interactions between students and teachers, see how we are saving money and being responsible educators (a little tongue in my cheek)?

Well, now that education is saved and all of the innovative educators can take over the world. Oh wait, is that uncertainty that I hear? I am sure you will recognize some of the people here. NYC Department of Education lobbied the State for the easing of "seat-time" but when they got it?

As members of the Innovation Zone’s selective iLearn cohort, which numbered 40 last year but is jumping to 127 this fall, the principals who attend the monthly meetings have used technology to reshaped their schedules, supplies, and teachers’ workloads. When it comes to using technology to change teaching and learning, the principals usually have a lot to say.

But when Scroggin asked them how they were thinking about responding to the change in seat time rules, they were quiet.

I don't blame them one bit, change is hard. Figuring this all out is a mammoth issue. I am a big fan of using technology and innovation to help students progress at skills and content acquisition. I was responsible for bringing in ShowmeSat to help the Juniors prepare for the SAT. This is hard to do well, there are so many variables. However, isn't this the change we all want? I am a huge fan of the work of Salman Kahn of the Kahn Academy, I think the technology can change schools and how we learn. It is innovative teaching and will change our schools. Just read this article from the new Wired Magazine about How Khan Academy is Changing the rules Education.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/1

You can't argue with how good this is for differentiation and individual learning progressions. Kahn's dashboard apps for teachers to use are a constant data flow that tells you where kids are and what they need help in, it is an instant feedback loop.

In the fall of 2010, flush with the infusion of money from Google and Gates, Khan hired a programmer, Ben Kamens, and a designer, Jason Rosoff, and tasked them with, among other things, building the dashboard. These sorts of performance-measuring apps have become increasingly common in the business world, so the duo didn’t think teachers would be terribly impressed by their software. Wrong: They were astounded. “We’d go collect some data and make a chart, and the teachers were blown away—every time,” Kamens says. “This isn’t taxing the edge of technology. But they were completely shocked, as if this had never existed before.”

Sound familiar? This is from the Learning Progression Summary by Sanda Balaban

A well-constructed learning progression presents a number of opportunities to teachers for instructional planning. It enables teachers to focus on important learning goals in the domain, centering their attention on what the student will learn rather that what the student will do (i.e., the learning activity). A progression also helps teachers see connections between what comes before and after a specific learning goal, both in the short and long term.

You can't argue with this! It will change education.

Not all educators are enamored with Khan and his site. Gary Stager, a longtime educational consultant and advocate of laptops in classrooms, thinks Khan Academy isn’t innovative at all. The videos and software modules, he contends, are just a high tech version of that most hoary of teaching techniques—lecturing and drilling. Schools have become “joyless test-prep factories,” he says, and Khan Academy caters to this dismal trend. Khan’s approach “suffers from this sort of ’school über alles’ philosophy: They’re not going to question anything the schools do. They’re not going to challenge any of the content.” Stager admires the fact that Khan is trying to improve education, but he says research has shown that kids who are struggling at math won’t be helped by a “filmstrip.”

Ugh, It is not innovative enough, I guess. I like Gary and I think he means well. He serves a good purpose here. Kahn Academy, Learning Progressions and anything else we see as innovative need to have some connection to the life of the student. A smart board is a cool tool but that is all it is, a cool tool. I love bells and whistles (I have them on my bike) but if we truly want to transform our schools, we have to make sure the learning is meaningful for the students. Innovative schools are catching on and some really interesting things are going on out therere.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-11/news/29761802_1_charter-schools-schools-offer-parents-innovation-schools

However, none of it will matter if it doesn't connect to students.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-digital-students-20110712,0,5145271.story
For most children, the key to success will continue to be sharp critical skills, strong connections, effective communication and the nerve to be creative and entrepreneurial. The difference is that we are living at a time in which all of those skills are defined by one's proficiency in connected media. Furthermore, for students facing poverty, violence and disability, online learning networks can provide empowering educational experiences that transcend the circumstances of the classroom.

I have a really busy week this week. I start a three day NYU Facilitation course tomorrow and I will be taking my final Baruch class for my Masters in Educational Leadership on Tuesday (It only took me 6 years, I have been busy). I am sure I will post about both experiences in the upcoming week.

Best,
Jeff