Ed Tech from the Ground Up

MAY 16, 2016

public schools to attend an Apple Distinguished Schools Day where Natick shared its blended learning approach with other schools and districts. First, a quick definition: According to the Online Learning Consortium blended learning means “a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web-based online learning.”.

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Education Elements

JUNE 7, 2017

Have you ever stopped and looked around your school, your classroom, and asked yourself: “How did this all happen? In year one of being a personalized learning school, I have had many reflective moments like this at Trailside Middle School. Teachers have assumed the role of facilitator and students are owners of their learning.

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Education Elements

AUGUST 11, 2020

Regardless of where students are physically learning this school year, educators must orient their instruction towards distance learning. It is important to note that highly-effective distance learning doesn’t just happen with the flip of a switch.

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Education Elements

NOVEMBER 8, 2017

When I was in high school I had a fantastic U.S. history teacher who demanded that we each complete an independent research paper on the 1960’s at the end of the year.

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Education Elements Personalized Learning Libraries Education 122

Education Elements

JANUARY 24, 2018

It was about a year ago that I took the plunge and implemented personalized learning in my classroom. That decision turned out to be one of the best I’ve made in my sixteen years as an educator.

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Education Elements

JUNE 28, 2021

Whether it was unpacking The Danger of a Single Story , weaving together narratives into a photo essay about the Children’s Crusade , or crafting original 6 word memoirs , our classrooms were built around stories. Stories are a powerful tool to connect, teach, and inspire.

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Learning Tools Classroom Personalized Learning 239

Education Elements

JANUARY 13, 2016

We spend a lot of time on our blog talking about personalized learning and how we work with districts and schools to create new, student-centered learning environments.

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Education Elements Personalized Learning Education System 100

Education Elements

JANUARY 13, 2016

We spend a lot of time on our blog talking about personalized learning and how we work with districts and schools to create new, student-centered learning environments.

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Education Elements Personalized Learning Education System 100

Education Elements

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Each year we receive hundreds of questions along the lines of, “Okay…so what does personalized learning actually look like?”. One is that personalized learning always involves these core four elements - targeted instruction, data-driven decisions, flexible content, and student reflection and ownership.

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Personalized Learning Examples Learning Data 248

Education Elements

JULY 28, 2020

Here we are, looking down the barrel of another stretch of at-home learning. We always knew that it was likely not “if” but “when” we’d be back here, but the fact that many districts are announcing remote learning from day one has caught us all by surprise.

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Education Elements

DECEMBER 19, 2018

You can learn more about our work over the past year in our reflection on 2018 , and today, we’re sharing this year’s most popular posts on the blog.

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Education Elements

MAY 9, 2023

More than three years after the onset of the global COVID-19 health pandemic, researchers are only beginning to scratch the surface of understanding how acute the long-term effects of the shuttering of schools and a shift to virtual and hybrid learning environments are having on students.

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Learning Survey Personalized Learning Data 187

Education Elements

MARCH 28, 2023

The bright morning sun floods in through the yawning glass windows and casts long shadows in the front of the classroom. My colleague and I and about ten-odd teachers sit huddled at the desks near the back; some of them are poring over resources on their screens, others using markers, pens, and paper cutouts on small chart paper.

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Blended Learning Learning Resources Classroom 224

Education Elements

DECEMBER 12, 2023

I recently had the opportunity to design and build a maker space for educators to implement making and tinkering in their libraries and classrooms. The most important thing I learned is the vital role a maker mindset can have on students in stretching their critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration skills.

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Education Elements

AUGUST 26, 2020

There is no question that our lives have been flipped around over the last few months. For many of us, we are adjusting to redefining our workspace and even our roles. Our work has changed and so has how we interact. One role that has significantly changed is the role of the parent or guardian of school-aged children.

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Learning Education Classroom 288

Education Elements

AUGUST 21, 2019

While teachers are busy setting up, and students are anxiously awaiting the news of teacher assignments and class schedules and being welcomed into classrooms, Design Principals at Educations Elements are gearing up to support over 140 districts in the 2019-2020 school year with the rollout or continued implementation of Personalized Learning.

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Education Elements

APRIL 14, 2022

It is a dynamic and inviting space, with collaborative spaces carved out of the hallways outside classrooms and across balcony walkways from the second floor.The classrooms themselves are spacious, with state-of-the-art tech, and an opportunity at every corner to support new and innovative instructional strategies, like blended learning.

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Education Elements

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

Reflection and goal-setting is the simplest way to begin personalizing learning because it mirrors a practice we engage in every day of our lives. And it’s one reason why reflection and goal-setting is often the first step educators take to personalize learning. It is one primary format in which we aim to improve ourselves.

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Education Elements

JULY 12, 2017

Through my work as a classroom teacher and now as an education consultant, I have noticed a few common barriers to collaboration and identified ways that school district leaders and classroom teachers can overcome them. With so many benefits to a collaborative environment, why is it so challenging?

