March+14,+2012

=Worthy of Note: March 14, 2012=



In this Worthy of Note ...
2012 SREB/iNACOL National Online Teacher of the Year Symposium of Virtual Teaching and Learning Social Media Funding Public Education Google Changes That Affect You Literacy in Public Schools Charter Schools Digital Tools/Literacy About College Today Digital/Online/Blended Learning Information Literacy - Curriculum U.S. DOE: Recent Initiatives and Resources Classrooms: 21st Century Flipped or Inverted Classroom Copyright and Creative Commons Resources Other Interesting Things For Fun

2012 SREB/iNACOL National Online Teacher of the Year
**Announcing the 2012 SREB/iNACOL National Online Teacher of the Year was the really exciting event at the //ETC Symposium on Virtual Teaching and Learning// in Atlanta on February 29-March 2. **

North Carolina Resident Named National Online Teacher of the Year **(Leslie Fetzer)** //SREB, March 2, 2012 //
 * Leslie Fetzer ** of Holly Springs, North Carolina, an online biology teacher at North Carolina Virtual Public School, was named America’s 2012 **National Online Teacher of the Year (NOTY)** for K-12 education last night. The honor is awarded by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).

And here is an interview with Leslie: Holly Springs online instructor honored for personal touch //C. Ryan Barber, The Cary News, March 10, 2012 // All their lives, they were told they couldn’t do it – couldn’t make the track team, couldn’t be the smart one raising his hand in class. Couldn’t be like all the other kids.

That is, until Leslie Fetzer came along.

In classrooms across the state, Fetzer, a biology teacher with the N.C. Virtual Public School, has appeared via live stream or in pre-recorded lectures from her home in Holly Springs, walking disabled students through complex biology lessons on the steps of mitosis and the distinctions between plant and animal cells. Read more….

**On Friday morning there was a conversation with the 2012 NOTY and the Finalists: **

An online instructor since 1998, **Tracey Seiler** of Columbia teaches Latin 1 to grades seven through 12, as well as high school honors Latin, AP Vergil and related courses in the South Carolina Virtual School Program, which reaches about 5,200 students. As a Latin course developer and teacher, Seiler has helped realize the potential of online teaching for serving students in schools that cannot afford a Latin program." Noted by her instructional program manager as both "an online learning leader and advocate," Seiler is helping the University of South Carolina design the online summer 2012 AP Latin endorsement course and serves as her team’s leader at SCVSP.
 * Tracy Seiler, South Carolina Virtual School **

An online high school science teacher, **Asherrie Yisrael** has taught Advanced Placement (AP) and regular physics, forensic science and physical science to grades nine through 12 at Georgia Virtual School since 2008. Based in Atlanta, Georgia Virtual School serves more than 10,000 students across the state. Cited by her supervisor of instruction as "a magnificent instructor who always goes the extra mile," the Covington, Georgia, resident was 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year at Georgia Virtual School and recently became the Science Department Chair, where she will supervise and provide feedback to teachers as well as teach students.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Asherrie Yisrael, Georiga Virtual School **

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Myk made some early-on remarks on Wednesday about several items: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Check this out; Myk is working on this project with Cyndi Rowland, with WebAIM, whom many of you know.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">National Center on Disability and Access to Education **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (NCDAE-GOALS)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Myk referenced Speak Up data around how kids use mobile technologies more prevalently (especially low-income kids with smartphones) than traditional means of accessing Internet-based resources…meaning we need to think about models and tools that are mobile oriented to engage kids. Access the Speak Up/Blackboard report, Connecting in the 21st Century and an archived Webinar that was posted on February 15, 2012.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ETC and Julie Evans, **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Speak Up

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB Go Alliance is an interstate cooperative that works to increase college access, awareness, and attendance through the use of applied social marketing techniques. Presented by SREB’s Go //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Alliance //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> and several contributing states, the Toolkit includes best practices, tips and strategies, plus case studies of College Application Week programs in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB //GoAlliance// **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Roxanne Humbert from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission is the representative from the Cooperative.

