www.inacol.org

Dr. Rob DarrowDirector, Member Services

June 2013

Online and Blended Learning:

Avoiding Pitfalls, Being Successful,

and

Transforming Your Teaching

Presentation: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

Introductions

• iNACOL, Director of Member Services– Former online charter school principal, school

librarian, K-8 teacher in California

• You? teachers? Administrators?– More than 20 years?– Between 10 and 20 years– Between 5 and 10 years– Less than 5 years

Who is iNACOL? www.inacol.org

• Educators, policy makers, researchers, non-profits, for-profits, support staff, teachers, and administrators

• K-12 schools, universities, think tanks, regional service agencies, county offices, organizations, etc.

Why join iNACOL? www.inacol.org

• Passion for online and blended learning• Receive daily news and research updates

about online and blended learning• Contribute to the online and blended

learning voice and conversation• Participate in regional and standing

committees

Why join iNACOL? www.inacol.org

• Participate in webinars and related activities (access to Archives)

• Reduced cost for attending yearly iNACOL Symposium (Oct. 27-30, 2013, Orlando, FL)

• Membership: $60 for educators – Other memberships: School, institution,

companies, etc.

We are on the same journey: to improve education for

every student in every school

Remember: Teaching and Learning

• What is the student doing and where is the student?

What is the teacher doing and where is the teacher?

What and where is the content?

Our Conversation Focus Today

• 1. Pitfalls• 2. Change• 3. Transformation• 4. Blended Learning

Pitfalls – Planning• Not having a 3-5 year implementation plan• Not including all staff (especially teachers

and counselors) in creating the implementation plan

• Not identifying success measures as part of the implementation plan

• Not having an ongoing implementation advisory committee

Pitfalls – Teachers

• Not paying attention to teachers, teaching, and pedagogy (and only focusing on content selection)

• Not identifying ongoing professional development for administrators and teachers

Pitfalls – Students

• Not having support structures in place for students –How to work online–Ongoing “triggers” if students are not

being successful

Pitfalls – Words to Use

• The term “Blended Learning” is more well received than “Hybrid Learning”

• “Personalized Learning” is better understood than “individualized learning.”

**Survey completed by iNACOL three years ago and separately by the Clayton Christensen Institute

What was school like for you?

Teaching ?

Learning ?

Curriculum ?

Dan Pink. A Whole New Mind

• “change is inevitable, and when it happens, the wisest response is not to wail or whine but to suck it up and deal with it.”

Why change?• Enrollment is good – have waiting lists• Students being successful• Students getting into colleges• Students getting into careers and

contributing back to their schools• Excellent teachers with excellent results• Tradition of excellence for the past 50 years

Change is Hard and Uncomfortable

• Some teachers thrive on change (and some administrators, too)

• Some teachers never change• Some teachers think doing the same thing

every year is the best teaching (take out the same lessons and just change the dates)

Research Teaches Us:• If you do the same thing in the same

way, you get the same results• Same lessons = same result

20 Years Ago – 1990What were you doing and what

was happening then?

20 Years Ago – 1990What was I doing?

• Teaching 5th Grade• Apple 2e with floppy disks• No Common Core Standards• No California standards• No Internet• No cell phones or handheld devices• High tech: overhead and a phone in my classroom

In 1990

Personal computers are 15 years old

Tim Berners-Lee writes World Wide Web program

First graphical web interface, Mosaic, was not invented until 1993

Lots of Changes since 1990

What’s changed in our world?• Costs to compete, improve continue to rise• Endowments, contributions fallen in many cases• Tuition continues to rise as well• New independent schools using online learning• Some at lower price point• Some fueled by global companies/visions: K12, Inc., etc.

• Charters, other public schools improving with online learning• New modular offerings that aren’t “traditional”

schools• Technology continues to improve to provice

multiple ways for students to be educated

Review: Ongoing Change…

• In what our students now have in the palm of their hands

• In technology• In global market place• In skills students need for college and

career

What causes Transformation?

• Education• Learning• Experience• Professional Learning Network• Information sharing – magazines,

online/social media, conferences, peers

Transformation and Change takes time – Just ask Everett Rogers

• Studied “Diffusion of Innovations” for 40 years

• Innovation = anything new– Purified water– Hybrid corn seed in Iowa– Technology in a school

• Why are some innovations adopted and some are not?

