Find TLA at iNACOL 2017

We are looking forward to seeing many of you next week in Orlando at the 2017 iNACOL Symposium Personalizing Learning: Equity, Access, Quality. The Learning Accelerator is pleased to be presenting on numerous important topics in blended and personalized learning, in many instances with partner organizations and school leaders. Please join us at the sessions detailed below and follow us on Twitter @LearningAccel where we will be actively sharing.

Effectively Communicating about Personalized Learning
Monday, Oct. 23, 8 - 11 a.m.
Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful innovation in education. School districts that develop thoughtful communications plans build a culture of engagement, transparency and trust that is critical for innovation both to take hold in the classroom and to be scalable across many schools. This hands-on workshop from TLA and Education Elements will review the four phases of developing an effective communications plan, explore real-world examples and provide attendees with an opportunity to learn from peers and test out key messages and ideas.

K-12 Blended and Online Learning Research Community Meeting
Monday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
This day-long research community meeting hosted by TLA and the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute will foster a space for researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders to come together and discuss newly published research, provide opportunities for networking, find funding opportunities, and drum up collaborative prospects. We'll provide a chance for everyone to gain and give practical, applicable insights into measuring K-12 blended learning initiatives. In addition, we will hear from practitioners engaged in developing measurement systems for their own personalized learning initiatives in an interactive, no-holds-barred, "Ask Us Anything" format, with in-person and virtual participants and panelists.

Sustaining a Breakthrough Model - Case Studies on How to Support Innovation that Lasts
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 10 - 11 a.m.
So often in education, we spend time, money and energy planning, developing and implementing new initiatives, pouring our hearts and souls into a new effort - only to see it dissipate as funding goes away, as barriers are encountered or as priorities change. How can you avoid seeing this happen to your blended and personalized learning initiatives? How can you make your innovation "stick" and create an environment conducive of scale? Join TLA, our friends at Afton, and other education experts and leaders to think about the long term.

Bridge Building: Engaging Regions Locally and in Context to Build a National Strategy to Support Blended and Personalized Learning Educators
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Supporting educators in implementing blended and personalized learning is an incredibly local task. Context influences the resources and solutions leaders turn to, as well as the role human capital providers can play. The Learning Accelerator is trying to bridge this gap by convening and deeply understanding learning networks, "ThinkTanks," in eight regions across the U.S. This session will focus on key themes and lessons learned, as well as overall recommendations for local and national action.

Laboratories for Personalized Learning Innovation: How Top Public Charter Schools are Shaping the Future
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 4 - 5 p.m.
The 74 Million and Rocketship will host an interactive discussion with top public charter school leaders, looking back, and into the future, of personalized learning. A recent RAND study found that public charter schools excel at implementing and scaling personalized learning programs. Participants will dig in to these findings, and discuss lessons learned and future plans for increasing student achievement and engagement through personalization.

Designing and Iterating Blended Learning Classroom Structures
Wednesday, Oct 25, 10 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Already on-board to start blended learning, but want some strategies on how to design your classroom? Join TLA and Rocketship in this collaborative workshop to gain key strategies and resources for planning, reflecting and iterating on blended learning classroom designs. We'll share how we've approached blended learning across our schools and break into groups to discuss various strategies with building up quality systems and routines for blended and personalized learning.

There's an Expert for That: Benefits, Challenges and Best Practices for Education Leaders in Engaging Consultants to Support Personalized Learning Initiatives
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Transforming schools is no easy task. Given this, education leaders are increasingly turning to external consultants to support their personalized learning (PL) initiatives. But how can leaders identify the right expert for a specific need? How can they set up projects for success? And who is building the PL expertise of consultants? We'll tackle these questions in a dialogue between a seasoned PL district leader, two professional service providers and an entrepreneur helping connect them.

Beyond Minutes: Leveraging Your Blended Learning Data to Determine Efficacy
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
Blended and personalized learning software programs provide the potential for incredibly granular analyses of how students are progressing through relevant content. However, making good on this opportunity often presents a challenge. With technology-facilitated audience participation, join TLA, Caliber Schools, Aspire Public Schools, and Distinctive Schools to discuss our successes and challenges in analyzing, visualizing and communicating blended learning data in our attempt to determine the efficacy of these software programs.