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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.
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, PhD
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.
Becoming a Voice for the Voiceless
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kyron Harvell, the director of the school culture and climate grant for Lansing School District, who shares his mission of serving as a voice for the voiceless in his school community. In this episode of BRIGHT, we explore how Kyron and his team are cultivating a culture of inclusivity in Lansing centered around equitable access to learning opportunities, culturally responsive practices, social emotional learning, and restorative justice.
Research on Michigan’s K-12 Online Learning Demographics, Effectiveness, Evaluation, Quality, & Policy
Kristen DeBruler, PhD
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
The Delightful Power of Music to Make Learning More Engaging
Michigan Virtual
Meet Ben Ashby, a Spanish teacher at Zeeland Public Schools and an online Spanish instructor for Michigan Virtual. In this episode of BRIGHT, we talk about the role music plays in learning, how online teaching has influenced the way he runs his face-to-face classroom and vice versa, and his hopes for education as we look to the future.
How to Reignite Love for Learning with a Project-Based Curriculum
Michigan Virtual
For all students — but especially for those who struggle in the traditional classroom — project-based learning can offer an opportunity to rediscover the joy of learning. In this episode of BRIGHT, we talk to Dr. Sarah Pazur, the director of school leadership at FlexTech High School, who shares the why and how behind this vision for learning along with examples of some really cool projects that allowed students to explore their interests, meet core competencies, and have real-world impacts.
On the other side of online learning
Shannon Smith
What are students supposed to count on during times of uncertainty and change? Forced to suddenly move from a traditional face-to-face routine to a foreign landscape that doesn’t make sense, how will
How Can We Make School A Place Students WANT to Be?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kyle Saari, a fifth-grade teacher for Negaunee Public Schools, who reminds us that “comfort leads to confidence” and that when students are excited to be at school and take ownership over their learning, the results can be absolutely incredible.
Competency-Based Education and the Classroom Challenges
Nikolas McGehee
What is Competency-Based Education?Competency-Based Education (or CBE) is a system-wide school model in which students work towards attaining mastery of specific core competencies or skills within a s
The Case for Coaching and Tutoring
Nikolas McGehee
In the almost 40 years since Ronald Reagan’s A Nation at Risk report and subsequent education reforms, many programs have been developed to help students improve their academic achievement. Some of th
All the things I wish I knew earlier about online teaching
Holly Boleski
This past year forced most teachers, even those with decades of experience teaching in face-to-face classrooms, into a brand new way of teaching–online! But what was new for many was my day-to-day wor
Why Growth Mindsets Are So Important For Student Success in Math
Michigan Virtual
Meet Christy Trombetta, an online math teacher at Michigan Virtual who has a particular knack for helping students develop growth mindsets in her online math classroom. When a student tells her they’re “bad at math,” she takes this self-labeling as a signal that the student may need extra support to shift their inner dialogue from “I’m bad at math” to “I can actually do this.”
Are Grade Levels Getting In The Way of Learning?
Michigan Virtual
Meet Mike Burde, assistant superintendent at Kenowa Hills Public Schools, who shares his vision for a system of schooling that goes beyond “time-based advancement” and instead revolves around personal mastery.
A Forest Most Beautiful
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kelly Tillman, an art educator at Walled Lake Consolidated Schools who teaches a choice-based art classroom and reminds us that — rather than stepping back to see the forest for the trees — it’s often the variation between the trees themselves that makes the forest most beautiful.
We need to give our teachers the professional trust they deserve
Shannon Smith
While structure and accountability are critical components in the education of children, teachers also need to feel respected as the highly educated, specially trained experts they are, most of whom would not remain in the field if not for their passion.
It Takes a Village to Educate a Child
Michigan Virtual
Meet Kerry Downs, the executive director of the Flint Community Education Initiative who provides insight into the rich history of community education in Flint, shares her belief that every school should be a community school, and reminds us that teachers alone shouldn’t bear the burden of educating the “whole child.”
Eight Years of Research on K-12 Special Populations and Motivation
Kristen DeBruler, PhD
Over the past eight years, Michigan Virtual has paid particular attention to online special populations and subsequently online student motivation. Our research team has focused on topics such as online credit recovery, supporting online students with disabilities, and the role of motivation in online courses.
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