I'm a journalist who writes about the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. Author of Bringing Innovation to School: Empowering Students to Thrive in a Changing World and co-author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, I'm inspired by educators who push the boundaries of the traditional classroom. I'm on the National Faculty of the Buck Institute for Education, and have also helped nonprofit organizations design programs that teach both youth and adults how to improve their communities with innovative, sustainable solutions.
Blog Posts
After months of planning, city officials in Elk Grove, California, are preparing to open a community recycling center equipped to handle hazardous household waste materials. If the new facility is going to be well used, local residents will need to learn the right way to transport batteries and...
Read More.Separated by thousands of miles, middle-school students in suburban Massachusetts are teaming up with peers in Brazil, Africa, and India on a project with lifesaving potential. By designing and building efficient cook stoves, students are learning about energy and humanitarian engineering.
Read More.For more than 1,300 youth gathered at Washington University in St. Louis last weekend for the Clinton Global Initiative University (#CGIU), the focus was squarely on the future. Delegates from around the globe arrived with commitments to tackle projects...
Read More."Design your own shoe." That's what high school students thought they were signing up to do when they volunteered for an immersive experience in design thinking.
Read More.Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss. It was published this month by Corwin.
Take a moment and...
Read More.This is the second in a special Edutopia blog series about developing 21st century skills through project-based learning. In the first post, "Yes, You Can Teach and Assess Creativity!", blogger Andrew Miller...
Read More.In high-poverty neighborhoods of Los Angeles, students attending Alliance College-Ready Public Schools have good reason to be hopeful about life after high school. This network of 21 public charters has sent more than 95 percent of its...
Read More.Today marks the birthday of Thomas Edison, that American icon of innovation. At a time when the U.S. is facing a critical shortage of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, it's worth remembering how Edison built a pipeline of thinkers who tackled the STEM challenges...
Read More.Nothing terribly earth-shattering happened the first time elementary teacher
On a visit to the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Leadership High School in the old town area of Albuquerque, New Mexico, you might be struck at first by what this unique public charter school lacks. There are no classes in the...
Read More.
