SYS Presents: Adventures in Online Education SYS Education

Show Notes
Peter Drake is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He teaches a variety of courses including Software Development and AI & Machine Learning. His research has involved building artificially intelligent programs to play the classical Asian game of Go, using deep neural networks to analyze photographs of clouds, and creating video games to teach people about earthquake preparedness.
 
In today’s episode. Peter talks about learning management systems, knowing your purpose as a student, and helping high schoolers learn the basics of how to college.
 
Timestamps
2:22 What makes a good LMS, and how can a teacher harness those tools to effectively engage with their students?
4:33 An on-demand source of administrative information
7:41 Connecting the LMS with other technologies students are using
8:34 Don’t use more technology than is necessary 
12:53 How can online high schools prepare students for college?
14:43 In some ways, college is just the next 4 grades….
15:20 Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
18:22 If you’ve been using a system for years, you may think it’s obvious, but not to a new user
18:32 Students are not alone! 
19:14 Using your time wisely
20:40 Check your email at least once a day
23:27 The Plan, Change, Evaluate cycle
26:09 What holds students back when they’re entering college?
26:51 Making mistakes is how you learn
31:47 If there was one thing Peter could give to every teacher in the U.S., what would it be and why?



Episode Resources:
Peter Drake’s short essay on How To College
Small Teaching and Small Teaching Online - Books by Flower Darby and James M. Lang
Geeky Pedagogy - Book by Jessamyn Neuhaus
Ungrading - Book edited by Susan Blum
You can email me at drake@lclark.edu.
For social media, I’m on Mastodon at https://qoto.org/@peterdrake. 
https://github.com/PeterDrake/drakepedia/blob/master/administrivia/how_to_college.md

Guest Bio
Maddy Dahl has been teaching online for 8 years. During her tenure, she has taught a wide range of classes from basic high school writing and grammar to AP English courses. When she isn’t teaching, you can usually find her playing board games or exploring Oregon. 
 
Episode Summary
Maddy teaches us about how to create an online AP course for students, how to help students earn college credits while in high school, and provides invaluable advice to teachers just getting started on their AP journey. 
 
Timestamps
Maddy’s exciting news! [2:13]
How do you create high school AP courses online? [3:50]
How the FCM works in an online AP class [6:40]
A focus on collaboration asynchronously and synchronously [8:53]
Supporting students’ organization, practice, and executive functioning [9:30]
All about formative assessments [11:50]
Collaborate and listen [13:21]
Partnering with community colleges [16:56]
AP and college credit courses are rigorous but different [20:25]
Maddy’s advice for creating your own online AP course [22:00]
Maddy’s favorite teacher when she was in high school [26:29]
 
Resources
Find Maddy Dahl at mdahl@syseducation.org
How-To AP Guide FREEBIE
College Credit Now (Oregon)
Frontier Charter Academy
College Board
AP Central
FCM Episode (S2 EP16)

Show Notes
Matt Miller is the author of five books, including Ditch That Textbook. His Ditch That Textbook blog reaches thousands of educators in more than 100 countries with inspiration and practical teaching ideas. He's a keynote speaker, podcast host, and the creator of the Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit.
 
In today’s episode, we talk about not just ditching textbooks, but finding your educational hammer.
 
Timestamps
2:02 The mission behind the work
3:23 Saving teachers time and helping equip them to level up their teaching
4:32 A lot of edtech principles are based on good, solid teaching
6:14 Does ditching the textbook mean textbooks are evil?
7:15 It can’t get much worse
8:09 Sometimes you get great ideas just by looking at what others are doing
11:52 How to answer “How does this fit?”
12:04 EdTech tools are marketed to us
12:56 The carpenter analogy
13:56 Amass lots of tools that you can use at your disposal
14:56 Sometimes you need to go back to the tried and true, versatile tool
15:03 When you introduce new tools, students have to learn how to use them
17:27 What would Matt give to every teacher in the U.S., and why?
 
