As We May Teach

"My education was very similar to that of my parents. Theirs didn't differ a lot from my grandparents'. My children's schooling has been enhanced by media, word processing and the internet but the experience isn't fundamentally different from my own. They still go to a classroom, sit at relatively small desks and try to pay attention to a teacher in front of a board. The transformation of primary and secondary education in the United States is beginning now and will be well underway within a decade."

Four years ago I wrote the essay, "As We May Teach" to the Meridian School board of trustees where I was serving. I recently re-read the essay and it's just as relevant today as it was then; so I've posted it here.

The examples I used remain valid but we now have many more. Since then, "Blended Learning" has emerged as the term to describe the Cirrus High School experience I use in the essay. Rather than attempt to list the numerous new examples, I recommend you check my colleague, Scott Benson's "Running List of Blended Learning Resources."

In the essay I reference Clayton Christen's prediction that 5% of high school teaching would be online by 2012 and 50% by 2018. The 2012 edition of iNACOL's "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online and Blended Learning" report estimates that 5% of US K-12 students are taking part in at least one online course. So, four years after the prediction we seem to be on track.

I've elaborated on several themes from the essay on this blog:

• Personalized Learning
• Feedback
• Bloom's Two Sigma Problem
• Student Motivation

Unique to this essay is the application of Business Process Automation to the education space. It's a useful lens that's compatible with other approaches to educational improvement.