Getting Smart Podcast

Today, Tom Vander Ark is chatting with Superintendent of Meriden Public Schools, Mark Benigni. As a long-time resident and former Mayor of Meriden, Mark is committed to bringing about positive change in the local schools. In fact, they’ve already accomplished a lot so far. Mark has been Superintendent for over seven years and Meriden has been nationally recognized as a blended and personalized learning leader.

In this episode, Mark and Tom discuss the shift to student-centered learning, more voice and choice through personalized learning and experiences, extended learning time in several of their elementary schools, and the creation of a highly collaborative leadership climate and culture.

Key Takeaways:

[1:18] Where they’re located in Connecticut and a little bit about the schools.

[1:39] The changes Mark has seen in both the city of Meriden and the school system.

[2:10] Their school system that serves an economically challenged population.

[2:57] What Mark thinks he got right in his first couple of years as a new Superintendent.

[5:13] Working collaboratively with other school districts — Mark’s take on working with other urban Superintendents and districts in Connecticut.

[6:34] Looking back, what Mark would do differently in his years as a Superintendent.

[7:38] Personalized learning efforts at Meriden Public Schools.

[9:20] How Mark framed and managed the shift of becoming a blended and personalized learning leader.

[11:32] Background on the initiative from a few years back when they refocused on student-centered learning.

[13:30] What a good example of student-centered learning looks like in Mark’s district.

[15:10] How are Meriden schools thinking about the shift to competency-based learning.

[16:41] How competency-based learning is a long-term shift and the steps they’re taking towards it.

[19:45] What’s on the horizon for Meriden.

[21:07] Would Mark encourage other people to take on the position of a Superintendent?

[21:49] What Mark would encourage people to learn if they’re interested in becoming a Superintendent.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Meriden Public Schools

John Barry Elementary School

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email [email protected], Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Today, Tom sits down with Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Renaissance Learning, to discuss his recently published book Unlocking Student Talent: The New Science of Developing Expertise. The book is based on the growing body of evidence around purposeful practice and implications for K12 education and is made up of three main sections: student engagement, how deliberate practices can be incorporated into general education, and the process of developing independent learners.

Throughout today’s episode, Gene and Tom discuss each section of the book in-depth, covering topics such as: coaching for excellence, the importance of motivation when it comes to deliberate practice, bringing purposeful practice back to education, striving for higher levels of expertise, and Gene’s recommendations for implementing deliberate practice from the elementary to the high school level.

Key Takeaways:

[1:42] Where Gene first began teaching.

[2:05] Educational Leadership: The focus of Gene’s studies at Delaware.

[2:33] How Gene became Chief Academic Officer at Renaissance Learning.

[6:00] When Gene’s interest in deliberate practice formed.

[8:00] Gene’s goal when creating his book: bringing purposeful practice to education.

[9:55] What Gene learned about deliberate practice, motivation, and striving for higher levels of expertise while writing his book.

[12:50] Diving into the second section of the book: Gene summarizes what he learned about practice and its role in education.

[14:45] The importance of coaching deliberate practice.

[17:20] The challenge of gathering a deeper understanding of each learner’s motivational profile.

[19:03] Helping teachers find the balance between ‘drill vs. scrimmage.’

[22:31] The magic of myelin: Not just psychology; but biology.

[25:03] Resistance, results, and the new term: reachfulness and its meaning.

[27:40] The importance of recovery (between deliberate practice).

[29:31] Gene’s recommendations for deliberate practice from the elementary to the high school level.

[32:34] Coaching for excellence: What it means in education.

[34:25] The importance of student agency.

[36:52] The implications for Gene and Renaissance as a result of writing his book.

[39:47] It’s all about feedback: The importance of providing feedback to teachers and learners to improve performance.

[41:17] Where to learn more about the work Gene is doing.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Renaissance Learning

Unlocking Student Talent: The New Science of Developing Expertise, by Gene Kerns

Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell

The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How., by Daniel Coyle

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else,

by Geoff Colvin

Anders Ericsson

Brainology (Carol Dweck)

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel Pink

Steven Pinker

Doug Lemov

Mike Schmoker

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email [email protected], Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Recently, Tom Vander Ark and Mary Ryerse of the Getting Smart team were with teachers and administrators from the Austin, Dallas, and Tulsa School Districts, talking about formative assessment. These districts are all part of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation sponsored initiative called “How I Know,” which aims to design meaningful, formative assessment practice. This is a multi-year project that will support teachers’ development and implement formative assessment practices in the classroom.

