28 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2011 Reinventing Teaching 29

Global Online Academy’s a goPursuing educational excellence

in the digital age

t

Lakeside Head of School Bernie Noe invited 15 peer U.S. and international schools to campus in March to discuss how a partnership could deliver on the promise of excellent online learning.

TOM REESE

his fall Lakeside students will have the chance to take high-quality online classes with students from around

the world, taught by teachers from leading independent schools, including Lakeside, through the newly formed Global Online Academy.

The non-profit academy was founded this spring, follow-ing a conference March 10-12 on the Lakeside campus. Head of School Bernie Noe invited 15 peer U.S. and international schools to discuss what great online teaching and learning might look like, why it’s important for today’s students and teachers, and how a partnership of peer schools could and should lead this effort. By the conference’s close, nine schools had signed up, in addition to Lakeside. More are expected to join in coming years, according to Noe.

The academy will offer its first five classes to member-school students this fall, expanding to 10-15 by fall 2012; teachers will attend a summer institute in June in Seattle to prepare. A

national search is on for a director. Noe said, “We’re moving quickly so we can have a hand in

shaping best practices in online education consistent with our values of quality education. We need to be proactive in continu-ing to define educational excellence in the digital age.”

Online models of learning are beginning to transform the world of education. Conference participants heard how more than one million K-12 students are enrolled in online learning programs in the U.S., prompted in large measure by budget pressures. Independent School magazine predicts that by 2019, about 50 percent of all high-school courses will be online. A growing number of states are requiring high-school students to take online courses to graduate, while for-profit companies are scrambling to serve the nation’s high-school market (57 million students).

Keynote speaker Mark Milliron, deputy director of post-secondary education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,

by the communications staff

Reinventing Teaching 29

global online academy: at a glance

Mission Statement: The mission of the Global Online Academy is to translate into online classrooms the intellectually rigorous programs and excellent teaching that are hallmarks of its member schools; to foster new and effective ways, through best practices in online education, for all students to learn; and to promote students’ global awareness and understanding by creating truly diverse, worldwide, online schoolroom communities.

Members: Albuquerque Academy, Catlin Gabel School (Portland), Cranbrook Schools (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), The Dalton School (New York City), Germantown Friends School (Philadelphia), Head-Royce School (Oakland, Calif.), King’s Academy (Jordan), Lakeside School, Punahou School (Honolulu), and Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.).

Courses: The goal is five offered this fall; 10-15 courses by 2012.

Who can take courses: Member-school students; in future, wider access is envisioned.

Website: www.globalonlineacademy.org

set the tone for the conference with a send-up of the fast-paced change happening in the world of online learning, and a call-to-arms for the schools to serve as a “role model for doing high-level online education.”

He said, “This is not a conversation about technology, but about a new-generation learning structure,” adding, “Today’s ‘Net Generation’ stu-dents are already experiencing this, and we need to figure out what our online version is going to be.”

School leaders watched demonstrations by four Lakeside teachers who spent a month devel-oping sample lessons and experimenting with new technology to structure and deliver information.

Working in committees, the leaders then examined a range of complex issues, such as: What kinds of courses should be taught? How can you build into an online format the kinds of student-teacher relationships that are hallmarks of the schools?

While not all issues were resolved, member schools trust that follow-up committees will be able to resolve them, and they agreed that the ben-efits of the venture dictate moving forward with an aggressive timeline.

Four of the biggest advantages they expect:• Students will benefit from learning with

peers from other regions and cultures;

• Students can take courses they otherwise would not have access to, such as from teachers with personal or specialized knowledge;

• Communities of teachers will collaborate on resources, tools, and teaching strategies, spurring innovation that will infuse the schools’ traditional classrooms as well; and

• Participants will develop familiarity and adeptness with online learning, which is something today’s students will need in college and careers.

The school leaders made clear that, unlike in public education, saving money is not a motiva-tion. Rather, they are motivated by the realization that online education is growing fast, and will certainly have a large role to play in the future. In fact, it was the forceful delivery of that message at the 2010 National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference that set Lake-side into motion.

Upper School Director Than Healy was pro-foundly affected hearing speakers such as Michael Horn, coauthor of Disrupting Class: How Disrup-tive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, who said: “This thing’s coming. Get on board early and you’ll be able to take the reins. If you don’t do it, it’ll be done to you.”

