Parents and Teachers Help Students Learn 

You may have seen and read about the newly released movie “Won’t Back Down”. It’s about parents and teachers who are frustrated by a school that doesn’t meet their children’s needs. Driven to make a difference, they come together to improve their school and help students get the education they deserve.

Not every school suffers from the problems depicted in the movie, but clearly the traditional solutions don’t work for every child and rapidly developing technologies are forcing us to look at how we prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce. The reality is that too many schools are failing their students. Nearly a quarter of all students drop out of high school. And the number of so-called “dropout factories” (schools in which at least 60% of students do not graduate on time) numbered 1,550 in 2010.*

I was highlighted yesterday by Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Education for Microsoft Corp.’s Worldwide Public Sector organization, as a Global Hero in Education. To be included amongst an amazing group of people who are helping bring about change to our current educational system is an honor.  The fact that I am able to regularly help children and their families gain access to information, skills and resources that can help improve their lives is fulfilling and inspiring to me on a daily basis. 

This year, Mr. Salcito's blog Daily Edventures is highlighting 365 everyday heroes who work to improve education, and sharing what inspires them, what frustrates them, what hopes do they hold for the future of education and more. 

In a series of thinktanK¹² blog posts,  we will be taking a look at some trends we can expect to see in education in the near future, as well as introducing you to some of the influential people helping revolutionize education.

As learning becomes more mobile, individualized and student-centered (as it must, in order to meet the needs of the digital native generation), and increasingly taking place in a virtual environment, the role of the teacher must also change. Boring lectures will become a thing of the past as educational trends, like virtual learning and the “flipped classroom”, gradually shift the teacher’s role from one of lecturer, to one of a coach, or guide.

After all of the holiday hoopla, January can feel a little dull.  In my part of the country, outside of Philadelphia, PA, the days stretch out grayly, the evenings fall too quickly, and there are few bright spots in the winter white.