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 This blog is no longer being updated.

Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion Building a Shared Vision of the #FutureofLearning
Post 6 of our #RemakeLearning series shares discussions from the #EdResearchSummit that included the 10 aspects of the #FutureofLearning.
Tom Vander Ark, January 3, 2018
4 min read
School & District Management Opinion Integrated Learning Propels Pittsburgh Students
Post 5 of our #RemakeLearning series explores how a group of schools with shared ideals, practices and tools are changing life trajectories for youth and inspiring a culture of possibility.
Tom Vander Ark, December 26, 2017
5 min read
Classroom Technology Opinion How Blockchain Will Transform Credentialing (and Education)
According to a new report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's science and knowledge service, Blockchain will end paper based certificates, automate the award, recognition and transfer of credits, increase learner ownership and control over their own data, reduce institutional data costs and risk--but only if open standards are adopted.
Tom Vander Ark, December 20, 2017
4 min read
Science Opinion Montour Schools: Home of the Evolving Educators
Post four of our 6-part #RemakeLearning series takes you on a virtual field trip to Montour School District, "home of the evolving educators."
Tom Vander Ark, December 18, 2017
4 min read
Education Opinion CMU: Pittsburgh's Learning Engine
The third post in our 6-part #RemakeLearning series looks at CMU's partnerships with Pittsburgh Districts to advance education innovation and shape a new K-12 approach to computer science.
Tom Vander Ark, December 12, 2017
7 min read
Education Opinion South Fayette Schools: A Computational Carnival for Kids
Combine a makerspace, science fair and a coding bootcamp and you have South Fayette School District, a computational carnival for 3,200 students south of Pittsburgh.
Tom Vander Ark, December 11, 2017
7 min read
Education Opinion Remake Learning: A Regional Carnival of Learning
First in a six part series on #RemakeLearning, here's how a loose network of 250 organizations in Pittsburgh are focusing on engaging, relevant and equitable learning.
Tom Vander Ark, December 6, 2017
7 min read
School & District Management Opinion 15 Learning Predictions for the New Year
What does the future of learning look like? More specifically what could we see in 2018? Here's 15 predictions from Tom.
Tom Vander Ark, December 3, 2017
3 min read
Education Opinion Growing Talent for the 4th Industrial Revolution
How to prepare for the automation economy? The ASEAN+3 countries (southeast Asian plus China, Japan, South Korea) recently hosted a conference in Seoul in partnership with World Bank and the Korean government to answer that question.
Tom Vander Ark, November 29, 2017
6 min read
Education Opinion 12 New Rules: Accelerated Learning for an Exponential World
How can leaders respond to the rise of the automation economy? Here's 12 new rules about accelerated learning and how state and local education policymakers can help.
Tom Vander Ark, November 20, 2017
5 min read
School & District Management Opinion Transforming High Schools: 8 Strategies for EdLeaders
Transforming urban high schools is enormously challenging. In this post, Tom shares 8 effective strategies he's observed through his work and visits to hundreds of schools around the country.
Tom Vander Ark, November 17, 2017
5 min read
Teaching Opinion Chan Zuckerberg Backs Personalized Learning R&D Agenda
This month Tom traveled to the Fusion conference where he sat down with Bror Saxberg and Jim Shelton of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to hear more about their personalized learning and R&D agenda.
Tom Vander Ark, November 15, 2017
8 min read
Education Opinion Getting Smart Podcast | How Personalized Learning is Transforming Adult Education
In this episode, listen in to a conversation on adult education with Tom Arnett, Senior Research Fellow at the Christensen Institute. Tom shares trends, tech, entrepreneurship in curriculum and orgs adopting blended learning.
Tom Vander Ark, November 14, 2017
2 min read
School & District Management Opinion Change Will Be Slower Than You Think, Then Faster
Tom shares what EdLeaders can learn from the retail industry and the shifts it's needed to make given growth in technology and consumer demand.
Tom Vander Ark, November 13, 2017
4 min read