Blended learning, personalized learning, project-based learning, student-centered learning – there are so many terms but what is the difference and overlap between them? Andy Calkins shares a quadrant graphic model to make sense of current reforms in the education-innovation space around four main degrees: time, place, path, and pace. Calkins gives examples of all four […]
In Pakistan, families are increasingly recognizing the value of education in reaching success. However, Dr. Najam explains that the country has a major supply problem of providing quality schools for those students. Dr. Najam recognizes that teacher-led innovation is of critical importance: “The key realization has to be that teachers are the key to educational quality […]
What increased impact might you be missing by using traditional problem-solving techniques instead of design thinking? This informative article by Brown & Wyatt, two of IDEO’s top dogs, outlines where the advantages of design thinking could have helped projects wildly succeed in India and Africa rather than being merely effective.They believe design thinking can be […]
The White House recognizes that technology based innovation is making its way into classrooms across America but, “we’re just not taking enough shots on goal,” says Kumar Garg, an assistant director for learning and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. There are many ed-tech programs or apps out there for teachers; […]
Ben Wilkoff asks: what trade-offs are you making in professional development? He asserts that people and interactions are chiefly important in bringing about meaningful and impactful change in schools. Far more than focusing on products or content, schools should leverage their people and community. When teachers drive change and feel supported by a team to […]
Butler addresses what he sees as the lack of true transformational partnerships between schools and their partners. He pushes schools to imagine partnerships that go beyond transactional relationships focused on funding to relationships that include key stakeholders working across organizations to develop real innovation. Butler asserts that greater levels of change can occur when partners […]
What is it that the disadvantaged students need to succeed? Mike Green discusses how disadvantaged young black men in particular need access to the language of innovation and STEM education. Knowledge and mastery of the language and skills of the innovation gives students access to high-growth and high-income entrepreneurial opportunities in the future. Green believes […]
Levitt shows that teachers and innovators share similar habitual core traits. Clayton Christensen’s book The Innovator’s DNA describes five traits of innovative thinkers: associating, questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting. Levitt pulls on her own experience as both a teacher and the founder of a startup to show that each innovative thinking competency is used frequently […]
Lean production is spreading to more and more fields. McKinsey analyzes how it’s grown from beginnings in business in the Toyota production line to various businesses and is now moving into the public sector. Lean is all over the place: hospitals, airlines, restaurants, and asset management to name a few. The next step for lean […]
What story are students learning about themselves at school? Steve Hargadon explains that our current school system is built to produce students who are excellent at following. He believes those practices are dissonant with the narrative we tell students about valuing their creativity and potential. Parents and communities could step up and drive the change […]