The Christensen Institute

JULY 14, 2017

This week saw the release of the third in a series of personalized learning studies conducted by the RAND Foundation. The research analyzed implementation, survey, and efficacy data in a sample of schools that are part of the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) portfolio, and compared that data to a national sample of schools. The findings? NGLC schools yielded some positive academic results, but educators and administrators reported numerous challenges.

Personalized Learning 754

Personalized Learning Study Learning Report 754

The Christensen Institute

JANUARY 10, 2018

Last year saw a flurry of activity in support of personalized learning, new school designs, and new approaches to K-12 education policy. Looking ahead, education innovators have their work cut out for them in 2018. Some of this work requires asking hard questions. Some requires acknowledging that there’s an elephant in the room. And some requires looking beyond our current conversation to where the next waves of innovation stand to emerge.

Education 396

Education Comparison EdTech Robotics 396

The Christensen Institute

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

From the first-hand experiences of millions of students and teachers worldwide, it’s clear that paper notebooks are a deterrent to quality education. For generations, students have used them in class to scribble or doodle, pass messages to their friends, or construct wads, planes, and spitball projectiles. Given the numerous ways students can use their notebooks to derail learning, it’s a wonder that most schools still permit them in class, right? Hold on a sec.

Laptops 362

Laptops Social Media STEM Software 362

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 13, 2018

Image: Atul Gawande | Wikimedia Commons: Amar Karodkar. Buffet, Bezos and Dimon have found their man. Five months after the respective chiefs of Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and J.P. Morgan Chase jointly founded a venture to reduce the cost of healthcare in the U.S.,

Industry 145

Industry System Training Company 145

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The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 10, 2018

The SXSW EDU PanelPicker is back again! This year, learn more about the proposed SXSWEDU 2019 panels featuring the latest research from Thomas Arnett, Julia Freeland Fisher, Alana Dunagan, and Richard Price. Discover what our team is bringing to the K-12 and higher education conversation.

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The Christensen Institute

DECEMBER 30, 2017

Join the Instagram party and be sure to know your limits. Instagram limits can be deceiving and rewarding. Ready to get the most out of Instagram for your brand? Join the crowd of about 1 billion others who made Instagram the fastest growing social network in history.

Social Media 283

Social Media Outcomes Course Industry 283

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 9, 2018

Image: People using lights powered by Off-Grid:Electric’s solar service, mPower | Flickr: Power Africa. If the U.S.

Company 142

Company Examples Strategy Learning 142

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 9, 2018

Earlier this year the Fordham Institute wrote about the challenge of the gifted gap in our nation’s schools. Put simply, gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds too often are not identified as gifted, which causes them to lose out on access to a variety of gifted-and-talented programs at their local schools that could accelerate their development and social and economic opportunities.

Khan Academy 141

Khan Academy Blended Learning Exercises System 141

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 8, 2018

This is the third post in a three-part series on strategies for expanding the impact of schools and teachers. The other posts in the series are available at the following links: part 1 , part 2. Innovation is the key to real and lasting progress in education, but it isn’t easy to get right. In principle, innovation allows schools to push past time and resource constraints so teachers can accomplish more with their students.

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Blended Learning Differentiated Instruction Flipped Classroom Tablets 141

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 14, 2018

About the author: Casey Lynch is a K-12 education research intern with the Christensen Institute focused on interviewing and profiling schools in the Blended Learning Universe Directory, and a rising 8th grade English teacher in The School District of Philadelphia. Many teachers interested in implementing blended learning may be deterred by challenges in their school contexts.

Blended Learning 111

Blended Learning Khan Academy Flipped Classroom Competency Based Learning 111

The Christensen Institute

JULY 24, 2018

The international development industry is vast. When official development assistance ( aid offered by wealthy countries for the “economic development and welfare of developing countries”) and other forms of aid including disaster and relief are taken into account, the industry spends upwards of $200 billion annually. In some countries, such as Malawi, Mali, and Uganda, official development assistance funds more than half of government expenditures.

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Resources Industry System Assessment 149

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 12, 2018

French economist, Frederic Sautet, writes , “Revisionist economic history has displaced the entrepreneur from his central role as determinant of a country’s economic performance and placed greater emphasis on structural macroeconomic conditions.” Unfortunately, Sautet might be right. In matters of economic development, there is often a tendency to focus more on dilapidated infrastructures and dysfunctional institutions than on creating a culture of innovation through entrepreneurship.

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Industry Meeting Examples Study 181

The Christensen Institute

SEPTEMBER 7, 2017

Malaina is a current high school student who decided to homeschool in order to expand her learning by blending interdisciplinary, real world, and academic-focused learning. Her work has been published by Education Next, The Mercury News, and the Bluefire literary journal. . Innovative schools are on the rise across the world and are transforming the way we think about K–12 education. These schools are no longer following the traditional model of education.

