iNACOL Webinar 5/17: How State Education Leaders Are Advancing Competency Education

Note this neo-liberal webinar later today…

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CompetencyWorks and iNACOL Webinar Explores How State Education Leaders Are Advancing Competency Education The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and CompetencyWorks will present a webinar on innovative state education leaders advancing competency education policy and practice on Friday, May 17, 2013 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET. Leading the discussion will be Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL; Jason Glass, Director of the Iowa Department of Education; and Don Siviski, Superintendent of Instruction for the Maine Department of Education. iNACOL President Susan Patrick said, “More and more states are advancing a transformed education system based not on time, but on mastery, to ensure students are prepared for today’s demands of high levels of knowledge, skills and competencies to be successful in a global society. Competency-based education ensures students will become proficient each step of the way along their educational journey. Iowa and Maine represent true leaders in this move toward competency-based education programs and are driving a profound change in the way we prepare our children for the goals of college, career and citizenship.” This webinar highlights findings from iNACOL’s new report through the CompetencyWorks initiative, Necessary for Success: A State Policymakers Guide to Competency Education,  and will allow participants to hear directly from two state education leaders about their experiences and insights in advancing competency education where students advance upon mastery. We’ll hear about the theory of action driving Maine and Iowa’s efforts, how state leaders are building shared vision and creating innovation space. This webinar is free, but please register at http://bit.ly/cworks051713 to receive confirmation details and login information. Speakers: Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL Jason Glass, Director of the Iowa Department of Education Don Siviski, Superintendent of Instruction for the Maine Department of Education You can find more information about this and other iNACOL webinars HERE. To ensure that you receive login instructions on the morning of the webinar, please add (info@inacol.org) to your safe sender list.   Sincerely,   Rob Darrow, Ed.D. Director of Member Services International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)

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Plugged In | 05.16.13 | (powered by iNACOL)

And a final word from the neo-liberals for today…

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PLUGGED IN  05.16.13 powered by iNACOL… Upcoming iNACOL webinars… > 05.16 Webinar: Implementing a RtI Program Using Blended Learning & Digital Tools > 05.17 Webinar: How State Educational Leaders are Advancing Competency Education > 05.21 Webinar: Research in Review - Examining K-12 Online Teachers Educational Practices News… Education department looking at shift to competency-based student evaluations Concord Monitor | Concord, NH The state Board of Education is moving toward competency-based education rather than credit-based, with the goal of more clearly defining what students must know to graduate. “It’s the right work,” said Concord Superintendent Chris Rath. “I think the clearer we can be with kids about what it is we want them to (read) A Guide for Teachers, Administrators on How to Use Data Digital Education A pair of national school organizations have released a guide meant to help teachers and adminstrators conquer an important yet often confusing task: how to make wise use of the reams of educational data flowing through the K-12 system. The American Association of School Administrators and the (read) In Maine, push for virtual schools fades Portland Press Herald | Portland, ME A group of digital-education experts is recommending that Maine create an online directory to help school districts and teachers find, choose and write reviews of digital learning resources. But the 17-member group’s report and “digital learning strategy” is most notable for what it doesn’t recommend: the (read) State panel won’t consolidate 18 virtual school appeals Daily Herald | Arlington Heights, IL Administrators, district attorneys, school board members, union representatives and community members packed the meeting Wednesday of the Illinois State Charter School Commission in Chicago to argue against the proposed appeal process for a virtual charter school – and won. Virtual Learning (read) Colorado board of education approves new graduation requirements Associated Press (CO) The state Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt a new set of graduation standards to be phased in over the next seven years. The new requirements are based on competency in four core subjects, not so-called “seat time” that awards credits to students who pass certain required classes (read) Why High Schools Should Treat Computer Programming Like Algebra The Atlantic The tech industry is officially out to remodel your kid’s classroom — and it feels like there’s a good chance that it’s going to succeed. After years of more or less resisting the pull of the web, both college and K-12 seem ripe to be remade for the digital age. There’s political buy-in. There’s investor buy-in. There’s (read) Google Play for Education Launching This Fall PC Magazine Google today unveiled Google Play for Education, which will allow teachers to discover apps designed specifically for K-12 students. Chris Yerga, an engineering director at Google, showed off the education-focused section of the app store at today’s Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco. The (read) Are language teachers leading the way with education technology? The Guardian As more and more schools invest in mobile technologies, such as iPads, a common question on language fora is “can anyone recommend a good list of apps for language learning?” My typical response is to suggest a range of generic apps for creating multimedia content (audio, video, animation, ebooks (read) Trying to ‘Reset’ California Online Fight Inside Higher Ed Seeking to “reset” a contentious debate about the role of technology in California public higher education, the authors of a new report argue that California policy makers need a statewide approach to end what they call years of isolated, segmented and ineffective online offerings. The report, by the education (read) E-Rate Needs Overhaul for Digital Era, Experts Argue Education Week As school districts strive to put more technology into schools to support 1-to-1 computing initiatives and prepare for the common-core online assessments, the federal E-rate program is in danger of becoming as outdated and insufficient as a sputtering dial-up connection in a Wi-Fi world. While the program can (read) With Tech Tools, How Should Teachers Tackle Multitasking In Class? Mind/Shift Important research compiled on the effects of students multitasking while learning shows that they are losing depth of learning, getting mentally fatigued, and are weakening their ability to transfer what they have learned to other subjects and situations. Educators as well as students have noticed how schoolwork (read) Something missing? Send news items and other information of interest to joglesby@inacol.org… Do you know someone who should be reading  Plugged In? Please share the following link and ask them to subscribe: http://www.inacol.org/news/plugged-in/ - Thank you! Find out more about iNACOL and our mission on: Stay connected:

