By Molly Thelosen, National Grants Manager
Last week DFER state directors brought state-level Democratic legislators from across the country to the Bay Area to see firsthand how technology is transforming education. Blended learning, which is the combination of digital learning and in-person instruction in a traditional school setting, served as the focus of the event. Exemplar blended learning models, Sal Khan, and some of education’s most innovative leaders provided a glimpse of how schools of the future may look and function, while also raising critical questions around policy implications and the best ways to meaningfully integrate technology into schools.
Sal Khan, recently featured on the cover of Forbes as the first “celebrity teacher,” talked with legislators about his completely free, incredibly extensive online learning platform know as Khan Academy that is available for use in schools throughout the country. The goal of Khan’s program is to provide a “free, word-class education for anyone anywhere”; a model that has brought Khan Academy, and digital learning as a whole, into the national spotlight. The Khan model allows students to track their progress and identify gaps through assessments and knowledge mapping through an online system. If used in a classroom/tutoring setting, the program provides teachers a dashboard to track student and class data in real-time.
After hearing from Khan, legislators visited blended learning classrooms at Summit Public Schools and talked with students, obtaining a firsthand account of how learning from Khan Academy and other digital programs impacts the education of a high school student. Summit Public Schools’ Rainier and Tahoma campuses exhibited how the combination of more traditional instruction with personalized digital learning can transform how students learn math. Students aren’t confined to a grade level, but can advance at an individual speed, receiving targeted interventions and support along the way. The school’s 9th and 10th grade students learn math at an individualized, self-directed pace primarily through an online “playlist,” an in-person tutoring “bar” and regular assessments. Sounds like an Apple store, right? Colorado State Senator and Social Studies teacher Andy Kerr reflected on his experience at Summit saying, “It is amazing to witness first hand the ingenuity and creativity displayed by other teachers and students who are trying new ways of learning in different places. I look forward to working virtually and in-person with these creative minds as we all strive to improve education in the 21st Century.“
As a very new pilot, Summit doesn’t have extensive longitudinal data to demonstrate the effectiveness of their program. However, they do demonstrate an impressive ability to quickly assess what is working, what isn’t, and then adapt accordingly within a few weeks (especially impressive to legislators given the antithetical process of policy). Student performance data is regularly tracked and student focus groups are held weekly to determine how to improve their blended learning math pilot.
While at Summit, we listened in on a few student focus groups and heard comments ranging from, “I love Sal Khan and I’m learning a lot though his tutorials” to “I’m distracted and not making progress.” These student responses are representative of the messy, complex process of integrating technology into education. Summit offered policymakers a “behind the scenes” look at how schools are figuring out the most effective ways to blend technology and traditional instruction. There will be mistakes along the way, certainly, but progress as well. Too early for polish and perfection, Summit instead is paving the way for schools across the country to begin empowering their students to take charge of their education through technology.