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Lumina Foundation = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Envisioning the Next Generation of Student Supports <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Grantee: Southern Regional Education Board (Georgia)– $200,000 for recommendations to states for quick to market mobile apps on college access.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Please note that SREB State Virtual School Leaders has been expanded to include district leaders. It is now SREB Virtual School Leaders.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB Virtual School Leaders **

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Let’s begin this Worthy of Note with some random topic highlights from our //SREB Educational Technology Cooperative Symposium// presenters last week. Many of the links in this WON were mentioned in their presentations. **

Symposium of Virtual Teaching and Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tuning USA <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michelle Kalina, Vice President, Tuning U. S. A. and Adina Chapman O’Hara, Project Coordinator <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tuning is a faculty-driven process that identifies what a student should know and be able to do in a chosen discipline when a degree has been earned - an associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s. The process is designed to make higher education outcomes more transparent to all stakeholders, including students, employers, and parents, and to ensure the quality of degrees across institutions. Tuning has been utilized to help students understand expectations and to facilitate transfer and articulation among institutions. In the United States, the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) is facilitating implementation of the Tuning process. Tuning has been funded by Lumina Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. There are three pilot states: Indiana (Lumina located there.), Minnesota, and Utah. Texas and Kentucky have recently been added.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tuning 5 steps:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Define discipline’ competency areas and learning outcomes
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Map career pathways
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Consult stakeholders and engage students
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Hone the competency areas and learning outcomes
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Draft program-specific degree specifications

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Key Premises: Curricula should not be standardized; faculty shall control the discipline and academic autonomy and flexibility are essential. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Goals: Increase the %age of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials from 39% to 60% by years 2025. Read more on the [|website.]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Mary Larson, SREB, Associate Director, Student Access Program and Services and Electronic Campus <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Mary presented up-to-date information on State Authorization of Online Learning. She invites your questions and comments at mary.larson@sreb.org

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Richard Culatta, Deputy Director OET, U. S. Department of Education <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Richard Culatta, a leader in the field of educational innovation, was a compelling presenter at our meeting. He has worked in K-12, higher education, corporate, and government training environments. His current focus as Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the US Department of Education is on using data and learning analytics to create customized learning experiences for all students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">He focused on the topic: //Transitioning from a Print to Digital Learning// //Ecosystem//, and his presentation (via password) is available to our CoopReps. How online learning can be used to increase equity is a primary target of the Office of Technology.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A very important note from Richard: Don’t replicate courses for online; design for online. //

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michael Horn, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Innosight Institute <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michael primarily talked about the innovation in the private sector of K-12. He focused on the six models of blended learning as first defined by Innosight Institute. He noted that a lot is going on in private sector and that districts have no idea of what is out there.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Disrupting Education **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A lively debate on this topic ensued among Burck Smith, CEO of StraigtherLine, Gisele Huff, Executive Director of Jaquelin Hume Foundation, and Belle Wheelan, President, Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Views on New Learning Models **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michael Horn <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, Innosight Institute, and Myk Garn, SREB. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Another lively debate about the pros and cons of virtual learning. It was fun! <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Refereed by Jeff Gagne, Director, Education Policies, SREB
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Debating Virtual Learning **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Diette Courrégé <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Post and Courier, //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> Charleston, SC and contributor to //Education Week.// See the references below about her description of literacy in the South Carolina Low County. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Marc Parry <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, Staff Reporter, Technology, //The Chronicle of Higher Education// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">FYI, Marc has an article, <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Debating the 'Flipped Classroom' at Stanford <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">(See Webinars on “Flipped Classroom” below.)
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How Reporters Report on Education **

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Now, on to regular topics for WON… **

Social Media
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Teachers embrace social media in class //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY, March 5, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">As social media become nearly inescapable on college campuses, a pair of recently published studies supports what many professors already have concluded: Students using Facebook or text messaging during a lecture tend to do worse when quizzed later.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">But wait: Faculty who build Twitter into classwork may be helping students learn better, a 2010 study suggests. And a survey of nearly 2,000 faculties last spring by education publisher **Pearson** found that many consider YouTube a "very valuable" classroom aid.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Download the Pearson Study: Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today's Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media for Work and for Play