Competency Based Learning 268

Competency Based Learning Robotics Personalized Learning STEM 268

The Christensen Institute

JULY 10, 2018

Last month, a new study by the RAND Corporation made headlines for its lackluster findings. Following a multi-year, multi-million-dollar initiative by the Gates Foundation to boost school performance through better teacher evaluation systems, RAND’s researchers found that the initiative failed to produce significant gains in student outcomes. When a promising education reform like this one misses the mark, where should education leaders turn next?

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The Christensen Institute

JUNE 7, 2018

T he NAEP scores released in April set off a flurry of headlines about the sobering state of achievement gaps across the nation. The general consensus? Despite pockets of promise , and slight declines in gaps by race, achievement data reveal that gaps by income have remained relatively flat, or uneven at best. The news for young people on the wrong side of these gaps, however, may be worse.

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Data Analysis Outcomes Examples 170

The Christensen Institute

APRIL 25, 2018

Disney has reigned as the premier brand in kids & family entertainment for decades, since its founding in 1923. Despite having raised ticket prices by 6% over the past ten years, Disney has seen record-breaking attendance. At the end of 2017, Disney made headlines for having to temporarily close its premier theme park in Orlando, Florida, having already filled the parks to capacity.

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Study Report Examples Education 186

The Christensen Institute

JULY 24, 2018

Does accreditation stifle innovation in higher education? It depends. In October 2012, the accrediting commission of New England Association of Schools & Colleges approved Southern New Hampshire University’s request to create an online, competency-based program that would partner with employers to provide a college education for just $3,000 per year.

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Outcomes System Resources Education 135

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 21, 2018

This spring, University of Arkansas researcher Jay P. Greene published a study in Educational Researcher on the benefits of students attending live theater. An extension of his earlier research on field trips, Greene and his colleagues studied the outcomes of Arkansas-based school groups who were randomly assigned by lottery to attend live theater performances of plays like Twelfth Night and Peter and the Starcatcher , among others.

EdTech 156

EdTech Outcomes Comparison Study 156

The Christensen Institute

JULY 26, 2018

Imagine a world with no achievement gaps; where every child excels in mastering age-appropriate academic content; where children’s confidence, creativity, critical thinking, and social skills blossom throughout their schooling; and where every student enters adulthood prepared to thrive. The world above may be idealized, romanticized, or even utopian.

Outcomes 128

Outcomes Software System Strategy 128

The Christensen Institute

AUGUST 1, 2018

This week I’m excited to share a tool that my colleagues and I have been working on for the past few years: a market map of what we’re calling Edtech that Connects. We’ve captured a wide range of edtech tools that are bringing new relationships within reach for students. The tool lives—and will be regularly updated—at whoyouknow.org.

EdTech 119

EdTech Tools Industry Software 119

The Christensen Institute

MARCH 21, 2018

Last week’s New York Times Fixes column highlighted the enormous promise of PowerMyLearning, a framework and tool that connects teachers, families, and students. The approach marks a departure from run-of-the-mill family engagement strategies like infrequent parent-teacher conferences or once yearly back-to-school nights.

Personalized Learning 187

Personalized Learning PowerMyLearning Outcomes Differentiated Instruction 187

The Christensen Institute

APRIL 2, 2018

Across the globe, we observe a similar trend: students, irrespective of their individual needs and circumstances, are encouraged to pursue education as a means to gain employment and climb up the economic ladder. Yet what we see, time and time again, is that when education is disconnected from the needs of the economy, this promise falls flat. The numbers aren’t adding up. Consider Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa.

Secondary 182

Secondary Trends Education Data 182

The Christensen Institute

JULY 31, 2018

In recent years, a lot of time and effort has been put into professional development and training for in-service teachers to prepare them to teach in a blended environment. Teacher preparation institutions have begun to take a more proactive role to improve preservice teacher exposure to blended teaching before they enter the classroom. For example, some states like Utah have even mandated that preservice teachers learn to teach effectively in blended environments.

Blended Learning 119

Blended Learning Survey Education Trends 119

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 26, 2018

Globally, more and more people are beginning to recognize the role of the private sector and more specifically, innovation, in helping poor countries become prosperous. In October 2017, the world’s most preeminent development institution, The World Bank, released a report titled The Innovation Paradox , emphasizing the role of innovation and the private sector in development.

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Industry Company Policies Report 146

The Christensen Institute

NOVEMBER 23, 2016

Today, President-elect Donald Trump appointed school choice advocate Betsy DeVos as our next secretary of education.

