Super Teacher's Job is Never Done!

Super Teacher's Job is Never Done!
Photo courtesy of DiscoveryEducation.com

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. ~ Author Unknown

My goal is to reveal one teacher's humble journey of self-reflection, critical analysis, and endless questioning about my craft of teaching and learning alongside my middle school students.

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'." ~ Dan Rather



Friday, April 25, 2014

Need a laugh?

Happy Friday!

A colleague just sent me this link, and I thought it might make you smile!

My family and I watch a sketch comedy show called Studio C, and last night we saw an episode that featured a Mad Scientist creating Jr. High students…thought I’d share if you need a laugh.

http://youtu.be/9mR8-loJNpU

TGIF! :)

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Hey girl....


Monday, April 21, 2014

Got books?

How about some new important titles? ASCD does! Check them out...


Upcoming and Recently Published Books


APR
2014
 Time to Teach: How Do I Get Organized and Work Smarter? (ASCD Arias)
COMING SOON

Time to Teach: How Do I Get Organized and Work Smarter? (ASCD Arias)

by Jenny Edwards
This publication offers more than a dozen time management strategies for teachers.
MAY
2014
 Handling Student Frustrations: How do I help students manage emotions in the classroom? (ASCD Arias)
COMING SOON

Handling Student Frustrations: How do I help students manage emotions in the classroom? (ASCD Arias)

by Renate Caine and Carol McClintic
With grade-specific examples throughout, Handling Student Frustrationsoffers strategies that educators at all levels can immediately apply to foster classrooms where students can overcome stress to focus on learning.
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition
COMING SOON

The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, 2nd Edition

by Carol Ann Tomlinson
The updated second edition of the best-selling classic explains differentiated instruction, provides proven instructional strategies, and illustrates how real teachers are applying differentiation principles and practices.
 This Member Book mails to ASCD Premium members and is available as a download for Online Premium members in May 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on April 15, when the mailing labels are compiled.
JUL
2014
 Grading Smarter, Not Harder: Assessment Strategies That Motivate Kids and Help Them Learn
COMING SOON

Grading Smarter, Not Harder: Assessment Strategies That Motivate Kids and Help Them Learn

by Myron Dueck
This book shows how to design an effective assessment system that accurately reflects student learning and motivates students to meet learning objectives.
This Editor's Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium, Select, and Institutional Plus members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in July 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on June 13, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 Total Literacy Techniques: Tools to Help Students Analyze Literature and Informational Texts
COMING SOON

Total Literacy Techniques: Tools to Help Students Analyze Literature and Informational Texts

by PĂ©rsida Himmele, William Himmele and Keely Potter
This book provides 3rd through 12th grade teachers with more than 50 tools and techniques for helping their students read independently and critically.
This Featured Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium and Select members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in July 2014 to those who chose this Featured Selection by the deadline of April 30, 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on June 13, when the mailing labels are compiled

APR
2014
 Engineering Essentials for STEM Instruction: How Do I Infuse Real-world Problem Solving Into Science, Technology, and Math? (ASCD Arias)

Engineering Essentials for STEM Instruction: How Do I Infuse Real-world Problem Solving Into Science, Technology, and Math? (ASCD Arias)

by Pamela Truesdell
A straightforward look at how to begin addressing the "E" in STEM instruction in a way that's engaging, motivating, and linked to key content, standards, and 21st century skills.
 Learning in the Fast Lane: 8 Ways to Put ALL Students on the Road to Academic Success

Learning in the Fast Lane: 8 Ways to Put ALL Students on the Road to Academic Success

by Suzy Pepper Rollins
A seasoned educator presents eight high-impact instructional practices to close achievement gaps and get all students—whether struggling or excelling—in the academic fast lane.
 This Editor's Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium, Select, and Institutional Plus members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in April 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on March 14, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 West Meets East: Best Practices from Expert Teachers in the U.S. and China

