For the rest of the article, go to Students of Online Schools Are Lagging

Thankfully, changes in education financing (which include permitting dollars to follow children to the school of their choice) and rapidly advancing technology have made better educational options of a family’s choosing within reach. And many families have already made this choice.

For the rest of the article, go to The NYT Online Learning Smear Campaign

Board member Maureen Hanse expressed some skepticism about sharing staff members.

“When CASDA came here to discuss this, they were talking about sharing people, but I don’t really think that would work,” Hanse said. “I do, however, like the idea of enhanced communication, like between school principals, so they can discuss ideas for how schools can improve.”

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In 2010, more than 6.1 million students signed up for at least one online course, about 10 percent more than 5.5 million the previous year, reports the Sloan Consortium Survey of Online Learning.

“It’s scaling quickly,” said John Katzman, founder of 2tor Inc., a New-York based tech company that has partnered with universities including Georgetown, UNC and USC to build, administer and market online postgraduate degree programs that he says seriously compete with traditional on-campus study.

For the rest of the article, go to Startup 2tor Rides Surge In Online Education

Along those lines, Berry has outlined five changes he believes need to be made to the future of teacher education.

1. INFORMED BY NEED. University-based education schools currently produce about 170,000 graduates every year — but only 70 percent of those actually enter teaching. One reason is the mismatch between production and market demand. In some “teacher surplus” states, universities graduate far too many teachers prepared for subjects and areas in low demand (such as elementary, physical education, social studies), while math, science, and special education vacancies continue to frustrate school leaders as well as parents. And because of the way education schools are funded, most universities offer just about every kind of teacher education major, irrespective of the local needs of area districts looking for new recruits. In the future, as long as we have the right policies in place, education schools should recruit and prepare those who are needed — and use the cost savings to recruit the right teachers who can teach the right subjects — as well as invest more in the right kind of pedagogical training.

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According to Evergreen Education Group, a consulting firm that works with online schools, an estimated 250,000 students nationwide are enrolled in full-time virtual schools, a 40 percent increase in the last three years. And the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a trade group, says two million kids take at least one class online.

Advocates say online schooling can save states money, offer curricula customized to each student and give parents more choice in education.

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Paralleling students on campus, online cyber security students learn not only basic technical skills and theory, but also how business needs, such as risk management and regulatory requirements, drive network security.

“The Sloan-C award for Outstanding Online Program is a high honor for NYU-Poly because it is bestowed by acknowledged leaders in virtual education,” said NYU-Poly President Jerry M. Hultin. “Furthermore, it recognizes innovation in an academic program that is vitally important to society because it addresses in real-time the critical shortage of highly educated experts needed to protect and secure our infrastructure, government and personal digital lives.”

For the rest of the article, go to Sloan-C Awards NYU-Poly’s Cyber Security Virtual Master’s Program [Professional Services Close - Up]

For the past two years, Connections Academy virtual public schools have used DimensionU as an engaging resource for students to practice their newly acquired skills.

With content aligned to state, national and the new Common Core State Standards, the DimensionU instructional software engages students in a series of first-person action adventure missions that incorporate three-dimensional graphics, sound, and animation comparable to those in popular video games. By effectively navigating the myriad of embedded lessons, students quickly master concepts previously discussed in class. The software also provides automatic progress tracking for students so teachers can provide additional instruction to help them gain mastery of specific concepts.

For the rest of the article, go to Dimensionu Extends Agreement With Connections Education To Offer Game-Based Learning Solution To Virtual School Students Nationwide

Dr. Mitchel Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, develops new technologies and activities to engage children in creative learning experiences, helping them learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. He is receiving the Prize for his work in pre-K and elementary education. His Lifelong Kindergarten research group developed ideas and technologies underlying the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits and the Scratch programming environment and online community, used by millions of young people around the world. He also co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of more than 100 after-school learning centers where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies.

Julie Young is President and CEO of the nation’s largest and most influential virtual program: Florida Virtual School (FLVS). She is receiving the Prize for her work in secondary education. Young became interested in combining technology and learning while serving as a teacher trainer for a partnership between her district and IBM. Since its inception in 1997 when it enrolled 77 students, the school has evolved both in offerings and number of students. FLVS, a public school free to all Florida students and supported by tax dollars, currently provides online instruction in over 125 courses to more than 130,000 K-12 students. In addition to directing the work of 1,500 employees, Young is a frequent national speaker and sits on numerous boards. She was also recognized by Technology & Learning Magazine as one of the “Top 30 influencers in Ed Tech,” along with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

For the rest of the article, go to 2011 McGraw Prize in Education Winners Named

This year, the district has teamed up with BOCES to make online courses available for juniors and seniors through Virtual High School, a nonprofit organization that provides online education to schools around the world.

Budget restraints have made it difficult for rural schools like Fort Ann to offer the selection of courses found at districts with more resources.

While Fort Ann has electives, it has no Advanced Placement courses.

But now, through Virtual High School, Fort Ann students can choose from six AP courses in subjects such as statistics, European history and English literature.

In addition, 18 online electives are available, such as astronomy, engineering, creative writing and psychology.

The instructors are state certified teachers.

Superintendent Maureen VanBuren said the district does not have the staff to offer more courses.

Since AP courses in small districts can draw as few as a handful of students, Virtual High School becomes a cheaper alternative.

“We are a relatively small school district. We don’t have a cadre of teachers here,” VanBuren said.

“We may only have one or two students who may take a statistics course. We can’t afford to have a class for two students,” she said.

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