Abstract Description : Online/blended learning fundamentally transformed our understanding of “school” in the early 21st century. Now a panoply of new models like microschools, forest schools, pods, bundle schools, and more are emerging across the country, unleashed by the pandemic, driven by parent demand, and sustained by new funding mechanisms. What will this flowering of unconventional school models mean for the future of American education? Ed tech pioneer and digital learning OG Mickey Revenaugh lays out findings from her forthcoming book SCHOOL’S OUT (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2026). Participants will walk away with reasons to infuse unconventional design into their own programs along with policy strategies for fostering emerging innovation.
If someone was doing a search for your session in the program what 5 words might they use to search for and find your session.: Microschools, emerging models, ESAs, hybrids, innovation
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify promising new school models, understand why families are demanding such models, and diagnose the policy frameworks that boost or block such innovations.
At the end of this session, participants will be able to imagine strategically infusing unconventional school model elements into their own programs – and understand why doing so will benefit learners of all kinds and their school community as a whole.