West Meets East: Best Practices from Expert Teachers in the U.S. and China

by Leslie Grant, James Stronge, Xianxuan Xu, Patricia Popp, Yaling Sun and Catherine Little
The authors compare and contrast the practices, beliefs, and strategies of award-winning teachers in the United States and China.
 This Featured Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium, and Select members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in April 2014 to those who chose this Featured Selection by the deadline of February 6, 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on March 14, when the mailing labels are compiled.
MAR
2014
 Memory at Work in the Classroom: Strategies to Help Underachieving Students

Memory at Work in the Classroom: Strategies to Help Underachieving Students

by Francis Bailey and Ken Pransky
This book offers fresh insights into your students' learning difficulties and moves you to explore classroom practices that align with the functioning of memory and the ways students learn.
 Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

by Erik Palmer
Erik Palmer presents an approach to teaching long-neglected but essential language arts that is aligned with the Common Core but focused on preparing K–12 students in all subject areas for 21st century communication inside and beyond the classroom.
FEB
2014
 How Teachers Can Turn Data into Action

How Teachers Can Turn Data into Action

by Daniel R. Venables
With easy-to-use templates and teacher-friendly protocols, this book provides a systematic process for translating data into classroom practice in cycles of two to nine weeks.
 This Member Book mails to ASCD Premium members and is available as a download for Online Premium members in February 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on January 15, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 Engaging Minds in Social Studies Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

Engaging Minds in Social Studies Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

by James A. Erekson, Michael F. Opitz and Michael P. Ford
Tomorrow's world-class citizens are in our schools today. Explore these unique research-based ideas to bring learning and joy into your social studies classroom.
 Managing 21st Century Classrooms: How Do I Avoid Ineffective Classroom Management Practices? (ASCD Arias)

Managing 21st Century Classrooms: How Do I Avoid Ineffective Classroom Management Practices? (ASCD Arias)

by Jane Bluestein
Education expert Jane Bluestein identifies seven outdated classroom management practices and recommends effective, alternative strategies that take into account how students learn today.
 Engaging Minds in Science and Math Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

Engaging Minds in Science and Math Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

by Eric Brunsell, Michelle A. Fleming, Michael F. Opitz and Michael P. Ford
This book is brimming with ideas and activities that are aligned with standards and high expectations to engage and motivate all learners in STEM classrooms.
JAN
2014
 Hanging In: Strategies for Teaching the Students Who Challenge Us Most

Hanging In: Strategies for Teaching the Students Who Challenge Us Most

by Jeffrey Benson
This book uses real-life examples to show how educators can marshal empathy and patience to support the learning of students who challenge us in many ways.
 This Editor's Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium, Select, and Institutional Plus members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in January 2014; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on December 13, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 Engaging Minds in the Classroom: The Surprising Power of Joy

Engaging Minds in the Classroom: The Surprising Power of Joy

by Michael F. Opitz and Michael P. Ford
Learn how to use research-based practices in your classroom that can truly engage students and help them be joyful, confident learners.
 Engaging Minds in English Language Arts Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

Engaging Minds in English Language Arts Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy

by Mary Jo Fresch, Michael F. Opitz and Michael P. Ford
College and career readiness standards demand reading, writing, and speaking proficiency from students. Learn research-based strategies that engage students in all facets of English Language Arts.
 Vocab Rehab: How Do I Teach Vocabulary Effectively with Limited Time? (ASCD Arias)

Vocab Rehab: How Do I Teach Vocabulary Effectively with Limited Time? (ASCD Arias)

by Marilee Sprenger
A collection of engaging 10-minute strategies for teaching content vocabulary across content areas.
 Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School

Five Levers to Improve Learning: How to Prioritize for Powerful Results in Your School

by Tony Frontier and James Rickabaugh
Unlock the potential for lasting improvements in teaching and learning by understanding how five critical "levers" work to move your efforts in the right direction.
 This Featured Selection Member Book mails to ASCD Premium and Select members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in January 2014 to those who chose this Featured Selection by the deadline of November 8, 2013; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on December 13, when the mailing labels are compiled
DEC
2013
 Affirmative Classroom Management: How Do I Develop Effective Rules and Consequences in My School? (ASCD Arias)

