Posts by Tom Vander Ark
Personalized Learning
A Dozen Reasons Education Can’t Innovate; A Dozen Ways That’s Changing
Schools just weren't designed to innovate. To the extent that they reflect intentionality, public delivery systems support equity and continuity. But the shift to digital and competency-based learning requires a lot of innovation and change capacity.
EdTech
#SXSWedu
SXSWedu is the first of the spring EdTech trifecta. A half a dozen of the Getting Smart team braved the cold for the queso and kicked out 10 blogs and hundreds of tweets.
EdTech
110 Interesting Edupreneurs at SXSW
The best thing about SXSWedu is the crowd in the lobby. Here’s a red carpet recap of 110 interesting edupreneurs.
Personalized Learning
Transforming Your City: A Collaborative Approach
Kristoffer Haines, Rocketship Education, led a fascinating discussion of collaborative urban education transformation on the last day of #SXSWedu.
Uncategorized
Designing Powerful Learning Experiences
When people talk about curriculum they are usually talking about instructional materials. With all the new learning opportunities--projects, adaptive learning, simulations and games--I like to think in terms of learner experiences.
EdTech
What Does The Google Investment in Renaissance Learning Mean?
Kerns is excited about the potential of combining multiple measures of progress for every student every day--many of them embedded in learning experiences. "We're working on some new projects to do just this - platforms to collect additional data from more embedded/formative experiences and visual reporting (dashboard) to bring that all together in a usable form for educators."
EdTech
Prizes & Pull Mechanisms Can Boost Global Learning
USAID is also awarding $100,000 prize "to the organization or individual that develops a software solution to help writers create reading materials in local languages for children in developing countries."
EdTech
How Digital Learning is Boosting Achievement
There are hundreds of solid pieces of evidence about digital learning and that's all rear view mirror evaluation. The potential of personalized learning technology suggests the potential going forward is much greater that what we’ve seen to date. When technology is used to extend, personalize and transform learning, it makes a world of difference.
Ed Policy
80% Grad Rates: Great Progress, More to Do
The nation quietly passed an important milestone a couple years ago--more than 80% of high school students graduate. Many people contributed to the improvement--10 are mentioned specifically. CMOs and dropout prevention programs also deserve credit.
Personalized Learning
How Will Universities Flip, Blend And Go Online?
The story behind the scenes is how the diverse web of nearly 5,000 institutions of higher learning in the U.S. are responding to cost pressure, calls for higher completion rates and better job preparation, and student demands for relevance