 Okay, about to begin if you could just put in the chat box whether you can hear me or not that would help me out And while you're doing that I will apologize for the background noise I am at the lifelong learning center in Norfolk. I was testifying at vision and hearing on education and So I just got finished and I come out and I'm kind of in the commons area in a corner So if you hear things, I apologize, but I will go ahead and And I've got some great new information because I've been visiting with senators all day on blended learning Then our It's gonna cover. It's kind of the basics on blended learning. I wanted to get it out there and Kind of let teachers and schools know is blended learning. Yes So the reason that there is so much talk about the learning is it's a Nebraska statewide initiative About two years ago Nebraska decided that blended would be one of its initiatives and I would say it took me a good year to really figure out what That was referring to and I wasn't the only one because there's so many definitions out there It can look so different and so until we wrapped our heads around the fact that it's not a single Model or it looks one way that I really started to understand it and get appreciation for How good it is and how we Should definitely be doing it and it'll benefit our students You see here. There's a blended initiative And that is the definition that the state is using an element of student control over time place and path and You'll hear that quite a bit and I'll kind of talk about what that means And at any time if you have any questions, just go ahead and put them in the the Chat box down there All right, the statewide initiative has many components but some that you'll probably hear about is the learning object repository or a lore and In the state of Nebraska, we are going to use safari montage for this. You may have heard about it Here at esu 8. I'm about ready to get teachers to use it We're still in the setting up of the server, but it will not be long I predict if not before for sure right after christmas that we'll be rolling this out to teachers A learning management system or an lms This could be an angel a blackboard a canvas or some other form or maybe even just google Using google classroom google documents to do this The federated directory service system what this means it's a single sign on So a student would log into like a portal once and they could have access to their google account to their learning management system to this Learning object repository Possibly to like con academy Other digital resources that might be provided to them So that's kind of what's been the hold up in our area Trying to get that single sign on figured out and we're very close And then of course with everything We are really focusing on the statewide professional development part of this initiative What is blended learning? Well, it's face to face plus an online component And you blend it together One thing I was telling superintendents today It doesn't look the same in any two classrooms on any two days In any two schools So I might blend my learning environment one way one day and it'd be completely different the next It can be very simple. It can be very high tech And I'll give you some examples And actually you'll probably find out that you are already doing many components of a blended learning environment in your classroom All right, I'm going to pull over a video and this takes me just a second to do this Um that I want to share with you We went to Lawrence, Kansas a couple weeks ago to look at Um, they're really doing some great blended learning Things and they have a little Video that I want to share with you Get it here and I'll get it started Please type in there if you can't hear So after our field test in the spring of 2013 We knew we were going to move forward but we needed to select a learning management system We decided to select Blackboard because it was more the drive-off the lot ready. We had two Tools that our professional educators use in the classroom waste a month monitor student achievement place to engage students If you walk classroom first of all, you can probably walk in before the bell Because students are Anger to get started currently not going to be able to run up the classroom. There is a plan They have electronic devices out iPads and laptops students working on the computers through Blackboard Sometimes it might be an individual student. Sometimes they might be in partners Of conversation going on collaboration lots of discussion in a blended environment It's a lot easier to interact with the teacher and work in your own pace and learn how you want to learn I'm not busy at the front of the room being like Hey, attention to me and doing the lesson for 40 minutes and then I have three minutes to get to them get to like apply myself by Some of the choices she gives us are we can sing a song We can do research write it in a word document. We can So she can read it or she can watch a video she can read it over as She can replay the video She comes home just super excited and talking a mile a minute. If somebody would much rather sing a song than write a song. Student engagement is so high that they constantly To get on Blackboard because they know that it's It's really cool because I love having all this technology there I had kids coming up to me the day we got access to Blackboard going Is there an app? Can I get the app on my phone? I found that most of my students were telling me that they had solved their own problems or that another student had explained something to them and math I'm ahead of some people so I helped them with problems that they needed to find My favorite is there's no failure success Next journal entry So you'd always be checking your grades on Blackboard in a blended setting I Students accountable for that re-learning and what I found Students are interested in re-learning and then approach me for opportunities to demonstrate This just created this When I decided to log into Blackboard on this So that I could stay with my class Just watch the kids work either in unison or they're just so engaged that they lose alternative time That to me is authentic engagement. And that's what we're producing in these classrooms I am more energized about teaching and more proud of what I do because of blended learning than I ever have been before I feel my students better. I know that they are 100 engaged from the minute they walk in the door We're Let me see if I can pull back my Full screen here Give me a second Okay And I'll get back to my powerpoint Um, again, I apologize for the noise. This is being reported But when I listen to it, if there's too much background noise, I'll record it and post a better copy of it Um, if that's a problem what I really like about this video is not that it's the Blackboard that they're using but it's a k-12 experience and That's what blended learning can be it can be pre-k through college and should be and that's what we've had a lot in our discussions today So why do blended learning? Well the biggest focus in one of the goals of the Um Senate's visionary lb 1103 is enrichment They want and kids to be not enrichment engagement. They want kids to be engaged and um, I read an article that high school teacher Um, a veteran teacher She was taking a position as a becoming a teacher coach. And so for two days she followed High school student um shadowed a student and she found by the end of the day that a student in a typical high school day sits and gets information over 90 percent of the time And that's not engagement. So blended learning Is just good teaching it differentiates It personalizes that learning it gives students some choice and some say and some direction But not complete. So I don't want to scare a teacher when I say that But um, it does