Digital Curriculum and 21st Century Learning: Saving Districts Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

If school districts have the ability to lower costs and provide educational experiences that are aligned to our own state standards, instead of standards in textbooks that are geared for states like Texas, California and Florida, it would be a no brainer. That is exactly what Anoka-Hennepen School District  has done and we can be the next district to follow suit. For anyone who doubts the power and potential of digital curriculum, here is a story that may knock their socks off!

Anoka-Hennepin School District saved almost $200,000 by developing their own math curriculum that addresses Minnesota standards, instead of purchasing textbooks that do not cover what we are required to teach. (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/11/06/online-textbooks/) New Technologies, intertwined with 21st century curriculum, can be a wonderful stepping stone to a better educational experience for Minnesotans and for residents of Inver Grove Heights.

Throughout my campaign, I have stated that teachers should be given more opportunities to develop new curriculums for several reasons. First, it allows teachers to receive a better understanding of what needs to be taught, because they will have broken down power standards into more manageable and meaningful subsets of information. This allows teachers to create more ECAs, Engaging Classroom Assessments. Second, it will allow for students to become more actively involved in lessons, because teachers have become more invested in developing techniques and lessons that are tailored to the learning abilities of more students. Third, it provides incentives for teachers to become more involved in their school community and increase school-wide morale.

Designing a digital curriculum will not only help lower school district costs, increase educators' morale and provide enhanced learning opportunities for students, but will provide opportunities to collaborate with other teachers from other districts in an effort to promote best practices. Inver Grove Heights Schools should be working on creating PLCs, Professional Learning Communities, within every school and within every curricular department. When a math teacher, for example, has opportunities to collaborate with teachers outside of our district who are teaching the same content, our teachers build relationships and share best practices and ultimately, better methods of classroom delivery.

Contacting the math department from Blaine H.S. would be the first step in changing the way education in Inver Grove Heights takes place. We can determine how the program was designed and see what advantages and troubles the program has endured. His will allow our teachers to design and tailor a curriculum that is designed with our learner needs in mind. As more districts continue to build a library of new digital curriculums, we will be able to share ideas and curriculums at much lower cost to taxpayers than the traditional methods of outdated and often times underutilized textbooks.

As we prepare for changes that will take place with No Child Left Behind standards and requirements, we must be flexible and able to adapt to new opportunities that exist for our school district, it’s educators and students. Our students are adapting to new challenges every day and this is an opportunity for our community to adapt as well. Through further collaboration and innovative thinking,  it is possible to lower the costs even more while providing for tremendous opportunities in the new 21st century of learning!

For more information about Mark J. Westpfahl, please visit www.markjwestpfahl.com or email Mark at westp042@umn.edu.

Mark J. Westpfahl
7954 Barbara Avenue
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55077
westp042@umn.edu
651-246-8574