School & District Management Chat

Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation

Everywhere you turn in K-12 education these days, it seems that someone somewhere is trying to do something "innovative." But how much of that work lives up to the word's meaning? Our chat guests discussed how to understand which new approaches are truly revolutionary, and which aren't.

Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation

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Friday, March 23, 2012, 3 to 4 p.m. ET
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Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation

(03/23/2012)

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9:28

EdWeek Bryan:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today’s chat, Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation, sponsored by Blackboard K-12.

Friday March 23, 2012 9:28 EdWeek Bryan

9:28

EdWeek Bryan:
I’ve just opened the chat up for questions, so please start submitting yours below!

Friday March 23, 2012 9:28 EdWeek Bryan

9:29

EdWeek Bryan:
We’ll be back at 3 p.m. ET today with Anthony Kim and Laurie Racine -- we hope you can join us then.

Friday March 23, 2012 9:29 EdWeek Bryan

2:57

EdWeek Bryan:
Good afternoon folks, and once again, thanks for joining us for today’s chat, Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation, sponsored by Blackboard K-12. We’ll get the chat underway in just a few moments.

In the meantime, for some background reading, check out our special report, Accelerating Innovation, published earlier this month.

Friday March 23, 2012 2:57 EdWeek Bryan

3:00

EdWeek Bryan:
I’m now handing the chat off to our moderator, Ian Quillen, who’s a staff writer for Education Week Digital Directions. Take it away, Ian!

Friday March 23, 2012 3:00 EdWeek Bryan

3:01

Ian Quillen:
Hello folks, and welcome to our discussion about learning to identify and understand innovation in the world of K-12 education. My name is Ian, and I’m a tech reporter here at EdWeek. Today, I’ll be serving as your chat moderator.

I’d like to first thank you all out there in cyberspace for joining us, as well as our guests, Anthony Kim and Laurie Racine, and today’s sponsor, Blackboard.
And now for our panelists to say a bit more about themselves.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:01 Ian Quillen

3:03

Anthony Kim:
Thanks Ian. I’m the founder of Education Elements. We work with schools across the country to implement blended learning school models. We are growing fairly quickly and can read about us in tech crunch with our recent funding announcement. Prior to EE, I founded Provost Systems which did virtual school systems which was sold to Edison Schools. There I served as EVP of Online.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:03 Anthony Kim

3:03

laurie r:
Thanks, Ian. Hi All. I am Laurie Racine, one of three co-founders of a new kind of organization that is trying to accelerate innovation in education by paying attention to the entrepreneurs attempting to get new ideas to market

Friday March 23, 2012 3:03 laurie r

3:03

laurie r:
Its called Startl.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:03 laurie r

3:04

Ian Quillen:
:-) Thank you both. Laurie, I’d like to begin with a question for you, given your experience in entrepreneurship both inside and outside of the education world. ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:04 Ian Quillen

3:05

[Comment From Marsha MathersMarsha Mathers: ]
Are there any characteristics of true innovation that are universal to all types of innovative programs?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:05 Marsha Mathers

3:06

laurie r:
Way to ask the tough questions first, Ian. ;-)
I would say it depends on the problem one is trying to solve for..

Friday March 23, 2012 3:06 laurie r

3:07

laurie r:
Instructional innovation is very different from innovation around efficiencies of schools. Both can be innovation bu the attributes are not the same,

Friday March 23, 2012 3:07 laurie r

3:08

laurie r:
If we are talking about instruction
then, I would suggest that being adaptive and responsive to the individual needs of the learner is critical

Friday March 23, 2012 3:08 laurie r

3:09

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, given your work from the ground up with schools who are establishing one of several models of blended learning, a practice some view as one of the more important innovations in K-12 education right now, why don’t take this next question from gale.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:09 Ian Quillen

3:09

[Comment From Gale BoweatherGale Boweather: ]
Should innovative practices come from staff input or from the top down?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:09 Gale Boweather

