The Virginia county is considering a full-time online high school, which, the Washington Post acknowledges, is a “a nod to the power of the school choice movement, which has given rise to the widespread expectation that parents should have a menu of options to customize their children’s education.”

Board members in Fairfax County, Virginia, realize that if they don’t start looking into virtual options for students, then others will capitalize on the opportunity to provide digital learning options.

Although Virginia isn’t known for full-time online learning programs, Governor Bob McDonnell recently signed legislation that requires all high school students take at least one online course before graduating.

Fairfax County students already take advantage of a la carte virtual classes for various reasons, whether that be catching up, getting ahead, or schedule conflicts. As one board member tells the Washington Post, “creating a full-time online school is a natural next step.”

Education Innovation Summit 2012 kicks off at Arizona State University. “Bringing together the greatest education innovators, thinkers and investors” is critical at a time when the competitiveness of U.S. students is nowhere near where it should and can be.

Last year’s keynote address hit the nail on the head and made clear that educational success is the key to national success, and that educational success will “be driven forward mostly through innovation and creativity.”

Joel Klien, former Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, stressed that “If we don’t fix our schools, the American Dream will become the American Memory.”

Get more on last year’s event here, and a schedule of this year’s event here.

After the Summit, you can check back for videos of keynote addresses and some sessions.

“TED offers free video lessons for high school and college students”
by Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post
March 12, 2012

Imagine you’re a high school biology teacher searching for the most vivid way to explain electrical activity in the brain. How about inserting metal wires into a cockroach’s severed leg and making that leg dance to music?

Starting Monday, that eye-popping lesson, performed in a six-minute video by neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage, is available free online.

TED, a nonprofit organization that produces a popular annual conference on ideas, is launching TED-Ed, an online collection of lessons it hopes will bring the best educators to any classroom with an Internet connection.

“Right now there’s a teacher somewhere out there delivering a mind-altering lesson and the frustrating thing is, it only reaches the students in that class,” said TED-Ed project director Logan Smal­ley. “We’re trying to figure out how to capture that lesson and pair it with professional animators to make that lesson more vivid and put it in a place where teachers all over the world can share it.”

TED-Ed is the latest wave in a growing trend of free online education. With offerings from the Khan Academy, founded in 2004 when Salman Khan began posting math tutorials on YouTube, and undergraduate courses from prestigious universities such as Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, free classes and lectures are proliferating on the Web.

But much of that content consists of sequential lectures delivered by an instructor behind a podium or, in the case of Khan, a disembodied voice narrating math equations on an electronic blackboard.

TED-Ed, by contrast, is using sophisticated animation, professional editing and high-quality production values to produce online lessons that are hard to forget. And the lessons don’t meander — each is no longer than 10 minutes.The project

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Entering 2012, the state of Virginia was coping with the effects of a faulty funding formula, which did not provide equity for all students statewide, that the existence of full-time virtual schools had exposed.

Senate Bill 598 was introduced in January to fix the problem by insuring fair funding for public school students who wanted access to full-time, statewide virtual schools that had been approved by during a rigorous review process by the Virginia Department of Education. The fixes—themselves worked through in a lengthy and rigorous process—insured fair funding not only for the students, but also in a way that could work for the districts.

In the last week of February, however, changes were introduced to the bill that struck out all of the well-balanced language in the bill designed to fix the faulty funding formula. Read More…

“Finn: All students could access high-quality education”
by Deirdre Finn
Op-Ed
Richmond Times-Dispatch
March 6, 2012

Virginia lawmakers are being asked today to consider legislation (SB 598) that severely restricts students’ access to a high-quality education. This legislation prohibits students from enrolling in an approved virtual school that is offered by a school division other than their own.

In this day and age, the Internet makes geography irrelevant to getting a great education. Virtual learning tears down the greatest barrier to high-quality education — access to a rigorous curriculum taught by effective educators. With virtual learning, all students — particularly those in rural regions or urban centers — can access the same high quality education typically enjoyed by students in affluent suburban neighborhoods. Students who live anywhere can learn anywhere. For many students, the option to attend a virtual school is a lifeline to an education that prepares them for success in college and challenging 21st-century careers.

Technology has changed the way we live, work and play. It has increased productivity in the workplace and enhanced communication with family and friends. And it has the power to transform education.

Imagine if the law applied the same restrictions to other areas of life. Limiting online shopping to stores in your neighborhood would likely cause outrage. Restricting access to Web-based learning should cause the same reaction.

Last year, I was part of a team of independent researchers that reviewed and analyzed education policies in every state in the nation for Digital Learning Now!, a national initiative launched by former Govs. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and Bob Wise (D-W.Va.) to harness the power of technology to provide an education that prepares each and every student for success in college and challenging 21st-century careers. Virginia scored well in that analysis, but this legislation runs the risk of reversing all the progress Virginia

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Digital learning is becoming increasingly popular across the country. However, some states have implemented regulations that have hindered the movement’s progress, barring access to online education for hundreds of thousands of children.

In December, the Pioneer Institute held an event and released a publication, Virtual Schools, Actual Learning: Online Education Becomes A Valid Option, introducing online learning and its implementation across the country and in Massachusetts.

