Advocacy

“In a word, America's schools need innovation. Educational innovation should not be confused with just generating more great ideas or unique inventions. Instead we need new solutions that improve outcomes - and that can, and will, be used to serve hundreds of thousands of teachers and millions of students...Online courses and online supplementation of course material are catching on fast...”

“We will...invest in online learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate instantly with a young person in Cairo.”

“I want Virginia to have the most innovative incentives to create the best school system in America...In a virtual school, courses are self-paced and allow students who are quick learners to complete courses at a pace that keeps them engaged and avoids boredom. Conversely, it allows students who have fallen behind more time to learn and complete their lessons, instead of falling further and further behind, as they might in a traditional classroom.”

“Using the Internet to deliver courses seems to contain great disruptive potential. It could allow a radical transformation to happen in an incremental, rational way.”

“If you think about how much the world around us has changed just in the last twenty years, it becomes clear that the education sector is like a massive mainframe computer trying to fit itself into a smartphone world.”

“...Students are learning online using next-generation learning technology and strategic one-on-one tutoring. Learning opportunities are accessible all day, every day, 24/7. They study as their schedules allow. They advance as quickly as they want to and are able to. Teachers give extra time to students who need it, and they challenge those who are ready to move ahead. This is the type of individual attention and personalized instruction that are not always available in the regular classrooms. But for many students this type of learning environment is essential for their success.”

“Online learning opportunities are for more than just students. Teachers and school leaders are experiencing them as well... Online courses give them opportunities for collaboration that they've had difficulty accessing before.”

“Rethinking policies around seat-time requirements, class size, compensating teachers based on their educational credentials, the use of technology in the classroom, inequitable school financing, the over placement of students in special education - almost all of these potentially transformative productivity gains are primarily state and local issues.”