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The Digital Backpack
Your resource for online learning
Your trusted source for K-12 online learning insights, teaching strategies, and success stories from Michigan’s leading virtual education provider. Join us as we explore innovative approaches to help students thrive in the digital age.
School Leader Insights: Professional Learning as a Catalyst for Change
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss how professional learning programs for teachers can provide job satisfaction, improve digital learning outcomes for students, and serve as a catalyst for change.
Bringing the world into your classroom with technology
Michigan Virtual
Meet Natalie Anderson, a fifth-grade teacher from Saline Area Schools and the recipient of MACUL’s 2021 Innovative Teacher of the Year award.
School Leader Insights: Technology as a Foundation
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss the importance of thinking deliberately about technology. Some might think that a digital learning initiative should start with technology. However, to leverage technology effectively to reach certain digital learning goals, leaders need to execute a project vision based on a clear understanding of the interplay between curriculum, instruction, and assessment and the needs of all members of a school community.
A Competency-Based Approach to Student-Centered Learning
Christa Green
Creating competencies and designing flexible learning opportunities that allow students to demonstrate mastery of these competencies on their own pathway and at their own pace is one piece of designing a learning environment that is student-centered.
Competency-based education in science
Nikolas McGehee
What is CBE?Competency-Based Education (CBE) is a student-centered methodology of instruction that incorporates elements of constructivist philosophy, 21st Century Skills education, and flexible learn
School Leader Insights: The Interplay Between Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss the importance of understanding the relationship between curriculum, instruction, and assessment in designing digital learning experiences that align with the underlying purposes for why a digital learning initiative is pursued in the first place.
What kindergarten bloggers can teach us about wonder
Michigan Virtual
Meet Barb Ozminkowski, a kindergarten teacher from Walled Lake who was an early adopter of technology in her classroom and has been blogging with her young students for years.
School Leader Insights: Institutionalizing a Vision for Digital Learning
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss the process of developing a shared vision among school and district stakeholders and the process by which school leaders may institutionalize the vision for continued growth and sustainability.
Making Learning Student-Centered: Providing Voice and Choice
Christa Green
We know that not all students learn in the same way. Why is it then that in the traditional model of education, we expect students to learn along the same pathway at the same time?
Michigan Virtual Research on Online Learning in Higher Education
Kristen DeBruler, PhD
Research at the higher education level is well established and can provide valuable insights into online learning overall. It is important, however, to consider the unique needs of K-12 online learners as compared to adults when determining which research findings to apply.
Michigan Virtual Research on K-12 Online Teacher Preparation, Professional Development, & On-Site Mentoring
Kristen DeBruler, PhD
Teachers play a critical role in instruction regardless of if the instruction is face-to-face, fully online, or somewhere in between. Training for working effectively with remote students is critical now more than ever and should, at the very least in a small way, be part of traditional teacher preparation programs.
The past, present, and future of online course design
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kristi Peacock, a course development manager for Michigan Virtual, who shares what it means to be an instructional designer, what advice she has for educators designing their own online learning experiences for students, and what she hopes the future will hold for this ever-evolving sector of education.
The art of debugging & how to think like a computer scientist
Michigan Virtual
Meet Dr. Aman Yadav, a professor of educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University, who shares his insights on the rich applications of both "plugged" and "unplugged" computational thinking for the K-12 classroom and sheds light on the biased algorithms that govern our everyday lives.
Competency-based education in mathematics
Nikolas McGehee
What is competency-based education?Competency-based education (CBE) is a student-centered methodology of instruction that incorporates elements of constructivist philosophy, 21st century skills educat
Michigan Virtual’s Strategic Plan: Employee spotlight
Sarah Hill
There’s no clear-cut definition of the term “strategic plan.” Sure, there’s a Wikipedia page, but my years in high school debate scared me from using that as a source.
So what is a strategic plan? What’s Michigan Virtual’s and why should you care?
OK, that’s a lot of questions I just asked. Let’s start with the first one.
The conflicted history & achievable future of social emotional learning
Michigan Virtual
Meet Lauren Kazee, one of Michigan’s leading experts on social emotional learning or “SEL,” who shares her personal definition of SEL, dives into the history of this concept, and offers advice for educators looking to prioritize their own social and emotional wellness and model this behavior for their students.
Teacher recruitment and retention: A snapshot of an ongoing crisis
Ed Timke
There is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Michigan and across the country. Why is there a crisis? What can be done? This first post in a blog series on teacher recruitment and retention provides a snapshot of the crisis and some initial recommendations on how to fight it.
The beautifully unclear future of educational technology
Michigan Virtual
Meet Sarah Wood, an educational technology consultant for Kent Intermediate School District, who shares her reflections on the recent history, current state, and beautifully unclear future of technology in the classroom.
How can we go beyond requirements & take pressure out of learning?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Erin Carlson, an English teacher at Sandusky Jr./Sr. High School who shares her journey in creating requirement-free learning opportunities for her students.
Bringing big ideas to life with design thinking
Michigan Virtual
Meet David Byron, director of innovation strategy at Sundberg-Ferar, a product innovation studio in Walled Lake, who explains how the tried & true process of design thinking can help students and adults alike in solving complicated problems, such as the many and multifaceted issues facing the field of education today.
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