Brought to you by: 

Fuse RI

Fuse RI Alumni Tour Spotlight: Tracey Nangle

Fuse RI Alumni Tour Spotlight: Tracey Nangle This year, Highlander Institute is staying connected with our Cohort 1 Fuse Fellows through a Fuse RI Alumni Tour. Every few weeks, we visit 3-4 Fuse Alumni around the state to catch up with them in their current roles. Follow the hashtag #FuseRIAlumniTour for more updates! Tracey Nangle…

Read More

Q&A With Dawn Manchester

Highlander Institute is excited to welcome Dawn Manchester to our team as an Educational Strategies Specialist. Dawn is known for her work ethic, strong skill set, and personable nature, all important traits for the Institute’s growing team.   Describe the work you’ll be doing with Highlander: First of all, I will be trying to keep…

Read More

Technology 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 More

The Fuse Fellowship is Growing Up

When the Fuse RI Project was conceived last spring, one of its main goals was to connect motivated educators from around the state who were early adopters of blended learning practices. Through the Fellowship they would receive the training and experience they needed to start leading this work in a more formal way. The hope…

Read More

Whose 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 More

Adaptive 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 More

Fuse 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 More

The 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 More

RI 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 More

The 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 More