Blended Learning and Career and Technology Education - Part IV: Implementing Blended Learning With Resources from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

In this four-part series, I’ll define blended learning, discuss the models of blended learning, the implications for career and technical education, and how the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery (CADD) areas of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education can assist in the implementation of blended learning.

Photo courtesy of the Clayton Christensen Institute

Blended learning is a shift to an online instructional delivery for a portion of the day to make students, teachers, and schools more productive, both academically and financially.  We all know there’s no single right approach to building the “perfect” model for blended learning as communities have different resources, classrooms, computers, schedules, and many other unique needs.  A school doesn’t always have the resources or the expertise to select and purchase a learning management system (LMS), design lessons, or write assessments, but there are available resources.

Did you know that the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery areas of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education can assist in the implementation of blended learning?  The National Technology Plan acknowledges the challenges of raising college and career-ready standards without a significant investment of new funding so check out our online catalog and search the following links for additional information and see how we can assist you in blending digital and teacher led instruction to personalize learning for each student.

CIMC

CareerTech Testing Center

ctYouniverse

CIMC Introduces New Online Catalog

CIMC introduces the next generation of our online catalog, featuring curriculum and assessment products.

CIMC Online Catalog

CIMC is excited to offer our new interactive catalog which serves as a hub for the field to access agency products and services.  The only thing that has changed with the catalog is everything – users will notice a professional look and feel, enhanced graphics, links to resources, suggested products, and the ability to pay with a credit card, purchase order, or check.

We are thrilled to offer an improved and interactive experience that allows users to find their favorite products and services – the only thing that hasn’t changed.  As always, our skills standards, curriculum, and assessments create the perfect foundation for competency-based instruction, in Oklahoma and beyond.

Take a moment to discover the new online catalog and see how we've changed. We are committed to your satisfaction and welcome your feedback!

CIMC is part of the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery (CADD) division of the Department of Career and Technology Education. For additional information on our products and services, please visit:

CIMC
CareerTech Testing Center
ctYOUniverse
Digital Printing, Distribution and Client Services
 

National Agriculture Day - March 15th

CIMC Agricultural Education Catalog

Did you know the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (ODCTE) offers Agricultural Education in 355 high schools? Did you know these programs prepare students for careers in production agriculture, agribusiness, and other emerging agricultural-related occupations?  Did you know the CareerTech Student Organization affiliated with Agricultural Education is the Future Farmers of America (FFA)?

Study Guide

Did you also know the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery (CADD) areas of ODCTE have been supporting this occupational area for decades?

CIMC produces competency-based instructional products and services for a variety of career and technical areas, including agricultural education.

The CareerTech Testing Center creates and offers online assessments as a measure of occupational readiness for students and industry workers. Free study guides include assessment information, standards and test content, sample questions, a list of abbreviations, symbols, and acronyms, strategies for test taking success.

ctYOUniverse

ctYOUniverse.com hosts online student-ready classroom sites for CareerTech-related subjects. Each fully customizable course site comes pre-populated with curriculum materials developed by CIMC. This one-stop shop for learning materials provides instructors with everything they need to teach in a blended, flipped, or traditional setting.

Many thanks to the men and women that produce and protect America's food supply!

Skills to Rebuild - An Important Resource from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

Immediately after the tornados of May 19-20 struck the state of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education launched Skills to Rebuild.

The subsequent tornado on May 31st that also devastated one of our own technology centers, Canadian Vally Technology Center - El Reno campus, made me truly appreciate the people and the resources that this system offers and marvel at how quickly CareerTech can respond to the needs of our customers and stakeholders.

Today, CareerTech system employees are putting their "boots on the ground" in areas hit by tornados to not only help in the cleanup efforts, but to build a mission around training which is what CareerTech does every day.

I hope you will take a look at Skills to Rebuild and understand that these resources aren't just for those affected by tornados in Oklahoma, but these resources can be utilized by anyone in the event of any disaster.

Please read below for the outline for Skills to Rebuild and follow the links for additional resources:

Training and counseling professionals at ODCTE have developed a list of resources that include how to recognize people in distress as they cope with a disaster as well as safety, construction and training fact sheets and links that identify certain hazards and skills associated with cleanup efforts. 

Resources: After the Storm

Keeping people safe during cleanup and recovery efforts is a primary concern in addition to knowing how to recognize the signs of a person in distress and the toll of stress in the people who were directly affected by the storm.

Phase I -

Identifying CareerTech resources that could be quickly deployed to assist with immediate needs. Included are safety training brochures, on-site volunteer safety clinics and creating an official website to provide brief training material on various recovery topics such as counseling children, hiring a contractor, safety and basic repair "how-tos".

