What do we call this thing?

The Riverside Virtual School teachers have been thinking again...

In fact, this "group think" has resulted in significant changes to our middle school program (grades 6-8) for the 2012-2013 school year.

Working with three "non-negotiables", staff spent the spring and summer talking, planning, and building.

1. Purposeful learning at all levels (students and adults)
2. High levels of rigor and support
3. Personalized learning pathways (path, pace, time and place)

This summer, we reorganized the school to create a space for a brand new, blended-learning program that will support student choice, while maintaining high academic standards. We are looking forward to the return of students and their first project - to name their school!

This includes on-campus learning opportunities for students, which will focus on applying the concepts they are learning at home. Students will come on campus mid-week for purposeful learning activities, including time in math, science, foreign language, art, and PE labs. They will have 24-hour access to their course content, including from classroom and labs on campus or from home.

On campus “flex-time” will provide supervised class time for working on academic content that will prepare them to be ready for transition to high school, while laying a college-ready academic foundation. Interventions, community service activities, and college visits will occur on Mondays and/or Fridays.

Students who demonstrate the ability to work well independently and desire more freedom will be granted the option to spend time on campus or work from home. In the new middle school program - whatever the students decide to name it - teachers, parents, and students collaborate to build a program that fits each child's needs and ensures academic success. At RVS, it really is ALL ABOUT YOU!

Please contact the school with any questions or attend an evening parent information session. Dates and times of parent information meetings can be found on the RVS website.

Ideas That Spur Innovation

Several years ago Kimberly-Clark, maker of paper products "Kleenex and Huggies", drove the morale of its employees into the ground after massive firings and outsourcing. It was a disaster that resulted in the rehiring of hundreds of old employees and engineers while continuing to outsource others.

Trust had been broken, low morale and very low employee engagement was the result.  The infrastructure organization circled it's wagons. People were in a self-preservation mode.

When Kimberly-Clark hired a new VP of Infrastructure four years later to turn things around, he implemented a program to spur innovation. The VP took a venture capitalist approach where any employee could submit an idea and if accepted, make a pitch in 30 minutes or less. If the idea had merit, it received first, then second rounds of funding. If not, the employee's idea still got lauded on the company's internal Sharepoint site. He stated, 'Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. It's about what we learn from the failure. Not the failure itself. We celebrate that learning.'

Since then things have massively changed for the better.

Read the entire article  at: Creating culture of IT innovation includes rewarding failure

TED - ED

TED, the nonprofit organization, (Technology, Entertainment, Design), based on "ideas worth sharing", launched its latest initiative last week. TED-EDaims to engage students with unforgettable lessons. Mind-blowing lessons from world renowned educators are offered to anyone with an internet connection.

TED-ED is the latest in a wave of online education. Other contributors are the Kahn Academy and MIT.

Here are links to the nine videos that were initially released:

Introducing TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing

1. How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries
2. How containerization shaped the modern world
3. Symbiosis: a surprising tale of species cooperation
4. How pandemics spread
5. The cockroach beatbox
6. Evolution in a big city
7. Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders
8. The Power of Simple Words
9. Stories: Legacies of Who We Are

Public-Private Partnerships That Work - Part II

A new project, announced on the Makezine blog, aims to bring low cost innovation and alternative manufacturing processes to schools in hopes of turbo-charging the next generation of inventors in the U.S.  This is very cool stuff!

Dale Dougherty of MAKE and Dr. Saul Griffith of Otherlab, through an award received from The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will integrate online tools for design and collaboration with low-cost options for physical workspaces where students may access educational support to gain practical hands-on experience with new technologies and innovative processes to design and build projects.

Their goal is to reach 1000 high schools over the next four years. They are starting with a pilot program of 10 schools in California during the 2012-2013 school year. The Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach (MENTOR) program is part of the DARPA’s Adaptive Vehicle Make program portfolio and is aimed at engaging high school students in a series of collaborative distributed manufacturing and design experiments.

Read the article at : http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/19/darpa-mentor-award-to-bring-making-to-education/

Economy Impacts Seen by College Grads

Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce has a new report out called "Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal" and it analyses unemployment by major. It shows that students and their families that take on student loans aren't asking what their college major is worth in the workforce.

Too many students aren't getting on-the-job training while they're in school or during summer breaks. As a result, questions about employment opportunities or what type of job they have the skills to attain are met with blank stares or the typical, "I don't know." Worse yet, what they choose might lead to increased challenges in hiring after college.

The reports found that the unemployment rate for recent graduates is highest in architecture (13.9 percent) because of the collapse of the construction. Unemployment rates are generally higher in non-technical majors, such as the arts (11.1 percent), humanities and liberal arts (9.4 percent), social science (8.9 percent) and law and public policy (8.1 percent).  Click on the link to learn more...

