TANG INSTITUTE AT ANDOVER  |  March 2016
TANG INSTITUTE
IDEAS
FORWARD TO A FRIEND
News from Andover's Ideas Lab

Dear Friend,

It is a pleasure to welcome the spring term with our March newsletter. The theme of this update is “partnerships,” which are essential to supporting innovation in our fellows’ projects, Learning in the World programs, and hybrid efforts. Our partners, who range from collaborators on campus and in our local community to those on other continents, demonstrate that the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

Recent work with Khan Academy is one example. Math faculty and students have shared their knowledge to improve learning content on the Khan site; and, in exchange, Khan’s worldwide reach has extended our teaching tools to millions of learners. In recent months we have also collaborated with the Makerspace at the OWHL, helping to support student events. We are excited to develop several emerging partnerships in Learning in the World, especially for teachers involved in scouting trips in locations such as Taiwan and the Dominican Republic. Through strong partnerships such as these, we ultimately connect with a host of new capabilities and experiences. The outcome is that we enrich our programs, while helping others enrich theirs—and together advance new forms of education for students and teachers.

I hope you enjoy the update that follows, and keep us in mind as you explore your own networks. As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback and seeing you at a Tang Institute event.

Best,

Eric Roland
Precourt Director of Partnerships

 
 
 
 

Ever wonder how students can receive learning benefits from online resources? Or whether online content actually interferes with deep learning experiences? Since 2013 members of the math department have been working with Khan Academy—currently on an AP Statistics project led by Tang Fellow Matt Lisa—to explore new applications for online learning. And what they're finding is that the answers might not be all one way or another.

 
 

During a recent event about the importance of partnerships to Learning in the World (LITW) programs, members of the LITW team described how they once transformed a potentially trying event—a vehicle breakdown in the highlands of Mexico—into a lasting connection with residents of a nearby town. Partnerships, even informal ones, have great potential to enhance student and teacher experiences.

 
 

The Tang Institute has added a summer experience with NuVu Studio—an innovation school for middle and high school students located in Cambridge, MA—to its LITW offerings. In summer 2016, the program “NuBots” will be open to day students seeking to stretch their imaginations and explore the possibilities of “intelligent machines."

 
 
 
 
 
ABOUT THE TANG INSTITUTE
The Tang Institute is dedicated to cultivating and sharing innovative ideas that center on a common inquiry: How do we prepare students for an increasingly complex and interconnected world? The answers are varied, but Tang Institute pursuits are grounded in Andover’s commitment to connected learning, an educational approach that makes learning relevant to life and work in a digital age and global society. The Institute functions as an ideas lab, drawing together faculty, students, and partners to explore and develop promising, new approaches to teaching and learning—and to bring what’s working into the classroom and the wider world.
Learning in the World
Connected Learning
Innovation in Partnerships
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