The Dynamic Lesson Plan©

Colleagues,

This post updates my previous post and illustrates how Dynamic Lesson Plans support the Dynamic Teaching and Learning Model. 

What is Dynamic Teaching and Learning? 

Please recall that Dynamic Teaching and Learning is a process that takes the best of current learner performance relative to a content standard and makes it better continuously. Dynamic Teaching and Learning helps students, teachers, parents, and stakeholders to learn more about what students learn by:

• Letting learning happen as planned, taught, checked, and, then,


• Analyzing post hoc what was learned and produced by each student to define higher levels of standards, performances, and products.

This process uses the best of what is learned and shared by students as the new standard of quality with no preconceived limits. It supports moving beyond the absolute standards-based learning model. And because of smart technology apps and large language and generative AI models, current standards get "refreshed" by real-time dynamic student learning and not by a drawn out content standards development process.

So what is a Dynamic Lesson Plan?

A lesson is the most fundamental way of teaching and learning. A Dynamic Lesson Plan is a design for engaging teachers and learners in strategies and experiences that produce learning results and continuous improvement.

By designing Dynamic Lesson Plans, teachers develop a vision, a habit of mind, and practices for creating new and better ways of teaching and learning their students in F2F, virtual, and blended learning venues. Using Dynamic Lesson Plans means that each time learning activities are completed and shared through technology, a student(s) may establish a better product or performance than the current standard of quality -- on local, state, national, and international levels. 

Then, what does a Dynamic Lesson Plan look like?

Six essential components are required for a dynamic lesson plan. Teachers may add more, as needed. The professional learning tool, TaskBuilder, helps teachers to develop Dynamic Lesson Plans based on current and evolving standards as well as the other components shown in the graphic below. 

As Dynamic Lesson Plans get applied daily, educators will not control what and how students learn as they do in today's group-based classrooms. They will help all students to meet their learning goals through emerging F2F, virtual, and blended learning models. Their role will be to combine people, teaching, and technology to advance the frontier of learning. This will lead to unprecedented growth in students and professionals as technology supports them to learn dynamically. 

Learn more about Dynamic Teaching and Learning here.

Nick

New Paradigm Map: Want to create a new paradigm for education?

Colleagues,

Please join me in thinking about and collaborating on ways to create a new paradigm for education.  

Challenge:

Over the decades we've learned about many innovations for improving or reforming education. But as they were tried as pilot programs or systemwide adoptions, they got co-opted by the current paradigm, did not scale, and faded into the status quo. So, what can we do to create a new paradigm for education -- especially in the post COVID-19 era?

Backstory Scenario:

Over the past decade, billions of dollars were spent annually by school systems on computing infrastructure and professional development to improve education. The goal was to help students and teachers to increase learning with the support of technology. In articles, books, and conferences, the call was to "integrate technology into the classroom." But when COVID-19 caused most schools buildings to close, the public and profession discovered that previous technology efforts were inadequate for moving from a classroom to a remote, virtual or blended setting for learning. Why did teachers and leaders with all that prior experience with technology struggle to make this transition? Teachers and parents were able to use their online skills and devices to shop, get entertained, do banking and investing, and engage socially worldwide. So why didn't those online skills work for teaching and learning? I believe this difficulty in skill transfer revealed a lack of long-range vision in past technology efforts and the need for a shift to "integrate learning into technology" as part of a new paradigm for education. 

The major takeaway of this backstory scenario is: don't expect any real change to occur for today's priority and emerging learning needs if they are supported to happen in the current paradigm of education. Be brave, creative, and disruptive as you create the new paradigm for education in the post COVID-19 era.

New Paradigm Map:

I've been working on what a new paradigm for education might look like.  It's a disruptive innovation with four fundamental components: 

• A vision for teaching and learning at the speed of light,

• Dynamic standards of learning,

• PLACES for learners to learn, and

• The professional learning platform needed to make it happen effectively. 

I call it a New Paradigm Map. The map allows you to click on images and text for the detail that further defines each component and shows how they are aligned. In short, any innovation must address and align with all these components to ensure successful implementation and scale. Click here to interact with the New Paradigm Map.

Payoff:

• For students: Students engage with content that is matched to their cognitive, affective, and pyschomotor learning preferences to increase performance, creativity, and problem-solving. 

• For teachers: Teachers meet personalized student needs by using evidence-based and dynamic strategies with support from professional learning communities. 

• For parents: Parents access a multitude of digital resources to assist with further developing their child’s learning at home and in other places for learning. 

• For stakeholders: Stakeholders experience a positive return on investment of expertise, time, and money for helping to develop our nation’s future leaders.