In this podcast, Tom interviews the “How I Know” project team and asks them two main questions: What is formative assessment? And, what are your hopes for the project? You’ll hear from over half a dozen project participants on each topic, including Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s Project Lead, Cheryl Niehaus; Project Lead, Danielle Neves; Executive Director of Teaching and Learning from the Tulsa Public Schools, and Dallas Teacher Residency Co-Founders, Robert Dehaas and Elizabeth Kastiel; Nancy G. of WestEd; first grade teacher, Stephanie Peppers from Tulsa; Administrative Supervisor of Academics, Katie A. from Austin, Texas; and Tracy Nájera from Education First.

Key Takeaways:

[1:28] Tom asks Cheryl what formative assessment is and why it’s important now.

[3:28] Danielle’s thoughts on formative assessment.

[4:46] Formative assessment; broader than reading, writing, and problem-solving.

[5:15] What formative assessment is to Elizabeth.

[5:48] A variety of strategies; Robert’s thoughts on formative assessment and the importance of teachers working with the students.

[6:27] How Elizabeth views formative assessment from both the students’ and teachers’ perspectives.

[6:37] Nancy speaks about the process of formative assessment and teachers’ role in the process.

[7:30] How Stephanie works with primary school students in regard to formative assessment.

[8:11] The tools and strategies that formative assessment includes.

[9:30] Katie speaks about the different forms formative assessment can come in.

[10:14] Katie’s thoughts on extended challenges, promoting deeper learning, and rethinking learning experiences.

[12:14] What Danielle, Robert, and Elizabeth want from the initiative and their hopes for the next couple of years.

[15:04] Further thoughts from Nancy, Stephanie, and Tracy on formative assessment.

[16:14] How Stephanie sees the “How I Know” initiative helping in her classrooms in the future.

[17:14] Hopes for the future for the school districts as a result of the initiative.

[18:22] Why this initiative is so timely right now and how it complements other initiatives.

[19:19] How formative assessment practice is critical to creating more personalized learning models.

[20:19] What success will look like, if all goes as planned.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

Tulsa Public Schools Dallas Teacher Residency

Education First

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.

In today’s episode, Tom interviews Marie Bjerede, a former tech executive who is an advocate for student agency. Marie was a former Vice President for Chip Maker Qualcomm and is a 25-year veteran of high tech and wireless communication. She has pioneered new management strategies, has led a design center for Qualcomm, and has a unique appreciation for jobs of the future. She’s the President of Agentic Learning and since leaving the tech field she’s been doing work for the One-to-One Institute and CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking).

In this discussion, you’ll hear Marie describe the skills that will be important in five years from now and what schools can do to plan for these skills that will be necessary for students to have mastered.

Tom and Marie also discuss the importance of student agency, as well as her recommendations for launching successful initiatives to promote both teacher and student agency.

Key Takeaways:

[:51] Tom welcomes Marie to the podcast and she speaks a bit about her upbringing and what brought her to the States from Sweden.

[1:50] Marie’s current work with organizations on education technology.

[2:25] The story on Marie becoming Qualcomm’s Vice President and the skills it took to get the position.

[4:47] Marie’s perspective on being one of the few female managers and executives in technology.

[5:35] The key to Marie’s development in her career.

[7:21] The genesis of Marie’s interest in human development and education.

[8:34] Preparing young people for the future; Marie’s advice to teenagers as they enter the workforce.

[10:00] The importance of agency today and why it’ll be even more important five years from now.

[15:21] Why high agency learning initiatives can end up not being as successful as hoped and where typical district initiatives launching project-based learning are falling short.

[19:06] Why Marie believes it’s key to first develop teacher agency.

[20:47] Marie’s view on teacher’s focusing on either; remaining devoted to a handful of identified outcomes, or being open to a new set of new possibilities.

