Blended Learning
Light a Fuse: How one state’s teachers are sparking digital innovation
Light a Fuse: How one state’s teachers are sparking digital innovation The nation’s smallest state aims to be a national incubator for technology in the classroom Originally published June 7, 2017 in The Hechinger Report by Nichole Dobo PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Dozens of teachers hovered around a group of students gathered in the center of a…
Read MoreTechnology Fuels Student Creation in Grade 1
By Carrie Sorensen First Grade Teacher at Highlander Charter School & RI Fuse Fellow @Carrie_Sorensen The use of technology in the classroom elicits great passion from both the advocates and the nay-sayers. This article by Audrey Watters seems, while well thought out and constructed, a bit too far into the conspiracy theory camp for…
Read MoreTackling Differentiation at Pleasant View Elementary
I have been teaching at Pleasant View Elementary for three years. During my first year in the classroom, our school received a grant from the Rhode Island Department of Education to become the state’s first model school for blended learning. I started my journey in Pre-K, where I only had access to a few…
Read MoreWhose Role is it Anyway?
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…
Read MoreAdaptive Software: Friend, Not Foe
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 MoreFuse RI aims to integrate, share technology in classroom”, writes Warwick Beacon
Kelcy 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 MoreThe School of the Future is Here
Well, 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…
Read MoreRI Educators to Visit Summit Public Schools in Silicon Valley
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…
Read MoreThe Making of Beautiful Blended Learning
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 MoreR.I. Gets Boost in Connecting Classrooms To High-Speed Internet
BY 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…
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