Resources
ditchthattextbook.com/101
Twitter @jmattmiller

Nate is a tech-loving history teacher from Indianapolis, Indiana and author of two books on teaching. Don’t Ditch That Tech: Differentiation in a Digital World, and Breaking the Blockbuster Model: Using Edtech and Accessibility to “See What’s Next” in Classrooms. He was the Indiana Connected Educator of the Year in 2020 and his work has been featured in such publications as the New York Times and Washington Post. He also holds a Master’s Degree in History from the University of Indianapolis.
 
In today’s episode, Nate talks about old pedagogical models and new ones, and he explains how his new book helps educators to navigate through it all. We'll learn what the blockbuster model is and how we can learn from the streaming model to make online learning awesome. 



Timestamps
2:53 Which instructional practices have stood the test of time, and what should we leave in the history books?
3:50 Two really disruptive things in the education world
5:14 Things to look at with direct instruction
6:28 Comparing collaborative learning with direct instruction
9:50 How student’s perception of learning affects their learning
14:03 The need to improve digital equity
14:46 Continuing the good things we do as educators
15:48 The three metaphors of Nate’s book
16:56 What is cloning?
19:46 Meeting students where they are and where they want to be
24:25 A blend of the theoretical and practical
25:13 What would Nate give to every teacher in the U.S. and why?



Resources
Nate’s twitter - @TeachfromRidge
Nate’s blog - breakingblockbuster.com
Breaking the Blockbuster Model 

Guest Bio - 
Christine Voelker is the K-12 Program Director for Quality Matters, a global non-profit dedicated to quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments.  QM provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations grounded in research and driven by best practices.  
 
Summary - 
Today Chris is going to teach us about what QM does and how their work supports the national standards for quality online education. 

Timestamps - 
Career transitions over the years and seeking greater impact [2:44]
What are the National Standards for Quality Online Learning? [6:55]
What do the standards for teaching cover? [10:56]
What do the program standards cover? [11:15]
What do the course standards cover? [11:53]
Similarities with the Danielson Framework [12:39]
What is the Learning Portal? [13:40]
QM’s mission statement [16:46]
Three-pronged approach to quality assurance [16:57]
What’s the course review process? [18:46]
What is Rigorous Professional Development? [19:39]
Quality Matters reviews are for you to see [21:23]
How does the work of QM complement the work of the Standards? [23:32]
What’s “QM Lite”? [24:50]
Becoming certified! [25:34]
Who was Chris’ favorite teacher as a kid? [27:28]
 
Resources - 
National Standards for Quality Online Learning
Quality Matters
Bridge to Quality Course Design Guide
Digital Learning Collab
Virtual Learning Alliance
Twitter: @nsqol; @k12qm; @qmprogram; @vllaonline; @theDLCedu; @voelkerc

Edi Cox serves as the Director for Low Country Virtual, an online school in South Carolina.  She began her career as a high school teacher who was recognized for her innovative work.  In her most recent role she served as the Executive Director of Online Learning and Instructional Technology in one of the largest school districts in South Carolina. She is credited with launching one of the first district-led virtual programs in the Palmetto State.  In 2013 Ms. Cox was instrumental in the writing and submission of a Gates Foundation Grant designed to help a district launch personalized learning efforts with a rollout of 1:1 devices to more than 43,000 students.  She holds multiple degrees and has completed additional graduate-level coursework through Western Governors' University, where I recently attended as well! Edi continues to stay current in the field by serving in a variety of roles with national organizations such as the Digital Learning Collaborative, Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) and Quality Matters. She provided guidance in the revisions to the National Standards for Quality (NSQ). 
 
Today, Edi tells us about the power of collaboration among districts, and how important it is for us all to learn from our collective mistakes and wins. 



Timestamps
2:53 What Edi’s educational journey has looked like
4:46 Edi was an instructional designer before instructional designers were a thing! 
5:45 Edi’s work with the Low Country Educational Consortium
7:06 Taking advantage of the forced online learning from the pandemic
11:52 We know that the majority of students are well-served by the traditional brick and mortar classroom
13:06 Supporting the students who are not served well by the traditional model
17:45 Why is it important for Low Country Virtual to partner with organizations like Digital Learning Collaborative and Quality Matters?
20:33 Quality Matters
24:14 What would Edi give to every teacher in the U.S., and why?