The Georgetown Report

News From Apple

Apple will announce, on January 19th, its new e-book creation and social interaction tools at their media event taking place in New York. New York happens to be the heart of the publishing industry. The world will be watching.

Steve Jobs believed that the textbook publishing industry was ripe for digital takeover. At present it has the potential of an eight-billion-dollar-a-year paycheck for Apple and its new technology. Insiders at Apple say that Jobs was directly and intimately involved with Apple's efforts in the area right up until his death.

The company states that the tools help create interactive e-books— a "GarageBand for e-books," if you will —and expands its current platforms to distribute them to iPhone and iPad users.

Frustrated e-book authors and publishers have complained about the current state of software tools and openly expressed their desire for a simple app that makes the process "as easy as creating a song in GarageBand."

Apple heard their call and is now claiming to have the product. This has the potential of revolutionizing the industry, leveling the playing field for everyone, and being the first substantial new product for CEO Tim Cook in a post-Jobs era.

To read more about this go to: Apple to announce tools, platform to "digitally destroy" textbook publishing.

UCR Students Link Learning to Future Success

A group of innovative University of California Riverside students has come up with an idea that they believe will solve the problem of high tuition and college debt that plagues the average college student in the present California University system.

Their idea is to let students get their education first and then pay after they graduate, when they are earners, rather than pay for school during the years they are at the university.

The plan requires graduates to pay five percent of their salaries every year for 20 years to repay the state for their education.

UC Riverside students propose new tuition payment plan

Unregistered

Aspen Institute's Education Innovation Forum and Exposition

I was at the Aspen Institute's Education Innovation Forum and Exposition in Washington DC. It was an invitation-only event that brought together over 500 education innovators, for-profit and philanthropic investors, and the country's most creative public and private sector leaders to address the challenges facing American education. The following link provides details of the event and participants (http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/edinno/index.html).

Riverside Virtual School's validation-level Investing in Innovation (i3) proposal was featured as one of the most highly rated, but unfunded, applications received by the Department of Education. The Department of Education received over 1,700 i3 applications in total, from which they funded 49 projects. At this event, the department highlighted 80 applications that they determined worthy of funding via private and public investors and philanthropists. Speakers included Arne Duncan, Alan Greenspan, and leading thinkers in the K12 education and communication technology sectors. At our project booth, I was able to meet with members of the White House Domestic Policy Council staff, the Department of Education's Education Technology Director and staff, and individuals from the Ford, Stupski, Hewlett, and Gates educational foundations.

Our proposal, called The California Open Campus Initiative (CAOCI), was designed to provide access to innovative tools and resources designed to meet the unique learning needs of students, including students with disabilities and/or limited English proficiency in 16 California school districts. This consortium of school districts, in partnership with businesses, non-profits, and researchers from the University of Southern California, proposes to leverage time, resources, and opportunity to expand access to online learning opportunities, through the Riverside Virtual School, for students and teachers with the overarching goals to increase student achievement in math and science and to enhance college readiness. Federal funds would expand access to rigorous, evidence-based, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) resources via virtual learning environments accessible from the classroom, from home, or from any location with access to the Internet.

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.

CAOCI in "The School Administrator"

The California Open Campus got some good press this month in the April edition of AASA's "The School Administrator" magazine.

"Students in several other California school districts have the opportunity to enroll in these Riverside courses through partnership agreements between the districts. Riverside has brought in limited revenue so far, but the 2010-11 school year shows considerable promise because of pending contracts. The expanding collaboration is at the heart of the California Open Campus Initiative, a federally supported program to expand access to online courses."

It is exciting to see the work continue to grow and feel the impact of the collaborative work of forward thinking school districts.

i3 Grant Proposal

The California Open Campus Initiative (CAOCI) is a consortia of 16 California school districts that are leveraging time, resources, and opportunity to expand online learning opportunities for California students and teachers with the overarching goal to increase college readiness. Funds are being sought to leverage virtual learning environments to distribute effective teaching and learning resources via the Internet, to support extended online learning opportunities to school districts and students attending consortia schools, to expand access to rigorous, online Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning resources to high-needs students, and to implement college-readiness programs that support student success and increase high school graduation and college entrance rates. The i3 grant request (Validation Level $30 million), proposes to fund the California Open Campus Initiative, providing time and resources to support student success in STEM related courses, develop inquiry-based activities, and collate digital course materials to be distributed online. This work will produce high-quality content that teachers throughout the consortia will bring to their classrooms (both traditional and virtual) and share with peer teachers in an online community of practice. This reform-minded strategy, at the grassroots level, will support teachers in becoming agents of change within their schools, while providing them with access to a powerful online network through which to propagate best practices for STEM educators throughout the consortia. The Riverside Unified School District, the Riverside Virtual School program, and the partners identified within the i3 application are uniquely positioned to serve a wide-range of students across multiple school districts and represents a scalable model for replication throughout the State.

