As with all innovations, though, there is always a question of cost for providing such new technologies, especially when states are providing less per-pupil funding.

A study released last week by the Education Center of Excellence at the Parthenon Group (commissioned by the conservative education think tank, the Fordham Institute) suggested that the costs of digital learning could be significantly less than more traditional modes. The authors cautioned that its findings must be interpreted with some caveats: costs vary across digital education platforms and different entities pursue online learning for different reasons (cost-savings versus enhanced offerings, for example).

For the rest of the article, go to Can States and School Districts Cut Costs Through Digital Learning?

For the rest of the article, go to Sign On to National School Choice Week 2012!

Mickey Gee, with the UAB School of Business, was awarded the seal of recognition from the Quality Matters Program (QM) for his Basic Marketing class.

“It is a great honor and it is nice to see the UAB School of Business recognized for taking the lead in doing online learning right,” Gee says. “Our staff recognizes that access to education online is becoming more and more important and to do it right means a major commitment in time and resources.”

QM holds 40 quality standards that are reviewed by a team of three. The standards focus on objectives, learning activities, course materials and engagement.

“Online courses without interactivity and engagement with the instructor and other students are really just correspondence courses,” says Elizabeth Fisher, Ph.D., is the instructional design manager for the UAB School of Business and a certified QM peer reviewer. “We work hard to make sure students receive the high quality education and experience online that they expect from the UAB School of Business.”

Fisher has designed 40 online courses with 35 faculty members and plans to increase the online offerings. Her role is to ensure quality standards and best practices in online instruction by providing design and pedagogical support to faculty.

For the rest of the article, go to UAB instructor receives recognition for online teaching

In 2006, Michigan became the first state to make completion of at least one online class a high school graduation requirement. Since then, Alabama and Florida have followed. Reasons for attending a virtual school include physical disabilities or medical conditions, bullying problems at school, living in remote areas, or having caretaker or financial responsibilities at home.

Virtual schools also serve students whose careers in the arts or athletics make traditional school attendance impossible.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual schools are in session

In a time of unprecedented internal and external change, including the introduction of new organisation-wide systems and processes, UNICEF determined the need for a competency-building, strategic and developmental leadership programme. The UNICEF leaders involved will benefit from a deeper understanding of team work and the drive for results, support in gaining a long-term strategic view, as well as having the opportunity to be challenged by a network of world-class faculty, sector experts and each other.

The duration of each group is seven months and the content is split into three study blocks covering key leadership areas and delivered globally at locations including UNICEF’s headquarters in New York and at Cambridge Judge Business School, UK. The programme utilises a blended learning approach of plenary faculty-led discussions, group coaching, individual mentoring, project work and online interaction and learning through a Virtual Learning Environment.

For the rest of the article, go to Cambridge Judge Business School delivers Leadership Programme for UNICEF

For the rest of the article, go to The Growth of Virtual Learning (rebroadcast)

The state Board of Education gave initial approval Friday to a rule requiring high school students to take at least two credits online to graduate, despite heavy opposition to the plan at public hearings across Idaho this summer.

Schools nationwide offer online classes but just three states — Alabama, Florida and Michigan — have adopted rules since 2006 to require online learning, according to the International Association of K-12 Online Learning in Washington, D.C. Proponents say online classes will help save money and help prepare students for college, where many courses are online. Opponents say they replace teachers with computers.

The online rules vary from state to state. Idaho would be the first to require two credits online.

Idaho’s education board drafted the online course requirements as part of new education changes that were signed into law earlier this year with backing from public schools chief Tom Luna and Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. Luna wanted students to take up to eight online course credits, but that provision was ditched during the 2011 session of the Idaho Legislature amid opposition from parents, teachers and some lawmakers.

An effort to require students to take four online credits was also ditched.

The legislation that was approved and signed into law instead directed the state Board of Education to draft standards governing the online course requirements. The board directed a subcommittee to decide how trustees would proceed in April and that panel mostly discussed making one or two online credits a requirement to graduate high scFor the rst of the article, go to Idaho ed board votes to require online classes.

Color-coded lockers on the second floor distinguish the three grades: yellow for third, green for fourth and purple for fifth.

Promethean boards will occupy the classrooms to expose the students to an interactive and virtual learning environment.

For the rest of the article, go to Birmingham to open 6 new schools this term; Jefferson County has 3 new buildings

Blended learning, where students take both online and live classes, and online learning have dramatically increased in the past few years as more and more schools provide online classes for credit recovery, summer school and to offer subjects where there is no available on-site teacher. The Los Angeles Times reported that LA Unified school district has gone from just 300 students using online credit recovery last year to over 2,500 this year. According to Clayton Christensen, author of Disrupting Class, “In the year 2000, roughly 45,000 K-12 students took an online course. In 2009, more than 3 million K-12 students did.”

For the rest of the article, go to VirtualEDU.org Offers Online High School & Middle School Classes for Under $50 a Month

Although some teachers and the unions see school choice as foreboding for the public school outlook, school choice encompasses empowerment for the parent to choose an environment that employs teachers in all arenas. A new era has been ushered in for education. Once limited to rigid traditional school terms and schedules, teachers are employed in traditional public schools, charters, private schools, religious schools, and online schools just to name a few. Educators will in turn have choices themselves when deciding when, where and how to teach kids.

For the rest of the article, go to School Choice Offers Opportunity for the Teaching Profession