Blended Learning 284

Blended Learning Analysis Training Outcomes 284

The Christensen Institute

JULY 3, 2018

The World Bank is one of the largest and most prominent global development institutions in the world. The Bank currently manages over 12,000 projects worth approximately $46 billion, which are spread across more than 170 countries. In addition to the Bank’s global reach, it also has a wealth of knowledge resources. From its data portal on most macroeconomic indicators to its detailed reports and insightful papers, the World Bank is arguably the most important organization in development.

Trends 139

Trends Industry Resources Data 139

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 9, 2016

Personalized learning is the current big buzz in education. Everyone is trying to figure out how best to personalize the learning experience for each and every child. I applaud this effort.

Personalized Learning 308

Personalized Learning Learning Blended Learning System 308

The Christensen Institute

JULY 24, 2018

This guest blog was written by Rosie Rosati, health advocate for the Mesothelioma + Asbestos Awareness Center. In recent years, the healthcare industry has begun embracing the benefits of telehealth and acknowledging the obstacles this digital advancement can overcome. The patient-centered technology provides easy access to quality care for patients residing in remote areas or living in locations with limited access to specialists.

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Industry Company Outcomes Accessibility 121

The Christensen Institute

JULY 13, 2016

It’s easy to get caught up in the allure of new technologies. Companies do a great job showing off the improved bells and whistles of their shiny new products. But the truth is, breakthrough innovations rarely come from the technologies themselves.

Technology 300

Technology OER Advocacy Software 300

The Christensen Institute

JULY 19, 2018

Between headlines about children’s ballooning screen time to growing concerns about the costs of distracted parenting , it’s easy to scapegoat technology for troubling family dynamics. The warm glow of a touch screen threatens to pull children and adults alike from investing in caring and face-to-face connections. In 2018, good parenting and technology don’t seem to mix. But what if technology could start to prompt conversations that parents and children otherwise struggle to initiate?

PowerMyLearning 123

PowerMyLearning Technology Examples Study 123

The Christensen Institute

JULY 18, 2018

The Department of Education recently announced that it will be taking a fresh look at accreditation. Such a review is sorely needed: as Michael Horn and I argue in a new paper that was published originally as a chapter in the book Accreditation on the Edge: Challenging Quality Assurance in Higher Education , accreditation as it currently stands is a major obstacle to developing innovative programs that can improve access, affordability, and workforce alignment in higher education.

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Outcomes System Policies Meeting 123

The Christensen Institute

MAY 9, 2018

By definition , online learning is part of any blended learning classroom. It is the key innovation for enabling student-centered learning at scale. Given this fact, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking of technology—devices and software—as blended learnings’ core, defining feature.

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Blended Learning Software Online Learning Differentiated Instruction 156

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 5, 2018

Exports are often seen as a solution to the problem of sustained economic development, and indeed they can be. The East Asian Tigers—Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea—are perhaps the most commonly cited nations that have risen from poverty to prosperity primarily through exports. Yet at the Christensen Institute, we think about exports and how these nations developed slightly differently.

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Assessment Industry Microsoft Analysis 145

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 26, 2018

The success of our schools—and of our education system at large—hinges on teachers. From decades of research we know that teachers influence student outcomes more than anything else a school has to offer. Given the importance of teachers, many of the prominent ideas for improving education focus on increasing teacher impact through better recruitment, preparation, and development or through giving teachers better tools and resources.

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Sony Analysis Elementary Blended Learning 134

The Christensen Institute

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

On the heels of a divisive campaign, people are more aware than ever of the social and political groups that sit on different sides of the aisle, live in different parts of the country, and break bread with different cultural factions.

Social Media 267

Social Media Facebook Industry Tools 267

The Christensen Institute

JULY 11, 2018

While Washington, D.C. slams accreditors for not holding colleges and universities accountable for their student outcomes, the more insidious failure of accreditation is the stifling effect on innovation at existing institutions. Three case studies from a new paper that I coauthored with my colleague Alana Dunagan that was published originally as a chapter in the new book Accreditation on the Edge: Challenging Quality Assurance in Higher Education illustrate why. Tiffin College.

Outcomes 125

Outcomes Case Study Education Policies 125

The Christensen Institute

JUNE 14, 2018

As future-thinking schools experiment with ways to personalize learning—such as blended, project-based, exploratory, and mastery-based learning—it seems only logical that they also reconsider how they organize their instructional teams. This hypothesis guided our research with Public Impact over the last year, and culminated in a white paper released last month.

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Study Outcomes Elementary Analysis 139

The Christensen Institute

APRIL 18, 2018

Earlier this month, the Christensen Institute, Highlander Institute , and The Learning Accelerator welcomed over 100 advanced blended- and personalized-learning practitioners to Providence, Rhode Island as part of a two-day meeting-of-the-minds leading up to the 2018 Blended and Personalized Learning Conference.

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Blended Learning OER Guidelines Personalized Learning 159