Posts by Tom Vander Ark
EdTech
ASU Opening: Is America a Submerging Economy?
Investor Robert Grady moderated the opening panel at the ASU/GSV Education Innovation Conference in Scottsdale with perennial presenter Chris Whittle, CEO of the pricey global school network Avenues, and Jon Schnur, America Achieves. They agreed that patterns of excellence have emerged from world class models domestically and internationally: high expectations, relentless focus on good teaching, a spirit of continuous improvement, and attention to granular details matter. It’s clear that we have world beating schools in the U.S--we just need more of them.
EdTech
What Could lynda.com Do For Your School?
Lynda Weinman, co-founder of popular video learning site lynda.com, will deliver the breakfast keynote on April 17 at the ASU/GVS Education Innovation Summit. We asked her how their videos could help schools, what lessons they have learned, and where they’re headed.
Leadership
Good Work: Tapping the Dark Matter
“Education is like the night sky; edreform offers a few points of light and the rest is dark matter,” said Nick Donohue. “The real opportunity is deeper public engagement--tapping the dark matter.”
Personalized Learning
Fostering an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineers
The infusion of entrepreneurship into engineering programs at Lawrence Tech, Detroit, was supported by a grant from the Kern Family Foundation. According to Jim Rahn, president of the foundation, said Lawrence Tech “really embraced the program making it mission central.” Their goal is to prepare students “not only to compete within an industry but to lead it.”
Leadership
Powering Lifelong Learning Relationships
We give lip service to the idea of lifelong learning but I don’t see an organization really executing against the idea. That’s about to change.
Leadership
Smart Cities: Early Observations
We’re more than 20 cities into this weekly series examining education in American cities--a few things are becoming clear. I launched the series because everybody is talking about innovation (inside and outside of education) but I don’t think we know much about where it happens or how it spreads--or why it doesn’t.
Leadership
Sign Up For The iNACOL Blended & Online Learning Symposium
Time to sign up for the best blended and online learning conference of the year. The iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium will be held October 27-30 in Orlando, Florida.
Personalized Learning
What Sort of Research Should We Be Doing on Blended Learning?
A foundation advisor asked, “Is there a smart approach donors might take with blended learning research?” Following are seven areas that could use some attention.
Personalized Learning
Review of HigherEd Adaptive Learning Products
Last week we reviewed an EdGrowth white paper, A Case for Accelerating Adaptive Learning in HigherEd. Yesterday EdGrowth released a second paper that includes 8 profiles of adaptive learning providers.
EdTech
MyEdMatch: Making a Better Education Match
myEDmatch is a job matching site for educators. The startup, unveiled today, was formed by a former a Kauffman Foundation officer and the TFA director of Kansas City.