Posts by Tom Vander Ark
EdTech
14 High Schools Worth Visiting
An international school administrator recently wrote on U.S. high schools and education reform. Here, Tom Vander Ark, shares a list of a baker's dozen high schools worth visiting.
Leadership
It’s Time for a Special Needs App Fund
Alesha Bishop and Lisa Valerio worked together for 10 years at Charles Schwab. After both gave birth to sons with special needs, they have reunited to support the development of learning tools for students with special needs and family-friendly apps.
Personalized Learning
Grouping, Tracking, & Personalizing
An international educator told me his school community was discussing the "ethics and educational validity of streaming -- deliberately dividing students up into class/work groups based on ability, i.e., a strong and weak group." He asked for my thoughts.
Personalized Learning
Competency-Based Progress
Susan Patrick, iNACOL (where I'm a director) and Chris Sturgis teamed up on a great new site, CompetencyWorks. While the shift to digital is key, and extending the reach of great teachers is important, the shift from age-cohorts to to a show-what-you-know system will prove to be the most profound--and challenging--educational change of our time. That's why the conversation and community on CompetencyWorks is so important.
EdTech
Next-Gen Research On Next-Gen Tools
A national research agency received a grant "to frame a program of research reviews [focused on learning technology] that would summarize, synthesize, and draw conclusions from the research. An ongoing program of research reviews would help educators, developers, and policymakers to monitor and apply the latest research in the development and implementation of learning technologies and also to identify key questions and methodologies for future research and development."
Personalized Learning
NYC iZone: Innovation Hub and Change Management Model
How do we manage the shift to personal digital learning? That's the current whole-systems challenge in education. As Chancellor of the largest district in the country, Joel Klein decided New York City needed a kickstart and created the iZone.
EdTech
DIY: Hiring Coders & Developers
"Coders are tough to find since nearly every industry is looking for them and they are also able to start their own company," said Alan Louie, the founder of the edtech incubator ImagineK12. He continued, "There's no magic bullet to finding them. It's old-fashioned networking based on sharing your exciting idea that will change the world through education. Current employees, meet-ups, startup-weekends, friends and family, ex-coworkers, industry friends are all people to tap."
Personalized Learning
Why the Next Four Years Will Be Better
The shift to digital learning is a bigger deal than the printing press and it will happen in a decade rather than a century. It’s the best shot we have at boosting achievement and access to quality. And, behind the scenes, it’s rapid and efficient learning that is driving a new wave of corporate competitiveness that make the economy of the next four years better than most people think.
Leadership
Good Work: When Bliss doesn’t pay the Bills
Dave Matthews was on NPR last night. He said, “There's some thing about those moments of bliss,” he explained to Guy Raz. “My dad always said to find your bliss…and then pursue it.” Matthews never thought he’d still be touring at 45 “but the moments of bliss make it hard to walk away—it's akin to an addiction, when the joy is so big its like being a kid, that laughter, that spontaneity is hunger inducing." But what if your bliss doesn't pay the bills?
Personalized Learning
The Sky’s the Limit: 16 Must-Read Quotes from Michael Fullan’s Stratosphere
Michael Fullan is certainly one of the three to four most influential edu-writers of our time. On whole systems design and change, only Paul Hill has earned equal influence. His most recent contribution, Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy, and Change Knowledge, is very short and very optimistic.