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MARGIN NOTES

April 7, 2010

About the expanding Innovation Zone

by Philissa Cramer, at 12:21 pm

We received puzzled e-mails this morning asking about the “Innovation Zone,” an effort to boost programs such as online learning in 80 city schools. “What in God’s name is iZone?” one baffled reader e-mailed us.

The Post reports that Department of Education officials said it was too early for them to comment on the program. But it appears that many details have already been worked out, at least for the 10 schools in iZone’s pilot  — the program has its own Web site, nycizone.org.

The site offers an overview of the program options — which include year-round schooling, distance learning, and “ubiquitous” computers – and a list of the schools participating right now in a pilot. It also offers a colorful illustration of the program’s “core elements of innovation”:

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UPDATE: A DOE official wanted to clarify that while iZone’s website currently describes only the programs in the 10 pilot schools, more elements will be introduced in new schools as the program grows. More detail on the program’s expansion could come as early as next week, the official said.

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  • Newsman

    Why not replace thousands of teachers with inept “online courses”? Like we need a psychic to understand what will occur as a result of this.

  • I noticed that…

    If there aren’t any clear, comprehensive guidelines in place when students take courses online and the computers in schools are not set up to block students from googling all their answers (an innovative approach ot cheating), then there will be another unprecedented spike in the graduation rate because those in the system will find it easier to scam their way into a diploma.

    Integrity and validity will go down the drain.

  • Michael M.

    Simple question: Shouldn’t we have some sort of idea this all actually WORKS before expanding it so fast?

    Piloting at 10 this year… already expanding to 80 for next?

    This isn’t a roll-out of an improvement in education, so much as metasticization.

    P.S. Apple called. They want their “i” back.

  • tba

    Newsman: online courses are not “teacher-less”, eg. in one case in a PA school, 2 of teachers’ required periods throughout the day are slated as online, so those teachers teach face-to-face some periods, and online other periods, additionally, teachers will always be a valuable resource in ed. regardless of how that ed. is delivered.

    I noticed that…: it’s unreasonable to assume online ed. is equivalent with “lawlessness” so to speak.  Any respectable program will require guidelines.  Re: cheating, in fact, it’s easy, if not easier, to monitor students in online courses, and by monitor I mean both academic progress and basic work completion.  Ss with no integrity are ss with no integrity on or off line and is not a bigger issue in online ed than it is in traditional ed.

    Michael M and everyone:
    From iNACOL, the “meta-analysis” is in reference to US Dept. of Education study 2009:

    <>

    Yes, more research needs to be done, but that can’t happen without more programs.

  • tba

    correction to above post:
    the quote from iNACOL is as follows:

    The meta-analysis of 51 study effects, 44 of which were drawn from research with older learners, found that:

    Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, o ƒƒ n average, than thosetaking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.

    ƒƒInstruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative topurely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.

    ƒƒStudies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students inthe face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.

    ƒƒMost of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning didnot affect student learning outcomes significantly.

    ƒƒThe effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different contentand learner types.

    ƒƒEffect sizes were larger for studies in which the online and face-to-face conditions variedin terms of curriculum materials and aspects of instructional approach in addition to themedium of instruction.

  • ???

    tba, please.
    If I hear one more study that shows you what you want to see I’ll puke. There is so much greed and corruption being invited into our schools that it sickens me. Your numbers quote sounds worse than the drug companies trying to sell us the latest miracle drug that has been tested thoroughly. Drug companies, like I fear you, are trying to convince us that their products are safe for consumption in order to make profits. There are too many idea people who haven’t got a clue destroying education because they are short sighted and often greedy, plain and simple.

    Our most needy children come to school with difficulty understanding simple instructions. This is due mainly to children not having the experience of being understood early on in their lives. An online course will not provide them with the understanding they require in order for them to then understand. You are defending another short sighted program, like paying students for test scores, that common sense tells us is a waste of recourses.

  • ???

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