new learning models: providing a customized education for...
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www.inacol.org
New Learning Models:
Providing a Customized
Education for All Students
Matthew Wicks
iNACOL, Chief Operating Officer
International Association for K-12 Online
Learning (iNACOL)
• iNACOL is the leading, international, non-profit association in K-12 online learning.
• Based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (Vienna, VA)
• 4000+ members in K-12 districts, states, universities, researchers & online learning providers
• Provides leadership, advocacy, research, training and networking with experts in K-12 online learning.
• “Ensure every student has access to the best education available regardless of geography, income or background.”
• Conference - Virtual School Symposium (VSS) in Orlando (October 27-30, 2013) www.inacol.org/events/symposium/
• www.inacol.org
Providing Opportunities to All Students
Credit Recovery
Aspiring athletes and performers
Medically Fragile
Home Schoolers
Accelerated Students
Need to work and/or support family
Traditional Public/Private
Special Education and ELL
Rural Students
What Does Opportunity Look Like?
Students who need or want supplemental online courses have access to them without barriers of cost, scheduling, transferability of credit, etc.
Students who need or want a full-time online program have access to one or more without restrictions based on prior school setting, district permissions, caps, etc.
Schools implement blended learning
Opportunities will be of high quality
Definitions
Online learning is teacher-led education that takes place over the Internet,
with the teacher and student separated geographically, using a web-based
educational delivery system that includes software to provide a structured
learning environment. It may be synchronous (communication in which
participants interact in real-time, such as online video) or asynchronous
(communication separated by time, such as email or online discussion
forums). It may be accessed from multiple-settings (in school and/or out of
school buildings). Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at
least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some
element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace, and at least in
part at a supervised brick-and-mortar located away from home.
Definitions
Supplemental online programs provide a small number of courses to
students who are enrolled in a school separate from the online program.
Fully online schools also called cyberschools, work with students who are
enrolled primarily (often only) in the online school. Cyberschools typically are
responsible for their students’ scores on state assessments. In some states,
most full-time online schools are charter schools.
These definitions come from 2012 Keeping Pace in K-12 Online and Blended
Learning, Evergreen Education Group and Classifying K-12 Blended Learning,
Clayton Christensen Institute (formerly Innosight Institute).
A more complete set of definitions are contacted in iNACOL’s, The Online Learning
Definitions Project.
Total Online/Blended Students
“The total number of students taking part in
all of these programs is unknown, but is
likely several million, or slightly more than
5% of the total K-12 student population
across the United States. We stress,
however, that we estimate this by
triangulating from close to a dozen sources.
No single source is comprehensive.”
2012 Keeping Pace
Numbers: state virtual schools
• 620,000 course enrollments in state
virtual schools
• 16% annual increase (19% last year)
• FLVS is (still) about 50% of the SVS
enrollments across the country
Numbers: fully online schools
• Available in 31 states and Washington
DC
• Estimated 275,000 full-time online
students
• States with established online schools
growing at ~15% annually (with outliers)
www.inacol.org
Competency-Based Education
Competency-Based Pathways
Design Principles
1. Students Advance Upon Mastery
2. Explicit and Measurable Learning
Objectives That Empower Students
3. Assessment is Meaningful and a Positive
Learning Experience for Students
www.competencyworks.org
National Standards for Quality Online Programs,
Online Teaching & Online Courses
We view iNACOL’s role as doing what it takes to ensure that the field reaches its full potential
Where we are today
Where we seek to be
Where we could well arrive
• All students have access to
online and blended models
• But many or most of these
models are no more effective
than traditional classroom
instruction
• Some students have access to online
and blended models
• The effectiveness of these models in
developing college- and career-
readiness is largely unknown and likely
varies widely
• All students have access to
online and blended models
• The models are effective in
developing their college- and
career-readiness
Achieving the destination we seek is likely to be a multi-stage process, with
progress made one step at a time
Quality 1.0
Quality 2.0
Where we seek to be
Where we are today
• Some students have access
to online and blended models
• Models may meet
programmatic, input
guidelines (e.g., teacher-
student ratios)
• A growing number of students
have access to online and
blended models
• Models meet programmatic
guidelines, output standards
(e.g., completion), and/or
outcome standards based on
current generation state
assessments
• The majority of students have
access to online and blended
models
• Models are effective in
developing college-ready
knowledge and skills
• Models are aligned to the
Common Core or other
college- and career-ready
standards and develop student
competency, as demonstrated
by proficiency on benchmark
assessments
• All students have access to
online and blended models
• Models enable them to become
college-ready, including
students who require significant
competency gain in order to
progress
• Models are aligned to the
Common Core or other college-
and career-ready standards and
support significant gains in
competency, as demonstrated
by growth on benchmark
assessments
Quality: Moving Beyond Inputs iNACOL released a publication in October, 2012, funded by Gates Foundation, “Measuring Quality from Inputs to Outcomes: Creating Student Learning Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance for Online Schools”
– Proficiency
– Individual Student Growth
– Graduation Rate
– College and Career Readiness
– Closing the Achievement Gap
http://www.inacol.org/resources/publications/national-quality-standards/
Performance Based Funding
• Having accepted outcomes based quality
measures will facilitate performance based funding
• Performance Based Funding already exists in
limited cases, primarily with a focus on
completion as opposed to more sophisticated
performance measures
• Individual course choice will help drive
performance based funding
Funding of Online Learning
• How much does/should online learning cost?
• Funding should follow the student. This is much
more likely to happen for full-time online
learning, although this doesn’t necessarily
mean funding of online learning is handled the
same as for brick-and-mortar schools.
• Some states divide FTE funding to the course
level which is helpful for funding following the
student for supplemental programs.
Questions
Matthew Wicks
http://www.inacol.org
http://www.competencyworks.org