Leadership Blog

Vander Ark on Innovation

This blog was written by Tom Vander Ark (@tvanderark), an education advocate, adviser, and author of Getting Smart: How Personal Digital Learning is Changing the World. Tom is Founder and Executive Editor of Getting Smart and a partner in Learn Capital. This blog is no longer being updated.

Teaching Opinion Content-Centered to Student-Centered: A Taxonomy of Personalized Learning
How do you define and describe personalized learning? As more people use the term, it's important to be clear about what we mean.
Tom Vander Ark, August 2, 2017
3 min read
Science Opinion Skip Coding, Teach Data Science
While there is high demand for coding skills today, artificial intelligence will increasingly take over routine coding jobs as it grows in sophistication. The longer term and larger employment and impact opportunities for today's students lie in data science
Tom Vander Ark, July 31, 2017
8 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Key To Prep: The Science of Teams
As managing projects and working in teams becomes a priority learning outcome in schools, it's important to understand several important group dynamics that can ensure a team is successful.
Tom Vander Ark, July 26, 2017
5 min read
Education Opinion Big Venture Investments in HR Startups & What it Means for Education
You might have noticed a flood of investment into human resource startups lately, as companies attempt to find the best and brightest employees using algorithms. So how does this affect the world of education?
Tom Vander Ark, July 24, 2017
4 min read
School & District Management Opinion Lean School District: 12 Service Delivery Opportunities
How can school district leaders get in front of declining budgets to give their schools the best chance to be successful? Here are 12 school district functional areas where there are usually opportunities to boost efficiency and effectiveness.
Tom Vander Ark, July 19, 2017
6 min read
Teaching Opinion Improving Learner Experience: Agency, Community, Challenge
Join us on a walking tour of downtown Boise with Nate McClennen of Teton Science Schools and Neva Geisler of student-led One Stone discussing PBE, learner experience and the power of community connections.
Tom Vander Ark, July 17, 2017
3 min read
Education Opinion PwC Report: AI Boosts Value of Thinking, Creativity and Problem-Solving
The rise of artificial intelligence is driving a new shift in value creation focused on sentiments more intrinsic to the human experience. So what does this mean for our future graduates?
Tom Vander Ark, July 12, 2017
5 min read
School & District Management Opinion By 2025, Swarms of Self-Driving Vehicles Will Transport Students to Learning Sites
Recent breakthroughs in computing and maturation of autonomous driving systems are rapidly making self-driving vehicles a reality. So how could this positively impact education?
Tom Vander Ark, July 10, 2017
5 min read
Education Opinion Massive Global Benefit. Waves of Dislocation and Challenge. Time to #AskAboutAI.
To kick-off our #AskAboutAI series, we invited Bay Area technologists, social scientists, philanthropists and educators to discuss three questions around the implications of AI, and share their answers here.
Tom Vander Ark, July 5, 2017
4 min read
Education Opinion America's Edu Power Couple On Balancing Innovation and Execution
Erin Mote and Erik Tucker, co-founders of Brooklyn Lab Charter School, discuss building a durable school that is also future-ready, as well as a customized learning platform from scratch.
Tom Vander Ark, July 3, 2017
6 min read
Education Opinion Survey Says: Google for the Win
Google has become the dominant player in the EdTech market, with Microsoft, Apple and Amazon providing stiff competition. But how have these EdTech giants potentially slowed the development of needed innovation in learning platforms?
Tom Vander Ark, June 27, 2017
3 min read
Education Opinion The Platform Revolution That Will Power Personalized Learning
While still in the early stages of development, platform networks will bring network effects to K-12 education, making it easier for educators to create powerful personalized learning.
Tom Vander Ark, June 21, 2017
6 min read
School & District Management Opinion David Haglund on Lessons Learned in Santa Ana
As he transitions to a new role in a new district, David Haglund shares lessons learned during his time as deputy superintendent and chief academic officer for Santa Ana Unified School District.
Tom Vander Ark, June 19, 2017
4 min read
School & District Management Opinion Scaling Personalized Learning: Alex Hernandez on Creating a Shared Vision
Alex Hernandez of Charter School Growth Fund shares lessons learned from charter networks. To scale personalized learning schools must define what excellence looks like--a shared vision for powerful learning experiences--and build an organization completely in service of that vision.
Tom Vander Ark, June 13, 2017
6 min read