Teacher Ken Penfield is not yet among those buyers but he’s looking into the app as a replacement to his school district’s student data system which requires a login and typing out comments in order to email parents.

“(Moments Ago) is on the fly. You just open the app and boom it sends a message right to the parent,” said Penfield, a fourth-grade teacher in the Waunakee Community School District. “It’s a great app and I think it has a lot of possibility. (Skurek) has insight into what teachers need to make our jobs smoother.”

That’s probably because Skurek was a teacher before starting Mobile Apps For Ed. He also previously served as an associate principal and technology director for a Wisconsin virtual school, and did teacher training, primarily on technology use.

Then apps came calling.

“I came to the realization I could really help a lot of students and a lot of teachers and really transform education as we know it,” Skurek said. “I think the industry needs someone who understands the technology to come up with learning tools and games to really inspire students.”

So that’s what Skurek is working on with Moments Ago and five more apps he has in the works. Those apps are patent-pending so he couldn’t give details but did say they are all education-related.

For the rest of the article, go to Former Racine resident Michael Skurek starts company making apps for teachers

Wisconsin Virtual School

St. Francis of Assisi is one of just two middle schools in Northeastern Wisconsin participating in the program, the other being Farnsworth Middle School in Sheboygan, according to Principal Jim Clark.

Clark said he was looking for enrichment opportunities for his students when he learned about the Wisconsin Virtual School at a 2009 conference of the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual learning

St. Francis of Assisi is one of just two middle schools in Northeastern Wisconsin participating in the program, the other being Farnsworth Middle School in Sheboygan, according to Principal Jim Clark.

Clark said he was looking for enrichment opportunities for his students when he learned about the Wisconsin Virtual School at a 2009 conference of the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools.

“This is a trend we are seeing across the country, finding better ways to reach our students. It gives us flexibility in responding to their needs,” said John Whitsett, the district’s curriculum and instruction coordinator.

Charter school

Funding to operate the charter grade school for about 100 students would come through federal grant money.

For the rest of the article, go to Charter, virtual schools on the horizon for Fond du Lac

The district has also compiled a preliminary list of Learner Outcomes that the teachers and administrators expect of the students. O’Brien praised the district’s employees, noting, “the professionalism by the teachers getting this done is incredible.” The outcomes schedule includes information for every grade level and high school subject. Parents could use the information to see what is expected of their children academically in school. The finalized list is expected to be online by March 1.

For the rest of the article, go to Ashland District Talks Layoffs, Community Partners & Student Achievement

“We are planning to survey all of our 6-12 students and families as well as those who open enroll out or choose home schooling to see if they may consider attending a full-time virtual learning program if we were to offer one,” he said.

If the numbers look promising, the district plans to partner next year with Wisconsin Virtual School.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual school explored

The report – “Ten Elements of High Quality Digital Learning” – was presented recently at an education conference in Washington DC, by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Virginia Governor Bob Wise. It endorses online education as a fix to many education problems. It also stresses accessibility as a way to improve online education for states.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual school group pushes to lift limits on enrollment

The Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families is calling for a change to those policies in early 2011, before the open enrollment period in February.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual school advocates call for removal of enrollment cap

Barrett: Barrett said he would work to make sure Wisconsin schools don’t get any less in state funding than they currently do, but he hasn’t promised an increase. He supports making changes to the school aid formula, including using multiple factors, instead of just property values, to determine how much money districts receive.

Walker: Walker supports grading schools based on their performance, demanding accountability from those that fail and rewarding quality teachers. He also wants to restore the qualified economic offer, a tool repealed last year designed to limit pay increases for teachers and keep a district’s costs down. He also supports expanding virtual schools and charter schools.

For the rest of the article, go to Walker, Barrett on issues