Action:

Want to collaborate as you move ahead on your "new paradigm?" Consider joining me in this professional learning program for Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Innovation. Click here if you have any questions or would like to chat on Zoom. I look forward to collaborating with you.

Nick

Creating Equitable Virtual Lesson Plans

Colleagues,

Recently, I completed a series of webinar demos for creating equitable virtual lesson plans. The definitions of equity that guided the lesson plan design process included:

The key takeaways of the webinars included:

• Learn a process for developing equitable virtual lesson plans
• Save time by editing templates containing best practices and research
• Personalize authentic real-world tasks for culturally responsive teaching
• Convert equitable virtual lesson plans to popular digital learning systems
• Share lessons and results to reverse the COVID-19 slide

Check out the Design Process and Tools that were demonstrated and please let me know what you think about "Creating Equitable Virtual Lesson Plans." Looking forward to your feedback.

Nick

LearningFRONT Program Webinars

 Colleagues,

The "Webinar" has become a significant tool for virtual learning, sales, marketing, entertainment, and product demonstrations. For LearningFRONT, the webinar is an essential part of each professional learning program. 

Check out here how we blend the power of the World Wide Web and the classic seminar strategy to deliver our interactive Program Webinars.

Nick 

Change the World Technology Innovators

Colleagues, 

These are my favorite "change the world" technology innovators. Their impact on teaching and learning is epic!

Please let me know who you admire for their innovations. Thanks.

Nick

COVID-19 and Beyond: Teaching and Learning at the Speed of Light

COVID-19 Challenge. Today there is a burning issue facing educators and the public and it has disruption written all over it. Consider this: "How will educational leaders apply what they learn from offering remote learning during COVID-19 to improve learning experiences when:

• students return to physical classrooms,
• parents return to workplaces, and 
• weather or health crises require extended school closures in the future?"

Back Story. Up to now schools have offered online learning primarily as a district initiative, an optional resource, or an enhancement to teaching and learning in physical classrooms. As a result of COVID-19, school districts are reacting to long-term mandated closings and social distancing with their current digital tools and resources. These range from offering learning activities in systemwide learning management systems to a potpourri of free worksheets, apps, learning toolkits, videos, and webcasts, web conferences, and webinars to provide learning at home. All of these are revealing major disparities across the 50 United States systems of schooling in: a) student access to technology, b) the motivation and ability of teachers to offer effective remote learning experiences, and c) digital support for students with special needs. The disparities are further accentuated in low versus high-income districts.

Moreover, the quality of content and its delivery by educators are under close scrutiny by parents who have never seen nor expected to support K-12 remote learning with their home computers, mobile and tablet devices, and Internet connections. Many are beginning to wonder: Is this what online learning really looks like for my children?

Playbook. When COVID-19 caused extended school closings, there was no playbook for educators to open for supporting quality district-wide student learning at home while parents or guardians carried out their jobs alongside their children. Many pioneering school districts were able to build on previous efforts, but systemic solutions were rare to nonexistent. Educational leaders are now faced with three jobs to create a playbook for teaching and learning at the speed of light:

1. Continue and improve remote learning as available digital resources and strategies allow during extended COVID-19 school closings,


2. Design a quality blend of physical classroom and online learning before schools open to reduce the COVID-19 learning gap and return order to schooling, and


3. Create a new learning model for the future that applies what was learned during COVID-19, emerging best practices, and brave new ideas for making quality, equity, and personalization a reality for all students.

Setting the Stage. Teachers and administrators who use technology effectively know it has improved their productivity in current classrooms and schools. Moreover, they recognize the power and potential of technology to advance their roles after COVID-19. Because of this vision they want to evolve with new curricula, digital learning tools, social media, cloud computing, and professional learning communities. On the one hand, these advancements will help today's educators to improve teaching and student achievement. On the other hand, they will help educators to combine people, teaching, and technology for creating new and better ways of learning. This approach -- combining people, teaching, and technology -- sets the stage for teaching and learning at the speed of light.

Want to see how to make it happen? Check out the full version of this blog post and let me know if you would like to join our team for creating a new learning model.

Designing Virtual Learning for the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond

During this COVID-19 crisis, deciding on how to convert to online learning for students, parents, and teachers can be a challenging job for many schools without the necessary experiences and resources for effective virtual learning. Consider the following professional learning programs to create your startup action plan for designing virtual learning for current and future crises and a new model for learning that engages all students. 

These professional learning programs provide an opportunity for you to collaborate with other leaders of learning and customize a plan for your school or district.

Technology for Leaders of Learning

Creative Thinking, Collaboration, and Innovation

Please contact me if you are interested in a personalized approach to these programs for your schools and leaders of learning.

Call: 443.255.4944