Lessons Learned from the Midwest

From inner-city Detroit to rural Minnesota, The Learning Collective has been hard at work over the past several years evaluating the efficacy of charter and traditional public schools in the Midwest. There are a few things we’ve learned in the process.

Technology Crash Landing

  Singularity University was started by some of Silicon Valley’s top companies – Google, Cisco and others – to teach individuals, businesses, institutions, investors, NGOs and governments how to leverage the newest technologies to benefit mankind.  Singularity published this article, written by Nathaniel Calhoun and based on an interview with Adam Aberman (both Members of The […]

Rethinking Mentoring

Before Adam Aberman founded The Learning Collective, he launched and ran ICouldBe.org, an e-mentoring, career development, and college guidance system for low-income teens.  Teens select their e-mentors, from around the country, with whom to work on 100% web-based projects over the course of an academic year.  ICouldBe.org has served about 20,000 teens with about 10,000 […]

Writing & Discourse Not Happening at Blended Schools

   The Learning Collective was recently in Detroit working with four of the city’s traditional public and charter schools.  Several of those schools rely heavily on digital learning programs. The Learning Collective has noticed that in these and other blended learning schools there are two areas that tend to get left behind: writing and discourse.

20 Takeaways from NACSA and iNACOL Conferences

 The Learning Collective recently attended two annual conferences: NACSA / National Association of Charter School Authorizers and iNACOL / International Association for K-12 Online Learning.  Keeping the list to just 10 proved too difficult so here are the top 20 takeaways from those conferences:

Work + School + Fail?

Strivers.LA is an application designed to help students succeed.  The current product is a free digital exam and study optimization tool.  When students sign up at Strivers.LA and enter an exam date, the application generates suggested study times and sends messages to keep the student’s studying on track.  Strivers.LA exam calendars are designed to be […]

Data Management & Analysis

The Learning Collective recently worked with Citizen of the World Charter Schools to improve its data management systems.  Citizen of the Worlds Charter Schools (CWC) is a network of charter schools growing from two schools in California to five schools in New York.  CWC needed to enhance its approach to data storage and use of […]

Private School Blended Learning Planning

The Learning Collective is working with Berkeley Hall School to determine whether blended learning and/or enhanced online learning is an instructional direction the school should pursue.  This represents a potential new direction for one of the most venerable independent schools in Southern California.   Based on The Learning Collective’s experience presenting at the Online Education […]

Insights from Conference Presentations

The Learning Collective has presented at a couple conferences this spring.  Specifically, we’ve presented about blended learning at the inaugural, national Online Education Symposium for Independent Schools (OESIS) and at the California Charter Schools Association’s (CCSA) 20th Annual Conference.

Blended Learning Evaluation Tool

The Learning Collective has begun working with E.L. Haynes Charter School in Washington DC to develop a blended learning planning process AND an evaluation tool to rapidly assess the effectiveness of the school’s blended learning programs.  Specifically, we’ll be evaluating the effectiveness of 9 different blended learning vendors/programs implemented at the school.