Virtual Learning

Virtual and blended learning, 24/7 access to educational resources, “flipped classroom” approaches that change how classroom time is used, new roles and collaborative models for teachers, and other technology-enabled changes allow time to be used more effectively for teaching and learning.  This can occur both within and outside the traditional school day.  The resources for this element provide background information and examples about innovative approaches that use students and teachers time differently.

Use of Time Resources and Research

• Project 24 Webinar: Planning for Progress in Digital Learning: Introduction to the Use of Time 
• Alliance for Excellent Education Webinar: The Three T's: Using Technology to Change the Use of Time in Teaching
• Why I Flipped My Classroom by Katie Gimbar.  A middle school mathematics teacher in Raleigh NC, who works with the Friday Institute, describes how flipping the classroom enabled her to have time to differentiate instruction for her students.  Ms. Gimbar has also recorded a series of answers to frequently asked questions about flipping the classroom.
• Taking a Risk on At-Risk Kids.  Flipping the classroom in Clintondale High School, Michigan, leading to increase student achievement and decreased student disciplinary issues.
• The “Flipped Classroom” in Prince George’s County, MD (4:37).  Describes the elements of changing the use of classroom time by flipping what is done in and out of class.
• Anytime, Anywhere Learning, Tom Murray, Quakertown Community School District, PA (1:03).  Describes the virtual learning opportunities provided to students in the district.
• Cyber Orientation Course for Students, Todd Silvius from Quakertown Community School District, PA describes how they prepare students to be successful learners in online courses.
• Redesigning Schools: Models to Reach Every Student with Excellent Teachers. Public Impact OpportunityCulture.org, 2012.  Provides brief descriptions of 20 school models that extend the reach of excellent teachers by using job redesign, technology, or both.
• If Students Designed Their Own Schools.  A provocative video about students’ perspectives on how to make education engaging and valuable to them.  The video shows an alternative high school program in which students design and implement their own program in which they support each others’ learning.

A robust, reliable technology infrastructure and readily available connected devices and tools are essential for any digital learning transition, and can be challenging to create and maintain in K-12 schools.  Emerging approaches, such as cloud computing, mobile devices, and bring your own device programs are providing new options that are, in many situations, more cost effective.  The resources in this section provide background information and examples of these approaches, along with recommendations for addressing Internet safety and appropriate or responsible use issues.

Technology and Infrastructure Resources and Research

• Access to Technology:  A Three Legged Stool.  RI supports bandwidth, infrastructure and device needs at the state level.
• PARCC Assessment: Technology Resources
• The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs. State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA), 2012.  Provides an overview of the state of broadband in schools, homes and communities; trends driving the need for more bandwidth in education, and a framework for assessing school bandwidth requirements.
• Project 24 Webinar: Planning for Progress in Digital Learning: Introduction to Technology & Infrastructure 
• The Education Super Highway’s mission is to ensure that every K-12 public school in America has the 100 Mbps of Internet infrastructure that students and teachers need for digital learning and teaching. This website provides lots of information about why K-12 networks fail and a speed test to assess your schools K-12 internet readiness.
• Forsyth County Schools, Georgia, BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) Resources.  Provides example policies, recommendations, videos from schools, and links to articles about how to successfully implement a BYOT initiative.  One starting point is a guest blog by Tim Clark, the district CTLO, on The Contraband of Some Schools is the Disruptive Innovation of Others with BYOT.
• Rethinking Acceptable Use Policies to Enable Digital Learning: A Guide for School Districts. Consortium on School Networking (CoSN), March 2013.   An up-to-date guide to internal safety and acceptable use laws and policies—now called responsible use policies--with example policies.  
• GenYes: Student Powered Technology Integration.  Provides and overview and detailed guidelines and resources about a research-based program that involves students in providing school-based technical support and working with teachers to design technology-infused lessons.  Provides an example of changing roles for students.

Schools have entered the world of “big data, fast data,” with far more information available to inform instruction and management than ever before.  Educators are just beginning to learn to make effective use of the abundant data that is now or will soon be available to them.  The movement to online assessments, including adaptive assessments that provide more detailed information for each student, furthers this trend and will provide new opportunities for data-informed teaching and learning.  The resources for this element provide background about the new assessments and data system, along with examples of how some schools are putting them to good use.

