Karen Greenwood Henke is a professional writer and speaker on emerging technologies and their role in education. She is also the founder of Grant Wrangler, a free grants and awards listing service.
National School Boards Assocation T+L Conference
Denver, CO
I arrived at the convention center as the sun was coming up for the first session of the day. I shook off the melting snow from hat, scarf, coat and gloves to a warm welcome from Darryl LaGace, Chief Information and Technology Officer at San Diego Unified School District. I’ve been following Darryl’s innovative projects since 2000 when he helped transform Lemon Grove School District. The great thing about Darryl’s projects is that they are not just pilots. He thinks big and he thinks long-term.
At San Diego, the 2nd largest district in California and the 8th largest in the country, the school board committed to developing a comprehensive online high school program over a 3-year period. Drop outs were increasing. According to LaGace: “We wanted to provide an opportunity for kids in our school district rather than refer them to a resource we couldn’t manage (such as an unaffiliated virtual school).” iHigh is a blended approach with facilities on high school campuses as well as satellite locations, offering core courses, AP courses, and extracurricular options. In year 1, 2008-2009, 3933 students completed 5052 courses for credit recovery. iHigh also engaged 20 full-time students and 200 part-time students. LaGace shared lessons learned after the first school year: 2008-2009.
The National School Board’s Association Technology Learning Network announced their “20 to Watch” for 2009. I’ve profiled several of these districts through various projects and am pleased to see innovation recognized. Jump to see the list:
I attended a workshop at the American Architecture Foundation on Great Schools by Design to talk about how to design learning spaces for schools in Los Angeles and New York City. Listening to architects and school leaders talk about the actual shape and functionality of classrooms and school spaces, I realized that the architecture of the virtual learning space is as important as the physical space.
These students created a centralized web site for their school and recently won a Digital Open award, a tech expo for teens.
When we talk about school quality and achievement, we tend to get caught up in funding, teachers, textbooks, and test scores. But what do you really need to learn? An open mind? A quiet opportunity for reflection? The discipline to keep trying? Enough curiosity to ask a question?
If you think the U.S. has a drop out problem, India has the world’s largest population of children and 53% of children who start school drop out by 8th grade. The government plans to double annual education expenditures and remake the nation’s schools. A panel led by Dilip Thakore, Publisher and Editor, Education World, at the Milken Institute discussed India’s Human Capital: Educating the World’s Largest Population of Children, the opportunities to reform India’s education system both in terms of curricula and investment opportunities.
