Fuse RI in the News
This fall, iNACOL released Teacher Competencies for Blended Learning, offering a framework describing the characteristics and skills educators need in order to lead successful blended classrooms. Interestingly, the document does not begin with a description of technical skills and acumen; rather it starts by identifying the new educator mindsets that teachers must adopt in order…
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February 25, 2015 In my work supporting blended learning in Rhode Island and the surrounding region, one of the push-backs I occasionally hear is, “Why would teachers embrace technology that’s going to make them obsolete?” When I am faced with this question, I feel a mix of anxiety and assurance. Anxiety because I know that…
Read MoreKelcy Dolan, Warwick Beacon January 29, 2015 Classrooms across the country are quickly evolving as new technology is introduced. Gone are the days of just paper and pencil; schools are now incorporating tablets, e-readers, laptops among various other devices into the normal school day to help students prepare for the modern age of technology. Here…
Read MoreWell, actually, it’s in California. Picture a child learning to swim whose parent keeps surreptitiously scooting backward to encourage them to swim further. That’s a little bit like how I feel in my work supporting blended learning at the Highlander Institute. Just when I feel like I’m starting to get it, the target moves a…
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Providence, RI (January 7, 2015) A team of educators from across RI will travel to the Bay area in California next week to visit with leaders of Summit Public Schools. The trip brings together local school leaders, education researchers, and school designers. Participants in the trip to Summit Public Schools include: Jessica Waters, RI Mayoral…
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In theory, blended learning is quite simple — blended learning is good teaching. The challenging part of blended learning is the synchronization of many moving parts, similar to a symphony orchestra coming together to make beautiful music. Blended learning begins with an educator or group of educators across a school or district identifying the skills…
Read MoreBY LINDA BORG Journal Staff Writer lborg@providencejournal.com PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island expects that at least 95 percent of all classrooms will have high-speed wireless Internet access by March, just in time for the new state assessment that most students will take on a computer. According to the Rhode Island Department of Education, 85 percent…
Read MoreNP High School begins pilot program for one-to-one computing devices By JESSICA BOISCLAIR, Valley Breeze Staff Writer NORTH PROVIDENCE – A group of students at North Providence High School will be using laptops instead of textbooks for the remainder of the school year as administration looks to collect data on the effects of one-to-one computing.…
Read MoreProvidence, RI (November 18, 2014) Launched by the Highlander Institute and funded by The Learning Accelerator, Fuse RI was created to share, implement, evaluate, and scale blended learning by working with educators and districts across Rhode Island. This 3-year project promises to transform education for students and teachers. Districts spanning the state were selected in…
Read MorePosted by Tom Vander Ark October 23, 2014 The failures of top-down reforms are evident in many urban district–but so is the promise of organic, from the edges, outside-in innovation. Over the last three years, the explosion of mobile learning apps and the drop in device prices has resulted in hundreds of thousands of classrooms that…
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