After the Lakeside Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead, a core group of Lakeside administra- ➢

30 LAKESIDE Spring/Summer 2011 Cool people 31

everyone loves parks: Who’s gonna pay?

Thatcher Bailey ’72 is no stranger to the world of nonprofits—he has founded, led, and fundraised for a number of prominent Northwest organizations over the years, most notably in the arts, as well as the namesake Bai-ley-Boushay House which provides residential care and chronic care management for people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threat-ening illnesses.

But in his newest role as executive director of Seattle Parks Foundation, he is facing a very dif-ferent, and daunting, challenge.

“I spent a lot of my time convincing folks that arts matter,” he says of previous posts as publisher of the nonprofit Copper Canyon Press, founder and publisher of Bay Press, founding president of Artist Trust, and execu-tive director of Centrum, a nonprofit center for the arts located at Fort Worden State Park.

In contrast, “No one needs convincing how profoundly parks, trails and green spaces enrich our lives,” he notes. “We share a deep connection to these places.” His task, instead, is finding a way to pay for them, so we have “a great park system for generations to come.”

The Seattle parks system is facing the most severe economic challenges in its history. While Seattle voters repeatedly support parks, the sys-tem is now widely being criticized by city leaders and activists as unsustainable. Bailey points out that only one of the approved tax measures since 1991 included dollars for operations and maintenance, and that funding expired in 2008.

This has led to a major maintenance backlog of at least $200 million, according to estimates cited by Bailey in his op-ed in The Seattle Times last fall, and again in a Times feature this March (“Parks in a Pickle; Seattle faces the choice to shrink, skimp or pay up”).

It is time, says Bailey, to get creative. He’s working with seven other nonprofits to help the city develop long-term funding solutions.

Seattle Parks Foundation (www.seattle parksfoundation.org) already has a number of partnerships and projects in the works, includ-ing the upcoming Lake to Bay Loop, which will weave throughout the city, providing a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists from Lake Union to Elliott Bay.

With Bailey at the helm, more creative proj-ects are sure to follow. ■

FACETIME

by roBynn polansky

InsIde word: a hidden gem

We asked Thatcher Bailey ’72 for a favorite “hidden gem” park.

his tip: “Streissguth Gardens. Drive to East Blaine and 10th Avenue East, walk down the stairs. You will always feel good there.”

Thatcher Bailey ’72

➢ online acaDemy’s a go

tors, led by Noe and Michael Nachbar, Middle School assistant director, did the groundwork, including selecting schools; consulting experts, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the NAIS task force on online learning; and drafting a business model.

the business model The business model calls for member

schools to pay a membership fee of $30,000 as well as a fee per student, and is designed to allow for future growth with the possibility of different levels of participation and investment. The academy’s Board of Trustees, made up of representatives of member schools, will make any decision about expansion and member-ship. The academy will be housed at Lakeside School for at least the first few years.

Who’s teaching what Teachers—all member-school faculty

recommended by their administration—will submit course proposals, and the academy

board will choose among them. The aim is to have the teachers develop their courses this summer with support from technology and curricular experts, and to be able to share with teachers on their own campuses what they’ve learned about best practices in online and “blended” (a combination of online and in-classroom) teaching.

This work will also serve as the foundation for an online teacher training course for the next cohort of academy educators.

Faculty will be compensated for course development and teaching online courses. Classes will have a maximum enrollment of 18 students. Ideally there will be representation from as many schools as possible; enrollment

strategies are being worked out. At Lake-side, school leaders will work with interested students to ensure they’re prepared to learn successfully in an online learning environment.

serving a broader community Initially, the academy’s classes will be for

students at member schools only. However, the founding schools have committed to actively exploring how they can serve a broader com-munity, including public schools. In a few years, the academy hopes to contribute to narrowing the disparities in educational opportunity by making it possible for all motivated students to have access to its high-quality teachers and world-class courses online.

As Jim Best, associate head of school at The Dalton School says, “We are excited to partner with a group of schools that share a similar vision and understand that being an indepen-dent school in the 21st century demands public obligations.” ■

See Board Chair Connie Ballmer’s Inside Lakeside letter on why the trustees gave the go-ahead for Global Online Academy, at www.lakesideschool.org/magazine.