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">On Twitter, to follow or not to follow //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Nicholas Provenzano, Edutopia, March 8, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">High-school English teacher Nicholas Provenzano in this blog post shares his guidelines for allowing students to follow him on Twitter. For example, Provenzano has an account dedicated solely to communicating with students, sets and communicates standards for students about following them on the site and limits the use of direct messaging with students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Twitter experience; Twitter in the classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">YouTube, March 12, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dr. Rankin, professor of History at UT Dallas, wanted to know how to reach more students and involve more people in class discussions both in and out of the classroom. She had heard of Twitter... She collaborated with a graduate student, Kim Smith, from the Emerging Media and Communications (EMAC) and reached out to EMAC faculty for advice.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">New Computers Respond to Students' Emotions, Boredom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Science Daily, March. 2, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Emotion-sensing computer software that models and responds to students' cognitive and emotional states -- including frustration and boredom -- has been developed by University of Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Psychology Sidney D'Mello, Art Graesser from the University of Memphis and a colleague from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">"AutoTutor" and "Affective AutoTutor" -- The new technology, which matches the interaction of human tutors, not only offers tremendous learning possibilities for students, but also redefines human-computer interaction.

Funding Public Education
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Millionaires Tax of 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is new way to fund public education in California. The Millionaires Tax of 2012 is a ballot initiative proposal for the November 2012 election that asks the richest Californians to pay their fair share to help fund public education and vital public services. If interested, read more in Wikipedia.

Google Changes That Affect You
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Five ways Google's unified privacy policy affects you //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sharon Vaknin, CNET, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">March 1, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Google implemented a new privacy policy on March 1. Here's the "So what?" and what the search giant's changes mean for you.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Google Says New Privacy Policy Has Little Impact on Education Partners //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Nick DeSantis, Wired Campus, Chronicle of Higher Ed, March 1, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Google’s new consumer privacy policy, introduced today, shares user data across the company’s stable of Web services in an effort to deliver better search results and advertisements. Though privacy advocates have criticized the revised document, which makes it easier for Google to bring together data on individual users, the company said its academic partners had little reason to be concerned.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Literacy in Public Schools… **

 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">in South Carolina (Diette Courrége) **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">(Diette Courrégé was a presenter at the symposium) // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Post and Courier's Diette Courrege wins national award for literacy series //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Staff report, Post and Courier, Charleston, SC, May 3, 2010 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Post and Courier //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> education writer Diette Courrégé has won the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, one of journalism’s highest honors, for her series “Failing our Students” about illiterate students in Lowcountry public schools.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Here is the complete “Failing our Students” series by Diette Courrégé.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Links to recent //Education Week// articles by Diette Courrégé are here. There are many article here — all since January 2012.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Rural Education blog <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Follow Diette Courrégé in her Rural Education blog.

Charter Schools
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Report: Charter Schools Have Lasting Impact in Rural America //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">B. A. Birch, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, February 29, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A new report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools indicates that charters have positive and lasting impacts in rural districts.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has released its latest Issue Brief – Beyond City Limits: Expanding Public Charter Schools in Rural America on February 27, 2012 – in an attempt to highlight the studied benefits of charter schools in rural districts.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The brief looks to various challenges faced in rural public education and analyzes the key hurdles that must be overcome in order to launch a successful public charter school in a small community.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Charter school backers find little support for proposals (Florida) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Kathleen McGrory, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau, March 12, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The charter school lobby came to Tallahassee with an ambitious agenda: Win a share of school districts' construction dollars. Create a separate high school sports association. Empower parents to demand charter-school conversions. But they fell short on almost all counts.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said there is growing awareness that charter schools, on average, perform no better or no worse than traditional public schools.

