The Campaign for Real Virtual Learning

Years ago Dove funded a research effort to uncover "The Real Truth About Beauty." According to their site, their "global research highlighted a universal issue: that beauty-related pressure increases whilst body confidence decreases as girls and women grow older -- stopping young girls from seeing their real beauty."

Some of their key findings:

* Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful

* Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable describing themselves as "beautiful"

* 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful

* 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty

From this research was birthed a marketing effort: The Campaign for Real Beauty. In this campaign, Dove began to redefine "beautiful" and highlight the beauty found in each woman. A goal was to pull away from the typical, the standard of beauty our society has established, and to reimagine a new model of beauty.

The parallels between this campaign and virtual learning are striking to me. We have a current model that cannot live up to its promise nor can anyone live up to the promises it wants to make.

It is time, not to merely find another model that is younger or has a certain look about her. No, it is time for virtual learning to reflect the beauty it has to offer in a real, authentic fashion. It must build to serve the audience it can best serve. It must redefine "learning" and break completely from the current way of seeing things.

The "Campaign for Real Virtual Learning" must exist because the individuals who are influenced the most by this effort are the same ones we all say we want to serve: KIDS.

If Dove can do it for beauty (see images in Target and other stores that reflect this new definition) then it can also be done for virtual learning.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

All three are exactly alike really. They are merely different modes of transportation, designed to take people and/or products from one place to another -- from Point A to Point B.

Yet, they each have a niche and those who serve their niche well thrive.

Done properly they can complement each other and the overall economy is the better for it.

The same is true in education. Virtual, blended and traditional. Public, private and charter. Choose any three you like. Alternative, home-based, homeschool. The words are interchangeable. Each is merely a different mode of educating the young. Each has a niche to serve.

Those who understand their niche, cater to it, design for it, market to it, and serve it properly will thrive. Imagine though if each mode of education complemented each other rather than competed against one another.

What would learning look like then?

houston@figment-consulting.com

Failure is not tolerated

Middle schoolers in this public school must write a two-page paper on why they failed and what they intend to do about it each time they receive a D or F on a test or project. Then, they must get their parents to sign it along with the teacher, and even the principal if it is a recurring problem.

Why? Because at this school "failure is not tolerated."

The result is that the students get to redo the project or retake the test and the scores are averaged together. Who wins? Sounds like the school does to me.

What exactly does this teach the students? Does it teach them the difference between failing and failure? Does it teach them that failing is part of the success process? Does it teach them that failing can actually lead to success?

Or, does it teach them to fear the prospect of failure? And, when we are afraid to fail, we become afraid to try. And, when we are afraid to try, mediocrity sets in, ambivalence takes over, and apathy becomes our driver.

Edison might have given up if he had to write a two-page paper each time he failed. Steve Jobs may never have pushed through with the Mac II when the original Mac sales were disappointing. Walt Disney would have never found Mickey. And, none of us would be standing right now, let alone walking (because as a baby we become intimately acquainted with failure as we learn to stand and walk).

We tend to think the problem with education is found in grammar, math, and history. I wonder if it is found in the way we treat those we say we care about the most.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The virtual school model is broken . . .

Rogers Morton, the campaign manager for the presidential candidate, Gerald Ford, had lost 5 of the last 6 primaries when he uttered the phrase, as reported by Washington Post, "I'm not going to rearrange the furniture on the Titanic."

Morton uttered this phrase as he took over leading the campaign just a month prior. He knew, that in order for Ford to win, he could not continue to do what had been done. It wasn't working. It could not be tweaked. It could not be adapted. It had to be fundamentally changed.

Unfortunately for Ford, the changes made were too late and Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States later that year.

My hope, as I utter the same "Titanic phrase" as it relates to the current virtual school model, is that it is not too late for virtual learning. It already is for the current model and that is fine. However, there is hope, I believe, for virtual learning -- a new model, "a new hope" as Star Wars might say.

Mr. Morton was correct though. We cannot merely rearrange the deck chairs, nor play music while the virtual school Titanic we are sailing on is sinking. The iceberg has already been struck so merely altering course will not do. The current model is already taking on water and there is an undeniable tilt to the ship.

What we must do is to rethink the virtual learning ship altogether. We need to throw away the old blueprints and rebuild with a new idea in mind.

After the Titanic struck the iceberg it took only 2 hours and 40 minutes for the mighty luxury liner to sink below the Atlantic surface. How long will it take the current virtual model to sink now that the iceberg has been struck?

That is why the time is now to reimagine virtual learning. The ocean still beckons for those willing to sail it.