[23:05] How Marie describes her ideal high school learning experience.

[25:05] Self-organizing teams: Marie’s alternative to constructing organizations where teachers don’t feel oppressed or abandoned.

[28:00] Marie’s suggestions for how to construct the self-organizing team initiative in a sustainable way.

[32:30] Where to find out more about Marie’s work.

Mentioned in This Episode:

One-to-One Institute

CoSN

Qualcomm

Tony Wagner

P21

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink

AgenticLearning.org

Marie’s Getting Smart Blog Posts

Suggested Reading:

If you enjoyed this conversation and want to learn more, check out:

“What is Agentic Learning and Why is it Important,” by Marie Bjerede and Michael Gielniak

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email [email protected], Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

During Tom’s recent trip to Europe, he stopped in Paris to talk with one of the most innovative, international educators out there; Lower School Director Daniel Kerr, of the American School of Paris. Originally a Canadian, Daniel made the decision to go to College in Maine and take a teaching job in Abu Dhabi. There, he met a Counselor, originally from Nova Scotia, who later became his wife. Together they became hooked on international education and accepted positions at the Jakarta Intercultural School, where they taught at for 7 years. After that, they led a school in Shanghai, Ecuador, and now in Paris, where they currently work.

When asked about his nomadic lifestyle, Daniel replied that he really enjoyed becoming a citizen of the world. He speaks five languages and his kids, who are 10 and 12, have visited a dozen countries. It’s safe to say that the Kerr family is hooked on the benefits of international education!

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom sits down with Daniel to learn more about his life as an international educator, the American School of Paris, Daniel’s goals and challenges in international education, and what he thinks all American educators should know about international education.

Key Takeaways:

[2:09] Daniel’s background: where he went to school, how he got to Abu Dhabi, how he made the move from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta and met his wife, meeting Tim Stuart, his first school leadership role in China, and his move to Ecuador.

[7:29] The languages Daniel has basic proficiency in and what life is like as an international educator.

[8:59] The opportunities presented to Daniel’s kids as an international educator.

[10:00] Where Daniel calls home.

[10:25] Daniel describes some of the best teaching conditions he’s seen in international schools.

[12:00] Goals and challenges in international learning.

[14:50] What it is like leading an international school; the turnover rate and creating a cohesive plan and team.

[16:18] The education needed for the parental community.

[18:45] What the American School of Paris is trying to improve on.

[21:03] What the ASParis design thinking labs are about.

[21:54] Their goals, curricular wise.

[22:19] What American educators should know about international educators.

[23:52] What Daniel has learned about America.

Mentioned in This Episode:

American School of Paris

Jakarta International School (Now Jakarta Intercultural School)

Tim Stuart

For More Information on International Education

Read Getting Smart’s report on Creating the Future of Learning — a story of the transformation of the Singapore American School.

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.

Today’s topic is design thinking. Design thinking is everywhere in education right now — or, at least it should be. It’s on a ton of Getting Smart’s blogs and they even use it internally to help their partners reach their goals — whether it be designing a new school, helping to turn around an existing school, or working on resources for educators and school leaders. But what is design thinking?’, ‘How does it play into the work of school design and leadership?’, and ‘How does someone get started?'.

The Getting Smart Team’s Director of Advocacy, Emily, and Director of Coaching, Adam, get together in this episode to discuss all aspects of design thinking. A lot of educators are just now getting familiar with design thinking, so Emily and Adam dive into the topic to explain what exactly it is, how it can improve their practice, and to rethink how they facilitate learning. Adam has been using the design thinking approach for years and has lots to share, so tune in to this week’s episode to join the conversation.

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] Emily explains why they want to discuss design thinking and welcomes Adam to the podcast.

[1:37] What is design thinking and why is it coming to be a really hot topic in education today?

[3:48] Some fun examples Adam has seen throughout the years.

[4:26] The many different ways that design thinking can be applied.

[5:38] How Adam has seen design thinking used in his years of leading schools.

[10:50] The element of empathy in solution-based learning and design thinking.

[12:00] The importance of having seen the world through a design-based lense.