Affirmative Classroom Management: How Do I Develop Effective Rules and Consequences in My School? (ASCD Arias)

by Richard L. Curwin
This publication offers clear and positive strategies that empower teachers and administrators to develop effective rules and consequences.
 Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility, 2nd Edition

Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility, 2nd Edition

by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
In the updated 2nd edition of this ASCD best-seller, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey dig deeper into the hows and whys of the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework, an approach that helps students develop into engaged, self-directed learners. Along with tips and tools for classroom implementation, you’ll find new examples and lesson advice aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
 This Member Book mails to ASCD Premium members and is available as a download for Online Premium members in December 2013; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on November 15, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 Self-Regulated Learning for Academic Success: How Do I Help Students Manage Their Thoughts, Behaviors, and Emotions? (ASCD Arias)

Self-Regulated Learning for Academic Success: How Do I Help Students Manage Their Thoughts, Behaviors, and Emotions? (ASCD Arias)

by Carrie Germeroth and Crystal Day-Hess
Specific instructional strategies to help teachers at all grade levels foster self-regulation—the critical fourth "R" of education that students need in order to set and achieve academic goals and interact appropriately in the classroom.
 Digital Learning Strategies: How Do I Assign and Assess 21st Century Work? (ASCD Arias)

Digital Learning Strategies: How Do I Assign and Assess 21st Century Work? (ASCD Arias)

by Michael Fisher
Strategies and resources for using technology to teach students 21st century skills.
NOV
2013
 Causes and Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems

Causes and Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems

by Margaret Searle
An expert in RTI lays out a five-step protocol that helps educators diagnose causes of common student academic and behavior issues and develop targeted interventions.
 This Member Book mails to ASCD Premium, Select, and Institutional Plus members and is available as a download for Online Premium and Select members in November 2013; to receive it as a member benefit, your membership in these categories must be active on October 15, when the mailing labels are compiled.
 Ensuring Effective Instruction: How Do I Improve Teaching Using Multiple Measures? (ASCD Arias)

Ensuring Effective Instruction: How Do I Improve Teaching Using Multiple Measures? (ASCD Arias)

by Vicki Phillips and Lynn Olson
Armed with practical ideas for getting started at both the school and district levels, Phillips and Olson remind us that the best way to evaluate teaching performance is to use a balanced approach that includes multiple measures.
 Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners, 2nd Edition

Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners, 2nd Edition

by Jane D. Hill and Kirsten B. Miller
This all-new edition strengthens your instructional planning and makes it easier to know when to use research-based instructional strategies with ELL students in every grade level.
OCT
2013
 Short on Time: How Do I Make Time to Lead and Learn as a Principal? (ASCD Arias)

Short on Time: How Do I Make Time to Lead and Learn as a Principal? (ASCD Arias)

by William Sterrett
William Sterrett discusses how principals can maximize their time to meet students' needs, foster innovation and collaboration among teachers, and cultivate success throughout the school.
 Succeeding with Inquiry in Science and Math Classrooms

Succeeding with Inquiry in Science and Math Classrooms

by Jeff C. Marshall
This book shows K–12 STEM teachers how to maximize their effectiveness with students by shifting to an inquiry-based instructional approach and creating a rigorous, engaging learning environment.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Let's learn about how our students really learn -- and sleep!


Studies continue to show that teenagers learn better later in the morning, prompting many school districts across the nation to reconsider their school start and bell times. Students in my county were recently given a survey that asked such questions, as the county is currently considering a new bell schedule that would extend the elementary day by 10 minutes, begin the middle school day 10 minutes earlier, and begin the high school day 10 minutes later. It's an idea that seems to have a lot of potential benefit -- and traction -- for our students and schools. Read on...


