DIGITAL LEARNINGHarnessing the power of technology to transform education for the 21st century economy

Next Steps for the Sunshine State• Identify potential strategies

• More information and estimated budget

• Fully vet and refine strategies • Governor’s Office• Legislature• School District Superintendents• Others

• Convene Instructional Materials Group• Prepare legislative agenda and budget recommendations

Issues

1. Instructional Materials

2. Internet and Access Devices

3. Blended Learning – Rotation

4. Blended Learning – Flex

5. Multiple Online Providers

6. Learning Requirements

7. Teacher Preparation

8. Digital Assessments

9. Data-Based Instruction

1. Instructional Materials1.A. Conduct a usability analysis of the three online tools – CPALMS, Instructional

Materials Catalogue, Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace.

1.B. Create a robust array of high quality digital content that is aligned to standards by expanding the scope of the state’s adopted list.

 

1.C. Provide an array of high quality instructional materials by requiring digital content on the state’s adopted list to be available for purchase by academic standard cluster/domain (Common Core) or benchmark (Sunshine State Standard) as well as in a bundle.

 

1.D. Ensure innovative high quality digital content can be added to the state adopted list by requiring an annual review process for content in core courses that is only delivered digitally.

1.E. Create a process for reviewing free content for alignment to state academic standards, contingent upon available funding.

1. Instructional Materials1.F. Ensure a rigorous review process of material for consideration on the state

adopted list by:• Compensating reviewers

• Requiring a virtual public forum

1.G. Allow districts to customize learning by replacing the requirement that school districts provide a “major tool of instruction” for each student in math, language arts, science, social studies and literature in kindergarten through 12th grade with a requirement that school districts:

• Certify to the state that it will provide instructional materials that are adequate to ensure students achieve the academic standards for each course and

• Provide a list of instructional materials for each course to parents during the first week of school.

 

1.H. Eliminate the requirement that school districts spend 50% of their annual funding for instructional materials on content on the state adopted list.

1. Instructional Materials1.I. Allow school districts to spend a portion of their instructional materials budget

on Internet access devices after certifying that devices are necessary to deliver digital content for the course.

1.J. Require school districts to provide digital content that meets the special needs of individual students, including students with disabilities and students learning English as a second language.

1.K. Create a funding mechanism based on demand by:• Allowing the Department to charge a fee for reviewing content that is available

for purchase, or• Allocating a percent of the overall instructional materials budget, such as .25%

or one quarter of 1%, ($523,000 in the 2012-2013 budget) to fund the review process.

1. Instructional Materials

2. Internet and Access Devices2.A. Develop a preliminary gap analysis by expanding the annual survey to capture

more detailed information from each and every school. 2.B. Provide the preliminary gap analysis to school districts to use to develop a

comprehensive plan to provide devices to students. 2.C. Raise parent and public awareness about Florida’s efforts to transition to

technology-rich, digital and blended learning by launching a website that provides the school-by-school information gathered in the survey. 

2.D. Establish optimum standards for Internet service to implement and sustain a blended learning instructional model.

 2.E. Establish optimum standards for Internet access devices that can be used for

instruction as well as assessment. 2.F. Explore a public-private partnership with Florida Internet service providers to

assess every school in the state to determine the need and cost for infrastructure improvements to provide adequate wireless, high-speed, broadband Internet access.

2. Internet and Access Devices2.G. Leverage the purchasing power of the state to negotiate a contract with below

market prices to purchase or lease Internet access devices, including assistive technology for students with disabilities, and allow school districts to purchase off the state contract.

 2.H. Issue a Request for Information to identify available assistive technologies that

can improve the delivery of education to students with disabilities. 2.I. Establish statewide guidance to help school districts develop BYOD policies,

which includes internet safety (such as blocking and filtering), ethical practices (cyberbullying, plagiarism and copyright laws), security practices (password policies and backup systems) and information/media literacy (guidelines on judging the veracity of sources).

2.I. Expand access to affordable Internet access devices by working collaboratively with school districts to create a voluntary program that allows parents of public school students to acquire Internet access devices from the state contract.

