Posts by Tom Vander Ark
Embracing Paradox to Create Powerful Learning Environments
When communities embrace personalization, relationships, and local assets, blended learning provides a platform for rich learning experiences.
Two Strategies for Empowering Teacher Leaders
In a coherent system, everything works together for students and teachers: content, learning experiences, assessment, professional development, schedule, structure, staffing and supports. Here are two ways to create this coherence and empower teacher leaders.
El Paso Adopts Active Learning with Plan That Powers Innovation
El Paso ISD elected trustees have officially turned the corner from a decade of test prep to a new era of “Active Learning” by adopting a strategic plan called EPISD 2020 that includes expanding dual-language education, adding technology and providing active learning environments and stronger support systems.
Building Micro-credential Momentum
Now that a growing number of organizations are creating and offering micro-credentials, the new challenge is to make them more valuable to educators by increasing the number of states, districts, and networks that recognize them as signals of professional growth.
What to Look For: A Shared Vision of Powerful Learning
Broader aims and powerful learner experiences means a new list of things to “look for” in a learning environment. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be sharing the five “look fors” in digital learning environments.
Busting the Zip Code Curse with Blended Learning
Blended learning holds great potential to transform rural education by ensuring that every student has access to great instruction. “Online learning levels the playing field for students in rural areas,” said Susan Patrick, President & CEO of iNACOL.
Habits of Success: Tools From Innovative Schools
Leading teacher development platform Bloomboard recently launched Collections of teacher resources. Collections are bite-sized resources that help educators learn how to put theory into practice. Here is a Collection on Habits of Success.
Teachers Should Have the Option of Working in Teacher-Led Schools
Ted Kolderie told me about teacher-led schools 2000. He convinced me to visit Minnesota New Country School (MNCS) where teachers had created an innovative project-based and fully individualized school -- and they were in charge.
Supporting ELL Students with Automated Writing Feedback
Automated writing feedback doesn’t replace the teacher it gives them more control over instruction. Feedback tools also provide teachers a summary of each student’s progress. Writing assistants provide immediate feedback to students which helps internalize the encouragement.
Intelligence Unleashed: How Artificial Intelligence Will Improve Education
Pearson and the UCL Knowledge Lab, University College London, launched an important new paper entitled 'Intelligence Unleashed: An Argument for AI in Education.' The authors call AIEd, “the engine behind much ‘smart’ EdTech,” as well as a powerful tool providing “deeper, and more fine-grained understandings of how learning actually happens.”