Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Génération Y et l'impact sur les organisations de 2020

In less than a decade from now, the Millennials (or Generation Y - those born between 1980 and 2000) will be firmly entrenched within all management layers of most large corporations around the world. As this begins to happen, it's interesting to ponder what this will mean for big business and what changes Gen Y will bring with them as they begin to take charge and steer the ship.

We all know who Generation Y they are – or we think we do. They're driven, abrupt, technologically savvy, information hungry, communicative multi-taskers, short of attention and seeking immediate gratification in everything that they do. Ironically, these personal growth seekers, are also the ones who seek constant feedback and positive reinforcement. Stated another way, these kids are difficult to engage and nearly impossible to manage.

There are a multitude of reasons for why this may be so. Generation Y was the first wave of workers who grew up with technology. They're comfortable leveraging multiple sources of data and information to simultaneously accomplish multiple tasks. They have had ample collaborative networks available to them to help them generate ideas and identify solutions. Income, status, and financial incentives are less important to them than quality of life.

So, what happens to the enterprise as they assume control?

A New Kind of Organizational Design
Today's organizational designs will likely be deemed obsolete. Millennials will demand a shift away from "command and control" reporting lines to more cooperative-based leadership models that provide greater autonomy and freedom of choice in the way work is performed.

Such a shift will stress and flex the organization in new and challenging ways. Looser, team-based organizational designs will need to be adopted. Gone are the days of multi-layered designs characterized by managers managing managers. Rather, temporary, purpose-based worker groupings emerge and flatter reporting structures are the upshot.

The pyramid management structure that we all grew up in will slowly be replaced with a more fluid and responsive network design. A networked organizational design is the next evolutionary step for today's "matrixed" organization.

In a network structure work is organized into projects, and, in turn, projects are grouped into portfolios (i.e., node in the network) of like kind. Execution of the projects within a portfolio is performed by workers who are assigned to the portfolio, in a "Just-In-Time" fashion.

Key knowledge workers may be permanently assigned to a portfolio (so to allow for needed deep intimacy and understanding of a portfolio's particular subject matter), while others may be temporarily assigned to play a particular project role for a specified duration. This allows an organization to better leverage its subject matter expertise across all of its portfolios.

This new type of organizational design provides work flexibility that Generation Y staff prefers and the scalability that businesses require in order to better manage costs and maintain quality through normal business cycles.

A New Kind of Operating Model
The shifting of the organizational design will, in turn, lead to a new kind of operating model – one that can accommodate a more transient workforce. Generation Y employees are very comfortable with a more integrated professional and personal life as long as working schedules are flexible.

To this end, operating models of the future will need to contemplate and weave the freelance and contract working arrangements preferred by Millenials, into the way work is performed. Indeed, the next generation of workers is willing to trade the routine, predictable and secure (which many find boring when compared to the multitasking, frenetic operating style that many favor) for the freedom to choose where, when and how work is executed.

This type of operating model, one characterized by pulling talent in as needed and freeing it up when demand is lower, fits hand and glove with the network design discussed above. These ideas can also be institutionalized at the same time that many businesses are recognizing that the use of contracted talent is a key ingredient to establishing the much needed agility required for success in the 21st century business environment.

It is fortuitous that the types of organizational changes and operating model evolution discussed will likely be accelerated by a need of big business to accommodate Generation Y work style inclinations. Several interesting implications emerge as a result. These include:

Firms must make a conscious effort to establish programs aimed at creating a culture that attracts, develops and retains quality Generation Y personnel.
Basic business principles around business ownership and profit sharing may be shaken to its roots with companies likely being forced to increase employee-based ownership to keep them interested.
Since collaboration and flexibility will gain prominence in established work settings, positions and job titles might need to be redefined or removed altogether, if existing titles hinder teamwork and prevent required organizational elasticity.
Thought must be given (and action taken) to harness the growing use of social networks within the workplace as Millennial will continue to call for more sophisticated means of "staying connected."
Since many Generation Y workers will choose to be employed by more than one business at a time, provisions must be made to ensure that free agent personnel are trained in the organization's operating policies, procedures and quality standards, so that they can assimilate quickly and deliver desired results.
The desire of Millennials to be employed by more than one company at a time can have serious implications regarding corporate espionage and intellectual property (IP) contravention. Couple this risk with the expanding use of social networks in the workplace, and, firms will need to extend security functions to minimize IP infringement risk.
Given the need for workforce (and, therefore, operational) fluidity, physical location independence will be needed by business, as well. Plans to establish remote work locations that can be staffed on-demand by a team assembled of free agents will likely be part of the near-future business landscape.
Businesses will be compelled to offer more "tailorable" and enhanced "lifestyle" benefits to employees. We are already seeing concierge services, childcare and eldercare offerings emerge in benefit packages. This trend will continue as a new generation of workers seeks ways to make their life easier.
Customer participation in business decisions could increase, as well, given the fact that Millennial consumers will continue to call for a "Voice" in the ways products and services are customized and delivered to them.
Existing older staff must be made aware of the trends taking shape in the employment market and the Company's desire to leverage the opportunities that exist there.
Senior management teams must promote these cultural shifts through its actions and be prepared to actively manage the enterprise through the transitions that will be required to institutionalize these changes.

