School Partners Served:
20+
School Networks Launched:
1
School Startups Supported:
7
I’m passionate about our work because:
I believe that every person deserves extraordinary learning experiences which provide a path towards a purposeful life. In order to do this, learning must be personalized and relevant to each learner and deeply connected to meaningful experiences.
My favorite learning experience is:
Starting from scratch to fix or build anything – like when I learned how to replace the heating element in a water heater and slowly realized that it was going to take much longer than I had anticipated.
My role in three words:
Constructing innovative learning.
I’m currently learning about:
The role of equity in place-based education, competency-based technology solutions, extended transcripts, replicable learning networks, measuring impact, social capital, the role of AI in learning and distributed ledgers. I’m also fascinated by strategy in high-level soccer. Go Chelsea!
I’m currently working on:
Strategic thinking around emerging school networks, codifying learning models and scaling thought leadership and implementation of place-based learning.
Bio
Nate McClennen is Vice-President of Strategy and Innovation at Getting Smart where he supports schools, districts, organizations, foundations, and universities to determine a strategic path forward based on the future of learning. His expertise and interests focus on expanded learning ecosystems, learning networks, technology-enabled personalized learning, project-based learning, real-world learning, purpose making, rural communities, equity, and place-based education. Nate has built two ed-tech solutions, helped found and lead a PK-12 school, served as Head of Innovation for a non-profit, taught math/science at multiple levels, supported multiple school launches, consulted nationally and internationally, and launched a rural-school network over his 25-year career.
Nate lives in Wyoming with his family and spends his free time coaching soccer and exploring the outdoors. Nate is also the co-author of the book The Power of Place. For more publications by Nate, check out this link.