3:11

Anthony Kim:
I don’t think that innovation practices come from one direction or the other. I was keynoting yesterday for the Donnell Kay Foundation on blended learning in CO. And there were a lot of innovative practices happening at schools and in the classroom. That’s a DIY model. But not scalable. If you want scale it generally comes from the top down, since it has to be part of the strategic vision.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:11 Anthony Kim

3:13

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, would you like to respond to that?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:13 Ian Quillen

3:14

laurie r:
Yes. I think Anthony is making an important point. Individual teachers are making great progress in individual classrooms. The problem is we have no way to bubble those to the top, reframe them as strategy and then scale them

Friday March 23, 2012 3:14 laurie r

3:15

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, since you see many different ideas for innovation in your capacity with Startl, why don’t you take this next question ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:15 Ian Quillen

3:16

[Comment From Angie DemmonAngie Demmon: ]
In today’s culture, does “innovation” require a technology component?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:16 Angie Demmon

3:17

Ian Quillen:
Meanwhile, Anthony, I suspect you may have a couple thoughts on this question from Arthur ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:17 Ian Quillen

3:17

[Comment From Arthur VanderVeenArthur VanderVeen: ]
Is the shift to competency based learning really innovative? What new possibilities does it create? What challenges does it introduce?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:17 Arthur VanderVeen

3:17

laurie r:
Yes to a large extent but face to face interaction and social personal learning is still a very important part of the learning process. It cannot just take place at a terminal or on a smart phone

Friday March 23, 2012 3:17 laurie r

3:18

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, if I may follow up, what is it about technology that really makes it almost an essential part of innovation?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:18 Ian Quillen

3:19

Anthony Kim:
Hi Arthur. I think it depends on what lense you use. If it’s from a policy stand point might be to get these changed. If it’s from a practice stand point then it’s not. That’s the tricky thing about education, where the policies can stifle innovation. Competency based has been around for a long time. I just think more people are talking about it now.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:19 Anthony Kim

3:20

laurie r:
We are living in a digital age. It is not possible to consider having acquired 21st century learning skills unless that includes the capacity to function in a digital environment

Friday March 23, 2012 3:20 laurie r

3:20

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, why don’t you try this really interesting question from Linda ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:20 Ian Quillen

3:21

[Comment From Linda FullerLinda Fuller: ]
I am teaching an undergraduate course on ed innovations this spring. We’re reading a wide variety of thinkers from Sir Ken Robinson to McGarvey and Schwahn to Postman (in thinking about purposes for schools). We are also looking at brain research and specific applications of technology such as the flipped classroom and other forms of blended learning. From this very brief description, what big areas might we be missing?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:21 Linda Fuller

3:21

laurie r:
A particular interest of mine is the acquisition of coding skills, as another kind of language literacy

Friday March 23, 2012 3:21 laurie r

3:21

Anthony Kim:
I don’t think innovations require technology. You can still innovate in other areas of education. High Tech High was innovative in project based learning and creating their own teacher university.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:21 Anthony Kim

3:22

Ian Quillen:
And Anthony, why don’t you take a stab about this question regarding the Common Core from Jason ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:22 Ian Quillen

3:22

[Comment From jasondennisonjasondennison: ]
How does “being adaptive and responsive to the individual needs of the learner” fit with Common Core?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:22 jasondennison

3:23

laurie r:
Perhaps the integration of disciplines and technology together. Design plays a major role in learning of science from biology to physics We need to teach that way so kids who have different skill sets may benefit from seeing the big picture

Friday March 23, 2012 3:23 laurie r

3:24

Anthony Kim:
You know I’m not one 100% sure about that one related to Common Core. I think that when things get adaptive and responsive, I’m we are looking at higher levels of bloom’s taxonomy, ideally. So I don’t believe that CC gets us to that level yet. Adaptive products would make learning more advanced as your skills develop.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:24 Anthony Kim

3:24

laurie r:
Sorry. That was to Linda.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:24 laurie r

3:25

Ian Quillen:
I know everyone is aware of the budget challenges facing schools these days. Anthony and Laurie, would each of you like to address this fiscally related question?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:25 Ian Quillen