April 2014 | Volume 56 | Number 4
Wake-Up Call

Wake-Up Call

Sarah McKibben
Research shows that sleep affects health, happiness, and cognitive functioning—especially among teens. Schools are taking note, introducing later start times and flexible scheduling to ensure students are well-rested and ready to learn.
Hitting the snooze button. Crawling into bed at night fully dressed for the next day. Skipping breakfast then gulping down huge cups of coffee. Groggy teens everywhere are doing what they can to buy a few extra minutes of coveted sleep. But when it comes to biology, there's no one-upping the adolescent body.
During puberty, changes in the circadian rhythm shift teens' sleep-wake schedule. Research led by Brown University professor Mary Carskadon suggests that melatonin is released in the adolescent brain later at night, making it difficult for teens to go to bed early and be alert first thing in the morning.
And with schools often starting before dawn, the window of sleep is narrow. According to the CDC's 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, nearly 70 percent of high school students are sleep-deprived. Studies have found that sleepy teens are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents and experience poor concentration, depression, anxiety, moodiness, and even obesity.
Sleep loss also influences learning and memory. The brain organizes information during sleep, says Helene Emsellem, medical director of The Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders and board member for the National Sleep Foundation. "You gather facts during the day and put them in your short-term memory. It's when you go to sleep that your brain reviews that information, sorts it, decides what to store, and makes it retrievable." Without sleep, learning and retaining new tasks is increasingly difficult.

Delaying School Start Times

Sleep advocates have long argued the benefits of aligning school start times with teens' biological clocks. A 2011 report from the Brookings Institute suggests that early start times set disadvantaged students back just as much as ineffective teachers, and starting middle and high schools at 9:00 a.m. could increase student achievement.
The strategy worked for the Edina and Minneapolis public schools, two of the first districts to change bell times. According to University of Minnesota researcher Kyla Wahlstrom, when students showed up to school at 8:30 a.m. or later, they were more likely to graduate and reported less depression and higher grades.
Results like those in Minnesota are nudging politicians to get involved. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has had legislation in Congress every year since 1998 advocating for later start times, and several states are currently debating the issue. Even U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan tweeted in August that it is "common sense" to "let teens sleep more, [and] start school later."
Still, the impetus to change is slow. A 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics found that 43 percent of U.S. high schools start before 8:00 a.m. and 10 percent start before 7:30 a.m. To get the recommended 8.5–9.25 hours of sleep and make an early bus, teens would have to be in bed far earlier than their biological clocks prefer.

A Logistical Nightmare?

Skeptics of later start times often point to the perceived costs and logistical challenges, such as transportation, sports and extracurricular scheduling, and child care.
Terra Ziporyn Snider, executive director of the national coalition Start School Later, acknowledges that although most school administrators support pushing back start times, the issue is a "political hot potato." Resistance often comes from the community and a fear of change more than anything else, she believes.
For many districts that have already changed start times, "all the fears about all the terrible things that are going to happen have proven to be false," says Snider. "Communities tend to adjust to school hours and not vice versa."
Academy School District 20 in Colorado Springs, Colo., managed to cut costs and delay start times by switching from a four-tier to a three-tier transportation system. The district's high schools now begin at 7:45 a.m., a small but significant change from the earliest start time of 7:05 a.m.
James Bailey, principal of Discovery Canyon Campus High School, says that although no data have come in yet, the change has been palpable. Before, "I'd get a few nods and a yawn" when greeting students at the school's entrance each morning, says Bailey. But now, "they actually say good morning and chat with me."
The process took the 25,000-student district about a year to complete. Bailey says the key to the smooth transition was the upfront work by the superintendent and director of transportation to consolidate routes with minor disruptions to families and to anticipate the what-ifs that would be inevitably raised by stakeholders.

