Digital Content Conversation

Spent the morning in a round table discussion with 16 publishers, open-source content creators, mobile device manufacturers, district staff, and members of Governor Schwarzenegger's staff relating to modularizing textbook content for distribution to California students in ways not previously delivered in the State. Things are really getting interesting...

Much conversation surrounded developing a common understanding of what defines "modular" (is it a chapter? is it a concept? is it something else?) and how it would be delivered to the classroom level. Other topics of focus included maintaining consistency of school programs (as if...) and ensuring that all students receive access to a common curricular program ("faithful implementation") and have common outcomes ("teach to the test"). That presupposes that all students come prepared to receive a common curriculum (they don't) and that all teachers stick to agreed to pacing guides (good teachers would when, how, and why to deviate in order to meet student needs). Obviously, there is much more talking that needs to be done.

i3 Validation Grant Submitted

The California Open Campus Initiative application for i3 funding was submitted on behalf of the sixteen school district consortium. The University of Southern California has prepared a stellar quasi-experimental research design that is the backbone of the project. Random assignment of established academic interventions (the classroom level) and a large sample size make this project fit well within the Department of Education's criteria for funding. Congratulations to all who worked collaboratively to bring this vision forward.

eLearning in EdWeek

Constance Gustke's article in Education Week (5/3/2010) addresses the issues holding back efforts to promote online schools and courses in the United States. In "E-Learning Hits Barriers to Expansion: A national e-learning framework would require lifting state policy restrictions now in place", Gustke asserts: "The trick is navigating a U.S. school system diced into some 15,000 districts and 50 states, characterized by distinctive academic requirements and varying policy barriers. The resulting silo effect slows down the expansion of online learning across state borders, globally, and even outside local districts, according to experts."

This is so true in California and a key reason for our initiative among districts throughout the State. The rest of the world is not waiting for us to "get out act together". California continues to lose competitive ground as we work to find our own separate ways. While much of the technologies that fuel the educational power inherent in the Internet were born in California, we continue to struggle with taking full advantage of them in our schools.