3:25

[Comment From Nita LosoponkulNita Losoponkul: ]
With the limited resources that school districts have nowadays given the budget shortfalls, what are your favorite platforms right now for knowledge sharing around innovation so each district/school/teacher can reduce the amount of time/money needed to “innovate” by not entirely reinventing the wheel?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:25 Nita Losoponkul

3:27

laurie r:
I don’t have a favorite. I think they all solve part of the equation

Friday March 23, 2012 3:27 laurie r

3:27

Anthony Kim:
I think there are some interesting options coming out of incubators like Imagine K12. Partnering early with one of these organizations to pilot or try these tools would be great. They are a young group of entrepreneurs. For the first time in decades I’ve never seen this many entrepreneurs wanting to be in education tech. There’s a little cache in this.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:27 Anthony Kim

3:28

Anthony Kim:
Also there are organizations like Startup Weekend Edu where people are collectively trying to problem solved issues in education and developing products over the weekend.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:28 Anthony Kim

3:29

laurie r:
Was that the question? I was responding to knowledge sharing platforms not
the capacity to get new ideas to launch

Friday March 23, 2012 3:29 laurie r

3:29

Ian Quillen:
You’re certainly welcome to follow up on the latter, Laurie ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:29 Ian Quillen

3:30

Ian Quillen:
And Anthony, take a stab at this one from kari...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:30 Ian Quillen

3:30

[Comment From Kari TatgeKari Tatge: ]
How can school administration help those teachers that are resistant to of change to understand the ne

Friday March 23, 2012 3:30 Kari Tatge

3:31

laurie r:
Incubators of all kinds are seeing more and more entrepreneurs coming in new ideas for learning, tutoring, communication in schools etc. That is very exciting to us at Startl as we began by fostering several

Friday March 23, 2012 3:31 laurie r

3:31

Anthony Kim:
Administration needs to give teachers time, opportunity and a place, where they can try to innovate and it’s okay to fail. Manytimes you fail before you succeed. I think that in schools there is this notation of worrying about failure and it results in stagnation.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:31 Anthony Kim

3:32

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, a followup on your earlier mention of High Tech High

Friday March 23, 2012 3:32 Ian Quillen

3:32

[Comment From GuestGuest: ]
How did High Tech High innovate the project based learning model without incorporating technology?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:32 Guest

3:33

Anthony Kim:
However, administration should also provide a framework which which helps structure the design process with innovation. Typically K-12 schools don’t have this framework setup...Unlike higher education.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:33 Anthony Kim

3:33

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, Warren has a question about which parts of the education landscape are most fertile for innovation ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:33 Ian Quillen

3:33

[Comment From Warren WilsonWarren Wilson: ]
Do particular areas of education lend themselves better to innovation than others? If so, how do you break through to the more difficult areas?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:33 Warren Wilson

3:34

Anthony Kim:
I think HTH innovated their model by helping make it more repeatable, and also re looking at how they do recruiting. Here is some consistency in the model. Also the fact that they don’t’ teach to standards and changed the order in which students learn subjects.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:34 Anthony Kim

3:35

Anthony Kim:
I mean teacher recruiting and training.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:35 Anthony Kim

3:35

laurie r:
Yes. I think there is interesting innovation happening in informal learning, that is not dependent on the classroom environment. Also, I am seeing interesting progress in
the creation of individual archives that allow kids, parents and teachers follow a child across their years in school

Friday March 23, 2012 3:35 laurie r

3:36

Ian Quillen:
Anthony and Laurie, why don’t you each tackle this followup question on scalability of innovation ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:36 Ian Quillen

3:36

[Comment From Kevin (SIATech)Kevin (SIATech): ]
Scaling quality programs seems to present its own set of challenges. Are there resources, examples, general principles, or promising practices out there that might guide an organization?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:36 Kevin (SIATech)

3:38

Anthony Kim:
Scaling in education is always an issue. The market is completely fragmented and the there is generally 1 sales cycle....also in some areas like content, it’s very expensive to support 50 states...it’s like selling to 50 countries. The goal of CC is trying to some some of these issues and there are some interoperability initiatives....

