AISD is semi finalist for $300,000 grant

AISD is one of 75 districts selected as a semi finalist for the “Raising Blended Learners” $300,000 grant funded by Raise Your Hand Texas. The five person AISD team, Dianne Whatley, Marilyn Cobb, Colby Boyce, Donna Rice and Dena Mc-Cord recently attended a two-day workshop in Houston to prepare them for the next phase of writing the grant. Finalists will be announced in mid December.

Blended Learning is the rocket fuel for innovation in educating our 21st century learners. Today’s students are starting a world in which they need a student - centered learning schooling system. Student - centered learning is the opposite of predominant factory - model school system.

Personalized learning that is tailoring learning to an individual student’s particular needs - in other words, customizing or individualizing to help each individual succeed, given that students learn at different paces, possess different background knowledge, and harbor different interests that ignites their learning. An important part of student- centered learning is that students build agency (ownership). They know where they are in their educational learning journey. Blended learning has three components: 1. A formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning , with some element of student control over time , place, path, and/ or pace. 2. The student learns at least in part in a supervised brickand-mortar location away from home. 2. Modalities along each student’s learning path are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

Approximately 20 winning teams will be selected to receive up to $300,000 and intense technical assistance over three years to implement their blended learning plans. The AISD blended learning team has been selected as a high-functioning, visionary design and implementation team that share the vision for blended learning as a vehicle toward student - centered learning and student achievement.