Full Description
"By deconstructing learning science and making the connection to technology, Hess and Saxberg have outlined key strategies for school leaders as they work to transform traditional practices in schools. Whether it is whole-school reform or targeted interventions, principals will be motivated to rethink or're-engineer' the use of technology to optimize teaching and learning."
—Gail Connelly, Executive Director
National Association of Elementary School Principals
"Everyone touching education—from educators to school leaders and from investors and philanthropists to entrepreneurs—needs to understand how to think like a learning engineer and read this book. Technology holds unbelievable promise to be a part of the solution to transform education, but it won't happen unless all parties attack its implementation smartly. Breakthrough Leadership in a Digital Age points the way forward."
—Michael B. Horn, Co-Founder & Education Executive Director
Clayton Christensen Institute
"Too often, our current structures fail to promote and support learning engineering. Rick Hess and Bror Saxberg have designed a compelling guide for the road ahead."
—William Hite, Superintendent
School District of Philadelphia, PA
Reboot student learning the right way!
Today's most successful school leaders are truly "learning engineers": creative thinkers who redefine their problems and design new ways to better serve kids' success. Technology has a critical role, but it's the creative reinvention of schools, systems, and classrooms that has to come first. In this powerful book, best-selling author and education policy expert Rick Hess and chief learning officer Bror Saxberg show you how to become your school's learning engineer. Using cutting-edge research about learning science as a framework, you'll:
Identify specific learning problems that need solving
Devise smarter ways to address them
Implement technology-enabled, not technology-driven, solutions
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1. Introduction
Thinking Like a Learning Engineer
Why This Volume?
The Book: The World's Most Successful Education Technology
Books Are a Learning Technology
A Dispiriting Track Record
A Lot of Potential
Myths That Suffuse and Confuse Rethinking
Carpe Diem: Reengineering What It Means to Be a "School"
Don't Get Stuck on Bogeymen
Learning Science and Learning Engineers
The Book Ahead
2. What We Can Learn From Learning Science
Cognitive Science and Its Less Useful Cousins
Becoming an Expert
How Memory Works
Deliberate Practice
Working Memory Has Two Channels: Audio and Visual
The Crucial Role of Student Motivation
Putting Learning Science to Work
Seven Elements of Learning
A Few Key Takeaways
3. Applying Learning Science to Technology
The Five Capabilities of Technology
The Tutoring Challenge
Know What Problem You're Solving
Technology Can Help With the Elements of Learning
Putting People and Technology Together
Putting This to Work
4. Reengineering With Technology
The Socratic Method
New Tools Can Create New Capabilities
Engineers Ask a Lot of Questions
What Happens When You Don't Think Like a Learning Engineer
Mooresville Graded School District: Fish Don't Talk About Water
Technology Can Be a Powerful Tool
5. Redesigning Schools and Systems
Designing for New Challenges and Opportunities
Khan Academy: Distinguishing the App Store From the Apps
Leveraging the Elements of Learning Design
Rocketship Education: The Engineer's Tale
It's the Engineering, Not the Gizmos
6. Doing This in the Real World
Technology in the Real World
When Rules Get in the Way
Going One-to-One
Summit Public Schools: Finding a Way
Overcoming the Obstacles
7. Bringing It Together
Three Big Things to Keep in Mind
Every Team Needs Learning Engineers
Learning Engineers Ride in the Engine, Not the Caboose
Revisiting Our Myths
The Bad News... Is the Good News
Index