Friday March 23, 2012 3:38 Anthony Kim

3:38

laurie r:
Well here is the problem that needs to be addressed to get to scale. New ideas need better access to end users. It is extremely difficult to sell through to schools, get infront of teachers and reach parents. We need to open up the pipes to innovative educators can get to new solutions more easily

Friday March 23, 2012 3:38 laurie r

3:39

laurie r:
I think we are saying the same thing

Friday March 23, 2012 3:39 laurie r

3:39

Anthony Kim:
There are very few examples of companies scaling quickly in education. K12 being one of the notable examples.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:39 Anthony Kim

3:39

Anthony Kim:
That’s way investors have been hesitant to invest in K12 in the past. To many failures. So what’s different now???

Friday March 23, 2012 3:39 Anthony Kim

3:40

Anthony Kim:
One thing we are seeing is a greater openness to technology by schools. It’s penetrated our personal lives and those of students. So it’s almost odd to be in an environment without it.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:40 Anthony Kim

3:41

laurie r:
Not much. That is the problem. However, there is increasing interest in investing in new ideas and that gives me hope. Money and talent are moving into the sector like never before

Friday March 23, 2012 3:41 laurie r

3:41

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, Ellen would like to go back to your mention of the postsecondary framework used to foster innovation ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:41 Ian Quillen

3:41

[Comment From EllenEllen: ]
What do you mean by “a framework which helps structure the design process”?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:41 Ellen

3:41

Anthony Kim:
Bandwidth is cheaper...it’s also cheaper to develop software with cloud based computing. So more investment in servers.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:41 Anthony Kim

3:42

laurie r:
An interesting model is to use museums to test products. The Tech in San Jose for example has the capacity to get all kinds of end users to the space and let them
‘play’ with new ideas

Friday March 23, 2012 3:42 laurie r

3:42

Anthony Kim:
In post sec, professors spend more time researching and developing. Then they have student staff who can help further and execute an idea. Finally the university has an IP department which can help deploy and test the technologies.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:42 Anthony Kim

3:42

laurie r:
Ideas isn’t the right word, I should have said learning solutions

Friday March 23, 2012 3:42 laurie r

3:43

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, Linda has a followup ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:43 Ian Quillen

3:43

[Comment From Linda FullerLinda Fuller: ]
Laurie, I get the coding - and that will probably be tackled by at least one student who is working on a gaming project that he brings from another class, but I am not sure what you mean by integration of disciplines and technology together - would the recent TEDx titled:Teaching Math

Friday March 23, 2012 3:43 Linda Fuller

3:43

Anthony Kim:
I was at TED Talk and there was a university professor who developed a massive battery for city power...he developed it at a university and prototyped it with students. This is also another reason why open source software doesn’t work well in K-12...since we don’t have engineering depts.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:43 Anthony Kim

3:44

Ian Quillen:
(I think she meant to end that with “be an example?” Laurie)

Friday March 23, 2012 3:44 Ian Quillen

3:45

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, Jason would like to know how you see innovation clashing with the need for a well-rounded education that includes the arts and humanities ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:45 Ian Quillen

3:45

[Comment From jasondennisonjasondennison: ]
Here on the border between Ohio and Kentucky, we’ve seen arts programs take a HUGE cut (one district eliminating up to 85% of elementary level art/music teachers). Can we continue/afford to innovate while not supporting creativity for our students?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:45 jasondennison

3:45

laurie r:
I didn’t see that talk, yet but let’s use the example of having kids interested in theatre, product and perform and write plays that kids who can code can turn into games on SCRATCH

Friday March 23, 2012 3:45 laurie r

3:45

[Comment From Kevin (SIATech)Kevin (SIATech): ]
For a district that has focused on building a high-quality innovative program, it’s often difficult to “tell the story” to the world outside...without using resources that are needed to maintain and grow the program. Any suggestions?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:45 Kevin (SIATech)

3:46

[Comment From Kari TatgeKari Tatge: ]
What are the most effective ways to market new products or technologies to schools?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:46 Kari Tatge

3:46

Ian Quillen:
Whoops, meant to hold those, sorry folks ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:46 Ian Quillen