Iowa Farmers and Corn• 1943 – Farmers in Iowa used regular corn

seed• Iowa State researchers found that hybrid

corn seed produced better results – increase in quality and production

• Farmers in Iowa were resistant – Why?– Hybrid seeds could not be reproduced by the

farmer and had to be purchased from someone

– Current seed worked just fine

Hybrid Corn Seed – Eventually Adopted, But what happened?

• Solution based on several studies by Iowa State Professors, where Everett Rogers began his work.

• What caused the change?– Mass communication of studies /

advertising– Interpersonal communication channels

(farmer to farmer)

Note: Think about your blended or online program here.

Corn, Iowa and Everett RogersThe “back” story…

• Rogers born and raised in Iowa• His father was a farmer who was resistant to using

hybrid corn seed• Rogers became a professor at Iowa State where the

corn seed and diffusion studies originated (he interacted with the researchers)

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Communication_Theory/Diffusion_of_Innovations

Factors that cause adoption• Attributes of the Innovation/Relative Advantage

of the Innovation• Individual Innovation Use Decisions (End User)• Communication Channels • Nature of Social System/Culture of Innovation• Change Agent’s (Leader) Promotion of the

Innovation• Individual Characteristics of Adopters (Do they

like to change?)

Stages of Adoption• Awareness - the individual is exposed to

the innovation

• Interest - the individual becomes interested in the new idea and seeks additional information about it

• Evaluation - individual mentally applies the innovation to his present and anticipated future situation, and then decides whether or not to try it

• Trial - the individual makes full use of the innovation

• Adoption - the individual decides to continue the full use of the innovation

Rogers: Adoption Groups

Adoption: S-shaped Curve

Change and Adoption: Where do you fit?

• Adopter Category?– Innovator– Early Adopter– Early Majority– Late Majority– Laggard

• Stage of Adoption?– Awareness– Interest– Evaluation– Trial – Adoption

Trends and Surveys

• iNACOL Research (www.inacol.org) • Pew Internet Research• Project Tomorrow: Student Speak Up

(http://www.tomorrow.org/SpeakUp/ )

• Horizon Report (http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project/horizon-reports/horizon-report-k-12-edition )

• World Future Society (http://www.wfs.org/)

iNACOL Trends: Online Learning

• 2 million K-12 online course enrollments in 2009-10

• 27 States have state virtual schools • 4 states require some type of online course as

part of high school graduation requirements (Alabama, Florida, Michigan and Virginia)

• An estimated 50% of public school districts nationally are offering some time of online or blended learning

No one knows for sure how many

• Numbers are estimates based on surveys• Bigger schools like K-12, Inc. or Connections

Academies or Florida Virtual School keep count of their own

• How students are counted is different (one student in one semester course = one)

• No one really counts numbers of students in independent schools involved in blended or online learning (keep track of your own numbers)

Millennials (18-34)

Gen X (35-46)

Younger Boomers

(47-56)

Older Boomers

(57-65)

Silent Generation

(66-74)

G.I. Generation

(75+)

All online adults (18+)

Cell phone 96% 94% 87% 84% 77% 52% 88%

Desktop computer 55% 67% 62% 61% 48% 29% 57%Laptop computer 70% 63% 58% 49% 32% 14% 56%

iPod or MP3 player 69% 57% 36% 24% 10% 5% 44%Game console 63% 63% 38% 19% 8% 3% 42%e-Book reader 19% 25% 18% 12% 9% 5% 19%Tablet, like iPad 23% 23% 16% 14% 8% 3% 19%

Student Digital Devices (Pew Internet Surveys)

Video• More video uploaded in YouTube in the

last 2 months than all new content aired by ABC, NBC and ABC since 1948.

• The equivalent of 60,000 full length films is uploaded to YouTube every week

• 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube

Speak Up 2011. Yearly Survey

• 416,758 surveys completed from K-12 students, parents and administrators

– A majority of teachers, school site administrators and district level administrators now report participating in an online class for their own professional development.

http://www.tomorrow.org/SpeakUp/

Speak Up 2011. Yearly Survey

• The profile of a typical student interested in taking an online class today is a middle school girl who values the use of a mobile device in school and sees online learning as her ticket to a more personalized learning environment where she is in control of the learning process.

http://www.tomorrow.org/SpeakUp/

Horizon Report

• Yearly report since 2002• Purpose: To understand the impact of

emerging technologies• Diverse group of experts gather and

discuss and then make predictions

http://www.nmc.org/horizon-project/horizon-reports/horizon-report-k-12-edition

Horizon Report Predictions (2012)

• 1. Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, blended learning and collaborative models.