The 2020 Organization
The Year 2020 organization will be one that is markedly different than what we see today. It will be a world in which the next generation of worker chooses to embrace personal independence at the risk of security, and one in which businesses must work hard to attract this budding talent.

With this, comes a very real leadership challenge whereby organizations will need to think differently about their management structure and the skills, competences and capabilities required to thrive in the new operating models that will result.

Clearly, a greater degree of emotional intelligence will be required by senior leaders so that they can proactively guide organizational transformation while continuing to grow and evolve successful enterprises.

Without greater insight and sensitivity, companies of tomorrow will be hard-pressed to create an organizational design or operating model that will consistently draw the best and brightest that Generation Y has to offer. However, through open mindedness and a willingness to break mold, some enterprises are already evolving towards the new operating models and organizational structures needed in the Year 2020.

Monday, January 24, 2011

4 façons de mettre votre audience en action

Nancy Duarte is author of “Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform Audiences” and CEO of Duarte Design in Silicon Valley.

A successful presentation can persuade an audience to change their behavior and take action — but presenters must clearly state exactly what they want their audience to do. Anticipating the audience’s needs is one of the first steps in presentation creation. Speakers can elicit behavior changes by tuning into their audience and crafting a message specifically for them. The personal appeal motivates the audience to act. The journey of presentation development begins where it ends: with the audience.

After immersing myself in all kinds of speeches –gallows speeches, patriotic calls to arms, keynote addresses — I discovered that almost all speeches request one of four outcomes. Whether a presentation is political, corporate or academic, the audience has just four roles to fulfill once the speech is over: doers, suppliers, influencers and innovators.

Doers instigate activities. They are worker bees that take on physical tasks, as well as recruit and motivate other Doers to help them. These Doers can be asked to assemble, gather, decide, respond or try something.
Suppliers get resources. These audience members have finances, staff or materials to advance your message. The Supplier can be asked to acquire, fund, support or provide resources.
Influencers change perceptions. Consider these people thought leaders who can sway individuals and groups, motivating others to join your cause. The Influencer can be asked to adopt, promote, activate or empower.
Innovators generate ideas. These people come up with new ways to modify and spread your message. They bring their brains to the table to create strategies, perspectives and products. The Innovator can be asked to create, invent, pioneer or discover.

Because every temperament is different, every audience member will have a natural preference for one type over the others. Providing each temperament with at least one action means everyone comes away from the presentation with an action they’re comfortable performing.

Be sure to identify actions that are simple, straightforward and easily executed. The audience should be able to connect their actions with a positive outcome for themselves or the greater good. When audience members see how they can help, momentum builds to quicker results.

Resist the urge to conclude with a dramatic call to action, because ending with a to-do list is not inspirational. Instead, connect the actions to positive results and paint a vivid picture of how the world will be a better place once these actions are accomplished.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Les nouveaux enseignants

New Teachers Are the New Majority

By Celine Coggins & Heather Peske

Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.

For Policymakers

Early-career teachers report in greater numbers than a decade ago that they want to stay in the classroom for more than just a few years, yet most do not stay. Policymakers must rise to the challenge of creating the conditions and incentives that appeal to those who have a positive impact on students.

The federal government recently launched the multi-million-dollar Teach Campaign to attract new entrants into teaching. What if a fraction of those funds were dedicated to retaining top performers, rather than filling the slots they’ll likely vacate after just a few years? What if a fraction went to craft a vision for a second stage of the career that appealed to effective teachers, rewarding them for their results? There could be no better marketing tool for the profession than a visible cohort of highly effective teacher-leaders who stay.

