Posts by Tom Vander Ark
The Shift to Digital: District, School, and Program Exemplars
This afternoon I moderated a Digital Learning Now session featuring three exemplars: Mooresville, KIPP Empower and Teach to One.
10 Drivers of Blended Learning
There are at least 10 reasons that make blended learning an unstoppable force.
Tools to Boost Creativity, Critical Thinking, Community, Communication & Character
Good schools have a common intellectual mission. They prioritize, encourage, measure, and discuss important outcomes. This week we had the privilege of spending time with educators at Valley Christian Schools in Cerritos, California. At VCS, the 5Cs translate their mission into practice.
Answers For & Lessons From Critics of Competency-Based Learning
I'm trying to square two things that happened last week. The Nellie Mae Foundation issued a great report called Making Mastery Work: A Close Up View of Competency Education (MMW), a visit to 11 cool schools. The other event was a Facebook dialog with unschoolers that think competency-based schemes are more testing in a fancy package.
Yes to Blended, But Maine Should Authorize Virtual Schools
The Maine Cohort for Customized Learning is a group of nine districts leading the way in meeting the needs of every student. Several cohort schools were featured in a recent Nellie Mae report on innovative schools. Rather than advancing students based on time in a seat, these schools ask students to show what they know.
Addressing the Placement Gateway With Diagnostics & Instruction
For many young people, placement exams are a hidden gateway in the system. Students often assume that with a high school diploma they can walk on to a community college campus and start working on a degree but they flunk the placement exam and end up in non-credit developmental education courses. That spells the beginning of the end of college for many young people. But that placement trap is beginning to close as states make the exams and preparation available in high school.
Free College Courses, Cheap Credits, Flexible Pathways
Contributions to free post-secondary learning opportunities have been breathtaking this year. Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been around for a while but the number and variety of courses, the investment, and aggregate enrollment exploded this year.
Why Haven’t Districts Adopted Blended Learning Faster?
Consultants asked, "Why haven't districts adopted blended learning faster?" I answered, "Because it's complicated."
Good Work: Candidates & Causes
I appreciate the folks that ran for office for all the right reasons--especially those that were not able to finance their own campaigns. Running for office requires constant groveling for donations, being exposed to malicious claims, and a grinding campaign schedule. Following are 3 good things to come from election 2012 and three bad things.
Toward the Good School Promise: an Election Recap
While there are millions of happy democrats this week, a critic sees a landscape “littered with rubble and ruin and wreckage on all sides” in an open letter to the President. Elections leave aggrieved poles, but I live in a much more optimistic place. In particular, I’m optimistic about five things.