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The Digital Backpack
Your resource for online learning
Your trusted source for K-12 online learning insights, teaching strategies, and success stories from Michigan’s leading virtual education provider. Join us as we explore innovative approaches to help students thrive in the digital age.
November Research Round Up
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Each month our team of researchers highlights K-12 online, blended, and innovative learning research, reports, standards, and other noteworthy resources published nationally and internationally in the preceding weeks. Our hope with this series is to inform the educational community of the latest digital learning research in order to better serve students.
Close Relatives: Student-Centered Learning and Blended Learning
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
As school leaders, we sometimes confuse the labels that we place on educational strategies and models. This happens frequently when we talk about “blended learning” and “student-centered learning,” two closely related terms with distinct meanings. In this article, the research team of Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI) discusses how student-centered learning relates to the ideas and promise of blended learning.
Mentoring as Personalized Learning
Justin Bruno
The mentors of K-12 online learners wear many hats and serve as a critical pillar of support for their students. What is less commonly recognized is how mentors act as stewards of personalized learning for their online students. The constant pulse-checking mentors do with their students allows them to work with an online teacher to customize instruction and support based on their students’ needs.
What Do Successful K-12 Online Programs Have In Common?
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
What do successful K-12 online programs have in common? Beyond obvious variables like student support and quality curriculum, there are many systemic supports that effective programs put in place to provide a foundation for student success. In this article, we break down the importance of leadership, multi-level support, and program evaluation.
October Research Round Up
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Each month our team of researchers highlights K-12 online, blended, and innovative learning research, reports, standards, and other noteworthy resources published nationally and internationally in the preceding weeks. Our hope with this series is to inform the educational community of the latest digital learning research in order to better serve students.
What Exactly IS Student-Centered Learning?
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
In education, we often talk about “student-centered learning,” but what does a student-centered learning environment actually look like? In this article, we define what student-centered learning really means and outline the common components of a truly student-centered learning model.
Strategies for Mentoring Online Students
Debbie Lynch
In this month's Mentor Forum, we hear from Debbie Lynch, our Outreach Coordinator for Mentors about the important role that mentors play in online learning and some strategies for connecting with and supporting online students.
Setting Online Learners Up For Success
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Each month our team of researchers will be discussing all things K-12 online learning in Michigan and across the nation. Our hope with this series is to provide a primer on K-12 online learning, cover established and emerging topics, and provide relevant research and resources.
September Research Round Up
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Each month our team of researchers will be highlighting K-12 online, blended, and innovative learning research, reports, standards, and other noteworthy resources published nationally and internationally in the preceding weeks. Our hope with this series is to inform the educational community of the latest digital learning research in order to better serve students.
What makes for quality online teaching? — Revised national standards
Michigan Virtual
What makes for quality online teaching? In this blog post, we overview the latest revision to the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching, which offer a consensus from national online learning experts on what constitutes effective online teaching.
Using Genius Hour to help students cultivate their passions and transform their world
Katie Tasch Bielecki
The most powerful thing we can do as educators is to invite our students to explore. Service-learning and project-based learning are two ways to allow students to explore and get involved in their communities. These two experiences continue to be woven into Katie Bielecki’s teaching and have spurred on the implementation of Genius Hour in her classroom.
Using Roadmaps to create deeply digital lessons for students
Denise Gallemore
Roadmaps is an open educational resource that allows teachers to create interactive, graphical, collaborative, and adaptive deeply digital lessons that are easy to use. This tool promotes collaboration between students and teachers which is why Denise Gallemore regularly uses it in her 5th-grade social studies and ELA classroom.
Pacing Guide for Success in Online Mathematics Courses
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Jemma Bae Kwon & Kristen DeBrulerOnline gradebooks situated within a learning management system (LMS) go far beyond simply a space to record student grades. They offer a dynamic tool for monitorin
Using computer science and computational thinking in the kindergarten classroom
Taylor White
Kindergartners have the ability to do a lot more than we often expect from them. Taylor White’s use of computer science and computational thinking lessons opened her eyes to what kindergartners have the capacity to do at a young age. While she witnessed them break down problems with machines and codes, she began to see it bleed into how the students broke down problems with their peers.
Podcast: Digital Well-being
The Digital Backpack
In this episode, Jeff chatted with Kevin Santer, Lead instructor with the Career & Technology department at Michigan Virtual. Kevin shared his story about coming to education after a successful ca
[Webinar] Supporting Student Success Through Predictive Analytics
Michigan Virtual
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADZAI53Kt88[/embedyt] Learning analytics provides a mechanism to support educational decision-making and provide in-time interventions. This webinar focuses o
Podcast: Strong Student Relationships in Online Courses
The Digital Backpack
In this episode, Jeff chatted with Kevin Santer, Lead instructor with the Career & Technology department at Michigan Virtual. Kevin shared his story about coming to education after a successful ca
Are online courses "easier" than face-to-face courses?
Michigan Virtual
Debunking the common misconception that online courses are “easier” than face-to-face courses.
It’s not about the tech, but how you use it: a mindset for blended learning
Erich Ziegler
In my district, we continue to work on preparing our students for a changing world. Maintaining positive relationships is always important, but we need to get our students to “learn how to learn.” Whi
Using Piktochart in the Classroom
Lauren Graham
Some of my students were struggling with specific aspects of taking a course online, as well as certain assignments. They would send me emails that were along the lines of “I need help with the test I
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