 2.J. Empower families living in or near poverty with the financial freedom to

purchase an Internet access device for their children who attend public school to use for educational purposes.

3. Blended Learning (Rotation)3.A. Create a competitive grant program that develops a template or multiple

templates for whole school transformation in kindergarten through 8th grade.

Possible framework for implementation: •Convene national experts for one or more workshops on digital learning and blended learning school models to ensure a clear understanding of the expectations for the grant.

•Accept applications from schools for up to 100 Planning Grants.

•Award a Planning Grant to up to 100 schools.

•Award an Implementation Grant for up to 20 Schools.

•Conduct a review of the schools that implement the transition. 

Station Rotation

School Blended Course

Lab Rotation

Individual Rotation

4. Blended Learning (Flex)

4.A. Ensure certified, in-field teachers maintain the responsibility for direct instruction by defining the different roles of educators and others in the school.

4.B. Require the Department of Education to develop a process to allow high schools to create a school-within-a-school based on the Flex Model.

Flex

5. Multiple Online Providers5.A. Explore opportunities to expand statewide access to high

quality individual online courses for high school from approved providers.

5.B. Provide students with the opportunity to have an effective, in-field teacher by adding language to current statute, which requires parental notification that the assigned teacher is out-of-field, that a virtual in-field teacher with an annual evaluation of “effective” or “highly effective” is available for the course.

5.C. Extend the same virtual options to students in rural areas by expanding virtual learning options by allowing

students in school districts with less than three options to enroll in a virtual school approved by another school district.

5. Multiple Online Providers5.D. Expand the availability of individual online courses by allowing approved virtual charter schools to offer individual online courses.

5.E. Remove barriers to offering high quality virtual learning by removing the requirement that virtual charter schools must have an administrative office in Florida and that their

administrative staff be Florida residents to be eligible as a provider in a district virtual instruction program.

5.F. Create an online directory of approved virtual schools, virtual instruction programs and individual online courses with

information on the quality of providers, such as school grades, completion and passage rates and feedback from students and parents.

5. Multiple Online Providers

6. Learning Requirements6.A. Continue working to identify ways to ensure the NCAA and the

military accept credits earned through virtual courses.

6.B. Ensure Florida prepares high school students with the skills to succeed in college and 21st century careers by:

• Requiring students to take a core course – English language arts, math, science and social studies – to fulfill the online course requirement for a high school diploma.

• Increasing the number of individual online courses required to earn a high school diploma.

 6.C. Ensure Florida prepares middle school students with the skills

to succeed in high school and beyond by establishing digital competencies that measure student achievement of

information and communication skills, word processing, and skill in developing spreadsheets, databases and presentations.

7. Teacher Preparation7.A. Establish clear expectations for what teachers need to know by defining the

role and skills of a highly effective teacher in digital and blended learning classrooms.

 7.B. Support school districts by developing an online model for high quality professional development that supports the transition from a traditional instruction school model to a blended learning model.  7.C. Review the approval criteria for school district professional development plans

to identify the potential for incorporating training in digital and blended learning.

7.D. Identify specific policies to ensure teacher preparation programs include instruction in digital and blended learning by convening a meeting with the State Universities and Colleges.

Potential items for consideration are:• Ensuring all teachers experience virtual learning by requiring teachers to successfully complete

one virtual course to become certified as a teacher.• Ensuring all teachers experience blended learning by requiring teachers to successfully

complete one blended learning course to earn a degree in teaching.• 

8. Digital Assessments

8.A. Begin the process of requiring science assessments to be administered digitally.

8.B. Accelerate the implementation of digital assessments in elementary school.

9. Data-Based Instruction

9.A. Continue working to identify opportunities to leverage services being developed by the Shared Learning Collaborative.

 

9.B. Identify potential opportunities to incorporate the metadata framework established by the Learning Resource Metadata Infrastructure into the

development of the state’s metadata tool.

 

9.C. Provide statewide implementation of upgrades to the Data Education Warehouse.