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Personalized Learning

NCTAF Learning Studios: The Future of Learning

Tom Vander Ark

Every once in awhile, we see pictures of the future -- a graphic image, a set of relationships, new tools at work, the buzz of a culture that feels remarkably productive. For me, site visits to Big Picture and Edvision schools were really influential 12 years ago -- and why I'm still enthusiastic about flex school models that engage and empower students.
EdTech

Getting Ready for Online Assessment

Tom Vander Ark

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium released about 50 representative items and tasks today in an effort to showcase the variety of items being developed and to assist teachers to begin to plan for the shifts in instruction required by the new demands of assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

EdTech

Classroom Management Software: Training Wheels for Student Technology?

Marie Bjerede

When I worked in the high-tech industry, our products sometimes included what we called “check-box features.” These were features that would never, in reality, be used by the end customer but which purchasing agents would look at when they compared our product against our competitors. In many ways I think of classroom management software as falling into this category – with the fears about technology use that absolutely do exist among parents and educators, having a checkbox that says, “Don’t worry – we can control student technology use,” feels like a must-have.
EdTech

It’s Always Been Personal For Kelly Tenkely

Alison Anderson

It was Kelly and her iLearn Technology blog that truly opened up the world of Educational Technology for me. I knew when I couldn’t wait for her next blog update to arrive in my email, that her enthusiasm was contagious and I was catching the Edtech bug. She not only shares and then describes great tools but always gives ideas for integrating them. Her posts ignited my own passion for using technology to reach students and provide them with the tools so that they could not only learn but feel excited and successful in school.

Personalized Learning

How a Prof Used 1 Tech Tool to Build 3 Co-Learning Spaces

Guest Author

Student presentations, like many rituals of teaching and learning, have changed very little over the years. But when technology transformed the way artists, entrepreneurs, and…well, anyone…presented their work and ideas, it was only a matter of time until student presentations got a similar makeover.
Leadership

Staff Picks: Learning Design, Digital Education

Getting Smart Staff

Tom Picks “The Learning Design Opportunity of Our Time” Tom says, “Blended learning opens such interesting opportunities to combine learner-centered anywhere/anytime learning with clear common standards for college/career readiness.” Karen Picks “The Flipped Classroom Turns Around  An At Risk, Failing School” Karen says, “Stories like this which give real…
Leadership

A New Approach to Developing Educational Leaders

Tom Vander Ark

Anyone thinking about building the pipeline of educational system heads has a new opportunity set. The explosion of anywhere/anytime learning resources suggests it's time to rethink the institutional time-bound cohort model of leadership development (as discussed in the " Learning Design Opportunity of our Time ").