#virtualschools #virtuallearning #elearning #blendedlearning #K12 #education #EpicCharterSchools #A3Education #GeorgiaCyberSchool #OhioVirtual #ConnectionsAcademy

California settles with K12 over CAVA

False advertising. Misleading parents. Inadequate instruction.

That was the case laid out against K12 by the California attorney general's office. Today, the LA Times shared that the state had reached a settlement agreement with K12.

As part of the agreement, K12 admitted to no wrongdoing but did agree to "abide by state law" moving forward -- that is an interesting paradox in my mind, but it is what it is.

In addition, K12 paid $8.5 million to settle existing claims, and agreed to not be reimbursed by the CAVA schools by offering a "debt relief" of $160 million. Again, that is a steep amount to pay overall for doing nothing wrong.

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-state-settles-with-cava-online-charter--20160708-snap-story.html

Let's see how this one will be spun by K12.

Not sure the normal response offered by K12 will work with this one.

It's sad.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Nine Essentials for building a virtual school that serves and Capilano

Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver

That was the topic of my talk yesterday at the BC Digital Learning Conference in Richmond, BC, Canada.

It was a fascinating day spending time with British Columbia educators, and hearing what they are doing in the world of digital learning.

And, it was an honor to be able to share my Nine Essentials with them believing that much of what I shared crosses geographic boundaries.

Also, had the pleasure and joy of experiencing some of the beauty of Vancouver, Steveston, and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in North Vancouver today.

Capilano Suspension Bridge spans 460 ft and rises 230 ft above the Capilano River. And, does it swing when you are in the middle. Wow.

Included in the park is a Treetop Adventure that allows you to walk among the giant firs. It is breathtaking.


Then, if that is not all, you also can traverse the Cliff Walk where you follow a narrow walkway that juts out from the granite cliffs. It is not for the faint of heart.

Heading tomorrow toward Seattle and Portland to conduct some training sessions.

If you ever have a chance to go to Vancouver. Go.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Figment Consulting announces new training sessions

Over the past few months I have spent time conducting various training sessions that amount to either one-day, two-day, or even online sessions to help clients with specific issues. As this has continued to grow in popularity, I have recently tried to build more structure to it, and now offer it as Figment services on my web site: www.figment-consulting.com.

The most effective training session is the two-day, on site, intensive session to help virtual partners becomes schools that serve. This session, under Training, is the gold level of what I offer. During this session, we cover the Nine Essentials to build virtual schools that serve properly -- teacher-student relationships, investing in teachers, building a retention culture, constructing a remarkable learning experience, becoming a human connection school, finding right-fit students, growing with purpose, launching with success in mind, and developing a specialist mindset.

In addition, we are now offering additional training sessions (under Services) on the following (either on site or online):

One-day Marketing Training: Covering the 15 P words of marketing to help you build a Relationship Strategy that leads to better enrollments and higher retention.

One-day Training Seminar to learn how to become a Human Connection School: This seminar has served as a follow-up to my Nine Essentials training and goes even more in-depth in order to build strategy and tactics to move away from socialization and into connectionalization.

Virtual School Next Gen Training: This one-day training allows us to go in depth to build the learning experience as we work our way towards remarkable. We move to the tactical level and how each person plays a pivotal role in going beyond academics. The result is a deeper engagement by students and families which leads to higher retention.

Customerology Compass: In this 2-hour training session, we cover the Needs, Wants, Stereotypes, and Emotions (NWSE) of your students and families. In doing so we learn how to meet their Needs while serving their Wants. We learn how to overcome Stereotypes and build loyalty as we tap into their Emotions.

Two other popular training sessions allow us to help clients develop their Service Theme and Service Standards. These separate sessions establish the foundation and reference points as we construct a service culture.

Of late, two other efforts have proven popular. The first is where we spend two days in order to help you edit, revise, and rethink your Marketing Strategy in order to reach the right type of students. The second one allows us to focus on your Messaging in order to help you craft the right type of message and utilize the proper channels to convey it.

And, we also offer Leadership Coaching services. We spend one hour a week with your leadership team members to move each one toward the central chief aim, and bring each one together for a more cohesive experience that leads to more effective and disciplined decision making.

The required investment varies with each session, and whether or not it is conducted on site or online. Email us today and we can put together an offer to meet your most immediate needs.

Coming soon -- we are working toward making these services portable by recording them and allowing for downloads.

Until then, keep thinking differently. And thank you to those who have allowed us to be of service to you. Without you, these ideas for the various training seminars might have continued to be overlooked on our part.

houston@figment-consulting.com

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

iNACOL's New Strategic Plan

This morning I received an email that linked me to the new strategic plan just released by iNACOL.

