Thursday, September 29, 2005
EDPros are coming to understand that developing and deploying brainpower will determine the long term prospects for their economy. In short, we have a deep stake in improving the performance of the American high school.
Few economic development investments are as sound as investments -- early childhood development, drop-out prevention, post-secondary education incentives -- that improve educational outcomes.
Michigan has been a pioneer in high school e-learning with its Virtual High School. These type of innovations offer the prospect of improving outcomes in secondary schools, where innovations are remarkably hard to launch. (We still measure progress in high schools by Carnegie units -- a measure of "seat time" -- devised in 1906.)
Here's an interesting report on e-learning opportunities for Michigan. According to the report: "Michigan cannot lead in the 21st Century without casting off the anchors of attitude, archaic laws and public policies and beliefs that bind us to 20th-Century education models."
The same holds true for all states. Download the report.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Resource: New report on e-learning for high schools
