Interviews

How to Join the Education Revolution, with Clark Aldrich

Our guest today, Clark Aldrich, is on the frontline of the learning revolution. He is the author of five books and is known for award-winning projects building custom “Short Sims” using a methodology he has pioneered.

The Enrollhand Team

Dec 12, 2019 • 3 min read

“How do you find people’s raw talents, how do you find what they care most about, and how do you connect the two in a meaningful and sustaining way? When that becomes the shared vision of schools, then it is preparing them for a lot more different kinds of lives including the ones that we’re seeing students have to deal with now.” - Clark Aldrich

Audio version:

Summary

If you had to pick your moniker, being called a 'guru' by Fortune Magazine and a 'maverick' by CNN would not be a bad place to start. Our guest today, Clark Aldrich, is on the frontline of the learning revolution. He is the author of five books and is known for award-winning projects building custom “Short Sims” using a methodology he has pioneered. Clark’s work pedigree uniquely positions him to take on the role of education technology thought leader, and it is from this position that he joins our podcast today.

If your school is interested in finding an entry-level place to join the conversation about how to make education more relevant, this podcast will inspire you and offer first-steps towards innovation.

Quotes:

05:35 “We are now at a time when interactive documents are as cheap (maybe cheaper) to produce as non-interactive documents - and that changes everything.”

17:09 “I think the future of school is - ultimately there is going to be a synergy between what schools are today and what the home-schoolers, the un-schoolers, and the charter schools are doing, and we need to bring the best of those together, including issues around scalability.”

38:22 “How do you find people’s raw talents, how do you find what they care most about, and how do you connect the two in a meaningful and sustaining way? When that becomes the shared vision of schools, then it is preparing them for a lot more different kinds of lives including the ones that we’re seeing students have to deal with now.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Clark’s Books:

Short Sims: A Game Changer - Preorder at Amazon for March 2020 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Sims-Changer-Clark-Aldrich/dp/0367857421/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-8

Unschooling Rules - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=unschooling+rules&hvadid=80127002599272&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0a9-21&ref=pd_sl_7zp4fmv3sj_e

Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Online-Simulations-Virtual-Worlds-ebook/dp/B002RMSZ4W/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-5

Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to E-Learning - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simulations-Future-Learning-Revolutionary-Learning/dp/0787969621/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-10

The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games: How the Most Valuable Content Will be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Guide-Simulations-Serious-Games/dp/B01JPR1160/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=clark+aldrich&qid=1575381554&sr=8-13

Acton Academy - http://www.actonacademy.org/

Where to learn more about the guest:

Clark’s Personal Website - http://www.clarkaldrich.com/

Clark on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/clark_aldrich/

Short Sims - https://www.shortsims.com/clarkaldrich