• 2. The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.

• 3. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want.

Disrupting Class• “By 2019, about 50 percent of all

high school courses will be delivered online”– Christensen, Horn, Johnson (2010)

• Student-centric, modular learning• Affordability, non-consumption

(online and blended learning)

Transformation: Perspective

• Do you think education should change?• Do you think you should change the way

you teach?• Do you think the tools you use for teaching

should change?

What do you see?

What do you see?

Where do the stairs begin?

Transformation = Who or what influences you to change?

• Transformation is mostly personal• Transformation of teaching is a personal

decision

Change and Transformation

• Change is happening all around us all the time (technology, student access to technology and information, etc.)

• Transformation occurs when people are influenced by others (peers, print, digital, etc.)

But…

• To change and transform, we need to define terms.

• What exactly is “blended teaching and learning”?

We are pretty clear

Face-to-Face Teaching

• Students in classroom• Teacher in classroom• Interaction face-to-face,

mostly verbal, some visual

• Fixed schedule of classes to attend

• Prescribed curriculum based on standards / use of textbooks

Online Teaching

• Students online• Teacher online (minimal

face-to-face interaction)• Interaction online video

conferencing, email – more visual, less verbal

• Flexible schedule for work completion

• Prescribed curriculum based on standards / text

A formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path and/or pace

at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home (such as school).

100010001111010101000

The modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

100010001111010101000

Defining blended learning

Blended learning is not…

Blended learning is not like a

light switch you turn on

one day

Blended Teaching is a Pedagogical Shift

…And pedagogical shifts take time

Think in terms of 3-5 years from now (not just

today).

Think about what can be, not what is.

This is a journey, not a destination.

Emerging blended learning models

A la Cartemodel

But what does Blended Learning

really look like for a teacher?

Teaching and Learning• What is the student

doing and where is the student?

What is the teacher doing and where is the teacher?

What and where is the content?

From Textbook to Online Teaching

Online Teaching

Textbook EnhancedTeaching

TechnologyEnhancedTeaching

Web / Online Enhanced Teaching

What does “it” look like? Where do you fit?(* See handout)

• Textbook enhanced teaching and learning

• Technology enhanced (not online)• Web/online enhanced• Blended• Online

What does “it” look like?*Teacher-centric vs. Student-centric

• Textbook enhanced teaching and learning

• Technology enhanced (not online)

• Web/online enhanced• Blended• Online

More teacher centric

Combination

More student centric

What does “it” look like?*Teacher vs. student control of

teaching and learning

• Textbook enhanced teaching and learning

• Technology enhanced (not online)

• Web/online enhanced• Blended• Online

More teacher control

Shared control

More student control

What does “it” look like?*Control of time and pace

• Textbook enhanced teaching and learning

• Technology enhanced (not online)

• Web/online enhanced• Blended• Online

Set time structure

Some Flexibility

Flexible

What does “it” look like?*Blended Learning Models continuum

• Textbook enhanced teaching and learning

• Technology enhanced (not online)

• Web/online enhanced• Blended• Online

Rotation

Self Blend

Enriched Virtual

Flex

Textbook Enhanced

Teacher Student Curriculum

Textbook EnhancedWhat is the student doing?• Sitting in a desk in a

classroom• Writing on paper• Listening to teacher• Talking with peers

What is the teacher doing?• Standing in front of the

classroom• Directing Learning• Group discussions

What is the content?• Textbooks• Supplemental materials• Teacher created materials

Where is the content?• On paper• In the classroom• In a school library

Technology Enhanced

Teacher Student Curriculum

Technology EnhancedWhat is the student doing?• Sitting in a desk in a classroom• Writing on paper• Listening to teacher• Talking with peers• Using a shared or personal

computer

What is the teacher doing?• Standing in front of the classroom• Directing Learning• Group discussions

What is the content?• Textbooks• Supplemental materials• Teacher created materials• Computer (Word, Ppt, etc.)• Computer Program (loaded or CD-

Rom)

Where is the content?• On paper• In the classroom• In a school library• On a computer/digital white

board / doc camera, etc.

