E-School News – Lauren Angelone
“These days it seems most school-wide blended learning programs are taking place not in traditional public education, but in charter schools—for one big reason: Charter schools are able to essentially start from scratch. They can be designed around pre-packaged online curricula or the sorts of adaptive software that are being developed to support learning in math and language arts. Some take the added step of creating all or some of their own learning materials. In more traditional K-12 public schools on the other hand, there’s a long history of the way teachers teach and the way students learn—stretching back to the 19th century—that can make innovation difficult. There are structures in place that support the current way of doing things. And, moreover, particularly in successful suburban districts, administrators, teachers, parents, and students see the current system as one that works. Change that would allow for blended learning in public schools requires a major culture shift.”(more)