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Personalized Learning Learning Groups Classroom 208

Education Elements

JULY 15, 2020

The first time I tried to cook a meal in my own place was a disaster. Within 10 minutes, my kitchen was a disaster. Within an hour, my house smelled charred, and I had abandoned all efforts to cook myself dinner. I called my mom frustrated: what went wrong?

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Strategy Outcomes Learning Classroom 312

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

There are organizations that support different kinds of transformation in schools and after researching and interviewing some of these organizations, we've learned a great deal about what these changes can look like, how schools go about redesigning aspects of their model, and what types of support they need along the way. Stay tuned!

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Education Elements Personalized Learning Education Learning 60

Education Elements

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Student engagement is one of the most overused terms in education. We talk about engagement in the classroom, between peers, with families, with the content, and now, virtual engagement. Engagement is certainly important if we talk about it this much, but what does it really mean?

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Student Engagement Learning Classroom Education 202

Digital Promise

MARCH 29, 2016

Amy Jenkins is the Chief Operating Officer at Education Elements. Education Elements is a corporate partner of Digital Promise. But if there is another thing I have learned, it is that despite the differences, there are things that hold true. Four Elements to Include. Buy-in and a “north star” is crucial.

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Education Elements

MAY 31, 2017

When I reflect on how far we have come since last summer I am impressed by how much hard work everyone has done to begin to make personalized learning a reality. Our district PL council engaged in serious debate over our vision of PL, our roll out plan (cohort vs. all-in), and our areas of priority and focus.

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Education Elements

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Principals and teachers trying to personalize their students’ learning are charged with radically reimagining the classroom. It’s a tall order that requires educators to take risks, move outside their comfort zones and essentially overhaul much of their jobs.

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Education Elements

JULY 13, 2016

At Education Elements we try to walk the walk of personalized learning. We believe teachers should be designers of their classrooms. We help districts visualize their personalized learning journey. We strive to make our workshops interactive, upbeat, and fun. We encourage singing , dancing , and selfie-brations.

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Education Elements

AUGUST 11, 2020

Learning is most powerful when students feel valued, honored, and empowered. The teachers who leave the greatest lasting impact on their students are the ones who see them for who they are, often before the students even see this themselves.

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Education Elements

JUNE 14, 2017

As an increasing number of schools and classrooms shift to personalized learning across the country, educators face many questions. Many of these questions focus on the need to define the purpose of curriculum, digital content, and tools in a personalized learning setting.

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Education Elements

MARCH 22, 2017

The biggest frustration I hear from teachers who are implementing competency-based education (CBE, also known as mastery-based education or learning) is that students' motivation drops considerably when they realize they can retake tests until they get a passing score. A classroom paradigm shift has to take place.

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Education Elements

AUGUST 17, 2020

If they’re lucky, teachers have a team of support staff in the form of school counselors and psychologists to help assist students, but even so, much of the work will fall to teachers to help keep students in a headspace where they are able to learn.

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Neo LMS

JUNE 16, 2020

Technology plays a prominent role in the modern classroom. In a survey of 1,000 long-time high school teachers, 73% say their classrooms use laptops and tablets daily. As a result, educators must stay on top of trends and pursue ongoing learning in technology. How to learn more about edtech options.

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Technology Education Laptops EdTech 230

Education Elements

JANUARY 17, 2018

Selecting the right instructional model to personalize learning is a bit like cooking dinner for my family. To learn more about each of these in the elementary and secondary settings, check out these infographics: PL models for elementary classrooms & PL models for secondary classrooms. It’s an art, not a science.

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Edsurge

APRIL 26, 2018

In July of 2015, the district paid more than $400,000 for alignment, strategy and professional services from Education Elements, a for-profit personalized learning consultant, according to receipts obtained by EdSurge from the district. million to the firm for personalized-learning consulting services.

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Digital Promise

MARCH 25, 2016

Amy Jenkins is the Chief Operating Officer at Education Elements. Education Elements is a corporate partner of Digital Promise. But if there is another thing I have learned, it is that despite the differences, there are things that hold true. Four Elements to Include. Six Risks To Avoid.

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Personalized Learning Education Elements Learning Differentiated Instruction 126

Education Elements

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Late last year we published a blog post on new evolutions on top of Station Rotation blended learning models that we’d been hearing about from educators in our Blended Learning Universe (BLU). Our friends at Education Elements didn’t agree fully with the way we characterized these shifts.

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Education Elements

MAY 4, 2016

Actually it’s about totally the opposite - it’s about how personalized learning approaches are unique and how what personalized learning looks like depends on what the district is like….it it depends on their own DNA. It was an eye-opening experience.

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Education Elements

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

I had a middle school science teacher once tell me she was surprised that I did well on a test because she assumed I was bad at science. She pointed to one of my classmates and said, “Her, I assume she’ll do well, but you’re just not very good at science.” I remember being deeply hurt by that statement but not understanding why it hurt.

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Personalized Learning Learning Classroom 233