Posts by Tom Vander Ark

Personalized Learning

10 Strategies to Improve the Quality of Online Learning

Tom Vander Ark

Feb 17, 2011

There are resources available to make a shift to digital education but there are important strategies that states need to take to ensure the quality of online learning.

Personalized Learning

Boundary High

Tom Vander Ark

Feb 15, 2011

Boundary High: a type of school that exists on the edges, encourages students to participate in their future and study the boundaries of civilization, technology and knowledge.

Leadership

It is interesting to see the dynamic shift social media has caused and how it is changing the world. It has toppled dictators and institutions that we never thought could change and now is a new back door to education.

Personalized Learning

Open High School

Tom Vander Ark

Feb 2, 2011

While in Utah, we visited Open High School, an innovative virtual charter school that has a commitment for using open education resources (OER) and different edtech tools to enhance the learning of their students.

Personalized Learning

Funding Our Students Increases Efficiency

Tom Vander Ark

Feb 2, 2011

After two days of jury duty and experiencing the justice system, it is evident that the justice system and the education system are similar in the fact that they are optimized around bureaucrats rather than customers. Funding needs to follow the students, not school districts to make our education system more efficient.

Personalized Learning

Rhee-form or Reinvention?

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 16, 2011

The Rhee-form agenda is important—better evaluation, more charters, less bureaucracy—but it focuses on cleaning up a system that can’t do what we need it to do. We need schools that work better for students and teachers—schools that engage students and extend and accelerate learning.

Personalized Learning

Discipline v Creativity

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 16, 2011

Nic Kristof chalks up Asian academic success to Confucian reverence for education. Will it be easier for Chinese to add creativity or Americans to become more disciplined about education?

Personalized Learning

iNACOL Report: Clearing the Path for Innovation

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 15, 2011

"Competency-based approaches offer a new value proposition for our education system," according to Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL.

Ed Policy

What School Turnaround Really Takes

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 15, 2011

Turnaround for Children supports a comprehensive effort school improvement efforts

Personalized Learning

A Big Idea: Blended CBO

Tom Vander Ark

Jan 14, 2011

Combining two big ideas--online learning and community-based organizations--yields one big idea: blended CBOs

	Beginning	Piloting	Implementing
From Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery	BeginningFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Beginning	PilotingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Piloting	ImplementingFrom Fixed Standards to Competency-Based Mastery Implementing
From One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning	BeginningFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom One-Size-Fits-All to Adaptive Learning Implementing
From Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry	BeginningFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Beginning	PilotingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Piloting	ImplementingFrom Prescribed Knowledge to Innovation & Inquiry Implementing
From Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning	BeginningFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Beginning	PilotingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Piloting	ImplementingFrom Subjects as Silos to Transdisciplinary, Real-World Learning Implementing
From Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities	BeginningFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Beginning	PilotingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Piloting	ImplementingFrom Schools as Self-Contained to Schools as Embedded in Communities Implementing
From Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment	BeginningFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Beginning	PilotingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Piloting	ImplementingFrom Standardized Testing to Meaningful Assessment Implementing
From Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets	BeginningFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Beginning	PilotingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Piloting	ImplementingFrom Institutional Ownership of Student Data to Student-Controlled Learning Wallets Implementing

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Posts by Tom Vander Ark