Posts by Tom Vander Ark
Leadership
Thinking About Impact Research at ASU
Sasha Barab, Center for Games & Impact at ASU, hosted a small academic conference on Impact-Based Research (#ImpactResearch) today. Leading voices presented research summaries from the learning sciences.
Leadership
Smart Cities: Chicago Develops in “Leaps” and Bounds
Tech innovation is empowering teachers and students in Chicago, IL, rivaling New York and second to the Bay Area for EdTech start ups and funders. Here is the latest update for the #SmartCities series.
EdTech
Startup Weekend Edu Phoenix
Startup Weekend Edu came to Phoenix this weekend. T eams worked on preschool reading, classroom guests, real-time feedback for teachers, better PD, autism supports, and small business on boarding. It's more evidence of Phoenix rising as a tech and EdTech hub.
EdTech
132 Education & Innovation Leaders at ASU+GSV
A talented group of advocates, educators, entrepreneurs, and investors gathered in Scottsdale this week at the ASU+GSV Education Innovation Summit (#Edinnovation). I had the good fortune to interact with 132 of them.
Ed Policy
U.S. Lags Behind in Social Progress
The report concludes that “the top three countries in the world in terms of social progress are New Zealand, Switzerland, and Iceland.”
Ed Policy
16 Ways to Expand Access to Learning
At panel a the ASU+GSV #Edinnovation Summit explored "How do we get equal access to education." They came up with 16 recommendations.
EdTech
Agilix Powers Personalized Learning
Agilix may be the most widely used personalized learning solution that you don’t know about. Perhaps you’ve heard of Brainhoney, an award winning learning management system, you may not know that but the xLi, an extensible infrastructure, that powers widely used platforms like Pearson’s GradPoint, widely used tests and Louisiana Course Choice system.
Personalized Learning
Smart Cities: Detroit
Despite the odds, educational opportunity is on the rise. Armen Hratchian, Excellent Schools Detroit, notes that a group of 30 teachers and school leaders from across Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority (EAA), Cornerstone Charter Schools, Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), Detroit Public Schools (DPS), and WAY Academies meet monthly, tour each others’ schools, and learn together.
Leadership
New Tools + New Schools = Big Opportunity
For 20 years, education has been driven by standards-based reform. The focus on test-driven accountability resulted in a much-needed focus on data but in a narrow way that was often disconnected from powerful learning experiences. Standards-based reforms created an awareness of the value of great teachers and underscored the importance…
EdTech
A Survey of Performance Assessment and Mastery Tracking Tools
Performance assessment, as detailed in a December post, is the application of knowledge, skills, and work habits through the performance of tasks that are meaningful and engaging to students." Performance assessments make new standards real, personalize learning and can serve as authentic gateways in competency-based systems.