Finally, in the spirit of competition that the Obama administration has embraced, we, at Teach Plus, have called for holding a contest among the nation’s 100 largest urban districts. Who can keep the highest percentage of effective teachers through year five? Through year 10? Participation would first require defining effective teaching in valid, transparent ways, and districts would have to adopt a strategy that competes for teacher talent and keeps the best. Teach Plus is ready with teachers around the country willing to help define the incentives and leadership roles that would encourage a new teacher entering the second stage of his or her career to stay in the profession.

For New Teachers

Young teachers across the nation have a responsibility to be the change they seek. Perhaps knowing that they are part of the majority will embolden them. For young teachers to have an impact, their first and most important audience is their union. Early-career teachers often wrestle with the question of whether the union reflects their point of view. They must ensure their voice is heard. In many districts, retired teachers remain voting members of their unions. There is a risk that as the new majority of classroom teachers becomes those with fewer than 10 years’ experience, the new majority of union voters could become retirees. Current teachers—those who have daily student interactions—must take on leadership roles in unions.

Perhaps the most significant difference between this new generation and the retiring generation of educators is that the new generation grew up in the era of standards and accountability. They have only known a teaching career that includes regular student assessment and data analysis. As states and districts move to define teacher effectiveness and reform teacher evaluation to incorporate evidence of student learning, it is critical that the perspective of this group of teachers be well represented. The new majority must help define teacher effectiveness and build a profession that will keep them. The new majority must become teacher-leaders, rather than teacher leavers. And we hope to be a part of that movement.

Celine Coggins is the founder and chief executive officer of Teach Plus, which is based in Boston. Heather Peske is the organization’s national director of programs.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Academic Cheating...

Academic Cheating in the Age of Google

In high school and college, cheating is an epidemic. To contain it, the author proposes a few simple rules, including an end to the take-home test

By Michael Hartnett

The students are in their seats, and the test has begun.

And so has the cheating.

BlackBerrys and iPhones need just a couple of taps of the keypad to offer the right answers. It doesn't matter whether the subject is math, social studies, science, English, or a foreign language. Information is available at your fingertips, just as advertised.

Indeed, we have to face a simple fact about students today: As technology has evolved to provide a vast wealth of information at any time, anywhere, cheating has never been easier.

In the good old days, cheating was a simple affair and as a result not too difficult to track down, like the time a girl with limited English skills in one of my high school English classes handed in a terrifically written, sophisticated short story. She copied, word for word, Shirley Jackson's story "Charles," except for changing the title character's name. I guess she thought I wouldn't have a chance hunting down the story once she cleverly renamed her story "Bob." Alas, catching a cheater is not so easy any more.

SMARTPHONE PHOTOS

A few years ago, students would write the answers on the inside labels of water bottles they brought into tests. Today we have students photographing the tests from their phones in an earlier period of the day, so that students in subsequent periods could know the questions before they walk into the classroom.

Now catching the cheaters requires a level of vigilance and research better suited for the corridors of the National Security Agency than the cluttered desk of a humble teacher.

Today, students wouldn't have to rely merely on CliffNotes to provide them with handy, if highly unoriginal, commentaries on Hamlet. They have other choices, including study guides from SparkNotes, PinkMonkey, ClassicNotes, and BookRags, as well as a seemingly endless supply of articles online from both paid and unpaid sources. Just Google "Hamlet Essay," and you'll receive a listing of 1,460,000 results, the first page of which is teeming with free essays.

Sure, you can track down some of the cheaters by typing in an excerpt of their essays on the very same Google search engine to discover the source. And such websites as Turnitin.com, which checks student papers against a massive archive of published and unpublished work for signs of plagiarism, can also be useful. But the available materials are so vast, and the opportunities for students to create hybrid papers so easy, that students are now one step ahead, especially since underground networks of materials are constantly cropping up, concealed from the peering eyes of teachers.

FONTS OF DUPLICITY

Of course, even in this technological age, some students are so lazy they won't even bother to match the font and the type size for one section of an assignment to another, as they indiscriminately cut and paste material from assorted websites. A Spanish teacher I know once told me of a student who handed in an essay she clearly plagiarized from a website. Unfortunately, the girl could not explain why her essay was written in the Catalan language as opposed to Spanish.

