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Weapons of Mass Instruction:

Digital Learning for Every Child

Lenox M. Reed Seminar, Neuhaus Education Center

Houston, February 21, 2013

Milton Chen, Ph.D., Senior FellowGeorge Lucas Educational Foundation

San Francisco Bay Areamilton.chen@edutopia.org

My Learning Journey: Longest Street in the World to a

Galaxy Long Ago & Far, Far Away

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Imagine an Education Nation…

A learning society where education of children is the highest priority, on par with a strong economy, high employment, and national security.

A nation is only as good as its educational system.

The U.S. an Education Nation?

• Of 50 1st-grade students behind in reading, 44 still behind in 4th-grade

• A HS student drops out every 26 seconds,6,000 each day (Tough Choices or Tough Times, 2006)

• CA students 1 year behind U. S. average, 2-3 years behind best states (NAEP 2007, 8th-gr. math)

• Closing the gap could contribute $2 trillion per year in GDP (McKinsey & Co., 2010)

America’s Strength: School/Community Partnerships

A “ladder of learning” from pre-K through “gray” blending formal and informal learning through schools, universities, media, museums, libraries, companies, churches, youth groups, parks

A New Day for Learning: 24/7/365

• Innovation: The Key to an Education Nation

• A “Must Do,” Not Just “Nice to Know”

• Internet Time: Google 15 Years Old, YouTube 8 Years

• Every 30 seconds, 24 Hours of New YouTube Video

Educational Innovation = Authentic LearningIt’s Simple: School Life = Real Life

“the great waste comes from [the child’s] inability to utilize the experiences he gets outside the school…within the school…on the other hand, he is unable to apply in daily life what he is learning at school.”

John Dewey, The School and Society lecture, University of Chicago, 1899

“Average students learn subject matter in a third or less of

present time, pleasurably rather than painfully.”

George Leonard, Education and Ecstasy, 1967

6 Leading Edges of K-12 Innovation:

Any Time, Any Place, Any Path, Any Pace

1. Thinking

2. Curriculum & Assessment

3. Technology

4. Time/Place

5. Co-Teaching, inc. Parents!

6. Youth

1. The Thinking Edge: New Roles!

21st C. Job Description: End of Solo Practitioner, Rise of Team Collaborator

• Schools/Programs -> Learning Centers

• Teachers -> Mentors, Team Leaders

• Students -> Team Members, Scholars

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: Students & Teachers

Neuroscience & Cognitive Science: Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

1. Verbal2. Logical/Mathematical 3. Visual4. Musical5. Bodily/Kinesthetic6. Intrapersonal7. Interpersonal 8. Naturalist

3. The Technology Edge

• Weapons of Mass Instruction, 1:1 edutopia.org/maine-project-learning- schools-that-work

• iPod, iListen, iRead sites.google.com/a/eusd.org/eusd-iread/

• Online Learning edutopia.org/stw-online-learning- new-breakthroughs

• Wiki-Based 8th-Gr. US History

• Intelligent Text

• Assistive Tech/Universal Design

4. The Time/Place Edge

• Schools as “Prisoners of Time”

www2.ed.gov/pubs/PrisonersOfTime/Prisoners.html

• A New Day for Learning, Beyond the Bell www.newdayforlearning.org

• Place-Based Learning: Museums, Libraries, Parks, Gardens

5. The Teaching Edge: Collaborative Co-Teaching

• Parents as Co-Educators

• Linking Home, School, Community

• Experts as Co-Educators: Museum Educators, Scientists, Historians, Writers, Artists

6. The Greatest Edge: Today’s Youth

• 95% of Stakeholders

• Digital Natives Carrying Change in their Pockets

• Generation YES: Students as TAs genyes.org

• Edutopia’s Digital Generation edutopia.org/digital-generation

edutopia.org/digital-generation

edutopia.org/digital-generation

Learning Any Time, Any Place, Any Path, Any Pace