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 This blog is no longer being updated.

Education Opinion AI is Improving Healthcare... But Will Benefits Be Widely Shared?
The rise in artificial intelligence means big changes to the education and employment landscapes. This week we consider how AI is promoting health and changing healthcare in our #AskAboutAI series.
Tom Vander Ark, September 26, 2016
7 min read
Teaching Opinion Preparing Teachers for Project-Based Learning
One important aspect of teacher preparation today is project-based learning (PBL). Here are five reasons we feel teachers should be PBL prepared and five key practices of a PBL teacher.
Tom Vander Ark, September 21, 2016
7 min read
School & District Management Opinion #AskAboutAI: Learning to See and Speak
Our new blog series #AskAboutAI will encourage parents, teachers, mentors and advisors to engage young people in a dialog about the emerging automation economy and the ethical and economic implications of artificial intelligence (AI).
Tom Vander Ark, September 19, 2016
3 min read
Personalized Learning Opinion On Becoming More Than Preparing: 10 Tips on Developing Humans Through SEL
The importance of social emotional learning is widely recognized as key to success in life as it can help today's students become better learners, team members, contributors and friends.
Tom Vander Ark, September 14, 2016
5 min read
Personalized Learning Opinion Personalized Learning in 2016: What's Working, What's Missing?
We've made a great deal of progress in personalized learning in the last five years, but there is still work to do. Here are six signs of progress as well as six barriers to overcome in 2016.
Tom Vander Ark, September 12, 2016
3 min read
School & District Management Opinion The Getting Smart Podcast
The Getting Smart Podcast is celebrating its 40th episode this week. Here is a list of all of the podcasts we've created over the past year with education leaders across the nation.
Tom Vander Ark, September 7, 2016
6 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Batch of One: How AI & Robots Will Bring Manufacturing Home to the U.S.
The age of smart local manufacturing is just around the corner, and today's students will need to be prepared. Here are next steps for educators to provide manufacturing and coding pathways.
Tom Vander Ark, September 5, 2016
5 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Professional Grade: Magic Happens When Students Own High Standards
High expectations are an important part of a school model, culture and community. Here are several examples of how schools and programs are helping students learn to deliver on professional grade expectations.
Tom Vander Ark, August 31, 2016
4 min read
Education Opinion Learning for Life: New Skills for New Jobs
Predicting the future is challenging, but Global Education Futures has developed a thoughtful and optimistic view of the future--one that is a bit different in language and tone than the U.S. dialogue.
Tom Vander Ark, August 29, 2016
3 min read
Teaching Opinion It's a Project-Based World. Let's Prepare Students For It
Our new paper with Buck Institute of Education, 'Preparing Students for a Project-Based World,' discusses the need to provide today's students access to high-quality project-based learning for future success.
Tom Vander Ark, August 23, 2016
2 min read
Education Opinion Rethinking High School Graduation Requirements: Project & Microcredentials
The majority of graduation requirements in today's schools have looked similar for over a century. It's time to rethink what today's graduates should know and be able to do, as well as the teaching approach.
Tom Vander Ark, August 17, 2016
2 min read
Teaching Opinion Educating for Impact in a Project-Based World
With rapid changes in technology over the next decade, it might turn out that the patterns of disruption that have created a project-based world might also redefine what we mean by "project."
Tom Vander Ark, August 13, 2016
5 min read
Teaching Opinion 20 Schools and Networks That Educate With A Sense of Place
An illustrative list of 20 U.S. schools implementing Place-Based Education by taking advantage of local geography to create authentic, meaningful and engaging personalized learning for students.
Tom Vander Ark, August 10, 2016
5 min read
Education Opinion Learn Your Way: CK-12 Adds Free Sims and Interactive
CK-12, an open resource nonprofit launched in 2007 by Neeru Khosla, continues to innovative with new simulations and interactives released just in time for the new school year.
Tom Vander Ark, August 8, 2016
3 min read