The background on Cities of Learning

Cities of Learning (or LRNG Cities) is an initiative propelled by the international Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They are the creators of the international assessments known as PISA (Programme for International Student Achievement). Both the OECD and PISA were developed to support the UN’s goals for global economic transformation.

Through President Obama’s Race to the Top for Assessments initiatives, the OECD has helped to fundamentally transform America’s online assessment systems and teacher training. Where local teachers used to test for children’s academic skills, now unknown researchers assess and measure children’s emotions and behaviors—in and out of school, online. Measuring children’s emotions and behaviors through online curriculum, apps and assessments is part of the international view of Competency-Based Ed.

It might surprise American parents to know what the OECD says about the goals of global Competency-Based Ed. They say, “The skills, attitudes and values that shape human behaviour should be rethought, to counter the discriminatory behaviours picked up at school and in the family.” (OECD, Global Competency for an Inclusive World.)

Cities of Learning, Common Core, Competency-Based Ed and Digital Badges for children

With the advent of Common Core, Competency-Based Ed isn’t about freeing children from “seat time”, it’s about turning whole cities and countries into Common Core 24/7 Learning Centers with citizens all aligning their learning objectives and “competencies” to global economic and social objectives—and all citizens being tracked by big-data. Online learning, tied to Common Core through big-data, is how children are being turned into commodities for the global economy—and how their emotions and behaviors are going to be shaped in order that they will champion globally approved social causes. The OECD says, “All young people should be able to challenge cultural and gender stereotypes, to reflect on the causes and solutions of racial, religious and hate violence and to help create tolerant, integrated societies. A PISA assessment of global competence, developed in consultation with OECD member countries, would offer the first, comprehensive overview of education systems’ success in equipping young people to support the development of peaceful, diverse communities. ”

CollectiveShift (an apt-name for collectivist revolutionaries) is the name of the organization spearheading Cities of Learning in the U.S.—where libraries, museums, after-school clubs, civic organizations, financial institutions and others work hand-in-hand to tie children’s learning to Common Core’s social-emotional competencies. CollectiveShift’s Cities of Learning video tells a dystopian tale where America’s education system is transformed (by the big-data gurus behind Common Core) into a video-gaming system that awards children, and adults alike, digital badges for the privilege of being tracked and researched from cradle to grave.

Global technology standards created the perfect storm for the loss of local curriculum and assessment control

Cities of Learning were made possible with the help of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top for [online] Assessment partners, IMS Global and Bill Gates’ SIF Association. With the help of these two international technology standards organizations, and groups like Mozilla, “thousands of organizations around the world” now “recognize learning achievements” [global competencies] thanks to IMS Global’s Open Badges standards for online assessment “interoperability.”

PR Web wrote a detailed overview of CollectiveShifts collaborative efforts on Cities of Learning and how groups like the Gates Foundation are working to build competency-based assessments into online games.

Collective Shifts’ CEO Connie Yowell wrote an open letter that gives further details about the vast number of tech groups involved in Cities of Learning.

Readers might be interested to know that the Obama administration’s federal Learning Registry and #GoOpen initiative prompted Mozilla’s involvement, along with the involvement of groups like Amazon, Edmodo, Microsoft and others. (Note: Utah was one of the first states to join the #GoOpen initiative).

America’s cities are starting to join in the movement to badge children’s global competencies (also called social-emotional skills)

The 10 Million Better Futures’ website says that “Chicago launched the Cities of Learning movement in 2013 with a successful summer program that networked more than 100 organizations and served more the 100,000 students. Chicago is now a City of Learning year round, and this year the initiative is expanding to Columbus, Dallas, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC.”

Learn more about some of the cities starting to get involved here:
“School’s Out, Cities Are In With Expanded Cities of Learning“:

This story about Pittsburgh is a MUST READ: Pittsburgh is following the P21 Competency Framework (Common Core’s global competency and social-emotional learning framework as promoted by the World Economic Forum). See all the ways in which children’s competencies will be tagged and pay attention to the fact that kids don’t just code, but they code and their “dispositions” are identified.

What you should know about Digital Badges and international technology standards for Competency-Based Ed

Here’s a great blog called, “The Business of Badging and Predicting Children’s Futures. This is a good starting point for the average parent to start understanding what digital badging is and how it works.

Here’s what wiki has to say about Digital Badges lately.

Here, here and here are further background on IMS Global setting the stage for Cities of Learning through Common Core’s Common Education Data Standards which paved the way for globalists to digitally badge children’s global competencies.

Check out this video about IMS Global’s One Roster, which essentially makes it impossible to protect a child’s PII (personally identifiable information).

See here, that Canvas Learning Management Systems—used by Utah students—has now met 12 IMS Global technology specifications.

And, here is a list of all the learning and assessment platforms that IMS Global says are now meeting their specs for “interoperability.” Get some popcorn, you’ll be reading for a while as you mourn the loss of local curriculum and assessment control.

It’s time to take back local control over online curriculum and assessments

Any Congressmen listening? If you are, start thinking about what happens when Ethereum Blockchain technology and digital birth certificates interplay with Cities of Learning. This is an important paper that discusses how technological code and blockchain are replacing government regulation and the law.

Seriously. Parents. Get your kids out of digital curriculum and assessments, in and out of school, unless you can guarantee it’s locally controlled and operated. Many teachers report that they no longer see their students’ online curriculum or assessments anymore because each child is on a computer and on a different “personalized,” computer-adaptive learning plan.

The surest way to take back what your children are taught and tested is this: Take your children away from the digital badgers.

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Editor’s Note: How can you help protect your children? Starve the data beast. Come see if home schooling is right for your children and how to get started at the 2017 Agency-Based Education conference.