Web/Online EnhancedTeacher Student Curriculum

Web/Online EnhancedWhat is the student doing?•Sitting in a desk in a classroom•Writing on paper•Listening to teacher•Talking with peers•Using a shared or personal computer

What is the teacher doing?•Standing in front of the classroom•Directing Learning•Group discussions•Some assignments/activities online

What is the content?•Textbooks•Supplemental materials•Teacher created materials•Computer (Word, Ppt, etc.)•Computer Program (loaded or CD-Rom)•Web•Computer led (e.g. programmed math or English. Plato, Ed 2020)

Where is the content?•On paper•In the classroom•In a school library•On a computer/digital white board / doc camera, etc.•Some Online

BlendedTeacher Student Curriculum

BlendedWhat is the student doing? (30% work online)•Sitting in a desk in a classroom or computer lab•Using personal computer online at home or other location•Interacting with peers in person and online

What is the teacher doing? (30% interacting with students online)•Standing in front of the classroom and interacting online•Directing Learning•Meeting students in small groups (f2f and online)•Developing/assigning online lessons•Grading online

What is the content?•Textbooks•Supplemental materials•Teacher created materials•Computer (Word, Ppt, etc.)•Computer Program (loaded or CD-Rom)•Web•Computer led (e.g. E2020, Aventa, K-12, Inc, Compass, etc ) or Teacher Developed

Where is the content?•On paper•In the classroom•In a school library•On a computer/digital white board / doc camera, etc.•Online (computer led or teacher led content)

Online TeachingTeacher Student Curriculum

OnlineWhat is the student doing? (70% or more work online)• Sitting in a desk in a classroom or

computer lab• Using personal computer online at

home or school or other location• Interacting with teacher in person

and/or online• Interacting with teacher in person

and/or online

What is the teacher doing? (70% or more interacting with students online)Standing in front of the classroom• Facilitating Learning• Meeting students in small groups (f2f

and online)• Developing/assigning online lessons• Discussion Board• Online meetings/teaching (e.g.

Elluminate)• Grading online

What is the content?• Textbooks• Supplemental materials• Teacher created materials• Computer (Word, Ppt, etc.)• Computer Program (loaded or CD-Rom)• Web• Computer led (e.g. programmed math

or English)• Teacher led

Where is the content?• On paper• On a computer/digital white board / doc

camera, etc.• Online (computer led or teacher led

content)

iNacol –Quality Online Teaching Standards – Blended Learning Continuum

**Students**

Less Online Instruction

More Online Instruction

Mostly Online Instruction

Blended teaching is a combination of many factors

Student

• Flexibility of time• Turns work in mostly online• Participates in online

discussion boards• Utilizes Web 2.0 tools to

complete assignments• Actively engaged in content

Teacher

• Personalized learning• Ongoing review of student data to

change instruction• Meeting with students whole class, in

groups, individually• Online and face-to-face strategies to

deliver instruction• Adept with a variety of Web 2.0 tools

and technologies• Curriculum both face-to-face and online

in different modalities• Curriculum and assignments mostly

online and graded online• Embraces redundancy and change

Quick Quiz – Blended Teaching or Not?Strategy Yes No Maybe

Teacher posts an article online for students to read.

Students turn work in online and teacher grades all work online

Teacher utilizes online discussion boards with students in an ongoing way

Students create a PowerPoint presentation and present it in class

From Textbook to Online Teaching

Online Teaching

Textbook EnhancedTeaching

TechnologyEnhancedTeaching

Web / Online Enhanced Teaching

Blended Learning, A Developing Field. Ongoing Challenges

• Teacher: How do I know I am “doing” blended learning?

• Administrator: How do I know the teacher is doing blended learning?

• Administrator: How do I observe a blended learning lesson?

Blended Learning Rubric (Handout)

• 1) Leadership • 2) New Staff Roles• 3) New Student Roles• 4) Personalized Learning Plans • 5) Next Generation Curriculum and

Assessment; • 6) Flexible and Real World Learning

Environments

Remember…

The path each school takes down this road of blended learning may be different, but the journey will be the same.

This is a journey, not a destination.

And…

Remember…

“Never doubt that a small group of

thoughtful, committed

“educators ” can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

Contact Info

• Rob Darrow – rdarrow@inacol.org • www.inacol.org

Presentation: http://robdarrow.wikispaces.com

Discussion Questions• On the “continuum” where does your school fit?• On the Blended Learning Rubric, where do you

fit?• What has to happen to further transform yourself

and your school to more fully adopt blended or online learning?

• What type of professional development is needed?

• What student support systems are needed?

The challenge..

Or Jane

Or Mia

Or Deny

Or Juan

Or Sara