Discussions

K12 Next Generation, LLC

United, We Can Make a World of Difference

by Tracy Hanson, MEd

Mission: We consolidate Open Educational Resources into a Curriculum Continuum which Addresses Common Core and International Standards providing Quality Education for All Children--Anytime, Anywhere.

Over the past few years, I've had a plan to collaborate with a global team of educators and organizations to develop an interactive, engaging, global curriculum continuum. Under such a plan, all children, regardless of social or economic status, anywhere in the world and at any time, would have access to this curriculum.

This curriculum, designed in a virtual environment, would erase the boxes of grades and incorporate all learning styles so that, with teacher facilitation, every child could successfully move through the continuum at their own pace. Its design would be such that it could be used in any educational model, i.e.: traditional, blended, flipped, online, home-based. Importantly, teachers would need appropriate training and supports to learn to be facilitators of individual learning rather than managers of group behavior. This curriculum would be a major step towards creating a global learning environment that, through the magic of the rapid growth of technology, would allow children from around the world to collaborate, exchanging ideas and cultures, and develop a better understanding and respect for others that could potentially carry over to their adult life.

When K12 Next Generation, a non-profit LLC,  decided to form a "virtual supervisory union", it was with the idea that "if we build it, they will come." We would create a global umbrella to unite many solutions and approaches. Together, we can create a stronger, more creative, diverse, far-reaching, curriculum continuum with multiple approaches to reach all learning styles. We would, in fact, form a global organization pooling their resources in order to design a meaningful curriculum for our global learners.    

Our site continues to grow as more people and organizations join us in this effort.  Our plan is to start designing the curriculum in June. What better place to to find like-minded people then "The Global Educational Collaborative".  http://www.k12nextgeneration.org 

We are the 21st century, where there are far more similarities among all of us than there are differences. United, we can make a world of difference.