"Catalyzing transformation in K - 12 education."

I applaud the direction they are headed. Though I admit I had to quickly check the definition of "catalyzing." Why couldn't they just say "accelerating?"

They have their mission, vision, and theory of action within this new plan spelled out for us. My hope is that behind it all there is an unwavering passion that supports this plan on a day-to-day basis by each and every member of iNACOL.

That is where real change will accelerate, or catalyze.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The edge

The edge can be a scary place.

It's lonely out there.

You feel exposed out there.

You are just not sure it can support you out there.

But, the edge is also the place where remarkable happens.

The edge is also the place where real change occurs.

The edge is also the place where virtual schools need to go.

Embrace the edge and you can impact the world.


houston@figment-consulting.com

The Relationship Strategy in virtual schools

212% YOY increase in leads

167% YOY increase in enrollments

35% increase in retention in first year

25% reduction in attrition rates prior to October 1

Lowest number of student absentees for the first day of the new semester in the history of the school


These are some of the results from building relationships with prospective families, and existing families from the virtual schools I have had the privilege of serving these past two years.

When we put the teacher-student relationship in the middle, and not just the student, we are then on the right path of fulfilling the promise of virtual schools.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The photo is in honor of MouseWorldRadio.com who apparently is ceasing their broadcasting on January 31 after 17 years of faithful service.

The problem with online schools . . .

In a recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Susan Patrick, head of International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), disagreed with Nina Rees, head of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and her emerging belief that online schools should not be charter schools. 

According to Ms. Patrick, "The problem is not that online schools are getting authorized as charter schools. The problem is that the authorizers are not demanding adequate transparency, evidence of quality of work at a college-level ready and are not shutting down or intervening in poor performers."

While I agree with her rebuttal of Ms. Rees' assessment that online schools should not be charter schools, I disagree with her statement of what the problem is with online schools.

Transparency, evidence and intervention are not the problems. They play a role but solving them will not lead to successful online schools.

Now, contrast her opinion with a K12 press release addressing what they see as the problem, also quoted from the Cleveland Plain Dealer article.

"Many families choose online schools because they are fleeing a school or situation that wasn't working for their child, often in distress, or because of other reasons -- bullying, special needs, medical issues, social or emotional challenges, safety concerns, academic problems, etc."

According to K12 in the same release, "For many families, online schools are schools of last resort, the only available public school alternative, thus filling a critical need within the public education system."

Are online schools merely schools of last resort? If so, how would better transparency, evidence of quality and intervention improve them?

Perhaps Susan Patrick and K12 are both wrong.

Better oversight is not what is necessary. Correct oversight is. We need authorizers who understand not the current online model, but rather what the correct model should look like and how to achieve it. Transparency, evidence, and intervention are still being held up by a crumbling foundation. Authorizers need to understand how to construct a foundation that will support success in online schools.

Also incorrect is the idea that online schools are schools of last resort, as K12 would have you believe in their retort to ongoing criticism of their performance.

Perhaps that is the case for many K12 schools, but that has more to do with their messaging, marketing, and recruitment than it does with the reality of online schooling. If you are targeting students who have been bullied, students with medical issues, students with social or emotional challenges, offering them promises that cannot be kept, then the result is what you currently see going on with K12.

See my blog post here for my ideas on what a virtual school should look like -- Virtual School Manifesto: Nine Essential Ingredients.

And, finally, I would also disagree with Ron Packard's (founder and former CEO of K12) way of looking at it as he stated in the same article in supporting the idea he would not want to block students from enrolling in online schools, "Being in the school is a right. Staying in it is a privilege. That's how I believe you have to look at it."

Being in the school is not a right, it is a choice. Staying in it is not a privilege. It too is a choice.

Virtual schools who see both as choices have the opportunity and potential to recruit differently, enroll differently, retain differently, and serve differently.

So, what is the real problem with online schools? The current model is broken, and it is falling apart.

We have to re-imagine the virtual learning experience. It's time.

houston@figment-consulting.com

The virtual school dilemma

Search for and attract the type of student who can be successful in an online learning environment.

Or, adapt your school to serve those you are currently attracting.

houston@figment-consulting.com

K12 Academic Report also showcases attrition problems

K12 is doing some good things with the students who stick with it, and are willing to put in the effort to succeed. Their latest academic report spotlights their schools in Arizona, Georgia and Texas.

And, while I will let others further discuss the academic side of the equation, what stands out to me is the unintended spotlight on the attrition rate -- meaning, how many students stick with it? It's an issue we cannot ignore or paint over.

