5:01 pm in 21st Century Teaching by Site Administrator
The New York City Department of Education created the Innovation Zone (iZone) in 2010 to challenge longstanding assumptions around “business as usual” in K-12 education. While most industries have experienced tremendous change over the past 50 years, our education system has remained remarkably static, adhering to the following set of 19th century assumptions that fail to fully engage and challenge students who have grown up in a digital world: Read the rest of this entry →
3:30 pm in 21st Century Teaching, Time & Staffing by Site Administrator
The DOE will employ a centralized, portfolio management approach to oversee and coordinate the innovation pipeline. Creating a central infrastructure that uses common, rigorous standards to design and manage innovations is what differentiates the DOE’s Innovation Zone approach to the one-off ideas happening in isolation. Through the portfolio model, the DOE can look globally across the mix of innovations, discern those with the strongest positive effect on student outcomes, and bring these products to bear on a system of over 1.1 million student. For the 2010-11 school year, the iZone will focus on three categories of innovation–rethinking time and staffing in schools, introducing new technologies to personalize instruction and assessment, and expanding student access to world-class instruction through virtual learning. A total of 84 schools serving over 13,000 students have been selected to participate in the iZone this coming school year. Read the rest of this entry →
3:27 pm in 21st Century Teaching, Integrated Learning Systems by Site Administrator
The DOE will employ a centralized, portfolio management approach to oversee and coordinate the innovation pipeline. Creating a central infrastructure that uses common, rigorous standards to design and manage innovations is what differentiates the DOE’s Innovation Zone approach to the one-off ideas happening in isolation. Through the portfolio model, the DOE can look globally across the mix of innovations, discern those with the strongest positive effect on student outcomes, and bring these products to bear on a system of over 1.1 million student. For the 2010-11 school year, the iZone will focus on three categories of innovation–rethinking time and staffing in schools, introducing new technologies to personalize instruction and assessment, and expanding student access to world-class instruction through virtual learning. A total of 84 schools serving over 13,000 students have been selected to participate in the iZone this coming school year. Read the rest of this entry →
3:25 pm in 21st Century Teaching, iLearnNYC by Site Administrator
iLearnNYC will launch for students in over 40 schools in September 2010. Principals, teachers and staff from these schools are busily preparing over the summer. Here are some of the highlights they have been working on:
Schools have ordered brand new equipment for the pilot program. Students will access the iLearnNYC platform on up-to-date hardware that promotes maximium flexibility for their anywhere anytime learning. Laptops – rather than desktops – will support students learning flexibly at their own pace.
Schools are receiving a bandwith upgrade to ensure that all students have uninterrupted internet connectivity to access their courses. Many schools also received electricity and power upgrades to accommodate the increased technology use. Read the rest of this entry →