The research and evaluation components of the proposal is supported by the University of Southern California and will produce scientifically-based evidence relating to the impact of program components on multiple student achievement outcomes. It is a model that is built on a strong research base and could be replicated in other states. Due to the “high bar” evaluation demanded of validation level i3 grant application, the USC team has developed a comprehensive research design. In order to qualify as scientific research, the proposal will need to incorporate random assignment and use of control groups. While this will dramatically enhance the validity of findings, it will impact the implementation of curriculum programs in each district. For example, during the Algebra I focus, some Algebra I teachers/students will need to be exposed to one treatment (e.g., ALEKS Math, My Math Lab, I Can Learn, or UCCP content), while other groups are exposed to another intervention or no intervention. For comparison purposes, and to support generalizability, it will be important to have classrooms in each district using each intervention. Obviously this has implications for district programs; hence the potential for resistance. The California Open Campus Initiative represents an innovative effort to build collaboration between districts and expand access to college preparatory classes to home schooled students and students enrolled in under-performing public schools, including those located in rural areas of California.

District Partners.

• Alvord
• Chino Valley
• Conejo Valley
• Covina Valley
• Glendale
• Lake Elsinore
• Los Alamitos
• Mariposa
  
• Merced
• Palm Springs
• Palo Verde
• Pomona
• Riverside
• San Gabriel
• Walnut Valley
• Yucaipa Calimesa

Other Partners:

• University of Southern California
• University of California College Prep
• The College Board
• CK12 Foundation
• Blackboard
• Pearson

New Federal Study Shows Promise of Virtual Learning

A 2009 report released by the Department of Education in Washington DC shows that students clearly benefit from the learning opportunities provided through online learning. The meta-analysis of 1,000+ empirical studies on online learning found that students performed best in blended learning classes, which combine the best of online and face-to-face instruction within a virtual learning environment that both extends and enhances the instructional program of the school.

“This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems, which have proven cost effective in school districts and colleges nationwide,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Technology presents a huge opportunity that can be leveraged in rural communities and inner-city urban settings, particularly in subjects where there is a shortage of highly qualified teachers. At the same time, good teachers can utilize new technology to accelerate learning and provide extended learning opportunities for students.”

The report suggests that online learning is gaining momentum for good reason. The blended (hybrid) learning model, promoted by programs like the Riverside Virtual School, is found to have the highest effect; producing results greater than both traditional face-to-face instruction and 100% online classes.

When Challenges Provide Opportunities

Over the past several weeks, the Riverside Virtual School has been meeting with county schools officials regarding how online learning might provide enhanced opportunities for students in residential facilities. The more we talk, the more interesting the discussions become and the more powerful the potential outcomes. I am excited that disadvantaged students might benefit from the learning environment at RVS, but more so that the flexibility provided by the virtual learning environment will allow students to engage in learning opportunities currently and historically beyond their reach. This is a fine example of how collaboration between two discrete school systems, partnering with community-based organizations, can be leveraged to meet individual student learning needs. We truly do our best work when we work together as a community.

Broadband Technology Use in California

Californians and Information Technology and Just the Facts - California's Digital Divide are summary reports of our 2009 survey, the second of five surveys conducted annually to track the progress of broadband deployment and adoption throughout California. Californians have increased adoption and access:

• 62% subscribe to broadband (55% in 2008)
• 76% use the internet (70% in 2008)
• 75% own a computer (72% in 2008)
• 37% use social networking (26% in 2008)
• 51% access government services (43% in 2008)
• 63% access news (55% in 2008)
• 58% shop (52% in 2008)
• 55% access health information (50% in 2008)
• 53% access Community Information (47% in 2008)
• 44% access housing information (44% in 2008)

Californians and Information Technology CETF In collaboration and partnership with the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and ZeroDivide.

Will Federal Innovation Funds Lead to Smarter Schools?

There is an interesting article in Education Week today that poses an interesting question regarding the role that the current fiscal crisis might have in spurring innovation in the schools. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) targets $5 billion new and innovative practices in schools. But will school reformers seek new practices or simply resort to extending past practice in terms of pace or content. It reminds me of the old adage "If you don't like what you are getting, change what you are doing." Innovation infers a shift in action, driven by a change in thinking. Applying new $ to existing ideas seems to be off the mark. It will be interesting to watch how the funding rolls out into the field.

Online Courses Available

The Riverside Virtual School (RVS) offers opportunities for school districts to extend virtual learning opportunities to their students, without set-up or support of high-expense networking and course-management technologies. This innovative program allows small schools and rural school districts to extend course offerings in a way previously unavailable.

Welcome

I was meeting with fellow educators from Riverside County the other day and it became apparent that there was a need to bring together teachers and public school administrators for the purpose of advancing a collaborative conversation regarding how we can work together to solve the issues facing our schools and the students and parents we serve. This blog has been established to facilitate that conversation. Please join us. We value your ideas and the opportunity to work together.

David