Grassroots Organizing

In some districts, students and parents are leading the charge. In Columbia Public Schools in Missouri, a school board proposal would have made high schools start a half-hour earlier. But Jilly Dos Santos, a student at Rock Bridge High School, mobilized a social media campaign to stop the change.
Even at 7:50 a.m., students were frequently falling sleep in class, says Dos Santos. "If we watched a documentary or a movie, it was nap time."
The district eventually moved from a two-tier to a three-tier transportation system but swapped its start times. Middle schools and some elementary schools now begin at 7:30 a.m., while the remaining elementary schools start at 8:20 a.m. and high schools start at 9:00 a.m.
Jolene Yoakum, assistant superintendent for secondary education, says the district also began offering "zero-hour" courses for students who want an earlier dismissal. "All kids need to have different pathways to get where they need," says Yoakum.
Although Columbia and other districts are finding ways to accommodate older students, Emsellem calls for an across-the-board solution. "Simply switching elementary and high school start times doesn't work because then you have little kids standing at bus stops in the dark," she says. "You end up punishing one group to solve a problem for another."
Start School Later recommends that no schools begin before 8:00 a.m. and that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
Parents in Virginia have been trying to modify their county's bell schedule for more than a decade. Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) came up with a feasible proposal in the 1990s, but took no action. Then in 2004, FCPS parents Phyllis Payne and Sandy Evans launched the advocacy group SLEEP in Fairfax to educate the community about the adverse effects of its 7:20 a.m. start times.
Throughout the course of SLEEP's work, Payne has received calls from frantic parents who have been taken to truancy court because their children were missing too many mornings, and she's heard from parents who dropped out as teens because they "could not function with those hours."
With growing consensus, FCPS passed a resolution in 2012 to start high schools after 8:00 a.m. and contracted a team from Children's National Medical Center to draft a manageable and cost-effective proposal. FCPS has a four-tier transportation system that buses more than 110,000 students each day on 6,500 separate routes, and the earliest bus picks students up at 5:45 a.m.
This year, FCPS began allowing some high school seniors to drop early classes and other high school students to swap an early class for a study hall or dual-enrollment or online course. "It's a helpful interim stop-gap measure," says Payne, "but it doesn't help every kid."
Though there is no specific plan on the table, Payne is optimistic. Adds Emsellem, "If Fairfax County can figure out a budget-neutral way to change the bus schedule, then every district can do it."

It Starts With Education

For the 43 percent of U.S. high schools that start in the 7:00 a.m. hour, the issue won't be resolved immediately. That leaves plenty of teachers desperate to find a solution to conquering what Emsellem calls the "zoned state."
Payne, who is also a health educator, admits that teachers will try anything to battle first-period grogginess. Some toss beach balls around the room or have students work in groups and participate in discussions. Others keep coffee pots on hand or have students bring in breakfast. One school rolls breakfast carts into the hallway so students can purchase healthy snacks between passing periods.
But sometimes nothing seems to work. "It's very sad when teachers are feeling that helplessness. They're trying everything they can to keep kids engaged," says Payne. "But if a child is only getting six hours of sleep and they need nine, at some point their brains just shut off."
Emsellem says that reform begins with education. "Kids need to understand the biology of their own sleep and so do parents." Bring in sleep doctors, get the PTA involved, do anything to get the word out, she advises.
Snider and her group are banking on local, state, or federal regulations to relieve pressure on school administrators and give them support to take the issue to their communities. In the meantime, Snider says, "The vast majority of these efforts are going to fail for political reasons unless we as a culture start viewing sleep and school start times as public health issues."
"Running schools at safe and healthy times is just as much a given as removing asbestos or putting the heat on in February in Maine," adds Snider. "You don't talk about how much it costs or how it will affect extracurricular activities; you say of course you are going to run schools at safe and healthy times, and then you figure out how you are going to do it." 
Sources1National Sleep Foundation, 2Eaton, et. al. (2010, April), 3National Center for Education Statistics (n.d.), 4Calamaro, Mason, & Ratcliffe (2009, June)

