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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.
Making Learning Student-Centered: Providing Voice and Choice
Christa Green
We know that not all students learn in the same way. Why is it then that in the traditional model of education, we expect students to learn along the same pathway at the same time?
Michigan Virtual Research on Online Learning in Higher Education
Kristen DeBruler
Research at the higher education level is well established and can provide valuable insights into online learning overall. It is important, however, to consider the unique needs of K-12 online learners as compared to adults when determining which research findings to apply.
Michigan Virtual Research on K-12 Online Teacher Preparation, Professional Development, & On-Site Mentoring
Kristen DeBruler
Teachers play a critical role in instruction regardless of if the instruction is face-to-face, fully online, or somewhere in between. Training for working effectively with remote students is critical now more than ever and should, at the very least in a small way, be part of traditional teacher preparation programs.
The past, present, and future of online course design
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kristi Peacock, a course development manager for Michigan Virtual, who shares what it means to be an instructional designer, what advice she has for educators designing their own online learning experiences for students, and what she hopes the future will hold for this ever-evolving sector of education.
The art of debugging & how to think like a computer scientist
Michigan Virtual
Meet Dr. Aman Yadav, a professor of educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University, who shares his insights on the rich applications of both "plugged" and "unplugged" computational thinking for the K-12 classroom and sheds light on the biased algorithms that govern our everyday lives.
Competency-based education in mathematics
Nikolas McGehee
What is competency-based education?Competency-based education (CBE) is a student-centered methodology of instruction that incorporates elements of constructivist philosophy, 21st century skills educat
Michigan Virtual’s Strategic Plan: Employee spotlight
Sarah Hill
There’s no clear-cut definition of the term “strategic plan.” Sure, there’s a Wikipedia page, but my years in high school debate scared me from using that as a source.
So what is a strategic plan? What’s Michigan Virtual’s and why should you care?
OK, that’s a lot of questions I just asked. Let’s start with the first one.
The conflicted history & achievable future of social emotional learning
Michigan Virtual
Meet Lauren Kazee, one of Michigan’s leading experts on social emotional learning or “SEL,” who shares her personal definition of SEL, dives into the history of this concept, and offers advice for educators looking to prioritize their own social and emotional wellness and model this behavior for their students.
Teacher recruitment and retention: A snapshot of an ongoing crisis
Ed Timke
There is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in Michigan and across the country. Why is there a crisis? What can be done? This first post in a blog series on teacher recruitment and retention provides a snapshot of the crisis and some initial recommendations on how to fight it.
The beautifully unclear future of educational technology
Michigan Virtual
Meet Sarah Wood, an educational technology consultant for Kent Intermediate School District, who shares her reflections on the recent history, current state, and beautifully unclear future of technology in the classroom.
How can we go beyond requirements & take pressure out of learning?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Erin Carlson, an English teacher at Sandusky Jr./Sr. High School who shares her journey in creating requirement-free learning opportunities for her students.
Bringing big ideas to life with design thinking
Michigan Virtual
Meet David Byron, director of innovation strategy at Sundberg-Ferar, a product innovation studio in Walled Lake, who explains how the tried & true process of design thinking can help students and adults alike in solving complicated problems, such as the many and multifaceted issues facing the field of education today.
Why are schools making learning student-centered?
Christa Green
While the more traditional teacher-centered model of education does work for some students, it does not work for all.
How might artificial intelligence change the way we teach?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Lou Aronson, the CEO and founder of a company called Discourse Analytics. He shares his perspective on how artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the way we teach and learn.
Case Study: Students Thriving Online
Michigan Virtual
Students gain important life skills in addition to academic content
4 differences between traditional teaching methods and competency-based education
Nikolas McGehee
What is competency-based education, and why are so many schools making the switch?Competency-Based Education (CBE) is a student-centered method that allows students to work asynchronously on their ski
What is human-centered design?
David Byron
Human-centered design is focused, action-oriented, and most of all, empathetic. Its tenets are similar to what it takes to be a good educator. Learn about the correlation between good human-centered d
My child is taking a competency-based course. What should I expect?
Nikolas McGehee
What is CBE, and what makes it different from how things used to be?Competency-based education (CBE) is an approach to teaching and learning that focuses on the mastery of skill sets within a subject
Research on Blended Learning, Teaching, & Professional Development
Kristen DeBruler
In 2020, we published a 10 report series summarizing the findings of all of the research we’ve conducted to date. Nearly 100 resources were included in this review, and collectively they provide valua
What's the Secret to Keeping Students Motivated in Online Learning?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Dr. Chris Harrington, the director of the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, who shares his reflections on “pandemic teaching,” common misconceptions about online learning, and the findings of his team's landmark research study on keeping students engaged in virtual learning environments.
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