Smart Cities
This book and series was created from a two year investigation project launched to discover the civic formula required to dramatically boost learning outcomes and employability. For more visit our Smart Cities book page.
Las Vegas: Downtown Project, Blended Progress
“Education is the bedrock on which a truly great city is built,” according to Tony Hsieh. His Downtown Projects is reshaping the old city center north of the Vegas Strip. Clark Co has some great magnets and blending learning plans.
Why Harbormasters Are Critical to a City’s Ecosystem
By: Kristoffer Haines. There is no greater lift a city will realize for its children than the moment its harbormaster sets out to be the gravity for the creation of high-quality options.
Houston: As Good as it Gets
School improvement is more about execution than innovation, but doing what works — like tutoring struggling students — consistently across a network seems pretty innovative in education.
Collective Impact – Creating a Self-Sharpening Education System
By: George Tang. Over the last several years, collective impact has become common education vernacular and has generated as much buzz as Kimye. Ok, maybe not that much, but collective impact has become a household term for communities seeking to ensure children are effectively supported and seamlessly connected from early childhood to K-12 education to higher education to the workforce.
Smart Cities: Lessons from Tampa
Tampa area districts serve more than 300,000 students but don’t get much national attention. Hillsborough provides a great example of effective homegrown leadership.
New York: An EdTech Hotspot, A Stalled District
Despite state barriers to online learning, young people in NYC are taking advantage of anywhere, anytime learning. The NYC Department of Education has been slow to improve student access to technology. The iZone was the largest blended learning initiative in the country but its future seems in question. Outside the district, the learning revolution continues.
Why Public Schools Struggle to Innovate
By, Michael B. Horn. It’s not because they are public per se. Private schools struggle with certain kinds of innovation, too. Embracing new forms of blended learning or offering a lower-priced education have been difficult for independent schools, for example.
Cage-Busting for Smart Cities
Creating a great education system isn’t just a matter of practice, because rules, regulations, contracts, and cultures can stymie even the most committed educator. But it can’t just be a matter of policy, because what really matters is what educators do in schools—and policies can make people do things but they can’t make them do them well (see school turnarounds, teacher evaluation, et al.).
Moving Towards Next Generation Learning
We are, let’s face it, a Tower of Babel when it comes to defining what we’re all doing here. That sounds disparaging, but I don’t actually mean it that way. Re-imagining the desired outcomes and the common student experience of America’s public schools is a messy, chaotic business – and that’s what real change looks like.
Boise – An Emerging Ecosystem for Education Innovation
People in Boise don’t spend a lot of time talking about themselves or their accomplishments. They just get on with the work at hand, and in their free-time enjoy the state’s abundant natural beauty.