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Google Teaches about Google
Republican Governors Push For Education Overhaul
Bill Would Overhaul NCLB
The Rise of Online Education
Google Visits Maine Educators
Former Governor Angus King says it’s time for a change in education. King says that K-12 education has to catch up with the 21st century. His foundation, The Maine International Center for Digital Learning, hosted a function at Lewiston, Maine for middle and high school teachers and administrators.
At the conference, educators were introduced to two education tools from Google, SketchUp and Google Earth. The basic edition of these two digital tools are free to anyone, while the professional editions are free only to educators. Both tools encourage students to utilize technology to explore geography.
King observed that in order for students to understand and get engaged with current material they need to have the right technology to use.
Source: Google Visits Maine to Teach Educators
More Republican Governors Push for Education Overhaul
Republican governors are seeking change in K12 education. Recently Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania announced his proposed changes to education policy. He is asking for changes such as school choice, linking student performance to teacher evaluation, more charter schools, and making it easier for private business to fund scholarships. There is bi-partisan opposition to the plans. Some feel that it would cost too much money and the teachers’ unions want to replace the salary money that was lost last year before more changes are brought about.
In Iowa, Governor Branstad has announced a plan to overhaul education. His proposal includes a four-tiered teacher payment and a promotion plan that ties student progress to teacher evaluation. He is also asking for more tests in elementary and high school before they advance to higher grades.
Iowa and Pennsylvania join Florida, Nevada, and Maine, and other states that are working hard to bring change to their schools.
Source: Stateline More Republican Governors Push for Education Overhaul
Bill Would Overhaul No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law in 2002 and was suppose to be reauthorized five years later. So now 10 years later, a 865-page bill was filed by Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa who also heads the education committee.
Harkin’s bill would return some of the powers to the states. The President had hoped that some of the flaws of the bill would have been fixed through the reauthorization but that has not happened. At this point, by 2014, some 80% of the nation’s schools would qualify as failing schools with NCLB as it currently sits.
The 5% of the worst performing schools would still have federal oversight. Various groups focused on improving the schools of the lowest performing schools are concerned that Harkin’s Bill would take away the pressure of bringing about real change to these schools.
Source: NYTimes Bill Would Overhaul No Child Left Behind
The Rise of Online Education
Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn, the authors of Disrupting Class and the co-founders of the Innosight Institute, a nonprofit think tank that concentrates on innovation in education, have considered the current state of online education. They begin with the Khan Academy which is a non-profit organization which produces online resources in mathematics. The Khan Academy works well with blended learning where students spend part of their day in structured classes at school and the other part taking online courses while still at their school.
Blended learning is also happening in Washington D.C. with Rocketship Education and in Florida where ninth graders have to take at least one online course in order to graduate from high school. The authors feel that these changes represent the first signs of dramatic change in the way that schools operate. From the year 2000 when approximately 45,000 K12 students took an online class to 2010 when almost 4,000,000 students are enrolled in some form of online; online learning is growing.
Online learning can be the most disruptive innovation in a century. There are still roadblocks such as regulations about seat time, i.e., where students can learn. Many states have policies that insist that students can only learn when they are in their desk at school.
Source: The Rise of Online Education
