Open curriculum, or curriculum based on open educational resources, presents exciting opportunities for public schools. The curriculum is very flexible, easily personalized, inexpensive, and has (over the last few years) significantly improved in terms of academic quality. Many prestigious universities are  involved in building open curriculum, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, and Stanford University. With the difficult testing requirements and economic circumstances facing most schools, a significant demand has emerged in the  K-12 market for both open source technology and curriculum. State-wide programs in Utah and Florida, for example, are serving thousands of students using open curriculum. This trend appears to be growing fast.

Open curriculum has a few important benefits worth noting.

1. Low Cost– Most schools pay large sums of money for books, resources, and curriculum. Therefore, the financial benefits of utilizing open curriculum is obvious. As a site administrator who is strapped for resources, this is certainly a very appealing reason to use open curriculum.
2. Flexibility– Open curriculum is usually easily customizable and can involve third parties, including learning management systems like Moodle (which is also free). This means new features, tools, and apps can be imported from the open source community. These applications can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the virtual learning environment.
3. Curricular Continuity– Because open curriculum projects usually involve a large network or community of contributors, it is very unlikely the curriculum will be discontinued.
4. Continued Improvement– Because of the aforementioned network of contributors, the product is always being improved.

Some of the most important developments in open curriculum have taken place at the university level. Following is a list of a few exciting programs.

1. MITOpencourseware (MIT)
2. Open Learning Initiative (Carnegie Mellon University)
3. Open Yale Courses (Yale University)
4. Stanford Engineering Everywhere (Stanford University)
5. UOnline (University of Utah)

In addition to colleges and  universities, a few influential organizations have begun developing open curriculum for K-12 institutions.

1. National Repository of Online Courses
2. HippoCampus
3. cK-12
4. Curriki
5. OER Commons
6. UC College Prep

Although open curriculum presents many exciting opportunities for K-12 education, it also presents significant challenges.

1. Building Consensus– When it comes to using open curriculum at the K-12 level, building consensus around a particular type of curriculum is difficult. Whether in a small department or a large program, it’s very hard to get  professional educators to agree on a specific approach or course of action. Often times, this sort of disunity sinks a fledgling online program.
2. Implementation– The implementation phase of an online program which utilizes open curriculum is the most difficult. Finding a curriculum that best suits the students’ needs is challenging. However, building an online platform which not only integrates various technologies (i.e., communication tools, grade book tools, assessment tools, etc.) but also effectively delivers curriculum to students at the K-12 level can seem like an insurmountable task. Moreover, finding ways to modify and improve the open curriculum can also present difficult challenges for K-12 educators.
3. Hidden Costs– Every open source curricular program has hidden costs. Depending on the nature of the online program, these costs can quickly sink a project. Developing online curriculum and managing a complex learning management system, for example, can be a very costly endeavor, particularly for a cash strapped public school.
4. Intellectual Property Issues– The intellectual property issues usually associated with open source curriculum can be confusing and frustrating for educators, especially teachers who have limited experience with online learning.

Even though open curriculum presents a few difficult challenges, its potential for improving student achievement is very exciting.

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As reported in the Journal,  Ambient Insight Chief Research Officer Sam S. Adkins estimates that

“…about 450,000 K-12 students attend virtual schools or “cyber” charter schools full-time, while another 1.75 million take some of their classes online. The two groups are still outnumbered by students who take all of their courses in physical classrooms, which Ambient Insight reckoned at 50.03 million as of 2009.”

What’s extraordinary is Ambient Insight forecasts that close to 4 million students will take all of their courses online by 2014.

What’s, perhaps, most fascinating about the findings is that much of the early development in online or virtual schooling is taking place in the private sector. As Michael Horn points out in a recent blog,

“this [online learning market] is a reasonably robust private sector one at the moment. This is a bit of a rare phenomenon in K-12 education, but these signs of investment activity are positive ones. This suggests that the government’s role may be first and foremost one of providing the context for this to grow in an efficacious way, but also to be careful not to crowd out the private investment with its own competing investment dollars or to create too much process-focused regulation such that it stifles the potential innovation that comes from this. If we manage this correctly, we will hopefully see not just the boom of online learning, but also the boom of a student-centric system that provides every student—regardless of geography, income, or learning preferences—a rich set of choices.”

Michael Horn also points out that a transformation seems to be taking place where online learning is moving away from a strictly distance learning phenomenon to a robust blended learning revolution.

I guess this is where we say, “power to the people!”