Digital Tools/Literacy
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">12 Tech Innovators who are Transforming Campuses //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Technology, The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 26, 2012 // <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">You may have heard the word "disruption" lately. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">College leaders are trying new approaches to teaching and research with digital tools, and some of those approaches could be transformative. Here are profiles of a dozen of those leaders, highlighting their ideas and the issues at stake. In making our selections, we considered nominations from readers. See which other innovators they suggested.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Connect2Compete <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Connect2Compete is a nonprofit organization created to increase broadband adoption and digital literacy training in disadvantaged communities throughout the United States. Check out the broadband, PC and digital literacy offerings.

About College Today
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">College Completion, Chronicle of Higher Education <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This new website at //The Chronicle of Higher Education//, College Completion is a microsite produced by The Chronicle of Higher Education<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its goal is to share data on completion rates in American higher education in a visually stimulating way.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This Web site examines data and trends at 3,800 degree-granting institutions in the United States (excluding territories) that reported a first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduate cohort, had a total of at least 100 students at the undergraduate level in 2010, and awarded undergraduate degrees between 2008 and 2010.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">“The statistics on the site for individual colleges confirm what many of us already knew: The way the federal government measures college completion is deeply flawed. It doesn't count part-time students. It doesn't count transfers. By one estimate, the rate ignores up to 50 percent of all enrolled students.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Is College Worth It? <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">College Presidents, Public Assess Value, Quality and Mission of Higher Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pew Research Center Publications, May 15, 2011 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Executive Summary <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This report is based on findings from a pair of Pew Research Center surveys conducted spring 2011. One is a telephone survey taken among a nationally representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older. The other is an online survey, done in association with The Chronicle of Higher Education, among the presidents of 1,055 two-year and four-year private, public and for-profit colleges and universities. There is a summary here of key findings from the full report:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Complete College America <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Established in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit with a single mission: to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. In just ten years, more than **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">60% ** of all new jobs will require a college education. Will your state be ready? Good family incomes and the health of state economies depend on more of our young people succeeding in college. See where your state stands currently.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">UPDATED: H.R. 2117, the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Education and the Workforce Committee, Washington, D. C., February 23, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Over the last decade, college costs have skyrocketed. Last year, tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased 8.3 percent, even as inflation only rose by approximately three percent. The average four-year public college student now graduates with roughly $22,000 in debt. Read what the Republican House of Representatives recommends to deal with this problem.

Digital/Online/Blended Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Single-District Virtual Ed. Seen Growing Fastest //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Katie Ash, Education Week, March 12, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Single-district online learning programs were the fastest-growing sector of virtual learning in the United States in 2011. Whether it is to provide more options for students, keep more students from seeking virtual learning options outside the school district, or simply to move toward 21st-century teaching and learning, many districts are launching and sustaining their own virtual learning programs. The shift will mean means districts will have to take a hard look at how they evaluate virtual education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Learning Registry <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Learning Registry is a new approach to **capturing, sharing, and analyzing learning resource data** to broaden the usefulness of digital content to benefit educators and learners.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Not a website or repository… not a search engine… and not a replacement for the excellent sources of online learning content that already exist...the Learning Registry is an **open source technical system** designed to facilitate the exchange of data behind the scenes, and an **open community of resource creators, publishers, curators, and consumers** who are collaborating to broadly share resources, as well as information about how those resources are used by educators in diverse learning environments across the Web.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Connected Educators <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Connected Educators is the online home of the Connected Online Communities of Practice (COCP) project. In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations and educators, COCP is increasing the quality, accessibility, and connectedness of existing and emerging online communities of practice. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations, the Connected Online Communities of Practice project is increasing the quality, accessibility, and connectedness of existing and emerging online communities of practice through four types of activities: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">What the project learns from all of these activities will be reflected in a **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">report ** on online communities of practice in education. A draft version of the report, //Connect and Inspire//, is now available, and a revised version will be published in October 2012.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Launching and leading **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">new online communities of practice ** that address pressing needs in education and help us learn more about how such communities work best
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Conducting **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">design experiments ** within “testbeds,” online communities of practice run by collaborating organizations in which project staff will develop, facilitate, and evaluate selected content and activities that help address pressing questions
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Undertaking**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> case studies ** of both interesting communities of practice and of individual educational professionals’ use of online communities and other forms of social media to connect
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Developing ideas about new designs and **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">infrastructure ** that could better support educators in making productive connections

