Getting Smart Staff

EdTech 10: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

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Indirectly, David Bowie was a frontman for personalization. Bowie reminded a generation of educators that each student is unique in their own individual way, who each deserve their own unique playlist. Who as a result of their individuality, should learn in ways that are personalized for their own preferences. Every Ziggy Stardust, Major Tom, and Thin White Duke deserve learning in their own time, pace, path and place. With his passing, this week’s EdTech 10 is inspired by the life of Bowie. 

Cool Schools & Tools

Blended + work-based = closing manufacturing skills gap. Next Generation Career Pathways: A Manufacturing Case Study, a white paper released in partnership with GPS Education Partners, asserts that new market demands are shaping next generation career and technical education opportunities.


Salman says it live. In an interview on NPR’s Here & Now, Khan Academy founder and CEO Salman Khan shares insights into Khan Academy’s partnership with College Board to disrupt the test prep industry, updates on the Kahn Lab School, and “Montessori 2.0.” 
Smart Parents. In a blog on christenseninstitute.org, Thomas Arnett, who recently supported with 25 Impact Opportunities in U.S. K-12 Education, shared research that highlights that parent involvement makes a significant difference in how well children do in school. Parent involvement matters — Read a teacher’s perspective on why.

It’s on. In the latest example of using prizes to accelerate innovations, The Fordham Institute launched an accountability design competition in response to the signing of ESSA. According to a blog on edexcellence.net, participants are tasked with suggesting “indicators for states to use in grading schools, along with working through the various decisions that states will struggle with as they determine how to calculate ratings.”



MOOC’n on up. EDUCAUSE and UCF are again offering a popular MOOC on the merits and methods of blended learning via Instructure’s Canvas Network. ‘BlendKit2016: Becoming a Blended Learning Designer,’ is the third iteration of the partnership. In other MOOC news, The Friday Institute released their 2016 “MOOC-Eds” schedule.

Dollars & Deals

Tracked support. $21 million was raised by Degreed to further support their learner-first enterprise learning solution. The platform enables people to discover, curate, share, track and value all kinds of learning–from internal portals, external training vendors and over 1,200 providers of free and low-cost informal learning resources. Degreed is the ideal platform for GenDIY who are hard at work piecing together a collection of their personal bests.


Golazo. Platzi Inc. raised $2.1 million in funding for their bilingual professional skills courses. Technology and learning innovations are in the process of boosting global IQ. Here are 20 categories where new tools are making a big difference in access to quality learning opportunities.

Teachers & Tech-ers

Ranking the ranks. The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), released a new online resource that ranks teacher education programs run by US colleges and universities. Talented teachers are important now more so than ever. That’s why in Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning we outlined the attributes of next-gen teacher preparation with recommendations to support the development of teacher preparation and development systems.

The Big “D”

Hello Brooklyn. Published as part of a blog series about why data matters in education, Eric Tucker, Executive Director of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School (LAB) shared how LAB’s real-time, ongoing assessment is informing educator practice and is serving as the primary driver of academic achievement.

Movers, Shakers & Groundbreakers

Ocean Stating. Richard Culatta has been named Rhode Island’s first Chief Innovation Officer by Governor Gina M. Raimondo. The Ocean State is home to the most innovative planning process we’ve seen from a state or district, particularly in regards to inclusion and iteration.


Mile high meetup. Hundreds of K-12 thought leaders focused on blended and online learning will gather at the third annual CBOL 2016 in Denver, CO at the History Colorado Center. This year’s partners are iNACOL and CD BOCES. Keynoting will be Michael Horn, co-author of Blended. Sign up to attend here.


For more EdTech 10’s, check out:

https://youtu.be/v–IqqusnNQ

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Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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