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 This blog is no longer being updated.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
Smart Cities: Los Angeles Startup Weekend EDU 1/24
Last year, my Smart Cities: LA post complained about the lack of "innovation and collaboration" in the city, but things are more interesting a year later. The first Startup Weekend EDU in the City of Angels will take place on the weekend of January 24th at UCLA Anderson.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
Short-Cycle Efficacy Trials Key to Personalized Learning
This fall the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made grants of $1.3 million for short cycle efficacy trials. Three "test bed networks" each received $100,000: New Schools for Chicago, NYC iZone, and the Bay Area Innovation Hub. Five platforms shared the balance: BrightBytes, CFY (PowerMyLearning), eSpark, Motion Math, and Common Sense Media.
Education
Opinion
Four Frighteningly Ambitious Education Experiments for 2014
I am a big fan of Paul Graham's writing, especially his list of frighteningly ambitious startup ideas - big problems that will take incredible persistence to tackle. With that in mind, here are some experiments I'd like to see someone try in education next year. I think we'd learn a lot about how to make frighteningly better schools.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
CTB Acuity Adds Performance Assessment & Instructional Resources
We've been investigating performance assessment tools so we were interested when we heard that CTB McGraw-Hill had added performance-based items to its widely use Acuity platform. We call CTB President Ellen Haley for the scoop.
Education
Opinion
14 Developments to Watch for in 2014
It's been a big year for innovations in learning. If 2012 was the year of the MOOC, 2013 was the year blended learning went mainstream--even schools that were just layering tabs on top of an obsolete model called it "blended." The following are 14 developments to watch for in 2014.
Teaching
Opinion
Redefining What It Means to be a Successful School
Six months ago, New Tech Network made a significant shift in our thinking. For more than a decade, our school coaches had worked to guide adults on campus toward a set of behaviors that were the hallmarks of the New Tech model (i.e. using projects with entry documents and rubrics, assessing students on 21st Century skills like critical thinking and collaboration, or using a digital course agenda).
Education
Opinion
Next-Gen Advisory: 10 Keys to College & Career Readiness
College and career readiness means a lot more than passing a community college entrance exam (although that is the minimum bar for all kids). It requires a set of deeper learning experiences that result in the knowledge, skills and dispositions young people will need to succeed.
School & District Management
Opinion
Closing the Motivation Gap
Now that the world's knowledge is widely and freely available, why are we still so largely uneducated? Why are there still big employment skill gaps? Why is civic knowledge so low? Why is the wealth gap widening not shrinking?
Education
Opinion
Scaling Nonprofits: Lessons from the Experts
Is your nonprofit making a difference in your community? Are you starting to think about national expansion? Here is some advice from five experts.
Education
Opinion
Stock Market and Real Estate Boom: What It Means for Education
The stock market is at record highs these days. The Dow crossed 16,000 two weeks ago and the NASDAQ reached 4,000 this week. Consumer confidence is up and tax receipts have recovered to 2008 levels.
School & District Management
Opinion
Consortium Points the Way on Proficiency-Based Learning
David Ruff is the executive director of the Great Schools Partnership and coordinates the New England Secondary School Consortium (NESSC), a project of the Great Schools Partnership in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. He favors a proficiency-based education model.
Education
Opinion
38 Elementary and Middle Schools Worth Visiting
Recently we highlighted "35 High Schools Worth Visiting." That led to a request for a similar compilation of inspiring elementary and middle schools. Far from exhaustive, our list includes schools that achieve extraordinary results, create powerful learning experiences, and/or have created innovative technology blends.
Education
Opinion
Pearson Partnerships for Principal Development
When I learned that Pearson was in the process of working with the highly regarded New Leaders organization on a principal development program, I wanted to learn more. I called Lee Peters, the marketing lead for Pearson's School Achievement Services business, who outlined some of the professional learning available through Pearson's growing portfolio of teacher and leader effectiveness offerings.
Education
Opinion
A Maker Makeover for Public Education
John Dewey is alive and well on the southern shore of Lake Erie. You can hear his influence loud and clear in a handful of inspired teachers ready to make change at Lakewood High School in west Cleveland. They won a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grant and intend to open a Maker Space in the next year or two that will eventually educate 400 high school students.