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">College Compact of Online and Blended Learning Administrators (CCOBLA) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Barry Dahl, Founder <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Per Barry: “The //College Compact of Online and Blended Learning Administrators// is designed to provide valuable resources to the men and women serving in administrative capacities in two-year colleges."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The emphasis on two-year colleges is not to dissuade others from joining in the conversation. It might be more accurate to say that it is for **administrators at “low-cost, open-access” institutions**, which would still include those from colleges that have expanded their missions from associate degree-granting to include baccalaureate degrees, and the like. There is also no intention to exclude potential members from the institutions that work in partnership with two-year schools.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Myk Garn: “Barry has been part of our Cooperative meetings a couple of times – and I find following his work and thinking (when I can keep up) to be very rewarding).”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">There is no cost, no membership fee, no dues associated with CCOBLA

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Is blended homeschooling the way forward? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Tim Brady, Innosight, February 16, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Internet has opened up a world of information for teachers. Access to almost unlimited content has made teachers’ jobs easier and holds the potential for them to become better teachers. The effect on the K-12 system has been profound; but the effect on homeschooling is game changing. It has put homeschooling on equal footing with the K-12 system in terms of access to content. Read the current opinion of this writer. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Innosight Institute blogs <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Check out the education blogs on Innosight.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How Much Can Technology Help Us Teach and Learn? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Education 2.0 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Bill Gates, The Gates Notes, March 8, 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">There are four key trends in online learning. The first is creating more engaging and interactive ways of learning than the traditional textbook. Another is using the Internet to post and find great teacher lectures and effective course materials. The use of social networks is also a growing influence, with the potential to increase collaboration among and between teachers and students and extend class discussions beyond the classroom. We’re also seeing new kinds of personalizing learning—using gameplay and other tools –that give students and teachers important real-time feedback.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">But finding the right resources and figuring out how to use them is more difficult today than it should be. Read more….

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Research Efforts and the California eLearning Census //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Keeping Pace, February 24, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">As an increasing proportion of online and blended learning activity moves to the district level, we and other researchers are challenged by the fact that little data exists about district-level online and blended learning programs. In other categories of programs, data are generally more available because either 1) the schools are public schools that report data to the state (e.g., full-time online charter schools; or 2) the number of programs is limited so we are able to track many of them down and contact them directly (e.g., state virtual schools and large consortium programs).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The recent NCES report helped alleviate this data shortfall, but more work is needed in order to have a better sense for what is happening within districts in most states. Within this context, we are pleased to see the effort of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) in surveying schools across California. CLRN launched the California eLearning Census March 1st to measure online learning’s growth and impact, including contacting all county offices, school districts, and direct-funded charters to request their participation. Read more in the KP article.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Grading the Digital School – //New York Times// Series <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">There are seven articles in this series. The latest (we mentioned before), Mooresville School District, a Laptop Success Story, by //Alan Schwarz, February 13, 2012// <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This North Carolina school district has quietly emerged as a model digital school, with thousands of laptops issued to students and test scores up across the board.

Information Literacy - Curriculum
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A New Curriculum for Information Literacy //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Curriculum and Supporting Documents // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dr Jane Secker & Dr Emma Coonan // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Arcadia Project, Cambridge University Library, July 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The curriculum outlines what we believe to be a continuum of skills, competencies, behaviors and attitudes ranging from functional skills to intellectual operations that together comprise the spectrum of information literacy.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The overarching aim of the curriculum is to help undergraduate learners to develop a high **<span style="font-family: 'Cambria Math','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">‐ **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">level, reflective understanding of information contexts and issues, which will empower them with a robust framework for handling new information situations, and to generate strategies for evaluating, analyzing and assimilating that information as needed and at the time it is required.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The emphasis throughout is on the student’s development as a discerning scholar and, beyond the academic arena, as an informed citizen and an autonomous and lifelong learner.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This work is licensed under a <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">.

