Building virtual schools that serve

This Friday I have the honor of speaking at the British Columbia Digital Conference in Richmond, BC, Canada.

I will have the opportunity to share my Virtual School Manifesto in a talk titled Nine Essential Ingredients for Building Virtual Schools That Serve. The recent Agora Cyber layoffs demonstrate how broken the current model is, and how much we need to re-imagine virtual learning. My talk lays the groundwork for a different virtual -- one built on the right foundation and finding the right-fit students in an authentic and transparent manner.

But, I also wanted to take a moment and point out some of the other sessions going on during the conference that have the potential to be game-changers.

Jean Kloppenberg and Mary O'Neil are sharing their passion for helping students find their SPARK as they call it. They believe each student has at least (maybe more) one interest, one passion, one desire, that will propel them to engage deeply. It is our responsibility to help them find it.

Lisa Read will guide attendees through a session titled Meaningful Mentoring - Collaborating in Chaos. It is an exploratory session on how to leverage the expertise around you for mentoring -- a lost art in today's world.

Randy LaBonte will take us on a Walk on the Wild Side of Digital and teach us how Purposeful Use of Tech and Program Design Improves Learning.

Barb Goddard and Patty Golumbia walk us through a session on Digital Learning and the Anxious Student. Here we will learn ways in which anxiety in students can be managed and directed toward progress and gain.

It's not too late to join us in Richmond-Vancouver as it promises to be an enlightening time together.

houston@figment-consulting.com