• Counseling for Students
• Hiring a Contractor

Phase II -

Putting boots on the ground in impacted areas. Deploying CareerTech System employees to work in affected areas. This effort is designed to embed volunteers to act as safety ambassadors as they work with other volunteers and homeowners in the recovery process. A continuation of safety clinics and supplying those clinics with consumable personal protective equipment and literature support the training effort.

• Safety Training
• Construction Training Handouts

Phase III -

Specific skills training to assist homeowners with training on basic home repair tasks for the longer term recovery effort. This training need will be assessed as recovery continues and resources allocated as required to support there efforts.

• Moving Forward

Robert Sommers: New State Director for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education

Robert Sommers

This week starts a new direction for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education as Robert Sommers of Middletown, Ohio begins his tenure as the new state director.

I have to admit that I like a recent Tweet of his, "CareerTech in Oklahoma is impressive. Great economic development tool and a relevance provider for students!" I also have to admit that I'm excited about the future of CTE in Oklahoma as a new state director typically creates change and, although uncomfortable at times for many of us, change affords us the opportunity to learn and to grow as individuals. That is really what this blog is about anyway... lifelong learning and creating new opportunities for each of you, for your students, your business and industry clients, and your stakeholders.

Please read below for more information on Robert Sommers:

Sommers recently served as chief executive officer/managing partner of Carpe Diem Learning Systems, the organization created to grow the high-performing, cost-effective Carpe Diem model nationally. This model uses digital content and teaching faculty to create a personalized blended learning education experience. Sommers was responsible for opening a Carpe Diem school in Indianapolis.

"We are extremely fortunate to have in Oklahoma's CareerTech System someone of Bob Sommers' vision and proven track record of improving student performance," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Career and Technology Education Board Chair Janet Barresi. "He has 15 years experience in supervision and leadership in Ohio's career-technical education and has collaborated with Ohio Gov. John Kasich on the creation and passage of major educational reforms for improved student performance and cost effectiveness. His vision for the future of the Career and Technology System in our state is forward thinking and exciting. I look forward to working with him."

For nine years Sommers was CEO/superintendent of an Ohio career-technical district, Butler Technology and Career Development Schools, in Hamilton, Ohio. Under his leadership, the district doubled in size, became the highest performing career-technical district in Ohio and became known for creative educational programs including blended learning schools. The district served more than 26,000 high school through adult students and provided customized training to companies.

From 1986 to 2001, Sommers served in several capacities with the Ohio Department of Education. He served as an agricultural supervisor, state adviser for the FFA, assistant director of program evaluation services and associate director overseeing federal career-technical funding programs and the creation of a new Ohio career-technical funding system.

Sommers’ teaching experience included agricultural education in London, Ohio.

Sommers' work as director of Ohio’s Office of 21st Century Education included passage of reforms for increased school performance transparency, teacher evaluation, school choice and failing school transformation. His experience also includes serving as CEO of Cornerstone Charter Schools, where he led two K-8th-grade schools under management and two more schools under development. He designed the Cornerstone Health High School, a blended learning school that opened in fall 2012.

He earned a doctorate in educational administration and leadership from The Ohio State University, Columbus, where he also completed his master’s degree in agricultural education. Sommers received a bachelor of science degree in education at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and has received several education and business awards in Ohio. His service in leadership positions in numerous state and national organizations, including the chairman of the Performance Taskforce for the National Association of Career and Technical Education, is additional evidence of his commitment to his profession.

“I am excited about the opportunities before Oklahoma’s CareerTech System ,” Sommers said. “Oklahoma’s career and technology educators have led the country in creating innovative programs. I’m confident we will continue this tradition of innovation. I look forward to working with the board, the staff and the state’s career and technology educators in assuring every Oklahoman a quality career, every business a quality workforce and Oklahoma a great educational system."

Career Focus: After Military Service

I wanted to announce a new CIMC product that I'm very excited about entitled:  Career Focus: After Military Service.

This product was developed for veterans who are leaving the military and transitioning to a civilian career. This guide walks veterans through five steps in making this transition: Self-assessment, exploring career interests and options, filling a skills gap, finding and applying for a job, and managing the career transition.

CIMC is also offering the entire Career Focus: After Military Service publication as a free file for you to download.

Click here to download: Career Focus: After Military Service.
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Please contact CIMC online, by phone (800.654.4502), or by fax (405.743.5154) to order the following Career Focus guides:

Career Focus is a new career exploration and preparation guide. This 32-page, full-color magazine combines essential guidance with web activities and "skill builder" opportunities to help prepare users for college and the workplace.There are three versions of Career Focus available.