3:46

Anthony Kim:
Jason. No I don’t think so...I think developing creativity skills and abstraction is critical. That’s what makes the US education system different than Korea or China

Friday March 23, 2012 3:46 Anthony Kim

3:46

laurie r:
Not the perfect example but I am trying to suggest that we need to play to a child’s individual interest and then let them see how that marries to other disciplines, including coding

Friday March 23, 2012 3:46 laurie r

3:49

Anthony Kim:
Kevin. Yes I know its hard for districts. What happens is you have to participate in many events. But before you do that you have to be able to articulate the message easily and quickly so that people can repeat it. Make the messaging simple like a pitch, and also you have to think marketing. The materials you create need to look good. Not too much text, don’t’ explain everything but have depth.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:49 Anthony Kim

3:50

Anthony Kim:
Often times I see districts or teachers getting too far into the weeds of what they are doing. it’ has to stay high level and but unveil a little more as more people get interested.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:50 Anthony Kim

3:51

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, to interject, is it realistic for educators themselves to understand exactly what looks good to an outside viewer, from maybe more of a commercial or marketing perspective?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:51 Ian Quillen

3:51

laurie r:
Kari, you ask a critical question. And the answers are both guerilla and traditional approaches. Entrepreneurs are looking to get in front of audiences at conferences like SXSW, or using bloggers who write about specific areas of interest, not even those related to education, or using FB. They also are reaching out to publishers like Pierson for strategic partnerships because they are already in schools

Friday March 23, 2012 3:51 laurie r

3:52

laurie r:
My personal suggestion that I make all the time is to get in front of parents.
They are committed to driving education forward and can exert interesting pressures on schools

Friday March 23, 2012 3:52 laurie r

3:53

Ian Quillen:
Kari, these two questions from Peggy and Rose have perhaps a different focus, but maybe a similar answer ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:53 Ian Quillen

3:53

Anthony Kim:
Ian, I do think its hard for educators...but the ones that do...their ideas are floating to the top. Most of the edtech entrepreneurs today are former TFAs, former administrators, or others to have had some teaching experience coupled with other skills.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:53 Anthony Kim

3:53

Ian Quillen:
Ugh, I mean Laurie, not Kari . (Can yuo tell it’s friday?!)

Friday March 23, 2012 3:53 Ian Quillen

3:53

[Comment From PeggyPeggy: ]
How are you relating innovation to giftedness?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:53 Peggy

3:53

[Comment From Rose High BearRose High Bear: ]
Do you have suggestions for underrepresented groups such as Native Americans who have very low scores in school and a higher drop out rate?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:53 Rose High Bear

3:54

Ian Quillen:
Anthony, Ellen would like to know your thoughts on cross curriculum learning ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:54 Ian Quillen

3:54

[Comment From EllenEllen: ]
What about cross-curriculum learning? One of the best learning experiences I remember is when, in 6th grade, we learned about ancient Egypt in social studies, read Agatha Christie’s “Death Comes As the End” (which is set in ancient Egypt) in Language Arts, and did art projects with hieroglyphics in art class. What would it take, besides shared planning time for teachers, to make more of that happen?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:54 Ellen

3:54

Anthony Kim:
I don’t think giftedness the same as innovative. Gifted in my mind is around a known skill. Innovative is more blank slate than that. It’s the ability to take concepts in abstract form and see who it can be reinvented.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:54 Anthony Kim

3:55

Anthony Kim:
Gifted might be I’m extremely better at math, music or sports.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:55 Anthony Kim

3:55

Ian Quillen:
We’ve got time for just a couple more questions ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:55 Ian Quillen

3:55

laurie r:
Yes. Experiential learning programs like Road Trip Nation. For transparency, I sit on their advisory board but this is one of the most extra-ordinary experiences for at risk, dis-enfranchised youth. It teaches kids now to look beyond the end of their block and see what is possible and then gives them various experiences that can
help them move to a goal

Friday March 23, 2012 3:55 laurie r

3:56

laurie r:
Inside Jobs is another

Friday March 23, 2012 3:56 laurie r

3:56

Anthony Kim:
Ellen. I love cross curriculum if you can do it. it’s a lot of work. I also loved it when we could apply our learnings across multiple subject areas. however, I can see how this would be hard for schools to adopt in the current policy environments and also the fact that much of the curriculum providers do not provide content this way.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:56 Anthony Kim

3:56

laurie r:
We need to change up the option for different experiences for kids.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:56 laurie r

3:57

Ian Quillen:
Anthony and Laurie, let’s close with this last question from Arthur ...

