Posts by Tom Vander Ark

Competency-Based Education

How IMS is Leading on Interoperability and Credentialing

Plumbing--you don’t think about it, but can’t imagine life without it. In education, data is now the plumbing, and IMS Global Learning Consortium is the leading standards-setting body. Here, we look at some big announcements from a recent event they hosted.

EdTech

Equity and Innovation at NewSchools Summit

With a call to leverage diversity for innovations in learning, Stacey Childress opened the 2018 NewSchools Summit (#NSVFsummit) in San Francisco. The national nonprofit catalyzes new schools, encourages better EdTech tools and develops diverse EdLeaders. Tom shares highlights from the summit and more.

Personalized Learning

Get Kids in the Community and Change the World

It has become apparent that basic literacies are no longer enough. Students must find ways to apply, own, and direct how literacy and problem-solving skills are used. A look at place-based education and how it's doing just that while also building capacity for citizenship.

Competency-Based Education

Rethinking the High School Credential

Most American youth don’t get what they need from high school. There are lots of reasons, but two root problems are how we’ve defined the finish line and how we communicate success. Here, we look at the current high school credentialing system and the questions we think need to be answered to drive progress.

Leadership

Investing in a More Inclusive Tech Sector

The tech industry is deluding itself if it thinks it can make the world a better place without representing women equally. Here’s how three women are changing tech venture capital funding to be more inclusive and bring more women to the table.

Leadership

Coaching Yields Better Formative Assessment in Tulsa

Formative assessment coaching helps teachers to shift their thinking from the teacher role to the student role within the classroom so that students become more involved in, and responsible for, learning. Here, we explore this (and other benefits) in greater detail.