Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

  One of the principal reasons we created the Blended Learning Universe (BLU) school directory was so that we could more efficiently and effectively keep our finger on the pulse of blended learning. As schools and districts continue to join, and as current schools and districts update their profiles year after year, the BLU school […]

In a field aiming to shift educational practices from the Industrial Age to the Knowledge Age, educators on the ground today work in a distinctly brave new world. Leaders who are innovating around classroom instruction by adopting nascent practices of blending and personalizing learning are still on the periphery of a system very much entrenched […]

Good management is hard. Typically, employees grow into manager roles over time. In most industries, employees must first prove themselves effective at their own job; then, they may take on some administrative duties; and only much later do leaders oversee large groups of employees and become responsible for motivating, training, and retaining them. But two […]

The Enriched Virtual model allows students to complete the majority of coursework online at home or outside of school, but attend school for required face-to-face learning sessions with a teacher. Unlike the Flipped Classroom, Enriched Virtual programs usually don’t require daily school attendance; some programs may only require twice-weekly attendance, for example. The Enriched Virtual […]

As I mentioned in my last post, the history of education in the United States includes a long list of ambitious programs, initiatives, and reforms that have floundered in producing their promised improvements in student outcomes. Veteran teachers and school leaders have seen wave after wave of pedagogical, curricular, and policy fads wash over the […]

To scale effective blended and personalized learning environments, we first need to develop a better understanding of what learning approaches work, for which students, in what circumstances. This level of insight is necessary to build replicable theories of change, and it will move us beyond educational “best practices” that lack true predictive power. As we’ve […]