Blended Learning and Career and Technology Education - Part I: The Definition

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.

Technology has created a personalized access to the world where we can connect and learn… where we can create and share.  Almost every aspect of our lives have been changed by technology, except... education.

Over the last few years, I’ve entered into blended learning discussions with various people, including educators, and I’m always surprised at their perception of blended learning.  Many believe blended learning occurs when any type of computer-based learning takes place within the classroom.  In many instances, I would define what is occurring as technology-rich instruction, but there is a difference.

Blended learning is the combination of online learning and brick and mortar schools with teachers who enable students to learn at their own pace.  Why is this important?  Because many students learn in different ways and this allows each student to optimize their learning.  Quite simply, the purpose of blended learning is to take the best of traditional education and blend it with the power of online learning which allows for a more personalized and interactive learning experience.  Each teacher has the opportunity to review data, in the moment, and determine where the student is at and to form instruction for the next period or the next day.  Blended learning also puts the student in charge of their own learning which, to me, is a very valuable lesson in itself.

According to the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Education, blended learning “goes beyond one-to-one computers and high-tech gadgets. Blended learning involves leveraging the Internet to afford each student a more personalized learning experience, including increased student control over the time, place, path, and/or pace of learning.

The definition of blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns:

at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace;

at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home;

and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.”

See more at: http://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning/#sthash.AWqDXtoh.dpuf

The key difference between blended learning and other forms of education is on its emphasis on personalized learning.  The International Association for Online Learning (iNACOL) defines personalized learning as, “Tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests–including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn–to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible.” As you can see, the two definitions overlap, but blending learning adds online learning and leveraging the internet to personalize an individual’s learning experience.

Next- Blended Learning and Career and Technology Education - Part II: Blended Learning Models

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!

The Educator's Guide to Hashtags

Follow us on Twitter!  @CareerTechTest

Whether you're a social media novice or not, hashtags may seem confusing and inessential. These short links (hashtags) preceded by the pound sign (#) are integral to the way we communicate online and it's important to know how to use them.

Can hashtags be fun? Absolutely!

On Twitter, the pound sign (or hash) turns any word or group of words into a searchable link. This allows you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. So, if you want to post about the NFL Super Bowl, you would include #SuperBowl in your tweet to join the conversation (or simply search for the hashtag to follow the discussion). Clicking on a hashtag will allow you to see all the posts that mention the subject in real time.

I also recommend using a social media management platform, such as HooteSuite, TweetDeck, etc., where you can create columns with hashtag topics.  I like the ability to monitor several discussions, i.e. #edchat, #lrnchat, #careerteched, at once and all on the same screen.

I've created a list of popular educational hashtags and tried to categorize them for you (see below). It definitely isn't all inclusive, but it's a good starting point and I hope you will share any new educational hashtags you find interesting and helpful!  (Also, hashtags are now a staple to social media and their use has been extended to other social media platforms.)

Popular Educational Hashtags
Hashtag	Category
	Career and Technology Education
#careerteched
#CTE
#vision15
	College
#highered
	Curriculum
#cchat
	Distance Education
#disted
#elearning
#k12online
#mlearning
#onlinelearning
	Groups and Chats
#edchat	Educational Technology
#educhat	Education Chat
#lrnchat	Social Media and Education
#oklaed	Oklahoma Education Chat
	Instruction/Learning
#blendchat	Blended Learning
#blendedlearning	Blended Learning
#education
#elearning	Electronic Learning
#flipclass	Blended Learning
#GBL	Game-Based Learning
#ntchat	New Teachers
#onlinelearning	Blended Learning
#pbl/#pblchat	Project-Based Learning
#studentcentered	Blended Learning
#teachered
#teachers
	Language
#bilingual
#efl	English as a Foreign Language
#ell	English Language Learning
#esl	English as a Second Languae
#tesol	Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
	Leadership
#edleadership
#eduleaders
	Resources
#education
#educational videos
#educationresources
#learning
#lessonplans
#library
#research
#teachers
#TLChat	Twitter Librarians
#TT	Teacher Tuesday where educators suggest others to follow
	Special Needs
#gifted	Gifted Education
#GTChat	Gifted Education
#spedchat	Special Education
	Science
#STEM
	Technology
#1:1
#apps
#blendchat	Blended Learning
#BYOD	Bring Your Own Device
#EdApps	Educational Apps
#edtech	Educational Technology
#edtechchat	Educational Technology
#elearning	Electronic Learning
#ipadchat	iPad
#iNACOL	International Association of Online Learning
#iste	International Society for Technology in Education
#mlearning	Mobile Learning
#mobile	Mobile Learning
#slide2learn	iDevices and Learning
#vitalcpd	Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom
#web20

New Year's Resolution: Secure Your Assessment System

It's unbelievable that 2016 is here and the school year is half over, but that also means we are closer to the busiest time of year for those of us in the assessment industry.

