I consult with school districts and a variety of educational nonprofits, such as museums. Topics can include program design, teacher development, production of children’s media, educational documentaries, and websites and evaluation research.
Benesse Corporation, Tokyo
I advised the potential introduction to the U. S. of Benesse’s successful Shimajiro animated puppet character, TV series, and learning activities for families.
Palmdale School District
I served as one of five district mentors, meeting monthly with the district leadership team. Our mentor team was led by Francisca Sánchez, a former administrative leader with the Hayward and San Francisco districts and president of the California Association for Bilingual Education. My consulting focused on project-based learning and technology applications. I continue to serve on an advisory board for Palmdale’s middle-school grant on career pathways from the U. S. Dept. of Education.
Institute for the Future (IFTF), Palo Alto, CA
In 2013-14, I served as one of five inaugural Fellows for Good whose projects ranged from the future of cities to new technologies for human rights activism. My project focused on “Extreme Learners,” youth and adults who just love to learn and self-direct their personal and professional learning. We selected a dozen of them, ranging from high school and college students to mid-career professionals and convened them to discuss their values, strategies, and experiences. View video interviews.
A few years later, Education Week editors were producing a package on connecting schooling to the shifting future of careers and asked me to recount the qualities of these “Extreme Learners”. Published in December, 2017, my piece, titled “The Five Habits of Extreme Learners,” was the most-viewed article on edweek.org!
Fort Worth Museum of Science & History (FWMSH), TX
In 2014, along with a team of museum consultants, I worked with executive director Van Romans to plan and design a new Academy for Digital Learning. Van wanted to re-imagine what a museum could be, utilizing new technology and reaching out to broader groups of museum users. We discussed the new styles of learning that could be possible, always on, 24/7, social and inter-generational as well as individual.
In September, we convened a mini-conference called Learning Crossroads: The Digital Future. I served as conference chair. A series of short, TED-like talks were given by a great group of speakers, including Ford Bell, president of the American Alliance of Museums; An-Me Chung, chief of partnerships at Mozilla Foundation, Brian Bannon, Chicago Public Library commissioner; and Shree Bose, a Harvard student who won the Google Science Fair as a high school senior. View videos of our presentations.
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC), San Francisco, CA
Building on my work as a former GGNPC trustee and chair of the education committee of the National Park System Advisory Board, I am a senior advisor to GGNPC on the development of the Park Youth Collaborative, a coalition of public and nonprofit agencies using the Golden Gate National Parks as classrooms. With support from the Bechtel Foundation, the PYC has created shared program standards, assessments, and commitment to inclusion. We are developing an online platform to help agencies promote their programs and collect data on student participation. Students and their parents will be able to view offerings, register, and track their involvement over time. Learn more about our work.