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 This blog is no longer being updated.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
Breathing Life into Urban Ed with Blended Learning
As a big believer in the potential of blended learning to personalize instruction, I'm always excited to hear about schools shifting to blended learning. As a big believer in education as the most important social justice issue of our time, I get even more excited when these schools bring personalized, blended learning to traditionally-underserved student populations
School & District Management
Opinion
Visions of Personalized Learning in Denver
Like the majority of public school districts in America, Denver Public Schools is rethinking the opportunity set and reshaping its vision of the desired future state. Despite producing the most rapid academic gains in the state, less than half of DPS graduate prepared for college and careers.
School & District Management
Opinion
What Role Should States Play in the Shift to Personalized Learning?
New tools and school models present a historic opportunity to better prepare young people for college, careers, and citizenship. It's not unreasonable to think that we could double the percentage of well-prepared teens before the end of the decade.
Education
Opinion
35 High Schools Worth Visiting
Last year we published a list of 14 high schools worth visiting. We've visited and profiled some great new schools this year so it was time to update our list. Following are 35 schools that personalize and blend learning; they challenge students with real work and ask them to show what they know. Time to hit the road!
Education
Opinion
Shifting Superintendents Stuck in Compliance World
Lyle Kirtman has been coaching leaders to better performance for 30 years. His Future Management Systems works with 750 organizations including about 300 school districts.
Education
Opinion
Why We Need 4.0 Schools In Every City
The shift to Common Core and digital learning is a great opportunity but it will also take an ecosystem of creative capacity. That's why high on my recent list of 10 Things Every State Should Do Now was "support an incubator like 4.0 Schools."
Classroom Technology
Opinion
10 Lessons from Florida Virtual
After the iNACOL conference in Orlando, I stopped by Florida Virtual School, the nation's first and largest online public statewide school. It was a lot more fun than a trip to Disney and I learned 10 things about their success.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
4 Essential Attributes of Personalized Learning
iNACOL wrapped their tenth annual conference this week in Orlando. What used to be the Virtual School Symposium is now the Blended and Online Learning Symposium this week in Orlando. And blended it was, as we outlined in our summary, the majority of the 275 breakout sessions dealt with technology enhanced learning at school.
Education
Opinion
Engagement and Employability Driving Next-Gen Platforms
It's still harder than it should be to create an effective sequence of learning experiences in K-12, postsecondary or organizational training. Owing to underinvestment and weak demand articulation, learning management systems (LMS) are at least five years behind the growing demand for engaging, learner-centered, competency-based experiences that result in employment (and other favorable outcomes).
Education
Opinion
Seven Trends Impacting Edu-Jobs
Katie McNerney thinks about the future of education and the talent that will be required to unlock the potential. The CEO of EdFuel hangs out at 1776, a D.C. startup accelerator, with founder Kathleen deLaski, also the president of the deLaski Family Foundation.
Classroom Technology
Opinion
Relax. It is You . . . And Them
When Collins-Maxwell began a 1:1 iPad initiative for all students in grades 6-12 in the fall of 2012, one of the largest concerns among teachers, parents, and board members was the management of the device. Teachers were worried that students would be off-task in class, refusing to do the assigned work.
Education
Opinion
Networks, Platforms, & Procurement
School networks were the big K-12 development of the last decade. Managed networks including Achievement First, Aspire, DSST, IDEA, Success, Uncommon, and YES achieved scale and uniformly high performance. School developers like KIPP, New Tech Network, and Expeditionary Learning build national networks of schools that share a common model and some support services. Both CMOs and school developers made it easier to open and sustain a good school.
School & District Management
Opinion
Try This: 10 Things Every State Should Do Now
A state chief asked for a list of things that his state should try. With help from Eric Smith of Chiefs for Change, here's a list of the top ten list of things every state should do now:
Education
Opinion
CityBridge is Changing the School Landscape in DC
The combination of energized knowledgeable teacher leaders and a grant program supporting new school development will change the K-12 landscape in Washington D.C.