Berkman Center and the Center for Future Civic Media

Not quite 10 years ago, a literally once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came my way: I got the chance to be the third executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard.  It was about four years old.  The Berkman Center was blessed with visionary founders and talented students.  It had been set up by … Read more

New book coming out: The Connected Parent

With my friend and collaborator Urs Gasser, I have a new book coming out this fall — The Connected Parent: An Expert Guide to Parenting in a Digital World. It’s a close cousin of our previous book, Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age.  In this new book, we apply the findings … Read more

Start of School 2018

The New York Times published a terrific Magazine this Sunday on education.  The cover reads: “Teachers just want to teach but the classroom has become a battleground.”  I’m not sure that’s exactly “news” this fall but it is absolutely true. Two of the articles in particular were worth reading and reflecting on as we start … Read more

Head of School Bookshelf: The Teaching, Talent and Testing Edition, Spring 2015

The long flights to and from East Asia this Spring Break afforded time to catch up on a stack of books I’ve been meaning to read for a while.  For this Spring’s Head of School bookshelf, I’ve selected a series of titles focused on psychology and policy relevant to the secondary school field in education. … Read more

Head of School Bookshelf: The Innovators Edition

On October 17, 2014, we are launching the Andover Institute at Phillips Academy.  The Institute will be a hub for innovation at PA, where our students, faculty, and others come together to explore new ideas in teaching and learning at the secondary school level.  The idea is to have a “Bell Labs” here at Andover … Read more

Bookshelf: Ideas for Secondary School Teachers, with a Bent Toward the Digital

In each of the last two academic years, I’ve made short lists of books I’ve liked, related mostly (but not exclusively) to secondary education and the digital world, to share with the faculty of Phillips Academy.  We buy a stack of each of the books, placed on the shelf outside my office, and share them … Read more

Mimi Ito Comes to Andover

This morning, Prof. Mizuko (Mimi) Ito is at Phillips Academy, Andover, to lead us, as a faculty, in a community conversation to start off the year.  Mimi is setting forth the core data and arguments behind Connected Learning, which is our professional development theme at Andover for the year.  She has us all on an … Read more