Blended learning that combines digital instruction with live, accountable teachers holds unique promise to improve student outcomes dramatically.
Extending the Reach
Schools can make the most of their great teachers and leaders by extending educators’ reach to more students. This approach can help create an “opportunity culture” for teachers in which they can collaborate, develop, and advance without leaving the classroom. Innovations in staffing models and career paths can make this approach possible. The Innovation Station’s resources for extending the reach include the following:
- Staffing innovations, such as publications, infographics, and videos that explain how schools can be redesigned to extend the reach of great teachers or how schools can offer more pay within budget.
- Technology information, including websites about digital tools, technology use in schools, and blended learning.
Technology
Broad
The Clayton Christensen Institute, whose mission is to apply “disruptive innovations” to develop and promote solutions to the problems of K–12 education, maintains a database that profiles and... Read more »
The first in a series of four papers from iNACOL—the International Association for K–12 Online Learning—on online learning, this report looks at how blended learning is being used in education... Read more »
This report by the Aspen Institute takes a look at the different ways young students learn today.
This brief summarizes findings from a May 2014 CompetencyWorks convening of technical assistance providers with expertise in the implementation of Next Generation learning models.
This special report from Education Week, directed to school leaders, maps the current educational technology marketplace and takes a look at the fastest growing categories in the sector,... Read more »
A series of case studies from the Christensen Institute illustrate the impact of blended learning on student outcomes in six states.
SmartBrief is a news aggregator that provides daily news briefs tailored to several topic areas, including education technology. This daily news dose provides information on all things involving... Read more »
This white paper examines why teacher shortages exist in the United States at certain grade levels, subject areas, and geographic areas, and highlights some of the barriers to improving teacher... Read more »
This study by The National Center on Time & Learning takes an in-depth look at blended learning and expanded time in six schools, both traditional and charter, across the United States.
This study, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, surveyed more than 4,600 teachers seeking to understand how teachers use data to tailor instruction and the challenges they... Read more »
THE Journal is an education technology news website whose focus is on “transforming education through technology.” This resource provides up-to-date news on education technology research and... Read more »
Targeted
Blending Towards Competency: Early Patterns of Blended Learning and Competency-Based Education in New Hampshire 
This white paper examines the impact of blended learning in 13 schools in New Hampshire where state law mandates high schools measure learning by mastery of a subject rather than by credit hours.
Building a Foundation: How Technology-Rich Project-Based Learning Transformed Talladega County Schools
This case study focuses on Talledega School District, a high-poverty, rural district in Alabama, and its transition from a traditional school curriculum to a project-based curriculum integrating... Read more »
In 2010, the New York City Department of Education created an Office of Innovation, or iZone, to introduce personalized learning and blended learning programs in district schools.
The Digital Learning Day promotes the use of technology to support K–12 teachers in public schools. Through this initiative, the Alliance for Excellent Education draws attention to the successful... Read more »
Distinguishing flipped classrooms from Flipped Learning, this report by the Flipped Learning Network, George Mason University, and Pearson provides an overview of research and surveys on Flipped... Read more »
This policy brief presents findings from a convening of California school district superintendents on the barriers encountered and methods used to overcome obstacles in efforts to successfully... Read more »
The Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLCs), sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, profiled the 20 grantees of its third wave of grant funding, Breakthrough School Models for... Read more »
This case study, published by Public Impact, focuses on Rocketship Education—a network of seven public charter schools in San Jose, California.
This case study, published by Public Impact, examines Touchstone Education’s efforts to expand teachers’ impact on students and peer teachers.
Redesigning Schools: Financial Planning for Secondary-Level Time-Technology Swap and Multi-Classroom Leadership
This brief—written and published by Public Impact—analyzes two secondary-level, blended learning models developed under their Opportunity Culture initiative: the “Time-Technology Swap” school model,... Read more »
