Edina Digital Age Learning

Students in KC West's Mass Media course at Edina High School took a quiz recently to see "How Millennial" they were. They used the Pew Research Center assessment answering 14 questions on how they access and consume information. KC is teaching this course in a " blended " format, and has great reflections on that aspect on her blog . KC's work on blended learning is a great example of what's working in public education. After taking the quiz, she had them create a Prezi presentation to share how they consume media. It was interesting to see how they consume their news, music, and entertainment. Some were very "millennial," tweeting, texting , blogging, reading on Kindle's and iPads , while others were not. Here are a few examples of how the students see themselves: How millennial am I? on Prezi Millennial Generation on Prezi It was interesting to hear the students present. Some talked about how they read books on their Kindle and iP...

The districts that participate in Project Blueprint shared the state of Tech in their district. I've highlighted what I think were the important points. Edina 3,210 desktops and laptops (PC now, but may support other soon.) LCD in each classroom Fiber, 1 gig between buildings 50 meg connection to the Internet. (Buying roughly 10 meg per year additional.) Network (IP phones, digital video) Wireless: 90% coverage at Secondary, 20% coverage at elementary Aligned to mission and vision of the district, promotes curriculum and instruction, encourages innovation Improve efficiencies and effectiveness in the delivery of technology services ITIL framework Providing access Allowing personal devices Student Centric Learning: Cloud based, Universal Design for Learning, Easy wireless access, Anytime-Anywhere learning opportunities, rich multi-media content. Clayton, MO 10 gig between the building 1 gig within 50 meg connection for 2500 students, but seeing that be tapped out. Looking at 100 meg...

Edina is hosting Project BluePrint Schools this week. Comprised of districts that are suburban and of similar stature in their respective states, Project BluePrint consists of the school districts of Guilford , Connecticut ; Wayland , Massachusetts ; Cape Elizabeth , Maine ; Palisades , Pennsylvania ; Whitefish Bay , Wisconsin ; Clayton , Missouri and Edina . Curtis Johnson, co-author of the book Disrupting Class, How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns , was invited to speak to the superintendents, curriculum directors, technology directors and teachers representing the different districts. My notes on the session follow. Johnson began by asking those in the audience "Why would a 14 year old want to go to High School? His answer: Social Peer group interaction and to feel competent. Are our schools meeting those needs? He then told the story of a suburban Boston convenience store that had lines of people buying milkshakes between 6:30-7 a.m. Johnson sa...