Friday March 23, 2012 3:57 Ian Quillen

3:57

[Comment From Arthur VanderVeenArthur VanderVeen: ]
Following up on Anthony’s point about the need for “top-down” innovation to achieve scale, isn’t it really a matter of balancing top-level leadership around a compelling vision that empowers and focuses bottom-up innovation toward common goals? What are good examples of where this is happening?

Friday March 23, 2012 3:57 Arthur VanderVeen

3:59

laurie r:
I think to get to cross curriculum we need to change the structure of the school day.
We cannot teach on isolated silos and get to cross curricular instruction easily.
I also think it is one of the most profound learning experiences

Friday March 23, 2012 3:59 laurie r

3:59

Anthony Kim:
Ack! Arthur are you trying to make me think on a Friday! I’m seeing you next week!
I don’t think everyone in an organization is innovative bottom up....I do agree with balancing the top level leadership...but also organizations are looking for a dynamic leader with a vision.

Friday March 23, 2012 3:59 Anthony Kim

4:00

EdWeek Bryan:
Thanks, Laurie and Anthony! I think this is a good place to wrap up. We’d like to extend a big thanks to our two excellent guests for joining us today, and to the chat’s sponsor, Blackboard K-12. We also can’t thank you all enough for joining us and submitting a slew of fantastic questions.

Just so you know, we’ll be archiving the chat immediately, for anyone who wants to read through the answers later. There should be a transcript available at the same link by 5 p.m. ET today.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:00 EdWeek Bryan

4:00

Anthony Kim:
So there has to be a methodology in place where the leadership can set the vision for the organization, a standard of quality and goals...and also let some of the innovations rise up to to the top.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:00 Anthony Kim

4:00

Ian Quillen:
Laurie, final word?

Friday March 23, 2012 4:00 Ian Quillen

4:00

Anthony Kim:
Google gives people 20% time to innovate and work on new ideas. perhaps we need something like that for schools.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:00 Anthony Kim

4:01

laurie r:
For me it gets back to what I said earlier. We need to be able to capture really unique stuff that is happening in individual classrooms and more those lessons into strategic planning processes

Friday March 23, 2012 4:01 laurie r

4:01

laurie r:
move not more. Duh

Friday March 23, 2012 4:01 laurie r

4:01

Ian Quillen:
Again, thank you to Anthony and Laurie for your very interesting insights. (I may be following up with you guys later). And thanks for everyone who wrote in to us today. It’s been a lot of fun.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:01 Ian Quillen

4:02

Anthony Kim:
Thanks and have an innovative weekend.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:02 Anthony Kim

4:02

EdWeek Bryan:
Thanks, Ian! Have a great weekend, everybody.

Friday March 23, 2012 4:02 EdWeek Bryan

4:02

Learning to Identify and Understand K-12 Innovation

Friday, March 23, 2012, 3 to 4 p.m. ET

Sponsored by:

Everywhere you turn in K-12 education these days, it seems that businesses and nonprofits are trying to do something “innovative,” whether it’s by changing classroom technology approaches, staffing practices, and professional development structures, or adjusting funding models or education policies. But how much of that work really lives up to the word’s meaning? And how do you tell the difference? Our chat guests helped you understand how to differentiate between practices in K-12 education that truly use new approaches to solve old problems and others that merely give a new look to an older, more traditional approach.

Guests:
Anthony Kim, president, Education Elements, Inc.
Laurie Racine, co-founder and managing director, Startl

Ian Quillen, staff writer, Education Week Digital Directions, moderated this chat.

Related Story:

• Special Report: Accelerating Innovation (March 5, 2012)