References

National Sleep Foundation. (n.d.) Teens and sleep page. Retrieved Mary 17, 2014, fromhttp://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep.
Eaton, D.K., McKnight-Eily, L.R., Lowry, R., Perry, G.S., Presley-Cantrell, L., & Croft, J.B. (2010, April). Prevalence of insufficient, borderline, and optimal hours of sleep among high school students—United states, 2007. Journal of Adolescent Health46(4), 399–401. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.011
National Center for Education Statistics' Schools and Staffing Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved Mary 17, 2014, from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_201381_s1n.asp
Calamaro, C.J., Mason, T.B.A., & Ratcliffe, S.J. (2009, June). Adolescents living in the 24/7 lifestyle: Effects of caffeine and technology on sleep duration and daytime functioning. Pediatrics123(6), e1005–e1010. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-3641

KEYWORDS

Click on keywords to see similar products:

Sunday, April 13, 2014

We all need some self-love!!

My close friend, Molly Rider, an awesome writer and life coach, just had an article published on self-love. I thought it was very appropriate to share, especially for us educators! Happy spring break!

From Molly :

I've been dancing around, crazy and excited becauseMindBodyGreen.com just published an article of mine that I submitted.Woo Hoo! 

It went live today and when they emailed me last night to let me know, I definitely ran around like Rocky with my arms in the air. LOL - sorry, no video.

Getting an article published on MindBodyGreen is such a dream come true. (and I totally thought they'd ignore my submission). They frequently publish articles written by people I look up to in so many ways, such as Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Gabriella Bernstein.  

I'd love love love for you to check it out and leave a comment, or share, or like…or respond in whatever way you feel moved. 

The article is titled: 5 Reasons Why Selfishness Is Actually The Key To Happiness (A little controversial, but mostly about the importance of Self-Love).

Here's the link:http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13301/why-selfishness-is-actually-the-key-to-happiness.html

Let me know what you think! 

Thanks so much!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

What will the college experience look like moving forward?

Will student residential life disappear and completely be replaced by online learning?

This article offers fascinating -- and somewhat disturbing -- insight for all educators, parents, and students to consider.

Innovation Imperative: Change Everything

WHEN the first commercially successful steamship traveled the Hudson River in 1807, it didn’t appear to be much of a competitive threat to transoceanic sailing ships. It was more expensive, less reliable and couldn’t travel very far. Sailors dismissed the idea that steam technology could ever measure up — the vast reach of the Atlantic Ocean surely demanded sails. And so steam power gained its foothold as a “disruptive innovation” in inland waterways, where the ability to move against the wind, or when there was no wind at all, was important.
 
In 1819, the technology vastly improved, the S.S. Savannah made the first Atlantic crossing powered by steam and sail (in truth, only 80 of the 633-hour voyage was by steam). Sailing ship companies didn’t completely ignore the advancement. They built hybrid ships, adding steam engines to their sailing vessels, but never entered the pure steamship market. Ultimately, they paid the price for this decision. By the early 1900s, with steam able to power a ship across the ocean on its own, and do so faster than the wind, customers migrated to steamships. Every single transoceanic sailing-ship company went out of business.
 
Traditional colleges are currently on their hybrid voyage across the ocean.
 
Like steam, online education is a disruptive innovation — one that introduces more convenient and affordable products or services that over time transform sectors. Yet many bricks-and-mortar colleges are making the same mistake as the once-dominant tall ships: they offer online courses but are not changing the existing model. They are not saving students time and money, the essential steps to disruption. And though their approach makes sense in the short term, it leaves them vulnerable as students gravitate toward less expensive colleges.
 
For-profit universities latched on early to online learning, rough as it was in the 1990s. The target, as with all disruptive innovations, was customers who wouldn’t otherwise consume their product — in this case, working adults for whom traditional higher education was inconvenient. In theory, for-profit companies should have shaken up the higher education landscape. But federal financial aid seems to have gummed up the disruption: the easy revenue has encouraged some schools to indiscriminately enroll, often at the expense of quality, and has discouraged cost reduction.
 
