The Education Vanguard

Today I talked with Dr. Matt Harris from the German European school in Singapore,  where he works as the Head of Learning Resources. President Bill Clinton had a saying in his campaign offices when he was first running for president.  It said “It is about the economy, stupid.”  In Matt Harris’ case, it is about the leadership.  For the record, he did not use the word stupid. Dr. Matt Harris is the...

Sharing is caring, but sharing yourself can be downright awkward. Jay Atwood has a particular desire for sharing and presenting. Starting in 2010, at an early Learning 2.0 conference,  Jay found himself on a presentation journey that continues to this day.  Passionate about a variety of things, but particularly spreadsheets, (Don’t hold that against him)  Jay shares his presentation experiences an...

What is your identity? Do you spend much time thinking about that today? Maybe yes, maybe not. When you are an ethnically diverse, usually have American, half Japanese, student growing up in Japan, chances are you think a lot about your identity. Growing up ethnically mixed in an ethnically homogenous society like Japan is challenging, complex and sometimes plain difficult. Unlike the third cultur...

Is it possible to really like something even though you don’t know anything about it?  If the answer is yes, then that explains how I feel about Design Thinking and the process that surrounds it. But this show is not about me, it is about the guests that come on the show. One of the advantages of hosting a show like this is the chance to explore new things and learn more about them.  So, I called...

Take an artist, add some technologist, toss in a healthy tablespoon of passion and you have an educator wild about combining 21st Century tools with art to create great things. Art educator Cathy Hunt is a product of those ingredients and she has a great story to share. Many of see most art as a physical process that does not or should not occupy space in the virtual world. Cathy does not see it t...

"Well, let me tell you about the fishbowl!"That odd response may very well have been what either Steve Katz or Ben Summerton said when asked to talk about something they were proud of while interviewing for jobs this past fall. Once you hear our conversation, you will come to understand how only Steve and Ben can get away with a response like that and not sound too nutty. The Fishbowl is...

For most of us (students and teachers) school starts around 8:00 and ends around 3:00.  We go from class to class, sit and learn something. Repeat. What if there was a better way?  What if we had some ideas as to what a “better way” looked like, but needed a program to help us figure all that out? Maybe a prototype? At the International School Beijing (ISB), they are doing just that.  Their Future...

 "Failure is an option."That is not something we hear very often in a school setting today.  Can you imagine getting up in front of your students or staff and telling them it is ok to fail?  Well after listening to Patrick and Jason, you might! Patrick Green and Jason Cone are educators and leaders from the Singapore American School, one of the largest international schools in Asia. Thei...

If you are a school leader or someone looking for advice on how to bring superb speakers to your school or to add a student-centered US national history project to your program,  be sure to give history teacher Mark Johnson a call. Or at least an email; maybe even a tweet. Mark Johnson is a US History teacher at Concordia International School Shanghai and a leader in bringing the U.S. National His...

For Robert Appino games are the “it!” for teachers as they look to deliver their curriculum to students. As you know, the competition for attention in our fast moving, fast feedback world is extremely high. Game based learning and gamification, as Robert says, engages our students in the learning objectives we set up for them. Ok, some of you might be thinking “Enough already!  These students just...

Why are people in Europe staying up until 01:00 in the morning just to hangout on Twitter and do a Twitter chat?   There must be some reason right?  Once you get to know Craig Kemp a little bit better, you will understand why.  Craig, along with Laura Hill, co-founded the #Whatisschool weekly Twitter chat. With up to 200 participants worldwide in each session, the #Whatisschool Twitter chat is a m...

Our final interview from HK is with Anglea McFarlane.  It was such a pleasure to be part of these interviews and I managed to learn from each of them. Tweetable QuotePlay should be a bigger part of educationTweet ThisThis interview was recorded live at the 7th annual 21st Century Learning Conference in Hong Kong. BioProfessor Angela McFarlane has designed and directed a number of highly successful...

Jamie, Chris and I were  looking much forward to this interview with Dr. Ruben Puentedura, or as we like to call him, Mr. SAMRImmediately we were impressed by how down to earth and how genuine he was.  He is the type of professor you would call Ruben instead of Puentedura. I was surprised to learn that he starting developing the model way back in the 80's.  I had assumed it was a newer model...

When I found out Dr. Katie Davis worked with Howard Gardner to coauthor a book, my curiosity and interest antenna perked up a bit.  How many people do I get to meet that know Howard? Her work focuses on the use of social media among the youth. Something many adults struggle with, and frankly, fear!  Frequently I hear, read or see schools that ban or severely limit the use of social media on campus...

Why do we put up with bad design?  Jamie Willett asks this question right away to help frame John's skills and area of expertiseEmpathy and more empathy.  Really? Is that part of design?  After listening to John Nash, I now know that it is.  That never occurred to me much in the past, but it should have.  Furthermore many school designs are basically setup for a command and control structure...

“ I [we] wake up with a new brain everyday and it is up to me to figure out what it is going to be.”  That quote comes from Dr. Judy Willis who was kind enough to sit down and discuss with us the intersection between what we know about the brain, from a neurological point of view, and how we educate our students. Dr. Willis has an interesting background and story.  After working as a neurologist f...