Because of advances in technology– mobile technology, new and exciting social media platforms, iTunes, and YouTube– the way today’s students share information is very different than in the past. This new information paradigm requires educators to consider new approaches to educating students. Because of the way today’s students learn, it’s important that educators tailor instruction to meet individual student learning needs and design curriculum that addresses student interests.

One of the first successful ventures into this new learning paradigm was MIT’s free online coursework venture in 2001. Kamenetz points out,

“Today, you can find the full syllabi, lecture notes, class exercises, tests, and some video and audio for every course MIT offers, from physics to art history. This trove has been accessed by 56 million current and prospective students, alumni, professors, and armchair enthusiasts around the world.”

What’s interesting about these new sorts of technology-oriented changes is they are disrupting the traditional model of teaching and learning. As schools like MIT take advantage of the Web, they are able to “disseminate high-quality materials at almost no cost, leveling the playing field.”

According to Cathy Casserly, a senior partner at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, organizations like MIT are

“changing the culture of how we think about knowledge and how it should be shared and who are the owners of knowledge.”

The problem, it seems, is most universities are still mired in a 20th century mindset when it comes to how educators think about knowledge and learning. While universities remain prohibitively expensive and unnecessarily rigid in terms of how instruction is provided, a growing movement of high-tech do-it-your-self students or “edupunks” are creating a new and exciting market for decentralized learning.

According to Kamenetz,

“The edupunks are on the march. From VC-funded startups to the ivied walls of Harvard, new experiments and business models are springing up from entrepreneurs, professors, and students alike. Want a class that’s structured like a role-playing game? An accredited bachelor’s degree for a few thousand dollars? A free, peer-to-peer Wiki university? These all exist today, the overture to a complete educational remix.”

The education futurists see the development of Web 2.0 as the final death knell of the 20th century learning model. The proliferation of open source learning tools, social media technology, mobile learning tools, and the ability of educators to cheaply and effectively construct rich, complex, individualized learning experiences for students is bound to revolutionize education.

As teachers move to utilize new technologies to improve curriculum and pedagogy, there are a few important problems to consider. Perhaps the most difficult problem, at least in a practical sense, is how teachers effectively integrate different technology-based learning tools to create a seamless learning experience. As a pedagogical practice, using new technologies to disseminate the different sorts of academic information high school and college students need is a very complex task. Therefore, teachers are left asking an important question: How should teachers use this technology to deliver effective instruction, and once we’ve identified effective ways to do this, how exactly should teachers organize the curriculum?

In some ways, integrating technology with high school and college curriculum may seem like a simple task, but any experienced educator will tell you it’s definitely not. Shifting from a classroom mindset to an online mindset not only presents significant practical problems, but the transformation can be very difficult for teachers to conceptualize. Perhaps this is why many universities, including MIT, have been unsuccessful at creating highly effective learning environments using Web 2.0 technology, at least compared to the traditional classroom experience (MIT’s online courses could hardly be considered examples of effective curriculum and pedagogical design!).

It’s not to say there aren’t individual examples of online curriculum that incorporate innovative design principles and rigorous curriculum to create a rich, student centered learning experience. The problem is finding examples of large-scale models that can easily be incorporated by any given university or high school. Although there are certainly emerging models that show exciting promise, most tech savvy educators would admit we’ve got a ways to go.

It’s also important to consider the problem of deciding exactly which digital tools educators should utilize to improve student learning. Digital tools such as micro blogging, open source learning management systems, and web-based student information systems are important tools for creating a robust and integrated learning platform. But which tools should educators use, and for what purposes? Furthermore, how can these tools be integrated to create a seamless learning experience? What’s exciting, I think, is that the tools and information are presently available. The problem now is constructing a learning infrastructure that truly works? Today’s teaching environment requires educators to utilize a variety of programs in order to deliver effective instruction– a learning management system, a different grading program, a different student information system, and so forth. Teachers, therefore, are faced with a difficult challenge. Not only do they have to figure out which technologies to utilize, but they have to figure out how to make them work together. Figuring this out requires a lot of time, experience, and perseverance. Once all the factors are considered, designing a great online course can be quite expensive, time consuming, and frustrating.

When this problem is considered at the high school level, moreover, the issues become even more complex. Perhaps this is why high school teachers and administrators are reluctant to move courses online.