[15:10] The design thinking Adam has seen in his kids’ games that encompass collaboration, creating, and iterating as they go.

[16:46] Where Adam recommends getting started with design thinking.

[21:15] Adam’s favorite resources when it comes to finding design thinking inspiration.

[22:45] How purpose is key in engaging in design thinking.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Stanford D.School

One StoneSeth Godin

Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? by Seth Godin

Daniel Pink

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered?

To get in contact: Email Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.

Twitter-Specific Quotes:

“[Design thinking] is one of those ‘simply-complex’ concepts that there are lots of iterations of.”

— Adam

“Design thinking itself can be applied in PBL classrooms or … in a playspace setting — There are lots of different ways it can be used.” — Emily

“[Design thinking] almost becomes this foundation for how you see the world.” — Adam

“I would definitely establish a sense of ‘why’ [in design thinking].” — Adam

“Our team embraces the idea that we’re constantly learning.” — Adam

Innovation is a new way of doing something — a new way of delivering value. It’s different than improvement, which is doing what you’re already doing, better. Schools need to do both. Schools can dramatically improve learning and education for students just by finding a balance between the two — innovation and improvement — and focusing on implementing these changes.

As Tom Vander Ark describes, “In an improvement strategy, you’re seeking incremental improvement in a traditional set of outcomes. In innovation, you’re seeking step function improvement — usually on traditional — but often on new metrics.”

In this episode, Tom looks back at his years of serving as a superintendent and how new technology and innovations affected the schools within the district he worked in. Listen in, as he speaks about how focusing on innovating and improving within the school environment can dramatically improve learning, the roles leader-teachers and principals should serve, the various obstacles and barriers schools face looking to innovate, and Tom’s recommendations on where to start when it comes to innovating.

Key Takeaways:

[1:13] Introduction to this episode’s topic, innovation and improvement.

[3:33] Some examples of ways innovation and new ideas have dramatically improved learning.

[4:11] How and why innovation spread throughout the school and the school’s district.

[7:15] Some of the challenges that the innovations presented to the individual schools within the district and how Tom saw the leaders of the schools overcoming these challenges.

[11:57] Innovation vs. improvement, and the importance of leaders putting their ideas and visions on a timeline.

[13:49] The role of supporting innovation that the principal and leaders hold within the school.

[15:49] The importance of distributed leadership within the school system.

[17:51] The professional development that needs to go into preparing teacher-leaders for the role of actively leading in their school.

[21:20] How Tom sees teachers gaining the skill set needed to be great teacher-leaders: connecting adults and using a structured approach to learning together.

[23:13] The specific obstacles and barriers schools face and how they can overcome them.

[29:37] How much innovation a system can handle and taking cautions to not push too much, too quickly.

[31:47] How systems can monitor to see if the current and past innovations are having the intended impact on student learning.

[34:49] How school districts and teacher-leaders can help bring parents along.

[38:41] How the successful schools that have embraced innovation have had to change their structures and the allocation of their resources — the set of challenges that make it easier to start a new school rather than to transform an existing school.

[45:33] Tom’s recommendations for where a school leader should start when introducing a new change or innovation.

[49:03] Tom’s final thoughts on innovation and innovation diffusion.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Project Management for Education: The Bridge to 21st Century Learning, by Bernie Trilling and Walter Ginevri

Carnegie Foundation

Leap Innovations

Digital Promise

Highlander Institute Gates Foundation

Tony Wagner

Profile of a Graduate (EdLeader21)

The Mastery Transcript Consortium

Great Schools Partnership

Design39Campus

New Tech Network

Smart Cities That Work for Everyone: 7 Keys to Education & Employment,

by Tom Vander Ark with Mary Ryerse

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the GettingSmart podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Do You Have Somebody in Mind That You’d Like to Learn From?

Submit your ideas to editor@gettingsmart.com.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.

In today’s episode, Tom interviews iLEAD Academy’s Director, Larisa McKinney, iLEAD Academy teacher Jessica Crenshaw, and Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative Director of Innovation, Alicia Sells.