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Plugged In | 05.15.13 | (powered by iNACOL)

And finishing the day with news from the neo-liberals…

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PLUGGED IN  05.15.13 powered by iNACOL… Upcoming iNACOL webinars… > 05.16 Webinar: Implementing a RtI Program Using Blended Learning & Digital Tools > 05.17 Webinar: How State Educational Leaders are Advancing Competency Education > 05.21 Webinar: Research in Review - Examining K-12 Online Teachers Educational Practices News… EdisonLearning, K12 Inc. Among National Companies Looking To Open New Online Charter Schools In Ohio StateImpact Ohio David Vasconez is running radio ads in Ohio for his company’s new online charter school. He’s working on a sponsorship deal with a minor league sports team. And there’s a grassroots student recruitment plan in the works. But Vasconez and his colleagues at EdisonLearning don’t actually know if the state will (read) Who cares if it’s disruptive? Clayton Christensen Institute Last week Innosight Institute became the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. The theory of disruptive innovation has served as the intellectual backbone for the Institute’s practice from the start, but the new name promotes disruption to its rightful place relative to its centrality in our work. Some may (read) Great Lakes Cyber Academy Approved for 2013-2014 School Year Press Release Unique to Great Lakes Cyber Academy are three flexible graduation pacing options offered throughout the full year (versus a traditional 10-month school calendar). Students can choose to learn in two or three sessions-fall, spring, and summer. They can also speed up or slow down their learning based on (read) Smart Cities: Viva Las Vegas Vander Ark on Innovation “Education is the bedrock on which a truly great city is built,” according to Tony Hsieh and his Downtown Project. The CEO of shopping giant Zappos is leading efforts to reimagine the old city center north of the Vegas Strip. It’s one of several promising efforts to reverse the economic freefall that started in 2008 (read) Virtual Education: Why it can work for you Greenfield Now | Waukesha, WI Every day, Wisconsin teachers strive to fulfill fundamental goals of education: to foster a love of learning and challenge students to try new things to reach their full potential. The goals of virtual education, and virtual school educators, are no different. Wisconsin Connections Academy (WCA) is an online public (read) Games Shine in Education Grants Competition GamePolitics The U.S. Department of Education announced the winners of this year’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract awards. The SBIR funds are earmarked for small businesses using “cutting-edge R&D” to develop technologies to solve tough problems. Half of those contracts are game-related in (read) The Personal Learning Wedge: The Edge is Sharp, the Back is Thick EdTech Researcher Last week, I gave a lecture at the Berkman Center with the intentionally provocation title: Personalized Learning, Backpacks Full of Cash, Rockstar Teachers, and MOOC Madness: The Intersection of Technology, Free-Market Ideology, and Media Hype in U.S. Education Reform. Both of the regular (read) Massive (But Not Open) Master’s Inside Higher Ed The Georgia Institute of Technology plans to offer a $7,000 online master’s degree to 10,000 new students over the next three years without hiring much more than a handful of new instructors. Georgia Tech will work with AT&T and Udacity, the 15-month-old Silicon Valley-based company, to offer a new online (read) Coursera Makes Case for MOOCs Wall Street Journal Online education provider Coursera is just over a year old and hasn’t yet turned a profit. But it does have centuries-old colleges nervous. Daphne Koller, co-founder and co-chief executive of the Mountain View, Calif., company, insists Coursera isn’t looking to supplant traditional colleges. Instead, she wants the (read) Harvard-for-Free Meets Resistance as U.S. Professors See Threat Bloomberg Businessweek Professors across the U.S. are criticizing a rush to offer free online college courses, challenging a movement designed to spread knowledge and reduce higher-education costs. Amherst College faculty voted last month against joining an initiative led by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of (read) Something missing? Send news items and other information of interest to joglesby@inacol.org… Do you know someone who should be reading Plugged In?  Please share the following link and ask them to subscribe: http://www.inacol.org/news/plugged-in/ - Thank you! Find out more about iNACOL and our mission on: Stay connected:

This email was sent to: mkbarbour@gmail.com This email was sent by: North American Council for Online Learning dba International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) 1934 Old Gallows Road, Suite 350, Vienna, VA, 22182-4040, United States We respect your right to privacy – view our policy

iNACOL Webinar 5/16: Response to Intervention Using Blended Learning and Digital Tools

More from the neo-liberals from Tuesday’s inbox…

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iNACOL Webinar: School District Highlights Response to Intervention Program Using Blended Learning and Digital Tools The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) will provide a leadership webinar on how schools can help struggling students close the achievement gap using blended learning titled “Implementing a Response to Intervention Program Using Blended Learning and Digital Tools” by the Spring Independent School District in Houston, TX on Thursday, May 16, 2013 from 6:00p to 7:00p ET. “The ability for teachers to personalize instruction with online tools and focus on creating immediate interventions for students is enhanced by blended learning in schools. Response to Intervention (RtI) is critical to support students at the moment they need help and engage them in navigating toward success,” said iNACOL president Susan Patrick . “This webinar will highlight the work of Spring ISD’s teachers, and showcase how they use new digital tools combined with proven instructional methods to identify students’ specific needs, give them the help they need to close gaps, and find success along a personalized learning pathway to prepare them for college and career-readiness.” The Spring ISD Virtual School in Houston, TX developed a comprehensive RtI program – five years in the making – blending the best of face-to-face learning with online tools and resources. The program supports students across vast range of backgrounds, learning skills and abilities to identify instructional needs through the RtI model and address their gaps, especially at the high-school level, to develop and accelerate learning to get back on track for graduation. This webinar will provide solutions for supporting at-risk students, information about the blended learning RtI framework developed by Spring ISD, and, specifically, how to target students’ needs and strengths so they can proceed on a personalized, competency-based pathway. Speakers: Rebecca Long , Program Coordinator, Spring ISD Virtual School Kristina Spencer , Lead Counselor, Spring ISD Virtual School Vicki Perritt , Learning Specialist, Spring ISD Virtual School This webinar presentation is free to attend, but please register to receive final details and login confirmation. You can find more information about this and other iNACOL webinars HERE. To ensure that you receive login instructions on the morning of the webinar, please add (info@inacol.org) to your safe sender list. Sincerely, Rob Darrow, Ed.D. Director of Member Services International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)

This email was sent to: mkbarbour@gmail.com This email was sent by: North American Council for Online Learning dba International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) 1934 Old Gallows Road, Suite 350, Vienna, VA, 22182-4040, United States We respect your right to privacy – view our policy

iNACOL Symposium: Registration Now Open

Also from Tuesday’s inbox…

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Dear Michael, Early bird discounted registration is now open for the iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium, formerly the Virtual School Symposium (VSS) , to be held October 27-30, 2013 in Orlando, FL. The iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium is the premier education conference for leaders shaping the future of K-12 online and blended learning, and includes a new, specialized focus on competency-based learning programs. The theme of this year’s iNACOL symposium will be Transforming Education to Student-Centered Learning.   More than 2,000 participants – educators, school/district/state education leaders, policymakers, researchers, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs – will convene to attend more than 200 sessions highlighting the cutting-edge work in K-12 blended and online education across the country and globe. This gathering of education leaders provides unparalleled opportunities for professional development, think-tank sessions, discussion groups and networking.   Take advantage of “early bird” registration discounts for the Symposium. You may also register for in-depth full-day and half-day pre-conference workshop offerings. Registration is now open with early registration discounts offered through August 26, 2013. Please register online at http://www.inacol.org/events/symposium/registration/. The iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium will be held at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL (Orlando). To learn more about the hotel and to guarantee your room reservations please visit the Travel and Hotel section of the Symposium website. For more information about the iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium, please visit http://www.inacol.org/events/symposium/.   For questions, please contact Tracy Breithaupt, iNACOL Events Manager, at tbreithaupt@inacol.org.

This email was sent to: mkbarbour@gmail.com

This email was sent by: North American Council for Online Learning dba International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) 1934 Old Gallows Road, Suite 350, Vienna, VA, 22182-4040, United States

 

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