The forum, “Removing the Barriers: Virtual Schools and State Regulations,” is a follow up to that event and report. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP asap to Brian Patterson at 617-723-2277, ext. 217 or bpatterson at pioneerinstitute.org. Find details about the event below, or on the Pioneer Institute’s event page.

When: Thursday, March 1, 2012 — 3:00 – 5:15 pm

Where: Omni Parker House, 60 School Street, Boston

Who: The keynote address will be delivered by Susan Patrick, President and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), the leading voice for the emerging field of online and blended learning. She is the former Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. This event is co-sponsored by Pioneer Institute, Florida Virtual Schools, Democrats for Education Reform, and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University. A panel discussion will follow, featuring Julie Young, President and CEO of Florida Virtual School.

“Companies looking to expand online public education in Iowa”
by Timothy Meinch and Grant Rodgers
Des Moines Register
February 23, 2012

Two national private companies could significantly impact the classroom experience for kindergarten through 12th-grade students across Iowa.

Connections Academy and K12 Inc. plan to offer full-time online education programs, in which Iowa students could enroll rather than attend their own district, in the fall.

Connections Academy plans to partner with the CAM Community School District (Cumberland, Anita, Massena) in Cass County, opening Iowa Connections Academy, and K12 will partner with the Clayton Ridge district in Clayton County, opening Iowa Virtual Academy.

Officials from both companies are currently showing curriculums to parents and explaining how online education systems work at a series of meetings with families across the state. Iowa Connections Academy will host an event in Altoona at the Holiday Inn Express, 165 Adventureland Drive N.W., at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24. “There’s a lot about full-time virtual school that is still kind of mysterious to people,” Allison Bazin, a spokeswoman for Connections Academy, said.

While online public schools remain a mystery to many, representatives from both companies say their full-time online students get a full school day, complete with clubs, activities and field trips.

Gov. Terry Branstad, in his reform efforts, has pushed for more online learning for students. Proponents of online or virtual learning say it will allow smaller districts to expand their course offerings.

Using an online education system, students will log on each day and receive live lessons, similar to a webinar, from the school’s Iowa-licensed teachers. After-school activities available at Iowa Connections Academy range from chess club to a student newspaper.

All Iowa students are able to open-enroll in the virtual schools; both Iowa Connections Academy and Iowa Virtual Academy are public schools within their respective districts.

The virtual schools also offer Iowa-licensed teacher

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The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) published a document to helps parents understand and navigate online learning options available for their children.

Once upon a time considered more sci-fi than science, online learning is growing by leaps and bounds, providing students and families yet another choice for education.

New York, Florida, and Tennessee have changed laws to make it easier for online learning to expand. In Ohio, while school districts call for a hiring freeze or lay off teachers, several online charters, including Ohio Virtual Academy and Ohio Connections Academy, are actually increasing the number of students and teachers, according to Bill Sims, head of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

California’s The Press Enterprise explains that “virtual schools here and throughout California provide flexibility needed by child actors, musicians and serious athletes,” and also “offer options to regular students dissatisfied with traditional classrooms.” Ditto in Louisiana where parents’ “overwhelming” interest in online learning has one virtual school asking the state board of education to double its enrollment.

A Maryland online program is geared toward keeping kids from repeating a grade or dropping out of school. And, Indiana has started its first virtual school to both help students who have fallen behind as well as provide AP courses for kids in schools without high-level courses.

In Arizona, the Cactus Shadows High School’s blended (classes offered online and in classroom) online school attracts so many students, the district is adding an evening version. And, here’s the clincher: The Arizona Republic says “The eLearning program was meant to recapture students who left the district to attend independent online schools or those who weren’t succeeding in the traditional classroom.” Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, school officials also point to the growth in private cyber education as a reason to “look through the lens” to better accommodate student needs. Just another example of how choice helps all schools improve to meet

Read More …

(from http://digitallearningnow.com)

The 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning were released on December 1, 2010 at the Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform in Washington DC. During the fall of 2010, the Digital Learning Council defined the elements and identified the actions that need to be taken by lawmakers and policymakers to foster a high quality, customized education for all students.  This includes technology-enhanced learning in traditional schools, online and virtual learning, and blended learning that combines digital and classroom learning. The Elements are grouped into three areas of focus; Students (#1-4), Providers (#5-8), and Government (#9-10).

1. Student Eligibility: All students are digital learners.

2. Student Access: All students have access to high quality digital content and online courses.

3. Personalized Learning: All students can customize their education using digital content through an approved provider.

4. Advancement: Students progress based on demonstrated competency.

5. Content: Digital content, instructional materials, and online and blended learning courses are high quality.

6. Instruction: Digital instruction and teachers are high quality.

7. Providers: All students have access to multiple high quality providers.

8. Assessment and Accountability: Student learning is the metric for evaluating the quality of content and instruction.

9. Funding: Funding creates incentives for performance, options and innovation.

10. Delivery: Infrastructure supports digital learning.

*Click on each element for more information.

View the full report here.