Data and Assessment Resources and Research

• RI Data Use Professional Development
• Project 24 Webinar: Using Data and Assessment to Speed the Transition to Digital Learning: Lessons from the Field
• Data: The Missing Piece to Student Achievement by the Data Quality Campaign provides good visual descriptions about the transition from old, cumbersome, compliance-based data systems to modern actionable, contextual, longitudinal, interoperable data systems that can provide real-time information that will inform students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers about student achievement and how it can be improved.
• Data-Driven Districts: Building the Culture and Capacity to Improve Student Achievement is a Data Quality Campaign brief that highlights major issues that districts must address in supporting a system that uses data to personalize students experiences. The brief also provides examples and best practices in districts using data to support student college and career readiness.
• Closing the Gap: Turning Data in Action Reports, Case Studies and Videos.  Just released (April 19, 2013) by the Consortium on School Networking (CoSN), Gartner, Inc., and the School Superintendents Association (AASA), and funded by the Gates Foundation, this resource provides videos and written case studies from eight school districts about the use of data to improve instructional practices and students learning, along with information about the Student Information Systems (SIS) and Learning Management Systems (LMS) employed.  Thanks to CoSN for making this and other valuable resources available for use in this MOOC-Ed.
• Getting Ready for Online Assessments.  Digital Learning Now Smart Series, December 2012.  This report provides an overview of the Smarter Balanced, PARCC and other consortia that are developing online assessments for the Common Core State Standards.  It also describes readiness factors and technology guidelines to prepare for online assessments.
• Education as a Data-Driven Enterprise: A Primer for Leaders in Business, Philanthropy, and Education—a report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises, and the Data Quality Campaign—provides important considerations and benefits of making better use of data to inform practice at the state, district, and school levels.
• What School Boards Need to Know: Data Conversations—a report by the National School Boards Association—provides school boards with a guide on actions to take to help support a culture that utilizes data to create more student-centered learning environments.
• Technology Readiness for College and Career Ready Teaching, Learning and Assessment.  State Educator Technology Directors Association (SETDA), December 2012.  Provides an overview of technology considerations for the new online assessments.
• Denver Public Schools: The Impact of School-Based Performance Management on Student Achievement is a case study that discusses in detail the approach taken by the Denver Public Schools to use data to implement a performance-based management system and the impact of the approach in the district.

Informal education, community-based education, after-school programs, internships in local businesses and other approaches are being employed in many schools to provide further support to students’ learning and engage students in connecting their in-school experiences with careers, communities and citizenship.  The resources for this element provide information about a wide range of approaches and organizations. 

Academic Supports Resources

• Project 24 Webinar: Reaching the Whole Child and the Whole Community to Support Digital Learning: Strategies for Success
• Alliance for Excellent Education Webinar: Digital Strategies for Increasing Access and Opportunity in Rural Schools
• Toolkit for Expanding Learning from the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) provides an online guide and resources for building strong after-school systems, engaging today’s students, and expanding learning models.
• ExpandEDSchools.org web site from The After-School Corporation (TASC), a non-profit organization that provides research-based resources that help schools partner with youth-serving community organizations to maximize resources to support student learning.
• The National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks is focused on the core components of afterschool and expanded learning opportunities—engaged learning, school-community partnerships and family involvement. The website provides information about how the national network accomplishes this important work, access to resources on afterschool and expanded learning and connections to your statewide afterschool network.
• Blended Learning Partnerships for Community-based Organizations, a paper produced by the U.S. Department of Education after convening a group of stakeholders with The After-School Corporation (TASC), describes seven areas in which blended learning can help community-based organizations strengthen education partnerships and improve learning opportunities for students: (1) curriculum design and lesson planning; (2) alignment across nodes; (3) quality and rigor; (4) assessment; (5) student engagement; (6) human capital; and (7) community engagement.
• Ten Ways to Build School-Community Partnerships. (Video 5:39). Partners of the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) describe ten innovative and effective ways for schools and community organizations to build strong partnerships that support high-quality expanded learning.
• Raising Modern Learners.  Website for parents on guiding children into their fast-changing futures.

Digital Learning requires shifts in how schools and districts budget their funding and allocate resources.  It also requires careful long-term planning to consider the total cost of technology, considering technical support, annual licenses, and replacement of out-of-date equipment.  The resources for this element provide information about addressing these complex issues.

Resources

• 2014 Letter of from Richard Culatta, USDOE, to help State, district, and eligible partnership grantees better understand how they may be able to use their federal grant funds to support innovative technology-based strategies to personalize learning.
• Education Resource Strategies’s (ERS’s) ResourceCheck® tool helps district and schools look at how they use resources by asking a series of questions, and then analyzes the responses. It provides data on areas in which districts need improvement, how close districts are to best practices, and links to resources to take action.
• CoSN K-12 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Leadership Initiative provides information about TCO, a TCO assessment tool (requires requesting a free password for a school), and case studies of school districts that have used TCO analyses.
• CoSN K-12 Value of Investment (VOI) Leadership Initiative provides a methodology and tools that enable K-12 school leaders to better measures and articulate the costs and benefits of proposed technology projects.  The website also contains case studies to show how the VOI concept can be applied.
• CoSN Green Computing for K-12 Schools Leadership Initiative provides tools, tips, and resources for school technology leaders to help reduce their school district carbon footprint.
• Spending Money on Children: How to Finance Your Digital Conversion, blog by Scott Smith, Mooresville Graded School District, NC
• Additional Budget Resources