The original Career Focus explores careers in all areas. Topics include career clusters and pathways; plans of study; personal selling points; online tools; college planning checklists; interview strategies; and keys to career success. Career Focus also provides workplace re-entry strategies for those who have been absent from the workplace for a number of reasons.

Career Focus: Health Careers provides career exploration and preparation for careers in the health care area, including careers in health care, unusual jobs in the field, and CareerTech Champions in this area. It is a concise guide to planned success for high school students and adults interested in the health care industry.

Teacher of Thousands: Piyush Patel

Here is a TEDxOStateU video entitled "Teacher of Thousands: Piyush Patel."


Piyush Patel founded and runs a company that generates virtual training programs for creative professionals who produce films, video games, commercials and other projects. Located in Oklahoma City, PL Studios Inc.,  along with the Digital-Tutors division, works with clients including Disney, NASA, Nike, Dreamworks, Pixar, EA Sports and Mercedes-Benz.

Piyush Patel

In 2010, the company was recognized as an official honoree of the broadband category at the 14th annual Webby Awards and was listed as one of the 50 Most Usable Rich Internet Applications of the year by the 2009 O’Reilly’s Inside RIA.

Patel is an advisory board member for the Oklahoma Technology Council, a member of the AIGA Oklahoma board of directors, a member of the Oklahoma State Chamber board of directors and the former president for the Oklahoma Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization. He was a tenured professor at Northern Oklahoma College before founding PL Studios, Inc.

Patel has also been instrumental in helping the CareerTech Testing Center and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education in the development of our skills standards (knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform related jobs within an industry) for Motion Graphics Artist, 3D Animator, and 3D Modeler. Digital-Tutors has provided their endorsement of these standards which serve as the foundation for competency-based instruction in these areas.

Congratulations to Piyush on a great TEDx talk and for having the idea to create an instructional concept that can change the lives of thousands from across the globe!

Recognizing Academic Achievement in Career/Technical Education

SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) just released "Recognizing Academic Achievment in Career/Technical Education: Conditions for Awarding Academic Credit for Career/Technical Courses" which details the merits and challenges involved in awarding academic credit to caree/technical courses that embrace rigorous college and career-readiness standards equivalent to those found in traditional academic courses.

As SREB states in their summary:

Putting in place the right set of policies for awarding academic credit for CT courses is one way to recognize CT programs with signature features that truly advance students’ technical, academic and cognitive skills development. It is our hope that this report will assist states in their continuing efforts to develop rigorous optional pathways designed around authentic learning experiences that will result in more students graduating from high school and graduating both college and career-ready.

I hope you will take the time to read this publication and share your thoughts.

Today’s Employees Require Continuous Development

Did you know that the skills you acquire during college have an expected life of only five years?

Did you know that it isn’t only white-collar workers that face a major issue with skills obsolescence?

Technology and certification requirements have affected all of our jobs and it’s an ongoing challenge for employers and employees to remain relevant in the world economy.

All employees must constantly enhance their skills if they are to stay relevant and marketable in today’s workforce. Many employers provide professional development, but 28% of the most promising positions will require “considerable to extensive preparation.” To be honest, most employers will not offer training at this level so I believe “the future belongs to those who take charge of their own learning.”

Career and technical education is a key component in the training and re-training of America's workforce that, all too often, doesn't get the credit that it deserves. CareerTech provides nationally recognized competency-based curriculum, education, and training for a myriad of specialized and customized courses and training opportunities.

Just like I was asked last week, "Isn't CareerTech just for high school students?".... No, it's for high school students, adults of any age, law offenders, and business and industry.

I'm also frequently asked, "Isn't CareerTech just the traditional trade areas?".... No, we instruct students in not only trade and industrial programs, but business, marketing and information technology, health, family and consumer science, agriculture, and science, technology, engineering and math. To be honest, this list is only the major headings for the hundreds of programs that we offer from pre-engineering, culinary arts, 3D modeling and animation, drafting, aviation mechanics, etc. This doesn't even begin to encompass the various customized trainings that we do for business and industry.

CareerTech is a dynamic educational entity that has evolved over time, but they remain consistent in how they utilize business and industy's needs to drive their educational programs. These ties to industry are how CareerTech can best meet the needs of both employers and employees as the seek the training needed to be relevant in today's economy.

I believe career and technical education will continue to grow in significance and become a major force in the revitalization of America's workforce. It's truly a great way to make yourself or your company relevant in an ever-changing world economy.