Although the potential benefits online learning presents are exciting, shifting the way educators think about teaching and learning is definitely not an easy task. Nevertheless, the more students and their parents demand highly individualized and inexpensive curriculum, educators will be forced to change the way they deliver instruction. The market forces that are shaping today’s schools will, at the most fundamental level, disrupt the current educational model. The problem we face as educators is deciding which tools we should use and the best ways to use them. Finding a solution to this problems might require the sort of radical thinking the edupunks like to embrace.

According to the study,

“South Dakota, Maine, and Wyoming top the list of states with the highest percentage of schools that have ubiquitous (one-to-one) computing programs for their students–while California (50) ranks last in this category…”

The study also reveals

“…a national average of about 5.4 percent of schools with ubiquitous technology programs, reaching about 4 percent of students.”

Interestingly enough, it seems the smaller states like Missouri (11) , Nebraska (6), and Kansas (4) have had much more success establishing one-to-one access for public school students.

According to Jean Hayes, a Project RED manager,

“Often, it’s easier for less populous states to implement statewide education technology initiatives because they have a smaller percentage of the national student population and the costs of such initiatives are less.”

Whereas the study found that larger states like New York (29) and California (50), which have made significant investments in educational technology, are reaching a smaller percentage of the respective state’s student population.

But, ranking states simply based on student access to computer technology may be misleading.

“[one-to-one access] isn’t the end-all, be-all of how they’re using technology, but it’s an interesting snapshot of technology access in U.S. schools,” said Hayes.

The study, entitled Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, involved a rigorous evaluation of more than a thousand recent studies of online learning. Of the collection of empirical studies examined, the research team identified forty-six studies that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis involved examining the conclusions of the various studies in order to construct a general conclusion (composite estimate) regarding online learning.

The research analysis is based around four important questions:

1. “How does the effectiveness of online learning compare with that of face-to-face instruction?”
2. “Does supplementing face-to-face instruction with online instruction enhance learning?”
3. “What practices are associated with more effective online learning?”
4. “What conditions influence the effectiveness of online learning?”

Not only are all four questions very interesting but they are the sorts of questions commonly asked by educators when considering the efficacy of online learning.

In terms of the effectiveness of online learning compared to face-to-face instruction, the study found that “students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

The study also found that blended learning measurably enhanced student learning as compared with instruction solely based on face-to-face interaction. Moreover, it found that the effectiveness of online learning programs seems “quite broad across different content and learning types.”

The study identified three important best practices related to online instruction:

1. “Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.” The study seems to indicate that online learning environments improve student learning when students are able to manipulate instruction based on their particular learning needs or when the online curriculum provides learning mechanisms that trigger student reflection or self monitoring of learning.
2. Online learning is more effective when the curriculum includes blended learning elements (e.g., face-to-face interaction, online collaboration, independent practice, etc.).
3. Effective online learning environments include a variety of learning activities. The simple inclusion of online learning activities such as video or online quizzes do not necessarily improve student learning. Although these sorts of instructional activities are often recommended by educators, the study was not able to find a significant connection between the activities and improved student achievement.

Although the authors of the study determined that blended learning measurably increased student learning, they were not willing to simply attribute the higher achievement to the instructional approach itself.

It’s also interesting to note that the study concluded that time on task is more beneficial to learning in an online environment than in a face-to-face environment.  This seems to confirm what many educators already know: Online learning activities enable teachers to effectively differentiate instruction and tailor learning to meet individual student needs. It seems to make sense, then, that online learning can be highly effective because it enables educators to design instruction that addresses the specific learning needs of students, provide more efficient and individualized student remediation, and individualize instruction based on student aptitude, different learning styles, and interests.

The study did acknowledge that the implications of the its findings are limited and more research regarding online learning is needed. Moreover, the implications for K-12 are very limited due to the small sample of k-12 based research analyzed in the study.

Nevertheless, the study’s analysis is very important. As many schools today face difficult economic challenges, blended learning programs may provide a more efficient and cost effective way to deliver instruction. At the classroom level, blended learning seems to offer important advantages over traditional face-to-face instruction. Perhaps the most important advantage is improved use of instructional time. By utilizing effective blended learning practices, teachers can better maximize limited instructional time while providing interesting and meaningful student-centered learning activities.

Edmomdo 2.0

Twitter has brought the concept of micro-blogging to the attention of much of the world. The recent Iranian election drama that played out on a world stage, certainly would not have been possible without Twitter. Facebook and Friendfeed have also jumped into the instant update arena to keep up and provide interesting options themselves. In a previous article, I outlined the idea behind micro-blogging and some of the complaints associated with it.

