More learning time online
Posted by michael_horn | Under Online learning Friday Sep 4, 2009If you have not yet read Cathy Cavanaugh’s white paper titled Getting Students More Learning Time Online: Distance Education in Support of Expanded Learning Time in K-12 Schools, you must make the time to do so.
Published by the Center for American Progress and funded by the Broad Foundation, the report came out in May. I’ve been meaning to blog about it since but am only getting around to it now.
The report’s initial premise is on how online learning specifically can help to achieve policymakers’ desire to expand learning time to boost student achievement in a flexible, individualized, and affordable way.
What struck me in reading the report was the array of options and flexibility around what “online learning” means or how it is structured. There are so many different paths out there—different hybrid models, different distance models, and so forth—to really allow people to find things that make sense for their circumstance. The concept of moving from the micromanagement of time to macro-management—in which the student spends time where he or she needs it—is well articulated.
All of this hit a chord as what it really points to is that online learning is not a tool per se, but a new platform that allows for far more individualization than the old factory-model school system. This isn’t just a point-based solution inserted into the old classroom. This platform allows for lecturing for those for whom it makes sense; it allows for project-based learning for others in certain circumstances; it allows for robust simulations and games; it allows for work that is online but also—especially in younger grades—work that is offline and in the physical world. The degree of individualization achieved by shifting to an online platform that is flexible and modular is stunning.
The report addresses how an online strategy can help with the quality of teachers and the variety of models out there for teaching in an online world. It also offers snapshots of various models—from Florida Virtual School to the Chicago VOISE Academy. It talks about how this will change practice—from the teaching job to teacher retention to funding models to childcare to school leadership and management to data.
It’s breathtaking in its scope–and well worth the time to read.
[...] More learning time online from Clayton Christensen [...]
Hi. I just found this blog as part of my search to buy the book. Very cool. I’m subscribing. May I introduce myself?
I’m building online educational services that I hope will be the building blocks of the next steps in education.
In doing so, I’ve found myself spending a lot of time with the 4% of the K12 population that is homeschooling. They seem to have figured out blended models much more successfully and quickly than the 96% of the population in more traditional and structured schools.
I think this is an exciting year for technology and distance learning as each school goes through the exercise of planning for school closings and distance learning. I’m hearing interesting rumblings from schools which is a change.
John Edelson, founder
Time4Learning.com
Time4Writing.com
SpellingCity.com
BlogWritingCourse.com
[...] Disrupting Class is a book (and blog) by a HBS Professor, apparently the same who wrote the Disruptive Technology Business Book. I just ordered it and am excited. But, from listening to the interview, I fear that I will both be in rampant agreement and be somewhat bored by it. What I heard in the interview is that he has woven together a number of ideas that I’m totally into and trying hard to implement. Basically, that with different intelligences, a class-centric education model fails and that our salvation will be technology that will provide individually leveled and paced education. First of all, I totally agree. Secondly, the best implementations of this are currently done in the 4% of the population who believes in education as a priority. Yes the homeschoolers. If you want to see what the future of education looks like, go visit some homeschool families and look at how they blend online curriculum, group classes, one-on-one distance learning, experiental learning, and traditional text-based education on a customized basis for each child. Go ask in homeschooling parents forum. Let me add that so far, most of the technology is disappointing. Pearson & Scholastics & Voyager & Compass & Harcourt etc are all saying this same thing about customized learning but mostly aredelivering very mundane automated textbooks with somevideo and multimedia but without the advanced modular architectures that nextgen systems will need. SpellingCity is a decent example of what the next gen building blocks will start with. So, btw, is TeachingTextbooks.com. Both have their start in the homeschool world and are taking the traditional educational markets by storm. BTW, on a personal note, being a Bulldog & HBS grad myself, I might like to get to the now team that wrote and is promoting the book. Another thing about the Disrupting Class blog is the blogroll on the side of important blogs. I’ll try to work through all of them this week. [...]
Thanks for your note, John! Good to meet you on this blog. Sounds like you’re doing some fascinating things and have already found a couple intriguing insights. Look forward to following you and best of luck.