Yet, we can't count on incompetence. Many students are so wily and crafty that they've learned to mask their cheating to impressive levels. Some can find answers on handheld devices while looking you straight in the eye or appearing to be in deep, philosophical contemplation; others plagiarize from a dizzying array of sources and cover their trail with vigilance worthy of a CIA operative.

So what must educators do? Well, let's start with limiting most evaluations to the classroom. Home assignments allow students to run amok with Internet materials. The legwork required to check assignments for plagiarism can siphon away a teacher's time from doing the real work of teaching—preparing lessons and evaluating student work. By taking evaluations in the classroom, students are much more limited in how they can cheat if teachers follow these three rules:

Electronics begone. The first rule of the classroom must be that all electronic devices are put away and can never surface at any time. If a device such as a calculator is necessary for an examination, the teacher must wipe out its memory, since clever students have been known to write programs so that answers are embedded into the devices.

No bathroom breaks. The second rule is that no student can go to the bathroom during an exam, since those electronic devices are liable to emerge in the stalls.

Hands where I can see them. The next rule is that students cannot put their hands below the top of their desks: Nothing good can come from students whose hands are hidden in their laps.

In addition, teachers can challenge students by examining the very "study aids" at the core of a cheater's success. When many students read a SparkNotes summary rather the actual text ofHamlet, a teacher can quote a few lines of that summary on a test and ask students "to describe what SparkNotes left out of this section of the play."

Yes, these remedies for cheating have drawbacks, like expending more valuable class time on evaluations. Furthermore, the teacher is now spending more time policing the course and less time engaging in meaningful dialogue or facilitating critical thinking. Are there other methods to cut down on cheating? Of course, and many of them have to do with creating highly original and often individualized assignments. Unfortunately, many of these methods can drain the broader, synthesized analysis from a course. Such efforts, however, are necessary.

Given the information available online, cheating on homework is too easy for many to resist. Only if the evaluations compel students to learn the skills and the material will cheating be reined in. Until then, true ability, knowledge, and wisdom will remain at students' fingertips rather than in their brains.

Michael Hartnett has been a high school English teacher, college professor, and SAT instructor/tutor for more than 20 years. He is the author of The Great SAT Swindle. For more information, please visitwww.MichaelHartnett.net. .

Friday, January 21, 2011

L'éducation en français

De Radio-Canada

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Ontario/2011/01/14/001-education-francais-minoritaire-phyllis-dalley.shtml

Éducation en français

Les méthodes doivent changer

Mise à jour le vendredi 14 janvier 2011 à 11 h 50

Un rapport pour promouvoir la langue et l'identité francophone dans les écoles en milieu minoritaire recommande un renouvellement des méthodes pour encourager l'usage du français.
La spécialiste de l'éducation francophone en milieu minoritaire, Phyllis Dalley, estime que les sanctions et les récompenses sont des stratégies désuètes pour encourager les jeunes à parler français dans les cours de récréation.
La chercheuse a mené des centaines d'entrevues avec des élèves et des enseignants de 17 écoles franco-ontariennes depuis trois ans. Elle constate que l'anglais fait son chemin dans la cour de récréation vers la fin de l'élémentaire et au début de l'adolescence. L'omniprésence culturelle de la langue de Shakespeare en serait la cause principale, selon elle.
Mme Dalley donne l'exemple des écoles anglaises de Montréal, où les élèves ne parlent pas français dans la cour d'école.
Plutôt que la carotte et le bâton, Phyllis Dalley propose de valoriser la langue de Molière à travers des activités qui intéressent les jeunes.
À North Bay par exemple, l'école secondaire francophone Odyssée a mis sur pied une télévision scolaire. Matt, 16 ans, y participe et affirme que le projet l'a incité à développer sa connaissance de la langue: « J'ai trouvé pourquoi j'aime le français ici à l'école. »
Le rapport à paraître prochainement, commandé par le gouvernement de l'Ontario, recommandera aux écoles d'organiser de telles activités qui donnent du sens à l'usage du français.
Jurer en français
Par ailleurs, la chercheuse Phyllis Dalley estime qu'il ne faut pas avoir peur de laisser plus de place à une langue plus locale, voire plus familière, car plusieurs enfants en milieu minoritaire n'ont souvent que l'école pour parler leur langue: « Les sacres, qu'on le veuille ou non, font partie de la culture linguistique. »
Selon Phyllis Dalley, quelles que soient les stratégies envisagées, les jeunes doivent toujours faire partie de la solution. C'est le seul moyen de s'assurer qu'ils continueront de se définir comme francophones.
Selon un récent sondage de la Fédération canadienne des enseignants, près de 40 % des élèves en milieu minoritaire hésitent à vouloir inscrire leurs futurs enfants dans une école française.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Team work or not...