I hope everyone has created and follows a secure assessment policy, but if not, John Kleeman, founder of Questionmark, created Ten tips for Securing Your Assessment System, which provides a secure foundation for your assessment system.  It seems security breaches most often occur as we get busy and are more prone to creating shortcuts in our work, but a "system" should help minimize these errors.  Please read John's post in its entirety and address any weaknesses in your assessment security:

What can you do to make your assessment system more secure? How can you avoid a disruptive data breach where people’s personal information is disclosed? Using a vendor who takes security seriously reduces risk, as I wrote in my blog article Eight ways to check if security is more than skin deep. But security involves both vendor and user. This post gives ten good practice tips on how you as a user or administrator of an assessment system can reduce the risk of data breaches.

1. Don’t give yourself or other administrators unnecessary privileges. Follow the principle of least privilege. It may sound counter-intuitive, but most administrative users don’t need access to all capabilities and data within your system. Limiting access reduces the impact of a data breach if an account is compromised or someone makes a mistake. If you are using Questionmark, allocate appropriate roles to limit people to what they need.

2. When someone leaves the project or organization, remove their access. Don’t allow someone who has left your team to still have access to your assessment data.

3. Follow good password security. Do not share passwords between people. Do not use the same password for two accounts. Choose strong passwords and change them periodically. If someone asks you for your password, never, ever give it. And if a web page doesn’t look right, don’t type your password into it.

4. Install all the patches and secure the system. A common cause of security breaches is failing to install the latest versions of software, and attackers exploit known vulnerabilities. You need to be proactive and always install the latest version of system and application software, set up good technical security and follow the vendor’s recommendations.

If you haven’t got the time or resources to do this properly, move to a cloud solution. In a cloud SaaS solution like Questionmark OnDemand, the vendor is responsible for updating Windows, updating the application, monitoring security and ensuring that everything is up to date.

5. Install good quality antivirus / anti-malware software. Reportedly there are nearly a million new or variant malware and viruses produced each day. Protect your computer and those of your co-workers with up to date, professional software to address this threat.

6. Protect any downloaded data. Questions, assessments and reports on results are generally safer on a server or in an on-demand service than on a workstation. If you need to download data locally, set up security procedures to protect it and try to ensure that any download is temporary only.

7. Dispose of data properly. Deleting a file on a computer doesn’t erase the data, it simply erases the index to it. If you use a reputable service like Questionmark OnDemand, if a disk is repaired or reaches end of life, it will be securely destroyed for example by degaussing. But if you download data locally or use installable software to manage your assessments, you need to do this yourselves. A recent study suggested that about half of used hard drives sold online contain residual data. Make sure this is not your assessment data!

8. Be careful about clicking on a link or attachment in an email. Phishing attacks use email or malicious websites (clicking on a link) to collect sensitive information or infect your machine with malware and viruses. Such attacks could even be aimed at your organization or assessment activity directly (this is called spear phishing!). Think before clicking.

9. Be aware of social engineering. Social engineering is when someone tries to trick you or someone else into a security breach. For example someone might ring up and claim to be a student who wants their results, but really is an imposter. Or someone might spoof an email from your boss asking for the questions for the next test to review. Be wary of strange phone calls or emails that ask for something urgent. If something seems suspicious, clear it with a security professional before you give them info or ask a caller to hang up and call them back on an official number.

10. Conduct security awareness training. If you’re not already doing this, organize training sessions for all your authors, proctors, administrators and other users to help them be security aware. if you can, deliver tests after the training to check understanding. Sharing this blog article with your co-workers would be a great way to start.

To see more Questionmark posts click HERE.

Assessment Study Guides from the CareerTech Testing Center

The CareerTech Testing Center (CTTC) works closely with instructors, industry representatives and credentialing entities to identify and develop assessments and assessment preparation materials that are aligned with recognized industry standards.

Study guides are designed to help students prepare for the assessments. Each study guide includes:

• information about the assessments within a content area
• the standards upon which each assessment is based
• test plans
• practices questions
• test-taking strategies
• many study guides also include a crosswalk to instructional materials that may be used during instruction or when studying for assessments.

CTTC assessments are directly aligned to assessments needed to obtain credentials that are required and/or valued by industry. Assessments measure how well the student has mastered the content deemed important by industry, and while passing a CTTC assessment is no guarantee of future success, it does provide an indication of whether or not the student is ready for certification or licensure.

Click here for Study Guides and please contact us if you have any questions!

The CareerTech Testing Center has been developing skills standards and online tests since 1980 as we work closely with instructors, program administrators, industry representatives, and credentialing entities to ensure that our study guides and assessments reflect national standards and local industry needs.