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Response to Intervention in the Blended Learning Environment
Sept. 22, 2015
A Guide to Common Core
Aug. 21, 2015
Three Strategies for Consistently Engaging Learners
Aug. 10, 2015
The importance of cultivating a growth mindset with students
July 15, 2015
Becoming a reflective educator
July 7, 2015
Developing prosocial behaviors and interactions within the classroom experience
June 30, 2015
Identifying at-risk learners. Two critical components
June 15, 2015
Three key factors in igniting the fire in learners
June 9, 2015
Memories of school veterans. Thank you
May 24, 2015
Keeping early course finishers engaged
May 17, 2015
The right curriculum for blended learning
May 11, 2015
Blended Learning Technology. Selection Process
April 26, 2015
Students who finish early. Four ways to keep grads-to-be engaged
April 20, 2015
Generation DIY. Benefits of blended learning that transcend instruction
March 30, 2015
Generation DIY. Benefits from the Blended Learning homefront
March 23, 2015
Top 6 Lessons from Madness. NCAA March Madness
March 16, 2015
Preventing the Dreaded: "Why Do We Need to Learn This?"
March 9, 2015
8 Blended Learning Space Considerations
March 2, 2015
5 Favorite Practices for Effective Communication
Feb. 23, 2015
Second-Order Change: The Blended Learning Mandate
Feb. 16, 2015
6 Ways to Match Blended Learning Models
Feb. 9, 2015
Using the SAMR Model in Blended Learning
Feb. 2, 2015
Planning for 1 to 1 Learning: Making the Blended Learning Model Local
Jan. 24, 2015
Eight Elite Questions to Ask When Selecting Online Content Providers
Jan. 17, 2015
Five Tips to Overcome the "January Syndrome" in Professional Development
Jan. 11, 2015
Blended education: Student-led discussions
Jan. 5, 2015
Next Generation Learning Spaces eBook offer and conference information
Dec. 9, 2014
Learning from Reality TV. Five Important Presentation Lessons for Teachers
Oct. 31, 2014
Six steps to great technology training
Oct. 27, 2014
Why I’m "Bullish" on Blended Learning
Oct. 20, 2014
Lessons from the One-Room Schoolhouse
Oct. 13, 2014
6 Keys to Deliberate Practice in Blended Learning
Oct. 6, 2014
Top Fifteen Skills Students Need for College and Career Readiness
Sept. 29, 2014
6 Ways Google Drive Docs Rocks in Blended Education
Sept. 22, 2014
Effective Instructional Probing Questions
Sept. 12, 2014
6 Career Types for Personalizing Learning
Sept. 8, 2014
Back to school thoughts
Aug. 29, 2014
Using data to inform instruction. Rigor, Relevance, and Results
Aug. 25, 2014
Teaching to Learn
Aug. 14, 2014
Social and Emotional learning matters
Aug. 9, 2014
Infographic: 7 Blended Activities to Start the New Year
Aug. 4, 2014
Tips for electrifying instruction (even when the lights go out)
Aug. 1, 2014
Lansing's Woodcreek Achievement Center: Blended Learning ideas to improve reading comprehension
July 26, 2014
Top Five Blended Learning Tweets (of the summer so far)
July 21, 2014
Infographic: 8 key points to include in digital citizenship
July 8, 2014
Deliberate practice makes remember-able perfect
July 4, 2014
The 'One Minute Manager's' advice to teachers and students
June 27, 2014
Ways to Get the Most from ISTE 2014
June 23, 2014
Educators advocate for new programs, more technology, increased funding. 3 simple steps.
June 16, 2014
7 Favorite Ways Students Like to Learn
June 9, 2014
Adapting Teacher Observations to Blended Learning Environments
June 2, 2014
Celebrating Successes. Student Learning in a Blended, Personalized Environment
May 26, 2014
Teaching in a Blended Environment: 12 Questions for Reflection and Discussion
May 19, 2014
Great ways to support teachers in blended, personalized, and online learning classrooms
May 12, 2014
Engagement doesn't necessarily equal buy-in. Working through pushback in Blended Learning environments
May 5, 2014
Connecting Classroom Instruction to Online Content
April 28, 2014
Blended Learning Classrooms Start with Blended Learning Professional Development
April 21, 2014
Top 3 Ways Blended Learning Really Works in Professional Development
April 14, 2014
Must Follow Organizations Supporting Blended, Personalized Learning
April 7, 2014
Great Probes for Blended, Personalized, Online Teaching
March 31, 2014
Four Key Considerations for Selecting Blended, Personalized, and Online Learning Tools
March 24, 2014
Four Creative Ways to Share the Vision for Blended, Personalized, Online Learning
March 17, 2014
Series: Planning for Blended and Personalized Learning: Blended Learning Goals
March 10, 2014
Planning for Blended and Personalized Learning Series: Crafting a Vision
March 3, 2014
News from the Field: eLearn Magazine – Call for K12 Blended Learning Articles
Feb. 24, 2014
Does Big Bird "Tweet"? Teaching Generation Z
Feb. 17, 2014
Five Characteristics of Great Blended Learning Teachers
Feb. 10, 2014
Empowering Students with the Top Four Blended Learning Models
Feb. 5, 2014
Three Interrelated Parts of Real Blended Learning
Jan. 28, 2014
Connecting Classroom Instruction to Online Content
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April 28, 2014
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Aligned, correlated, connected, mapped…We use all kinds of terms to refer to how well, or even if, online content matches what we’re teaching in our classrooms. If fact, I remember back in the early 2000’s reviewing lessons from an online content provider and struggling to see the match between what they said the lesson’s objectives were and what was really taught. The vendor said the lesson was on some part of grammar. Yet, all of the questions focused on simple reading comprehension skills. In another more recent "work-life" adventure, a supplier of career readiness courseware asked me to actually list middle and high school lessons, along with their objectives, down in the lower-elementary grade levels. I fought hard. I argued profusely. But, ultimately I lost the battle and was forced to align lessons as if I were applying whitewash paint instead of doing finely detailed calligraphy work.
Connecting online content to classroom instruction in blended, personalized learning environments requires a focus on the details, the deep details of the content. Just like we would never hand a textbook to students without knowing whether it matched our objectives, we should never "give students a sign-on and let them go" without knowing where they are going. The quality of our profession hinges on how well we personally know our content.
Let’s boil down the process to the critical steps:
- Identify the discrete learning objective. Note that this is not the broad standards, but the detail pieces and parts that build to mastery of the standards.
-
Study the lesson and be sure you understand how the learning objectives are met through this content. Then ask yourself: "How does this content meet the instructional needs and developmental level(s) for your student?" You may need to modify content delivery and approach based upon your requirements.
- Look at the instructions for the students. Do they relate to the lesson objective? If not, what do we need to share with the students so they see the connection?
- Actually read the content. Try it out. Do it yourself. Complete the questions and activities. Be sure that online content relates to the objective.
- Think about every interaction from the viewpoint of the students. If we are setting joint expectations with our students and they know the discrete objective, what questions will they ask? Where might they struggle? What are the means to answer those questions (using open-ended probes)?
- Identify the technology, tool, and/or application that you plan on using to meet the objective - that most closely aligns with the objectives and developmental level and approach of your students.
- If we’re using the online lesson as a part of project or problem-based learning, look at the adjacent lessons. If we use them, will we completely and thoroughly cover the skills necessary to complete the project/problem? If not, what do we need to add?
Today’s Challenge:
Take one lesson from your online content provider and dig deep into its trenches. Does it do what the vendor says it is going to do? Parse the objective according to the cognitive levels of difficulty. Is it too easy, too hard, to just right?
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