Tag: Guest Posts

Felsted School, an independent day and boarding school in Essex, England, embarks of a two-year trial to integrate Apple technologies into the learning process. Concerned that technology is “often thought of as a panacea to what is essentially a teaching and learning problem,” in this guest post the assistant headmaster describes their process to begin thinking about ways technology could aid effective practice.

Julie Young, President and CEO of Florida Virtual School, describes the appeal of online learning, and the dramatic growth the organization has sustained over the past 15 years. It is a cogent reminder that substantial innovations often start small—in the case of FVS, with 77 students.

The Paul Revere Innovation School is the first of two new schools to open this year under a 2009 Massachusetts law that allows districts statewide to create schools with autonomy reflective of the chartering sector. Superintendent Paul Dakin describes the ways that the district, administration, and teachers cooperated to design the school and the importance autonomy played in its character—including extended learning time and alternative assessments.

In this guest post Bob Bilyk, founder and former director Cyber Village Academy, a charter school in Saint Paul, envisions technology’s capacity to customize education for students. Now, the founder of LodeStar Learning, he argues most vendors’ curriculum is so expensive that teachers cannot mix and match curricula. He argues for a new type of school, and a new attitude that focuses on integrating the full capacities of technology to help both teachers and students access and effectively utilize Web-based information.