Teamwork has become the safe and default way of working in organizations. In fact most of us have a long-lasting romance with teams. Yet managers rarely stop and question the assumptions behind team mania. Like breathing, we just do it. Is teamwork still a safe bet or is it last century?

The benefits of teams
Research notes the following benefits of teams:

1. It is considered an easy and structured way to manage many people. In a classic hierarchy we have a span-of-control that provides the boundaries for typical team sizes (3-12). This way each team can have a team leader or manager, who then reports to a manager, who again has a number of teams reporting into him or her, and so forth.

2. Teams provide a solid foundation for "thinking", problem solving, idea generation and innovation, insofar that two heads, or more, are better than one head when synergy may be created.

3. Teams (of certain sizes) have easier access to funding and budgets and thrive on the advantages of economies of scale. They are likely to "pull off" what individuals cannot.

4. Teams fulfill a fundamental human need for belonging. All cultures in human history form groups in one way or another and most people have a strong need for both social/emotional and cognitive/competence based bonding. In a work-related environment that may be partially fulfilled by belonging to an organization and benefit from its reputation, and the belonging is often even stronger when one is part of a sub-team.

5. A team can be a lot of fun to work in, long term friends are found and sometimes the team is almost like an extension of your family.

Drawbacks to teams
There is also the view that teams do often not perform better than the sum of the individuals. All teams have the potential to perform well, but in many cases they under-perform. This can be for many reasons, or the enabling conditions are not in place, such as:
a) teams not being managed well (especially a problem for highly diverse teams);
b) non-optimal composition of the team;
c) no compelling direction and lack of empowerment;
d) personal conflicts or conflicts vis-à-vis decision making processes and who does what;
e) bad or inappropriate structure and size;
f) the teams lacks a supportive context from its organization.

Does your team not suffer from at least one of these? Think, for example, of IT resources and tools you are using in your daily work. How many of these tools are really geared specifically towards working with your team? How well are you, as a manager, trained to manage a diverse group of different individuals? Do members in your team have the ability to challenge each other, speak up and share information?

It should also be noted that companies often test and interview specifically to ensure a potential employee "fits" and that he/she is not too different. There is some evidence that teams foster "groupthink" and compliance, in which case teams fail in their decision-making and provide incomplete alternatives or information search.

The dream team of the future
So what is the dream team of the future? Teamwork does not suit everybody and it can lead to social ostracism end exclusion, which can have dire consequences for the person(s) involved. But then again, how many people can really choose to work outside a team? Organizations are often wedded to a teamwork ideology. It is just the way things are done and how we are socially trained to think.

However, in the case of teamwork there are trends in society that may change the way we think about it. The most important development is the Internet and its applications. The saying "two heads are better than one" assumes that heads (people) hold information. Of course they do, but in today's wired world it is fair to conclude that a big part of the information we use in our daily work has in fact relocated from heads to nets. It is to be found either online by using search engines, or via networks that people are more or less loosely connected to (such as Facebook, Wikipedia or LinkedIn).

Thus, our job is increasingly a matter of finding, transforming and (critically) processing information that is more or less readily available "at your fingertips". This is often done most effectively by individuals, whereas the sensemaking and discussions of possible implications and prioritization can best be done in teams.

The new generations (i.e. millennium kids or project generation) like to form their own teams, networks, Facebook groups, hang-out meetings or whatever it takes. They need freedom and support for different ways of working. They need inspiration and guidance instead of commands and restrictions. Organizations therefore need to support occasions where informal "teams" (or dyads) are created naturally based on interests and personality.

Communities of practice are a good example of contemporary teams. These are groups of people (inside or across organizations) who share a concern or a passion for something they do (e.g. specific software or marketing techniques) and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

These communities of practices do not have to be concerned with Siebel, MindMap, gaming, iPads or other technologies. They can also deal with business or societal issues that occupy the minds of many young people today, for example social responsibility, environment or ecology.