Tom was in Kentucky last month and took a visit to iLEAD Academy — a new school developed out an idea from five western Kentucky Superintendents who wanted to create a cooperative high school that offers a STEM focus with Project Lead The Way (PLTW) courses. Alicia Sells, OVAC Director of Innovation, was asked to work on it and she went above and beyond expectations.

iLead Academy is an Early College High School where the goal is to help students earn an associate's degree, or, at the very least, a significant amount of credit towards college. In a career-focused accelerated pathway, they are preparing students to succeed in an increasingly project-based and global economy, and are creating opportunities to help students develop a competitive advantage.

Listen in to this episode to learn more about iLEAD, why it’s successful, the obstacles Jessica, Larisa, and Alicia have overcome, and their advice for other communities looking to start a new, innovative, career-focused school much like iLEAD.

Key Takeaways:

[1:14] Clips from Tom’s tour of the iLEAD’s woodshop.

[2:58] About the shop at iLEAD.

[3:46] The concept behind iLEAD, the process students go through, and how many students go there.

[4:50] About iLEAD’s accelerated learning experience and the different pathways students can take.

[6:15] iLEAD’s small-focused learning environment that also allows students to maintain affiliation with their traditional, home school district.

[7:49] Alicia introduces herself and she explains where the idea of iLEAD came from.

[10:33] Jessica, a teacher of World Civ and English, introduces herself and explains how she teaches her classes.

[11:27] What it has been like for Jessica to teach English using the Summit Learning Platform.

[12:58] The benefits to Jessica’s blended-learning classroom with an emphasis on teacher-involvement and the growth she sees in her students.

[14:56] The project-based elements in the courses.

[15:42] How Larisa manages to balance it all: Summit learning, Project Lead The Way, and interfacing with five districts.

[18:06] ‘Owning their own learning’; the many choices the students have at iLEAD and how Larisa cultivates this level of agency.

[19:58] Jessica’s mentorship to a group of students.

[21:39] Alicia’s favorite part about iLEAD and her advice to other communities wanting to start an innovative school like iLEAD.

[23:24] Students’ strength in overcoming the absence of parents to pursue education.

[23:46] Larisa’s advice to communities that want to start an innovative, career-focused school like iLEAD.

[25:30] Jessica’s advice to classroom teachers.

Mentioned in This Episode:

iLead AcademyGovernor's Scholar Program

Summit Learning Platform

Project Lead The Way

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the GettingSmart podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Do You Have Somebody in Mind That You’d Like to Learn From?

Submit your ideas to editor@gettingsmart.com.

The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.

Today’s episode features a discussion between Tom Vander Ark and Dr. Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Deputy Superintendent for teaching and learning at the Georgia Department of Education. Dr. Dooley’s been involved in education for over 20 years. She has worked in schools and has led a number of initiatives.

When her husband’s career took them to Texas, Dr. Dooley’s only requirement was that she go back to school to obtain her Ph.D. and learn more about how to be a better teacher and thinker about everything she was learning as technology expanded in education. Their next adventure took them to Georgia, where Dr. Dooley got a job as a professor at Georgia State, educating new teachers at their schools. Fast forward 12 years later, Dr. Dooley is now leading a statewide effort to supercharge virtual learning with an open technology architecture that will improve learner experience, credit transfer, and more. In addition to that, Dr. Dooley and her team are working hard to integrate computer science into every Georgia school using a framework she co-authored.

Listen in to this week’s episode of Getting Smart to learn more about the work Dr. Dooley is doing in the state of Georgia, GVL’s new learning architecture, their new online learning platform TOOL, the importance of computer science, and their various partnerships that aid them in continuing to improve learning and education for all Georgia State students.

Key Takeaways:

[1:41] Caitlin Dooley runs down the list of things she is currently working on, starting with Georgia Virtual Learning.

[5:54] About Total Learning Architecture.

[7:10] Their partnership and involvement with the Advanced Distributed Learning lab.

[9:48] Georgia Virtual’s use of the IMS CASE: Competencies & Academic Standards Exchange; One of the elements of the Total Learning Architecture.

[10:20] The improvement on the old-fashioned, pdf transcripts and other parts of the Architecture.

