Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday I was invited to attend an all-day meeting in Albany entitled, A New York State Summit on K-12 Online and Blended  Learning.   The focus of the meeting was an initiative on the part of the NYS Education Department in using Race to the Top federal funding for developing a K-12 online learning network.   As described in the Summit’s brochure:

“Online and blended learning expand educational opportunities and improve outcomes for a wide range of students. There are pockets of innovation happening across New York and the nation; that we would like to highlight & examine. As such, we are convening a group of education leaders from our state to learn more about the innovative online and blended learning programs currently operating.   The goal is to identify the next steps in creating a structural network for expanding online learning opportunities for students in the state.”

About 150 individuals, mostly K-12 administrators including representatives from New York City, were invited.

This is long overdue and a step in the right direction.

Tony