If Grades Were Hyperlinks, Live Update

Our conversation here takes place at the National Summit for Excel In Ed - from their website, Launched by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in 2008, the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) supports state leaders in transforming education to unlock opportunity and lifelong success for each and every child.I was grateful to join my colleagues from NAF (known widely as the National Academy Foundation) in hosting a roundtable discussion at the conference aimed at illuminating new practices in credentialing, in this case one that is local to where we gathered in San Diego, CA. My guests, Alec and Carissa, represent Del Lago academy, only 30 minutes north of where we sat together in a windowless ballroom only a hundred yards or so from the harbor. My first episode with Alec - number 28 - was titled "If Grades Were Hyperlinks" and is one of the most downloaded episodes of the show. When I found out that we'd be in San Diego to discuss credentialing, I had to reach out and see if we could get an update and hear - more than a year after the initial episode - how Del Lago is fairing with this project, which even in the most forward-thinking school district would be a scuffle to reframe the purpose and tactics with which we recognize learners' acquisition of skills. Carissa Duran is an Aurora Institute, Personalized Learning, Teacher of the Year and Guest Teacher at Del Lago AcademyCarissa Duran is a teacher and instructional coach for literacy, language development, and educational technology at Del Lago Academy in California. She is committed to educational justice and uses innovative pedagogy and assessment practices to improve the engagement, empowerment, and success of historically marginalized students.Alec Barron is the founding Principal Investigator for Competency X, and is a curriculum and professional learning specialist in the Escondido (California) Union High School District. He completed a social justice-based Education Doctorate in Leadership for Educational Equity with the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Barron leads Competency X, an assessment practice for workforce-informed performance tasks that was developed to broaden access to college and career opportunities. The “X” is how learners choose to curate evidence of their learning and reflect on how it represents success with competencies. The idea was developed at Del Lago Academy in Escondido, California, to help students access the life science workforce. Currently, the project is using a Phase 2 award, with funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates and Hewlett foundations to pilot a competency-based articulation approach to broaden access to college credit and paid internships for high school students.Notes from this Episode:Competency X: https://www.competencyx.com/Excel In Ed: https://www.excelined.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

The show is about learning with technology, the realities and exciting potential.Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate us, and leave a review wherever you've accessed the podcast. Find our listener survey at facebook.com/nosuchthingpodcast drop a like on the page while you're there.The music in this podcast was produced by Leroy Tindy, a guest in episode zero. You can find him on SoundCloud at AirTindi Beats.The podcast is produced by Marc Lesser. Marc is a specialist in the fields of digital learning and youth development with broad experience designing programming and learning environments in local and national contexts. Marc recently served as Youth Studies Practitioner Fellow at City University of New York, and leads a team of researchers and technologists for NAF (National Academy Foundation).Marc is the co-founder of Emoti-Con NYC, New York's biggest youth digital media and technology festival, and in 2012 was named a National School Boards Association “20-to-Watch” among national leaders in education and technology. Connect with Marc on BlueSky @malesser, or LinkedIn.What's with the ice cream truck in the logo? In the 80's, Richard E. Clark at University of Southern California set off a pretty epic debate based on his statement that "media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition." * So, the ice cream truck, it's a nod to Richard Clark, who frequently rings in my ear when I'm tempted to take things at face value. "Is it the method, or the medium?" I wonder.The title, No Such Thing, has a few meanings. Mostly, it emphasizes the importance of hard questions as we develop and document the narrative of "education" in the US. For Richard E. Clark, the question is whether there's such a thing as learning from new technologies. For others, it might be whether there's a panacea for the challenges we face in this field. Whatever your question, I hope that it reminds you to keep asking--yourself, your learners, others--what's working and how so.* Clark, R. E. (1983) Reconsidering Research on Learning From Media. Review of Educational Research 53(4) 445-459. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.