KnowledgeWorks, Education Elements Present at SXSWedu on Blending Classrooms and Communities

AUSTIN – KnowledgeWorks Senior Director of Innovation, Lisa Duty, Ph. D, in partnership with Amy Jenkins, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives, and Vanessa Gonzalez, Design and Implementation Consultant, for Education Elements, will discuss an innovative new school model that combines blended learning and notions of collective impact to create a dynamic learning ecosystem Tuesday at the annual SXSWedu conference.

The conference, which began Monday, runs through Thursday at the Austin Convention Center. The session, In it Together: Blended Classroom and Communities, will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Hilton Downtown Austin, in Salon A.

“Combining blended learning with notions of collective impact engages the entire community, extends learning beyond the classroom and results in the creation of a student-centered learning ecosystem,” Duty said. “Students are able to master skills at their own pace through a seamless integration of learning in school and throughout the community.”

Blended learning integrates technology with face-to-face instruction in the classroom to address multiple modalities and enable differentiated instruction for all students. Collective impact engages all sectors of a community to systematically support each child’s success in schools. When paired together, blended learning and collective impact have the potential to deliver transformative change in teaching and learning.

“At its core, blended learning is about delivering a personalized learning experience for every student. The integration of community-based learning, which is the vision for the Oasis model, can enhance the impact of personalized learning in the classroom and magnify the focus on each student” said Jenkins.

The presentation will focus on the efforts of KnowledgeWorks, Education Elements and Reynoldsburg City Schools in fusing blended learning and notions of collective impact to create the “Oasis” model. Duty, Gonzalez and Jenkins will share, in an interactive discussion, the project’s goals, design challenges and their expectations for how the system will unfold.

"Education Elements has partnered with many schools that are pioneering blended learning models,” Gonzalez said. “We see the Oasis model as another way to keep pushing the boundary of innovation for how to approach teaching and learning and achieve better outcomes for students."

The SXSWedu conference seeks to provide meaningful conversation and collaboration about promising practices and tools for improved learning. The content of the conference has been designed for a diverse audience of not only education professionals but also business, industry and policy leaders who are committed to creating a better tomorrow.

KnowledgeWorks, a Cincinnati-based social enterprise, is bringing the future of learning to America’s high schools and creating widespread, lasting change in the communities and states we serve. Our portfolio of high school approaches includes New Tech Network , andEDWorks Fast Track, New Start and STEM Lab high schools. KnowledgeWorks subsidiaryStrive is a national initiative that works to build the cradle to career civic infrastructure in communities to identify, sustain and scale what works for kids.

Education Elements, based in San Carlos, California, provides technology and services that help schools design and implement blended classrooms. The company’s core goal is to enable schools to create personalized learning environments that engage every student and make data-driven instruction sustainable for teachers.