U.S. DOE: Recent Initiatives and Resources
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">[|Obama Administration Announces Together for Tomorrow] //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">U. S. Department of Education, February 24, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced today Together for Tomorrow, a new initiative to spotlight existing and spur new community engagement in turning around persistently low-performing schools.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">"Together for Tomorrow is aimed at changing the relationship between schools and community partners so everyone feels a shared responsibility to improve low-performing schools," said Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the President and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. "Every child deserves an education that will enable them to succeed in a global economy. Faith and community groups are critical partners in this all-hands on deck moment."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ed. Dept., FCC Unveil 'Digital Textbook Playbook' //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ian Quillen, Education Week, February 1, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski were on hand to unveil the new Digital Textbook Playbook, a resource designed by the Digital Textbook Collaborative a group convened by the U.S. Department of Education and the FCC, includes members from more than two-dozen companies and organizations, including Apple Inc., Microsoft, the "Big Three" of textbook publishing, and Sprint and Verizon to help guide educators in their transition to electronic resources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Digital Textbook Playbook offers advice and considerations to help K-12 schools ensure robust and persistent connectivity to the digital content, understand the perspectives of the variety of device users in a school environment, and plan for the transition to digital learning. This Playbook contains four major guideposts for educators: **Making the Transition, Connectivity at School, Connectivity Beyond School and Device Perspectives**

Classrooms: 21st Century
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Classroom Evolved: Creating an Active Learning Environment //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Bridget McCrea, THE Journal, January 25, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This is the first segment in a three-part series of articles focused on classroom design. Each article in the series looks at a how schools are reinterpreting the traditional classroom for the 21st century. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Part 1: The Classroom Evolved: Creating an Active Learning Environment <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Part 2: Creating an Ultra-Flexible Learning Space <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Part 3: Designing the School Around the Student
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Classroom Evolved **

Flipped or Inverted Classroom
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Here’s the first Webinar on this topic: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|The Art of a Flipped Classroom; Turning Learning on Its Head] //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">eSchool News, Wednesday, March 21st //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Two Webinars on Flipped Classroom **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Making Things Visible], Flipped Classroom Model //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">eSchool News, Webinar, April 4, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">From Harvard University to inner city Detroit to rural Colorado; from basic introductory classes to AP courses, teachers are experiencing significant improvement in student achievement transitioning to the 'Flipped Classroom' model. A side benefit is that teachers save time. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The flip model represents a merger of: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The flipped model represents a significant cultural change in the traditional classroom and changing roles of student and teacher.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Socratic method where students are responsible for meaningful conversation while in class
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Research in cognitive science that shows students need immediate feedback
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The emergence of powerful learning online communities where student thinking can become more visible and mutually supportive

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Salman Kahn on the Inverted Classroom] //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Robert Talbert, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 28, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">While a year old this TED video by Salman Kahn (//Let’s use video to remake education//) made the point that the main effect of inverting the classroom is to //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">humanize // it. Rather than delivering a one-size-fits-all lecture, the lecture is put where it will be of the most use to the greatest number of students — namely, online and outside of class — leaving the teacher free to focus on individual students during class.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Kahn Video on Inverted Classroom **

Copyright and Creative Commons
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Copyright and Creative Commons Explained by Common Craft <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This video tells the story of a photographer who learns to use both Copyright and Creative Commons to accomplish her goals. It helps to explain the basics of copyright law and creative commons licensing and the role each can play in helping creators protect and share their work. It teaches:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">why copyright law exists
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">how to copyright a creative work
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Creative Commons licensing basics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">how both copyright and Creative Commons licensing can help creators
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">rules of thumb for using licensed work

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB, February 27, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB's second 2012 Legislative Report summarizes governors’ proposals, particularly those related to education, in Alabama, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee, and includes notes from other SREB states. Full report (PDF)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB Legislative Report Previews State Sessions, Recaps Governors’ Proposals **