According to the document, there were over 1,300 students in Texas Virtual Academy (TXVA) tested for this report that fell under the category of "Less than 1 year." By the time you reach the category of "3 years or more" the number of students tested has dropped to just over 150.

Under the Reading section, TXVA began with 1,382 students tested (Less than 1 year). The number dropped 27% to 1,019 students tested under the category of "1 year but Less than 2 years." Another 38% drop witnessed only 641 students taking the test under the category of "2 years but Less than 3 years." Then, there was a 77% drop to 152 students taking the test under the category of "3 years or more."

Similar stories of attrition can be found in Georgia and Arizona to varying degrees. The academic growth and success is a necessary component, and K12 again is showing gains with the students who stay with them. They should be commended for that.

Where it all crumbles though is the loss of students that occurs annually. We need one little spark to move that needle too.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Sharing my Virtual School Manifesto

Had the privilege of spending time with Larry Jacobs from Education Talk Radio Pre K - 20 and discussing my Virtual School Manifesto: Nine Essential Ingredients. Simply click on the image to link out to the interview.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. And, please share with others. It's time to re-imagine virtual schooling.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Can a student be a customer? #VirtualSchools #CyberSchools

Yes. And when virtual schools begin to see them as customers it will alter the entire landscape.

But, we must look at them as customers only in the way in which we serve them, not in the way in which we recruit them. Meaning, it cannot be a marketing ploy or a top-down program. It must be part of the culture. Disney is renowned for it because it is who they are, not what they do. It's all about the service!

This aspect is sorely lacking in virtual schools. The schools who know how to implement this type of culture and are willing to take it on, well, they are the ones that will lead the next generation of virtual schools.

What will it look like?

We speak differently with them because we understand that each and every touch point we have with them is an opportunity to build loyalty toward the school.

We actively search for ways in which we can WOW them unexpectedly.

We pay attention to the details of the overall learning experience, not just the academic part of the equation. 

We understand how our actions either inspire them or push them away.

We understand that educating our youth is required but which school they attend is a choice.

We take our cues from companies who lead in serving customers and apply them to the virtual learning experience.

We re-imagine how students are treated and how teachers and staff are trained.

We understand it must be part of our DNA, our culture, our "who we are."

One note, there are two pivotal failure points in this approach.

1. If we talk the talk of service but do not walk the walk we will simply escalate the exodus of families to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Simply inserting the word "customer" for "student" will not suffice.

2. If we continue to see our customers as merely students and families, then virtual schools will continue to look exactly how they look right now -- high attrition rate and all.

(I published this today because I continue to hear of cyber/virtual programs that are taking my customer concept and applying it incorrectly which is troubling to me.)

houston@figment-consulting.com

What is Aspirationgraphics? (from my Virtual School Manifesto)

A while ago I published Virtual School Manifesto: Nine Essential Ingredients to lay out my vision that would allow virtual schools to fulfill their promise. One of those ingredients included a term I coined called Aspirationgraphics -- an idea I covered in depth at a recent conference.

Our friend Webster defines aspiration as a "hope or ambition of achieving something." For me the key word there is ambition.

Virtual schools market themselves as tuition-free yet fail to mention the investment required by the students and the parents.

Virtual schools focus too much on where the students come from instead of their willingness to put in the effort required to get where they want to go. This is where Aspirationgraphics comes in.

Aspirationgraphics focuses on the ambition of the student and the parent and requires virtual schools to be more authentic and transparent.

It works when virtual schools are more concerned about how many students are with them at the end of the school year instead of the count date at the beginning.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Tennessee Virtual Academy (TNVA) Parents Sue to Keep School Open

On Thursday, March 12, two Tennessee families launched the next phase of keeping TNVA open -- via lawsuit, and the real battle has begun.

Could the solution be a simple one?

houston@figment-consulting.com

Texas parents rallying today for virtual school options

Parents in Texas, as part of the 4th Biennial Day at the Capitol organized by PublicSchoolOptions.org, are rallying in Austin to support expanding virtual school options in the Lone Star State.

Current parameters place enrollment restrictions on Texas residents limiting the options for those wanting to utilize virtual learning.

Opening the door for more virtual schools in Texas could be a good thing -- if done correctly. Hopefully, any expansion will include virtual and blended options.

houston@figment-consulting.com

Paying the Cost of Free in Virtual Public Schools

Virtual public schools may be tuition free but there is a cost.

And, the more they promote tuition free the more they will recruit families who are not willing to pay the cost.

It's time to re-imagine virtual schools.

houston@figment-consulting.com