Jan 9, 2019
Today’s episode is
all about competency-based education and professional
development.
Professional development in education is notoriously bad.
BloomBoard was co-founded by Jason Lange in 2010 to try to fix the
problem by powering the micro-credential revolution. The team
behind BloomBoard are dedicated to empowering schools, districts,
and states to help meet these needs by providing educators
professional learning with purpose. They know how important
teachers are to student growth and learning — and through
micro-credentials, they can be empowered to take control of their
own growth and advancement.
Back in November, Tom caught up with Jason at the iNACOL Symposium
in Nashville. There, he described the different ways that states
are collaborating withBloomBoard to move professional learning to a
more personalized and competency-based approach, teacher induction
programs, what kinds of micro-credentials exist, and his advice for
those who are interested in micro-credentials but have yet to take
the leap.
Key Takeaways:
[:35] About today’s episode.
[1:35] Tom welcomes Jason to the podcast.
[1:44] Tom asks, “What’s new in micro-credentials?”
[2:26] Jason summarizes some of the different ways that states are collaborating with BloomBoard to move professional learning to a more personalized and competency-based approach.
[4:42] Jason explains how the many teacher induction programs generally work.
[5:58] How many micro-credentials might an induction program include?
[7:26] Jason highlights some teacher micro-credentials.
[8:31] WorkBloomBoard is doing in regards to leadership development.
[9:27] About Harmony Public Schools’ commitment to micro-credentials for teachers and leaders, and their partnership withBloomBoard.
[11:36] HowBloomBoard’s honeycomb chart (that shows how these school clusters are related to different levels of learning leadership) helps them build a partnership with a district or a network.
[13:57] Jason’s advice to those who don’t know where to start with micro-credentials.
[16:12] Could a district get content fromBloomBoard? And can they author their own micro-credentials?
[17:42] Jason gives a sneak peek of what’s next in micro-credentials and BloomBoard.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Getting Smart Blogs on Competency-Based Learning
For More on Competency-Based Learning, Check Out:
Episode 177: “Scaling Competency-Based Education: Equity Focused Strategies for Policy and Practice”
Get Involved:
Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.
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