[11:46] What a Learning Record Store (LRS) is and how students and teachers will use it.

[12:39] GVL’s new, online learning platform, TOOL, and how it is benefiting teachers.

[15:05] How Caitlin sees TOOL benefiting teachers compared to traditional forms of PD.

[17:14] Other states and peers moving in the direction of adopting a new learning architecture.

[18:51] The importance of computer science for students.

[22:52] Computer science is more than just coding; it’s about a broader set of competencies.

[24:48] What Caitlin sees for the ideal high school sequence.

[26:18] How the Department of Education in Georgia is working to advance computer science education.

[28:15] Caitlin's colleagues in other states that are also working to advance computer science education.

[29:53] The importance of outside support and partnerships.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Georgia Virtual Learning

Total Learning Architecture

Advanced Distributed Learning

IMS: Competencies & Academic Standards Exchange CASE

Georgia Virtual Learning’s TOOL

National Science Foundation

Computer Science Teachers Association Code.org

National Math + Science Initiative

K12cs.orgCS for Georgia

GADOE.org

Suggested Listening:

If you’re enjoying this podcast, you may also enjoy:“S2: E7 The Future is Here: Artificial Intelligence & What it Means for our Kids”

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the GettingSmart podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.

Today’s episode features a discussion between Tom Vander Ark and Dr. Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Deputy Superintendent for teaching and learning at the Georgia Department of Education. Dr. Dooley’s been involved in education for over 20 years. She has worked in schools and has led a number of initiatives.

When her husband’s career took them to Texas, Dr. Dooley’s only requirement was that she go back to school to obtain her Ph.D. and learn more about how to be a better teacher and thinker about everything she was learning as technology expanded in education. Their next adventure took them to Georgia, where Dr. Dooley got a job as a professor at Georgia State, educating new teachers at their schools. Fast forward 12 years later, Dr. Dooley is now leading a statewide effort to supercharge virtual learning with an open technology architecture that will improve learner experience, credit transfer, and more. In addition to that, Dr. Dooley and her team are working hard to integrate computer science into every Georgia school using a framework she co-authored.

Listen in to this week’s episode of Getting Smart to learn more about the work Dr. Dooley is doing in the state of Georgia, GVL’s new learning architecture, their new online learning platform TOOL, the importance of computer science, and their various partnerships that aid them in continuing to improve learning and education for all Georgia State students.

Key Takeaways:

[1:41] Caitlin Dooley runs down the list of things she is currently working on, starting with Georgia Virtual Learning.

[5:54] About Total Learning Architecture.

[7:10] Their partnership and involvement with the Advanced Distributed Learning lab.

[9:48] Georgia Virtual’s use of the IMS CASE: Competencies & Academic Standards Exchange; One of the elements of the Total Learning Architecture.

[10:20] The improvement on the old-fashioned, pdf transcripts and other parts of the Architecture.

[11:46] What a Learning Record Store (LRS) is and how students and teachers will use it.

[12:39] GVL’s new, online learning platform, TOOL, and how it is benefiting teachers.

[15:05] How Caitlin sees TOOL benefiting teachers compared to traditional forms of PD.

[17:14] Other states and peers moving in the direction of adopting a new learning architecture.

[18:51] The importance of computer science for students.

[22:52] Computer science is more than just coding; it’s about a broader set of competencies.

[24:48] What Caitlin sees for the ideal high school sequence.

[26:18] How the Department of Education in Georgia is working to advance computer science education.

[28:15] Caitlin's colleagues in other states that are also working to advance computer science education.

[29:53] The importance of outside support and partnerships.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Georgia Virtual Learning

Total Learning Architecture

Advanced Distributed Learning

IMS: Competencies & Academic Standards Exchange CASE

Georgia Virtual Learning’s TOOL

National Science Foundation

Computer Science Teachers Association Code.org

National Math + Science Initiative

K12cs.orgCS for Georgia

GADOE.org

Suggested Listening:

If you’re enjoying this podcast, you may also enjoy:“S2: E7 The Future is Here: Artificial Intelligence & What it Means for our Kids”

Get Involved:

Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com.

Find the GettingSmart podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.