Four Ways to Cultivate [Un]College Readiness

June 13, 2013 • Four Ways to Cultivate [Un]College Readiness News

I work with an amazing group of innovative high schools around the country, and in the course of my work, we talk a LOT about what it means to be “college ready.” We want the kids that attend our schools to have access to all kinds of opportunities, and to be able to make choices about their futures. However, in this age of rapid economic and social change, I would... more

A Hunger for Change: The Charter for Compassion

May 7, 2013 • A Hunger for Change: The Charter for Compassion News

Compassion is a response to suffering—our own, and to the pain of others. The word comes from the Latin meaning to co-suffer. Compassion is noticing pain, feeling it with another person, and then responding to it n some way.   What an exciting-mind-blowing week I’ve had! I have “Skyped” with people from all over the world, participated in Google Hangouts, recommended materials for a peace education project in Indonesia, introduced... more

For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity

May 5, 2013 • For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity News

The library cooperative OCLC recently ran a conference at the University of Pennsylvania for academic librarians entitled, “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?”  and the Chronicle of HIgher Education was there to report on this convening. In this article, the Chronicle points to one librarian from Duke University who mentioned that the popularity of MOOCs has caught people by surprise. Additionally, “She’s been hearing from instructors that ‘the... more

Profit: the purpose of education?

April 30, 2013 • Profit: the purpose of education? News

In the 19th century a fascinating debate broke out between two public intellectuals about the purpose of education. Matthew Arnold, an erudite scholar, believed that children should be soaked in the Classics. Meanwhile, Thomas Henry Huxley, a man of science, spoke vehemently against learning Latin and other ‘dead’ subjects as a pointless exercise. In the end the exchange could best be characterised as a score draw, but debates about the purpose(s) of education have... more

GETideas.org Education Hangout on Air – A Conversation with Innovative Education Leaders

April 25, 2013 Resource

GETideas.org is the incubator where education leaders can develop their professional learning networks. This community provides tools, research, and inspiration to help transform learning institutions. The primary goal of GETideas.org is to bring people together to exchange ideas towards solving education challenges. During the last few months, GETideas.org has been specifically exploring four themes particularly relevant to today’s school leaders. These themes have been: -The Cultivation of Leadership-The Design of... more

InnovatED – Avenues Technology Showcase

July 10 - July 11, 2013 Event

From the conference web site: The technology team from Avenues: The World School is excited to announce that they will be hosting a two-day InnovatED conference on their New York City campus, July 10th-11th. InnovatED is specifically designed for those who are interested in learning about innovative practices for implementing a successful one-to-one program. If your school is currently one-to-one or is thinking of going one-to-one, with either iPads or... more

PBL + Online Learning = Something Completely Different

April 24, 2013 • PBL + Online Learning = Something Completely Different News

The principal of the elementary school I attended as a little kid was obsessed with the baking-soda-and-vinegar-volcano “lab.” You know that activity– you spend a ton of time building a volcano out of clay (for best results, add little trees, dinosaurs, etc.), you dump baking soda and vinegar into the hole, and you get to make a mess. It was awesome, and resulted in years of colorful first-grade misconceptions about... more

NYC Global Education Forum

May 29, 2013 Event

Wendy Kopp will keynote the first ever New York City Global Education Forum at the Avenues World School on May 29th at 6:30pm. UClass and the Asia Society are co-hosting this event to, for once, unite the visions of teachers, school leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and students (yes, students!) around global education. If you are a teacher looking to open your classroom walls, a school leader looking to develop 21st century skills in your school or a systems level education innovator... more

TEDxNYED 2013 Inside-Outside

April 23, 2013 • TEDxNYED web site Event

TEDxNYED is a New York City-based TEDx event focused on education. The theme of this year’s TEDxNYED is Inside-Outside, a discussion about education from both inside and outside schools and classrooms. This year, TEDxNYED will take place at Brooklyn Technical High School on April 27, 2013. This year’s event will feature frequent GETideas.org Hangouts on Air guest Don Buckley, Director of Innovation at the School at Columbia University.  What is TEDx? In the spirit of ideas worth... more

Learning Conversations with Greg Whitby

April 23, 2013 Resource

Australian education leader Greg Whitby reflects on the many professional benefits of engaging with others on Twitter. If you are interested in exploring Twitter as a professional development tool, please check out our list of suggested education leaders to follow on Twitter.  more

School District Uses Project Based Learning Over Testing

April 23, 2013 • School District Uses Project Based Learning Over Testing News

In this report for the PBS News Hour, correspondent John Merrow of Learning Matters showcases a school district in Kentucky that has committed to a project-based learning approach in its effort to improve educational outcomes for their students.    more

Designing a New Learning Environment (DNLE)

April 23, 2013 Resource

This is a video introduction to an online course (commonly known as a MOOC) taught by Stanford’s Paul Kim. Roz Hussin will be co-teaching a follow up course with Paul Kim and will be one of our panelists during our special Hangout on Air on April 24, 2013. Visit these pages for additional information: The original course URL: https://venture-lab.org/education (last year Fall 2012)The ongoing course URL: http://shell.venture-lab.org/wooc (to be launched in August 2013) more

From Chalkboards to Tablets: The Digital Conversion of the K-12 Classroom

April 19, 2013 • From Chalkboards to Tablets: The Digital Conversion of the K-12 Classroom News

This is the first of two new reports from Project Tomorrow using data from their widely heralded 2012 Speak Up Survey. Part 1 starts out stating the importance of digital considerations in education, “We are at a cosmic moment in K-12 education. The conflux of the impeding implementation of Common Core State Standards (and other new state standards) with the advent of new, high quality, educationally rigorous and innovative digital tools... more

Ten Things Everyone Should Know About K-12 Administrators’ Views on Digital Learning

April 19, 2013 • Ten Things Everyone Should Know About K-12 Administrators’ Views on Digital Learning News

Project Tomorrow hosts the annual Speak Up Survey in which school administrators, teachers, students, and parents offer their views on educational technology. The 2012 results are now available, and Project Tomorrow has put together this very useful and informative infographic.    more

How Do You Evaluate Teachers Who Change Lives?

April 18, 2013 • How Do You Evaluate Teachers Who Change Lives? News

EdWeek has published a thoughtful and moving opinion piece by Lorraine Bellon Cella, Superintendent of the Edgewater NJ schools. Ms. Cells revisits her high school days, recounting how a young and innovative teacher impacted her life as a student. Noting the qualities that made this teacher great aren’t necessarily quantifiable, she then goes on to question the value of current teacher evaluation systems, “My greatest worry is that teachers will... more

National Louis University Forum: Reimagining Schools

April 17, 2013 Resource

  Reknown education experts Stephanie Pace Marshall and James Paul Gee recently engaged in a conversation on the future of schools at National Louis University. Stephanie will be joining us live during a Google Hangout on Air for GETideas.org on April 24, 2013! Click here for more details.  more