S03 EP11 - The Power of Collaboration

Edi Cox serves as the Director for Low Country Virtual, an online school in South Carolina. She began her career as a high school teacher who was recognized for her innovative work. In her most recent role she served as the Executive Director of Online Learning and Instructional Technology in one of the largest school districts in South Carolina. She is credited with launching one of the first district-led virtual programs in the Palmetto State. In 2013 Ms. Cox was instrumental in the writing and submission of a Gates Foundation Grant designed to help a district launch personalized learning efforts with a rollout of 1:1 devices to more than 43,000 students. She holds multiple degrees and has completed additional graduate-level coursework through Western Governors' University, where I recently attended as well! Edi continues to stay current in the field by serving in a variety of roles with national organizations such as the Digital Learning Collaborative, Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) and Quality Matters. She provided guidance in the revisions to the National Standards for Quality (NSQ).

Today, Edi tells us about the power of collaboration among districts, and how important it is for us all to learn from our collective mistakes and wins.

Timestamps

2:53 What Edi's educational journey has looked like

4:46 Edi was an instructional designer before instructional designers were a thing!

5:45 Edi's work with the Low Country Educational Consortium

7:06 Taking advantage of the forced online learning from the pandemic

11:52 We know that the majority of students are well-served by the traditional brick and mortar classroom

13:06 Supporting the students who are not served well by the traditional model

17:45 Why is it important for Low Country Virtual to partner with organizations like Digital Learning Collaborative and Quality Matters?

20:33 Quality Matters

24:14 What would Edi give to every teacher in the U.S., and why?