Up to the Challenge: The Role of Career and Technical Education and 21st Century Skills in College and Career Readiness

I recently had the opportunity to meet Tim Magner, Executive Director for The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. We discussed how the United States faces a “skills imperative” and how college and career readiness should be the new direction for K–12 education.

He later shared the following publication from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and I have listed a few of the highlights from the publication. I hope you will take the time to read the document in it's entirety as it demonstrates the importance of CTE in developing a student's college and career readiness skills. Please read:

 

Up to the Challenge: The Role of Career and Technical Education and 21st Century Skills in College and Career Readiness (follow the link to read the entire publication)

Highlights
Three developments make it possible to anticipate better student outcomes that are more tightly aligned to postsecondary, business and civic needs in the future:

1. Consensus that the foundational academic knowledge needed for postsecondary education and for careers is virtually the same, with growing recognition that academic skills, and employability and technical knowledge and skills, are essential as well.
2. Widespread agreement that lifelong learning and “learning how to learn” are key drivers of success in college, careers and civic life
3. Collaborative efforts in states, districts and communities to strengthen their collective capacity to deliver results that matter

Shared understandings

• All students need to be college- and career-ready.
• College and career readiness requires both knowledge and skills. It’s time to abandon the false dichotomy between knowledge and skills.
• How students learn has a decided impact on what they learn

 Action agenda:

• Emphasize opportunities to master 21st century skills.
• Prioritize strategies to engage students in learning and meet the needs of students with different learning styles.
• Prepare students for STEM occupations and other high-growth, high-wage careers.
• Give students opportunities to earn valuable credentials.
• Foster productive relationships between students and teachers, employers and higher education.
• Support transitions to postsecondary education.
• Employ best practices for college and career readiness.

Again, I hope you will read: Up to the Challenge: The Role of Career and Technical Education and 21st Century Skills in College and Career Readiness!

New Legal Office Assistant Assessment and Skills Standards from the CareerTech Testing Center

I wanted to announce the new Legal Office Assistant skills standards and assessment being offered by the CareerTech Testing Center.

We are also very pleased to announce that the skills standards have been aligned with NALS...the Association for Legal Professionals.

The following duty areas comprise the skills standards (take a look at each duty area on the standards for the specific tasks within each duty area):

• Demonstrate Proper Use of Basic Legal Concepts and Terminology
• Demonstrate Grammar Usage Skills
• Demonstrate Appropriate Communication Skills
• Create Legal Correspondence
• Create and Format Court and Legal Documents
• Demonstrate Appropriate Mail Handling Procedures
• Demonstrate Appropriate Filing Procedures
• Demonstrate Knowledge of Basic Accounting Terms and Procedures
• Demonstrate Familiarity with Computer Information Systems
• Demonstrate General Legal Knowledge
• Demonstrate Knowledge of Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility
• Demonstrate Time Management Skills

Please contact the CareerTech Testing Center at 405.743.5412 to order this new assessment! As always, you can access our skills standards for FREE on our website.

Visit NALS, the association for legal professionals. NALS remains a leader in the legal services industry offering professional development by providing continuing legal education, certifications, information, and training to those choosing the legal services industry as their career. NALS members represent every area of this industry from paralegals and legal assistants to legal administrators and office managers. Because of this diversity and an openness to welcome all members of the industry, NALS offers a broad spectrum of expertise to make the programs offered valuable to all members of the legal services industry. This allows NALS members to learn about other areas of the industry, making career enhancement as well as advancement easily attainable

Can Career and Technology Education Reduce the Cost of Dropping Out?

I saw a great graphic on Michael Smith's Principals Page Blog this morning that I wanted to share with you:

Brought to you by Teacher Certification Map and http://www.blogger.com/goog_366201192

Master’s of Arts in Teaching

 I agree with the blog's author when he states that, "It's both sad and tragic. Students need to do better. Families need to do better. Schools need to do better. Our country needs to do better."

As I talk to more individuals and groups across the country, there is always a huge concern about dropout recovery. But what there isn't enough discussion about is the importance that should be placed upon career and technology education and the various programs that we offer.

We have our traditional CTE programs (i.e. Agricultural Education, Business and Information Technology Education, Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Health Careers Education, Marketing Education, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Technology Engineering, and Trade and Industrial Education), but we also have dropout recovery programs, a young offender/probationer project, school-to-work, skills centers, which are occupational training programs and related services for incarcerated adults and for juveniles in detention centers (academic education, occupational training, and life skills are integrated into one delivery system), and Tech Prep.