So our challenge will be to modernize team work and processes, and to find the right balance between established teams inside an organization and fluid open collaborative teams spanning across organizations, disciplines and boundaries.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Éducation sexuelle et civique ; Position du Vatican

Europe sex education an 'attack' on religious freedom: pope

(AFP) – 1 day ago

VATICAN CITY — Sex and civic education in schools in Europe is an "attack" on religious freedom, Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday, following a Vatican row with Spain over a new course promoting liberal values.

"I cannot remain silent about another attack on the religious freedom of families in certain European countries which mandate obligatory participation in courses of sexual or civic education," the pope said.

In his traditional New Year's address to ambassadors to the Vatican, the pope said such courses "convey a neutral concept of the person and of life, yet in fact reflect an anthropology opposed to faith and to right reason".

Benedict said this was an example of the "threats" against "the cultural roots which nourish the profound identity and social cohesion of many nations".

In a collection of interviews published in November 2010, Benedict said for the first time that he approved of condom use to reduce the risk of disease, leading some to wonder whether his attitude to sex education was changing.

But the Vatican later insisted that the pope's comments referred only to sex workers who were HIV positive and could not be applied more widely.

The pope's comments follow a heated row between the Roman Catholic Church and Spain's socialist government over civic education, after compulsory citizenship education classes were introduced in 2007.

Thousands of parents in Spain have since complained about the course, which openly addresses topics such as homosexuality, divorce and abortion, and has been condemned by critics as being "anti-Christian".

In Monday's address, the pope said Catholic education was being "compromised or hampered by legislative proposals which risk creating a sort of state monopoly" in schools, particularly in Latin America.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Gifted program

Halton board defends new gifted program

Published On Fri Jan 07 2011

Article

Lisa Morgan-Long pulled her 10-year-old autistic son Stephen out of Halton's public school system. Parents of special needs children are concerned over a gifted program expansion.

RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR

Cynthia VuketsStaff Reporter

The Halton District School Board is standing by a new program that separates gifted Grade 1 students into special classes.

“This is a very good first step in early identification of all exceptionalities,” HDSB board chair Don Vrooman said Thursday.

Halton’s new primary gifted program is set to expand in September 2011 by creating separate classes for gifted Grade 1 students. But some parents of children with other special needs, including autism and learning disabilities, are concerned about creating separate classes for gifted students while other special needs classes were shut down several years ago.

Parents who this week told the Star they can’t get enough in-school support for their special needs children and have had to leave the public school board are “the exception,” Vrooman said.

When the chair was asked to respond to families such as the Longs — who pulled their autistic son out of public school because he wasn’t getting the support he needed to succeed — he suggested they “work with the staff and the school.”

“We’ve got all sorts of resources at the board that you can draw upon to help us help your child,” he said.

Vrooman also dismissed concerns that expanding the gifted program after a two-month pilot was jumping the gun. The first separate class for gifted Grade 1 students began at Charles R. Beaudoin Public School in Burlington in September. Trustees voted 6-5 to expand the program in November.

“We never, ever, ever approve anything after two months, and it got pushed through,” said former trustee Mary Dilly, who voted against expanding the pilot.

Separate classes may work for some students, but the bottom line is that the public school system is not properly serving children with special needs, according to one advocate for inclusive education.

“There are far too many children falling through the cracks,” said Janis Jaffe-White, coordinator of the Toronto Family Network. “The amount of support that children are getting is being reduced and parents are being told there isn’t enough funding.”

Jaffe-White said teacher training, accountability for special education funds and communication within school boards and with parents must be improved to ensure all special needs students — whatever their diagnosis, whether in separate or inclusive classes — receive the support they need to get the best possible education.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Education Hybride - E-Curriculum

Curricula All Over the Map for 'Blended' Classes

The Grand Rapids district in Michigan launched blended-learning classes this school year that combine face-to-face instruction and e-learning. Students, above, do work for a blended social studies course at Ottawa Hills High School.

—Adam Bird for Education Week

The Content and Approaches for Courses that Blend Face-to-Face and Virtual Learning Vary Widely, Raising Questions About What Works Best

By Katie Ash

Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org.

Three-Day Rotation

The 19,100-student Grand Rapids school district in Michigan launched blended-learning classes this past fall. The district has started with high school social studies and math classes.