give them a vested interest because they have some form of control It also provides very technology rich environment and that's where students are they They're way ahead of us usually in the technology and that's how they want to get their information and this allows that to happen A couple things here what students can expect Expanded learning opportunities Personalized learning they're going to have to be driven Um, there'll be some blend of face to face some online um, a lot of collaboration and um, definitely be able to use that technology and a lot of flexibility in their environment They could be getting some of this information. You saw the young girl said she was home sick She logged on and she was doing her work and was part of the discussion group So they don't have to be sitting in that row in your classroom What teachers can expect? Hopefully a very engaging classroom positive environment more project-based learning You've maybe heard of flipped classroom And these decisions of what students are doing still need to be data driven And so I think that that's important always it's not just fill in their day um senator Oh, I forget which one asked me after I testified that You know, do I expect this curriculum to be rigorous and rigorous isn't the word I would probably use But I think it definitely needs to be at a very high level um, and we expect Kids to and so we have to maybe search out and find some of this curriculum that meets that um buzzword rigor um That they're using but So I think that's an important part also what parents can expect This can be in a fundamental change in the way the teacher and the students approach learning and A blend some of this learning can be taking place at home or at school or on the bus It's going to be more tailored to their student And I think their students are going to be more ready for college and career What does it look like? um, I want to give you some examples and um, kind of just There's so many ways but I'm going to ship throw some things out there so you can actually get a picture. I'm a visual person Uh, this is a visual of face-to-face classroom. I'm it's self-paced learning Hands-on and coaching happening a virtual piece to it Um, so some examples might be so let's say we have a fifth grade class and they're studying fractions um One group possibly that's really struggling could be working maybe with the teacher and Using tangible things measuring cups and whiteboards figuring out just how what a fraction is and then maybe working on that adding them or Trying to get move into that multiplication and division of fractions But they can't help find a bite if they don't understand the concept so they can be working That could have a group that um, is online um piece I actually was looking online and there's a lot of different practice um places that they could go online for All levels addings correcting multiplying dividing fractions that could be um on con academy and having Sol con, you know, teach them through and work through some and you might have some that get it they get Fractions, they get the multiplication division of it. They're they would pass your competency test for fractions You might have them doing something like um finding five careers That they use fractions with and then trying to connect with a professional in that career Um bringing that information back to the class worlds collaborative project or something like that in a high school an example um An anatomy class one group can be learning the bones of the hand You could have some that are connecting with an orthopedic specialist. Maybe learning about injuries and um the career there and you might even have students taking um a college level course on anatomy maybe a mook, which is Free online course, but they have the option then to pay for it to get the credit You could take these from harvard. You could take it from your local community college um But it depends on where the student Is that you have to be studying bones of the same time type of thing or the hand, you know Um, I was reading this is a different example, but I was reading about a school that in the summer they their students got their health and pe requirement By giving them they gave them a health monitor or a heart rate monitor to where they worked out at a local gym They kept track they you know kept a food journal and did all this stuff they met and grouped and blogged online and and They come back in the fall and that credit was already Um, they received their credit for their summer work. Um, and so It can look a lot of different ways. That's um That's the beauty of it and Maybe the curse of it to first get your mind wrapped around it Any questions I've thrown a lot out of there. I wanted to kind of check and keep it basic but um And know that if it's something you're interested in we are looking for some pilot teachers Kind of you know say yeah, I'm doing blended ed. This is what it looks like And to kind of you know have other teachers in your school be able to say oh, yeah, I can do that Or I'm already doing some of that type of thing So I'm interested in By all means let me know Um, we actually Have some Coming up. There is what we call an intel online blended learning course on blended learning And it'll be a one day face-to-face and then you have follow-up cover I think it's two modules in the face-to-face and you have a follow-up, but you'll have to complete three modules time You complete the course But that's And for that one day face-to-face there's actually a stipend and a sub-pace stipend available So if that's something that some Of you are please contact me and I will get you that information also I guess I would just close if there's not any questions if you have questions Just type them in there or you can feel free to email me at a later time um Blended learning I'll say again is really just good teaching and um, the senators did address that they They agreed that it's reaching out to all students and they want students to be career and college ready and they questioned if Our pre-service teacher programs at our colleges are preparing teachers for this and I would say at this time, no um, but Uh, it's some place that we probably need to go Okay, the blend it if you are participating in the blend it through the Perkins grant. It is the same intel course Um that I was referring to it's a little bit different Beans it's through the Perkin grant. You don't get the stipend and stuff. So there's an additional option for anyone that's not part of that Perkins blend at one um And I think that's what you're referring to carol And so yes, it's the same class, but it will be for anybody that's not participating in the Perkins part of it Um, and I think kim is typing a question. So I will see what she has Carol did that answer your question? um, kim yes, I I think that they have already filled their Blend it class with Perkins, but that is something you would have to ask Deb Rogge or I can ask her to and let you know Um, I think that that is filled but you would get the same experience Um, but not with your career ed tech teachers like the blended Perkins is um, if you would go and the one day For the one that's not Perkins related is either in columbus carney or scott's bluff And scott's bluff is like next monday. So that's probably out, but carney or Carney or columbus and um, kim it's not Once you throw your email in there and I'll send you the information If you want to do that put it in the chat or just email me and I'll send it to you I'm not sure which kim I'm talking to But I will get you that information. There's a flyer about it All right, great Any other questions? All right, thank you for participating and I will send you that information kim And um carol, I believe you are part of the blended Perkins. So we'll probably see you then