In today’s article, I want to take a look at a great way to develop a light-weight, easy to use, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

While Twitter is lean and sticks to it’s singular purpose (the 140 character post), there are some challenges to using it in an academic setting. Enter Edmodo.

Edmodo is built in a lightweight fashion without all the bells and whistles of a traditional learning management system (lms) and that is really its charm. It is designed like a teacher would design a simple learning environment. Like Twitter, it contains a micro-blogging interface to allow a feed of messages to be sent and viewed. Unlike Twitter, because Edmodo was designed for use on the Web, it doesn’t use the annoying #, @, etc. While this may be appreciated by many, it brings attention to a rather large drawback of Edmodo. Currently you can receive notifications (the 140 character posts) via email, Twitter, or SMS, however, you can’t publish to your feed via SMS. This negates the huge benefit of using a cell phone. Hopefully this will be included in the near future.

As privacy is one of the major concerns in education, unlike Twitter, Edmodo is based around groups. A teacher creates groups along with an access key for their students. This is an obvious benefit for the classroom and ensures easy collaboration with the necessary privacy for those involved. This group feature is pivotal for the remaining features to function appropriately.

Assignments can be created with due dates. In addition, files can be attached to the assignments. This can be very beneficial if a specific format or template is to be used. As is expected, students can reply to complete the assignment, attach a file, or add a hyperlink in their reply. The last option is great if a blog or Wiki contains the product of their assignment. A calendar provides event notification for the group and due dates for assignments. Grades can be attached to the submitted assignments and in version 3.0 a gradebook is scheduled to be introduced.

Links to interesting or important websites and files can easily be distributed to group members. Furthermore, Edmodo provides a nice storage area for these that can be easily filtered as the list becomes longer. An additional feature of Edmodo, is the ability to create public pages. These are pages that can viewed by the general public and not just group members. In addition, public pages provide the ability for a user to subscribe to their RSS feed. The value of public pages will become more apparent as I discuss possible uses for Edmodo.

Here are several obvious and some not so obvious benefits and uses for Edmodo:

• Allows students to receive and submit assignments online (a core concept of the VLE)
• Privately allows teacher to student and student to student communication. Thereby creating a more collaborative learning environment.
• Provides an easy way to share necessary files and important or interesting links.
• Provides a clear class calendar. No more guesswork as to when assignments are due and what has been assigned.
• Groups can be used for clubs and teams, not just classes.
• Public pages are perfect for letting parents see class assignments, due dates, etc. No more questions about not having homework. Furthermore, if the parent subscribes to the RSS feed, they don’t even have to visit the Web page again, the information is delivered to their email inbox.
• Collaborative tool for teachers as well as professional development. Edmodo minimizes the isolation that teaching all day in the classroom can create.
• Major school news, events, sports, emergency announcements, etc. can be easily sent to all parents and students (Twitter may have an advantage here).

Here are some potential pitfalls or areas that should be addressed:

• Students still forget their passwords. While these can be reset, it distracts from teaching. What about integrating Facebook Connect or OpenID?
• Greater amount of work and time spent in front of the computer for the teacher. In the beginning, the time required to set up a group and create the required content can be rather large.
• No two way SMS posting! See early comments in the article.
• Quizzes or tests are not supported in version 2.0 but are scheduled to arrive in version 3.0.
• New semester or school year requires any information with a date to be either re-created or best-case scenario edited to be appropriate.
• Illegal file sharing, ethics issues involving cheating, etc.

With it’s great privacy features, collaborative tools, micro-blogging, and ability to connect, Edmodo is rapidly becoming one of my favorite tools for creating a VLE. Teachers should strongly consider adding it to their technology toolbox. As always, I appreciate your feedback. Let me know how you are using Edmodo or what tools you use to accomplish these activities.

“Researchers estimate that more than a million public school students now take classes online, a 47 percent increase from the consortium’s original K-12 survey done in the 2005-06 school year.”

What’s amazing about the report’s findings is that three-quarters of the schools surveyed are utilizing online learning technology. The report also found that the schools surveyed were using online technology in a variety of ways.

“The survey of K-12 administrators found that online learning is being used in a wide variety of ways, from offering Advanced Placement and other high-level classes to high-achieving students to providing credit-recovery programs for students who failed or did not complete a class.”

Perhaps the most interesting finding is the trend in public schools toward “blended learning.” According to the study, a large number of educators who teach in the traditional classroom setting use online technology to individualize instruction.