“There was some initial resistance from the public—concerned parents with the perception that kids are just going to be stuck in computer labs—but that’s absolutely contrary to what [this] is,” said John Helmholdt, the director of communications for the district. “When you say blended, people don’t understand what that means. It took months of really trying to educate and raise awareness of really what it was we were trying to do.”

Moving to a blended model actually made teacher-student ratios better, according to Mr. Helmholdt, by layering on support-staff members to circulate when the students were completing work online.

In Grand Rapids, the blended classes go through a three-day rotation of face-to-face and online instruction. During the first day, students receive a traditional lecture-based class in a regular classroom where a new concept is introduced. On the second day, the class starts by going over the concept again and then beginning to use some of the online software and support tools that reinforce the concept. On the third day, the students work solely with digital resources.

During the days when students are working online, up to five staff members are around to help students one-on-one, Mr. Helmholdt said.

Avelino Penaloza, 16, takes notes while using a laptop to watch a video lecture on homeostasis at Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is participating in a hybrid classroom, which blends face-to-face and online learning.

—Adam Bird for Education Week

The curriculum that students work on during the online segments of the course include online books and websites, software programs, and links to research. Teachers provide the students with a research question that they are expected to learn more about to guide their inquiry.

Curriculum specialists worked throughout the summer of 2010 to start putting together the lessons students are now using, and teachers are continuing to customize curricula as the school year progresses.

“Schools all around the state are already steps ahead in blended learning, and we are really working to catch up,” Mr. Helmholdt said. “It’s going to take a little more time for the model to start to get its sea legs, but I think we’re starting to see that the teams are coming together.”

Training teachers to work together has been one of the most challenging aspects of shifting to the hybrid model, said Bernard Taylor Jr., the superintendent of the Grand Rapids district.

“Teachers are used to being a free agent,” he said. “Now you’re asking people to work collaboratively, to share practices, and put their ability to work with students on display every day.”

“Change is difficult,” Mr. Taylor added. “But when you have to make changes, you have to go for it. Make the case for it with sound reason, data, and research. Have a well-thought-out plan and build in lots of support and professional development, and then go for it.”

The 368-student VOISE Academy in Chicago has employed a blended model since it opened in fall 2008, but unlike Rocketship Education and Grand Rapids, it primarily uses online courses through Apex Learning, a Seattle-based, for-profit provider of such courses.

“It gives [teachers] the foundation for the whole course,” said Todd R. Yarch, the principal of the academy, which is a part of the 409,000-student Chicago public schools.

Each student at VOISE, which stands for Virtual Opportunities Inside a School Environment, is given a laptop to use during school. Students spend 80 percent of the time working independently and 20 percent of the time in whole-class instruction, which usually occurs at the beginning of class, Mr. Yarch said.

“The majority of our students would get bored with just an online class,” he said. “That’s where the blended model comes in.”

By supplementing the online class with whole-class instruction, students stay engaged and each student can receive additional support as needed, Mr. Yarch explained.

Although students are not allowed to take the laptops home, the school has worked with a computer-refurbishing company to provide a desktop computer for each student’s home. Many students, however, do not have steady Internet access at homes. Consequently, Saturday school, where students can come to use technologies available at the school, has become an important and integral part of the academy’s success, Mr. Yarch said.

'Specific Learning Goals'

In the 46,000-student Omaha school district in Nebraska, there is no such thing as fully online courses, said Mary Schlegelmilch, the district’s e-learning supervisor. All online courses are blended, she said.

How much of the course is taught online and how much is taught in person depends on the needs of the students and the type of course, Ms. Schlegelmilch said.

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“It’s all about opportunities for students,” she said. “That percentage of what’s online and what’s face-to-face is based upon what is comfortable for the teacher and what is appropriate for the student so they can continue to achieve.”

“Each teacher has the opportunity to have an empty course shell” in a learning-management system, said Ms. Schlegelmilch. Teachers can add information themselves, post links to audio and video files, assign readings, and direct students to online books, publications, and databases.

They can also import curriculum from the district’s collection of master courses, Ms. Schlegelmilch said.

In addition to certain core classes, credit-recovery courses are blended, she said. And some courses in the district are videoconferenced to multiple campuses through a camera and a large monitor.

Teachers can also create discussion forums for their classes, Ms. Schlegelmilch said, and require essays to be turned in online.

“It’s really based on the needs of the student and what they need for their specific learning goals,” she said.

Education / Leadership