The last post had some fun with signs, and ended with this observation: “…public agencies, including public schools, are constantly faced with outdated policies, requirements, and signals. And those policies are stifling innovation, undermining confidence in public education, and putting up roadblocks to new public schools, programs, and models of instruction.”

The gap between educational research and classroom practice has long been a concern in the field of education.  As a researcher in the field, I have often written that the practice of K-12 digital learning outpaces the availability of useful research.  However, the availability of research into K-12 digital learning is not the only reason why many teachers do not regularly incorporate research findings into their teaching practices.

Outdated or contradictory policies can lead to confusion and hinder progress. For instance, encountering a sign that says, "Please disinfect before and after use" on a door labeled "roof access" raises questions about what needs disinfecting. In another case, an airport door displays a warning about prosecution, only to be followed by another sign advising to ignore the previous warning. While these examples may seem trivial, they highlight how obsolete or conflicting directives can impede innovation and erode trust in public institutions, including schools. It's essential to regularly review and update policies to ensure they remain relevant and effective.

A small but growing number of school districts, mostly rural, are implementing four day school weeks. As this phenomenon has been growing, I’ve been wondering—are some of these districts using online instruction to pick up some of the instructional gap? The short answer appears to be no. Even more interesting, perhaps, is the apparent lack of even considering some sort of hybrid approach that might meet the needs of schools, students, and teachers.

The New York Times ran a contest of sorts, between a writer and ChatGPT, to produce a 1,000-word short story “beach read” (the title might be surprising but the link is accurate!)  NYT readers sent in suggestions for themes, and the Times ran the author’s story and the one by ChatGPT, without initially showing which was which, and invited readers to guess which story was human-generated and which was AI-generated.

In our 2024 Snapshot, the Digital Learning Collaborative (DLC) noted that: High-stakes testing for students in full-time virtual schools presents unique challenges, including issues of accessibility, integrity, and fairness. As more students enroll in full-time virtual schools, understanding and addressing these challenges becomes crucial, especially as evidence emerges following the pandemic that performance and participation increases when online schools are permitted to administer state tests to students in a virtual setting using remote proctoring, thus enabling online students — just like students in traditional schools — to take tests in the setting where they learn each day.

In traditional classrooms, most educational technology struggles with the ""95% problem""—it only works as intended for a small fraction of students. But in online and hybrid learning, technology isn't just an add-on; it's built into the foundation of how learning happens. This intentional design means more students engage with and benefit from digital tools, making them far more effective than in conventional school settings.

A few weeks ago, in a blog post about AI, I wrote “I have a strong sense that the traditional education system is not meeting this moment…” I was thinking about how traditional districts are slowed by bureaucracy, rules, and norms, such that they would not adopt AI as quickly as private schools and other non-education sectors, and that when they did adopt AI, they would be more likely to run into problems.

Are district’s online schools closing at significant rates? Based on a recent Education Week article and another from Ed Week’s Market Brief, the answer would appear to be yes. But the reality is more nuanced and in fact, K-12 online learning is growing.

Brian (name changed for privacy) was a star student in elementary school. He was engaged, and excelled. He read often on his own, fueled by his curiosity. Then around age thirteen, before and as he was transitioning to high school, he lost interest in school. His lack of interest got to the point that he and his friends would compete to see who would do worst on assessments. When his school sent report cards home that his parents had to sign, he would forge their signatures.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly improving, which is creating a growing disconnect between the trajectory of AI advancement and the response from most (not all) school districts, state agencies, and associated organizations. The discourse around AI taking place in education publications, professional development, and school board meetings is mostly focused on near-term issues such as student academic integrity, and teachers’ use of AI for lesson planning. But the significant advancements in AI capabilities are outpacing these discussions, and this divergence is only going to get bigger over time.

The recent DLC blog post by Kim Loomis struck a chord for me, because I deeply believe that hybrid learning is THE path forward for education as it embraces the power and potential of both humans and our digital/AI partners. Over last the 14 years in building flexible learning environments powered by humans and multiplied by digital resources, I have found that people tend to vilify or deify the human element over the digital options, or vice-versa.