Resources
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Khan Academy Launches iPad App Full Of Free Educational Videos //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Aldrin Calimlim, Kahn Academy, March 12, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Released only this week, Khan Academy for iPad lets you do exactly what its subtitle says: “Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything for free.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">TED, Known for Idea Talks, Releases Educational Videos //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Jeffrey R. Young, Wired, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 12,2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The nonprofit group called TED, known for streaming 18-minute video lectures about big ideas, today opened a new YouTube channel designed for teachers and professors, with videos that are even shorter.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The new channel, called TED-Ed, was announced a year ago, but its leaders are only now unveiling the project’s first videos. There are only 11 as of today, but the goal is to add new ones regularly. Within three months from now, a new video could appear each day, said Chris Anderson, TED’s curator, in a conference call with reporters late last week.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The 30 Best Books for EdTech Geeks //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online college.org, July 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Those looking for new ways to push forth their professional development and bring more technology into the classroom will find these books to be great resources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Michigan Digitization Project <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The University of Michigan and Google, Inc. have entered into a ground-breaking partnership to digitize the entire print collection of the University Library. The digitized collection, which comprises a significant portion of the **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">HathiTrust Digital Library **, is searchable in Mirlyn, the HathiTrust catalog, and Google Book Search. Full-text of works that are out of copyright or in the public domain is available.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Spangler Effect and Sick Science Videos //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Recommended resources posted by Kerry Eades, Oklahoma Career Tech Testing Center // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I was reading Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers Blog this morning and was introduced to a couple of YouTube channels that I really, really like. The Spangler Effect and Sick Science are both creations of Steve Spangler Science and the primary difference is that the Spangler Effect videos are approximately fifteen minutes in length and the Sick Science videos are short (three minutes or less) science experiments.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">All of the videos that I have watched are great for the classroom or at home (with parental supervision) and are great ways to pique a child's interest (or an adult's interest...) in science!

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Nannie Diaries (//Opinionator//) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Minoa Uffelman, The Opinionator, The New York Times, February 19, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Opinionator blogs published by the New York Times covers many topics — politics, of course — but very often includes historical topics, as well. The Disunion blog revisits and reconsiders America's most perilous period -- using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded. One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The Nannie Diaries is just one example of an entry //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">— //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> one that I found really interesting. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Join Disunion on Facebook

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Color Rubik Cube For The Blind <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Yanko Design <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This Rubik Cube uses only Braille.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">40+ Super Secret iPAD Features and Shortcuts <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This roundup aims to enlighten those new to the iPad, and guide old hands to a few new tricks – the heading might be laced with hyperbole, but you’re going to have a look anyway… Thanks again to Kerry Eades, Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education…

Other Interesting Things
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Video Tutorial: How to Read a QR Code //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tech&Learning, February 20, 2012 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Are you still curious about CR codes? We talked about this before, but here is an easy guide on how to read them with your smart phone? Take a look at this quick tutorial to get you started.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Permission Research <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Permission Research is in the business of improving the Internet...for everyone. Our goal is to help companies understand digital content trends and patterns so that those companies can give people like you what you want. The anonymous data we gather from our members helps us understand how people use the Internet; what they like, and what they don’t. Permission Research is part of an online market research community with over 2 million members worldwide. Permission Research relies on its members to gain valuable insight into Internet trends and behavior. Major media outlets and companies trying to understand how people around the globe actually use the Internet use this research. Learn more…

For Fun
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Why #Pencilchat May Be the Most Clever Education Allegory Ever //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Liz Dwyer, Good Magazine, December 3, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A decidedly low-tech device, the humble pencil, is providing some tongue-in-cheek insight into current education debates via Twitter. In the past 24 hours, educators have tweeted the hashtag #pencilchat thousands of times. (And it continues today.) The tweets are undeniably witty, but they also reflect the frustration teachers feel over everything from schools' technophobia to budget cuts, which may make #pencilchat the best—and most clever—education allegory ever.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Limericks for St. Patrick’s Day, thanks to Edward Lear.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">