public / private partnerships in the distance learning sphere

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kirby urner

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May 24, 2015, 1:23:24 PM5/24/15
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Greetings mathfuturists --

I haven't posted in awhile yet remain an avid
lurker.

End of April, I was in St. Louis MO for the US
Distance Learning Association meetup (USDLA).
I was sent by my company, a distance learning
provider based in Sebastopol (CA) but serving
a global clientele of so far mostly adult learners.

Our venue for the conference:  Union Station,
once a major mid-western hub in the era of
Passenger Train Travel (we're doing Air now),
a new destination hotel with many attractions
including a Hard Rock Cafe and train museums. 
I enjoyed my stay a lot and recommend the
venue to other groups.  Nearby City Museum
is not to be missed.[1]

We were a mixed bag, an interesting mix of
strange bedfellows.  Our diversity was discussed
in the closing keynote [2]. 

Some of us represent proud and long-accredited
diploma-granting institutions, now extending
their services to a larger off-campus audience. 

The new kids on the block are unaccredited
certificate givers, sometimes referred to as
"start-ups" but as with "charter school" that
may give the wrong idea, of something less
established i.e. more likely to go away.  Let
me explain.

Michigan (MI) by public law has decreed that
every high-schooler shall have access to at
least one distance learning opportunity, for
which said student may visit an entirely different
facility, known as a Nexus Academy.

From there, a specially wired facility, supervised
by adults, provided with workout equipment
and a cafeteria (more like a skyscraper would
have), the students connect teachers like me,
remotely, to earn math credits or whatever.

So what if we're a private business, a dot com? 
It's the State of Michigan which decides what
to accredit and our Python track is college level,
you can check it out on-line.

Who says the state in question considers learning
Python from my school worthy of any math credit?
Again, not me.  Others will have to judge, another
battle for another time. 

The topic here is:  the new synergy that's forming
between better established and upstart schools. 

Perhaps in some states the laws are different.  The
details are up to the states.

What's relevant to math futurists, I think, is the
ability of private companies to compete not just in
the home-schooler space, with commercial products
aimed at parents, but in the public school space
as well.  Of course big names will muscle in, but
there's also room for niche branding.

Nexus Academy is part of the public system,
meaning the courses are free to its students
registered for public school in that part of Michigan.

There aren't so many of these yet, but I think we
might spot a trend here, a mega-trend even.[3]

Kirby

[1]  my Flickr Album from USDLA 2015
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kirbyurner/sets/72157650194421744

[2]  closing keynote
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