Still, the theory predicts that, be it steam or online education, existing consumers will ultimately adopt the disruption, and a host of struggling colleges and universities — the bottom 25 percent of every tier, we predict — will disappear or merge in the next 10 to 15 years. Already traditional universities are showing the strains of a broken business model, reflecting demand and pricing pressures previously unheard-of in higher education. One example: Needing a cash infusion, Thunderbird School of Global Management in July announced a merger with Laureate Education Inc., an online pioneer.
 
Even the venerable Harvard Business School has ceded ground to online instruction. Before starting school, students are directed to learning modules on the web that cover entry-level accounting concepts. With the basic competencies covered, classes spend more time on higher-order discussion, and more deeply explore real-world applications. Harvard Business School is also developing a series of “pre-M.B.A. and post-M.B.A.” online courses that it plans to have ready by summer. It calls the initiative HBX.
 
Meanwhile, many universities have jumped on the MOOC bandwagon, creating a hodgepodge of these massive open online courses for public consumption. But for MOOCs to really fulfill their disruptive potential, they must be built into low-cost programs with certification of skills of value to employers. So far, only a few traditional universities have incorporated MOOCs into their curriculum, and only to supplement what they are already doing — like “flipping the classroom,” with lectures watched from home.
 
MITx is trying to add structure to the MOOC free-for-all by rolling out a sequence of computer science foundational courses this fall, and the MOOC provider Coursera has just started the Wharton M.B.A. Foundation Series. But perhaps the most promising experiment is from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which next year will start offering a $6,600 online master’s degree, a sixth the price of its current degree, in partnership with the MOOC platform Udacity and AT&T Georgia Tech is putting its reputation behind a MOOC credential.
 
The lessons from any number of industries teach us that those that truly innovate — fundamentally transforming the model, instead of just incorporating the technology into established methods of operation ­ — will have the final say. So it’s no wonder that observers of this phenomenon ask if online learning portends the end of the residential collegiate experience — the opportunity for students to live, socialize and learn together.
 
The experience that so many of us remember fondly — those bridge years from childhood to functioning adult — is already one that only a minority of students enjoys. According to the Census Bureau, just 30 percent of all beginning students live on a college campus. But it’s unlikely that the residential experience will disappear. Counterintuitive as it may seem, online instruction may mean even more students benefit from the collegial spirit, though one that looks quite different from the residential experience of today.
 
Right now, some students who want to live on campus find it prohibitively expensive; some who would rather commute live too far away to do so. As online learning evolves, students should be able to customize their experience with what they need and can afford. This kind of unbundling has occurred in countless industries.
 
Consider personal computers. Nascent technologies always underserve their customers. As they mature, the opposite happens: they overserve, with bells and whistles customers are less willing to pay for. In the beginning, computer components were unpredictable and not standardized, and each company had to build every one of its parts. As the ways in which the components fit together became better understood, companies like Dell could quickly and affordably customize a computer. A customer ordering a Dell in the 1990s specified the amount of memory wanted and type of Seagate drive and Intel processor. Dell simply snapped the modules together and shipped out a computer within 48 hours.
 
The Minerva Project, a start-up headquartered in San Francisco that aims to provide an affordable liberal arts education, offers clues as to how this might unfold in higher education. Minerva anticipates that most of its students will be from outside the United States. To serve them, it will enlist operators to create mini-campuses around the globe where clusters of its students will live and socialize together in residence halls, as well as take online courses and work together on projects.
With this unbundling, many more students should have the ability to create aspects of a residential experience for themselves. Some students might take courses online and then, to develop their skills, attend learning spaces like Dev Bootcamp in Chicago and San Francisco, or one of General Assembly’s eight locations around the world. Others may just value the flexibility and convenience of a total online learning experience.
 
As concepts and skills are taught more effectively online, it’s unlikely that face-to-face interaction will cease to matter. Instead, students will be able to arrange for such experiences when it suits the job they need to get done. Given the reality that we all have different learning needs at different times, that’s a far more student-centered experience. It may not benefit some colleges but should create more options for all students.
 
Clayton M. Christensen is a professor of business administration at Harvard. Michael B. Horn is executive director for education at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. They are co-authors of “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.”