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 This blog is no longer being updated.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
Micro-Credentials: The Future of Professional Learning
Like students, educators deserve a clear map of what they need to know and be able to do,
multiple ways to learn, and options for demonstrating mastery. In most cases we think progress will be marked with a stackable series of micro-credentials. A system of micro-credentials is how educators will be prepared and how they will be recognized for their professional learning.
School & District Management
Opinion
Getting Smart Podcast: Rethinking Educator Professional Development With Micro-Credentials
In this podcast, Tom Vander Ark sits down with Jennifer Kabaker, director of educator micro-credentials at Digital Promise and Jason Lange, Bloomboard CEO, to talk specifics about what micro-credentials look like, how research can be used to support personalization of teacher development, and why this will impact the future of educator development.
School & District Management
Opinion
Helping Teachers and Schools Run Experiments
Imagine giving teachers and schools opportunities to run experiments of their own or to join larger trials. Imagine if they had access to better measures and powerful analytics. It's been difficult to run formal experiments because measurement systems in education are bad. The next step in supporting teachers as scientists is an intelligence platform that combines information about best practices, formative assessment, templates for setting up experiments, and social features.
Education
Opinion
Social Emotional Learning in Action: How a Leading District Responded to the Community's Clarion Call
Mary Ryerse, Director of Strategic Design at Getting Smart sits down with Paul Goren, Superintendent of Evanston/Skokie School District in Evanston, IL to talk about Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Education
Opinion
Ten Powerful Project-Based Learning Engagement Strategies
Powerful project-based learning experiences can be through ten strategies that includes the opportunity to create something of value, beauty and importance for the world can be captivating. Student engagement is vital for motivation, persistence, and deeper learning. In this blog we highlight strategies from leading educators, schools and districts.
Education
Opinion
Eight Ways Educators Help Parents Promote Powerful Learning
As we look to the new school year, we must recognize that parents have a strong desire to be advocates for their children, in partnership with teachers and EdLeaders. The path forward and beyond exists, and is inspired by over 60 parents represented in our new book. The reality that we live in an era of change is undeniable. Parents and educators should work together; learning that is student-centered is becoming infinitely more powerful when supported at home and at school.
School & District Management
Opinion
Elected Board Urges Innovation in Denver
Denver Public Schools (DPS) is a district worth watching because they have the best and most aggressive elected school board in the country. The board is seeking to dramatically accelerate the progress they've made by investing more in what is working and embracing innovation. One way DPS is succeeding is by launching an internal innovation incubator.
Education
Opinion
Why Parents Should Support Student-Centered Learning
Nicholas C. Donohue, President and CEO of The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, shares personal stories, practical strategies and a framework for parents navigating the shift to student-centered learning. He also shares why Nellie Mae has chosen to partner with Getting Smart to tell parent stories in the new book, Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning. This book is a compelling call to action and a practical road map for any parent, guardian or educator and "is a must read for anyone who wants to engage young people in the process of their own learning," according to Nicholas.
Education
Opinion
How School Districts Work
School districts have a theory of action but don't or can't express exactly what it is. Naming the theories in use is the first step to designing a system of schools that serves a community well.
Teaching
Opinion
Leading Public Schools: 10 Roles You Probably Didn't Prepare for
After spending time with urban districts recently, we were reminded of the complexity of the work that superintendents are responsible for. We were also reminded how traditional education programs and development experiences do not prepare EdLeaders for their roles. In our recent paper, Preparing Leaders for Deeper Learning we outlined 10 roles for today's EdLeaders. In this blog we share important emerging skills associated with these 10 roles.
Education
Opinion
10 Next Steps for EdLeaders: The Advanced Course
As we head to Atlanta to join Fulton County Schools in a leadership discussion, we identify 10 tips for superintendents and principals as they work to create next generation schools. For example EdLeaders should create a learner exchange vision, identify and share your theories, learn about new school models, embrace broader aims, create community engagements, model next-gen learning, personalize professional learning, and improve wellness.
Personalized Learning
Opinion
Implementation Challenges on the Path to Personalization
There are several technical challenges to delivering on the promise of personalized learning including defining a standard student record, boosting interoperability, and combining multiple formative sources. However, there are additionally daunting implementation barriers related to school models, leadership and parents. Despite these challenges, personalization offers tremendous opportunities to boost achievement for both accelerated and struggling learners.
Education
Opinion
How to Innovate: Combine New Tools & New Schools
New schools development has been the most important K-12 innovation in the last 20 years. In the last five years, the most important development has been new tools. So, how can we evaluate this progress? In this blog we compare recent technology development against school model development.
Education
Opinion
Naming the Theories in Use
While at #PS2015, a graduate student at BYU asked me, "What other theories are being applied in education?" That may be the best question of the year and one that every school and district leadership team should ask themselves. So, what theories are being applied to public education? Here's a few that appear to be at work.