We also offer Business and Entrepreneurial Services and Business and Industry Development programs and a myriad of other programs to assist in the growth and development of business and industry. In other words, career and technology education is aimed at economic development, as is all forms of education, but CTE is more flexible and easily adapted to state and local industry needs.

But the bottom line, for me anyway, is that education boils down to the individual and CTE offers the best opportunity to capture and assist those "1 in 4 students" that drops out of high school. That has long been one of our goals as our mission statement says, "We prepare Oklahomans to succeed in the workplace, in education, and in life."

So can CTE really reduce the cost of dropping out? ABSOLUTELY!

But we need your help in spreading the word about CTE. Many people I meet seem to have a pre-conceived notion about what we do and I know for me, people are amazed when they find out about the wealth of services that we offer. It's my hope, that the more you help spread the word, the more likely that these "1 in 4" students will know the value of what we have to offer them. And their return is quite simply a better life for themselves and their family.

Effectively Communicating the Measurement of Constructs to Stakeholders

I wanted to share the following article written by Greg Pope, Analytics and Psychometrics Manager for Questionmark, and Kerry Eades, Assessment Specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. Both authors share an interest in test security and many other topics related to online assessment.

Greg Pope

There are many mentions on websites, blogs, YouTube, etc. about people (employees, students, educators, school administrators, etc.) cheating on tests. Cheating has always been an issue, but the last decade of increased certifications and high-stakes testing seems to have brought about a significant increase in cheating. As a result, some pundits now believe we should redefine cheating and that texting for help, accessing the Web, or using any Web 2.0 resources should be allowed during testing. The basic idea is that a student should no longer be required to learn “facts” that can be easily located on the internet and that instruction should shift to only teaching and testing conceptual content.

Kerry Eades

There are many reasons for testing (educational, professional certification and licensure, legislative, psychological, etc.) and the pressures that stakeholders feel to succeed at all costs by “teaching to the test” or to condone any form of cheating is obviously immense. Those of us in the testing industry should, to the best of our ability, educate stakeholders on the purpose of tests and on the development and measurement of constructs. Having better informed stakeholders would lessen the “need” and “excuses” for cheating and improve the testing environment for all concerned. A key element of this is promoting an understanding of how to match the testing environment to the nature of an assessment: it is appropriate to allow “open book” assessments in some cases but certainly not all. We must keep in mind that education, in general, builds upon itself over time, and for that reason, constructs must be assessed in a valid, reliable and appropriate manner.

Tests are usually developed to make a point-in-time decision about the knowledge, ability, or skills of an individual based upon a set of predetermined standards/objectives/measures. The “value” of any test is not only this “point-in-time” reference, but what it entails for the future. Although examinees may have passed an assessment they may still have areas of relative weakness that should be remediated in order for them to maximize their full potential as students or employees. Instructors should also observe how all their students are performing on tests in order to identify their own instructional weaknesses. For example, does the curriculum match up with the specified standards and the high level of thinking in those standards? This information can also be aggregated and analyzed at the local, district, or state level to determine program strengths or weaknesses. In order to use scores in a valid way to make decisions about students or programs, we must begin by clearly defining and measuring the psychological/educational constructs or traits that a test purports to measure.

Measuring a construct is certainly complex, but what it boils down to is ensuring that the construct is being measuring in a valid way and then reporting/communicating that process to stakeholders. For example, if the construct we are trying to measure in an assessment is “Surgery Procedure” and if the candidate passes the test, we expect that the person can recall this information from memory where and when needed. It wouldn’t be valid to let the participant look up where the liver is located on the Internet during the assessment, because they would not be able to use the Internet while they are halfway through a surgical procedure.

Another example would be “Crane Operation” knowledge and skills. If this is the construct being measured and it is expected that candidates who pass the test can operate a crane properly, when and where they need to, then allowing them to tweet or text during their crane certification exam would not be a valid thing to do (it would invalidate the test scores) because they would not be able to do this in real life.

However, if the assessment is a low stakes quiz that is measuring the construct, “Tourist Hot Spots of Arkansas,” and the purpose of the quiz is to help people remember some good tourist places in Arkansas, then an “open book” or an “open source” format where the examinee can search the internet or use Web 2.0 resources is fine.

Effectively communicating the purpose of an assessment and the constructs being measured by it is essential for reducing the instances of cheating. This important communication can also help prevent cheating from being “redefined” to the detriment of test security.

For more information on assessment security issues and best practices, check out the Questionmark White Paper: “Delivering Assessments Safely and Securely.”

(Click here to read the post on the Questionmark's blog.)