• Open Way Learning

    We help schools innovate - not by chasing fads, but by catalyzing local skills & talent.

  • Our Why

    We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a singular mission

    to help schools develop, sustain, and scale systems 

    of learner-centered innovation that better prepare

    students for the realities of the 4th Industrial 

    Revolution, especially students historically 

    furthest from opportunity.

  • Design Sprints

    Customized workshops that use design thinking and agile tools to help schools and districts identify, adapt, and refine proven, learner-centered strategies (experiential learning, mastery learning, makerspaces, advisory, etc.) to ultimately address local challenges with local talent. 

    Sustained Support

    Targeted coaching, study visits, and co-design sessions that leverage local assets as we grow in-house capacity to sustain and scale learner-centered strategies, thus baking them into the school's culture.

    Open Source Resources

    Rather than hoard "intellectual property" in a competitive and inequitable manner, we pride ourselves in offering all of our tools & resources to any of our partners via a Creative Commons license so that they can be remixed to better meet local needs and goals.

    Collaborative Networks

    Open Way Learning believes in the transformative power of crowdsourced change. As such, we sponsor a growing network of education stakeholders that share a passion for positive disruption through collective efficacy and action. Learn more here.

  • Our How: An "Open Source" Framework for Positive Change

    We believe that every learning community has the capacity for authentic innovation. It is with that belief that we help schools use Open Design to radically improve the relevance and meaning of the teaching and learning environment for students. Our work is never based on cookie-cutter, one-size-fits all programs. Rather, we employ a highly-customized, empathy driven approach that is grounded in the following core principles - what we call the ingredients of true, learner-centered innovation:

    Living Mission & Vision

    The school not only understands its "why" and "how," but is living them through the actions & outcomes one sees in every classroom, every lesson, every day.

     

    Collective Leadership

    Everyone is empowered to grow their skill, talent, and leadership capacity by exercising autonomy, mastery, and purpose in the work they do for and with students.

     

    Radical Collaboration

    The default mode of every interaction and decision is collaborative - between students, between peers, and between stakeholders in the local community and beyond.

     

    Open Source Sharing 

    The school is an authentic learning organization, committed to collective efficacy through the open sharing, critique, and revision of ideas and resources.

     

    Systemic 

    Innovation

    The school uses a continuous improvement mindset to design, implement, and refine strategies that better prepare students for the Future of Work.

     

  • Our Source Code

    Open Up, Education! is the book that began the Open Way Learning movement. Backed by research and filled with case studies and examples from around the world, it provides the basis for how educators can leverage the open source principles of transparency, inclusivity, adaptability, community, and collaboration to bring positive disruption to the education ecosystem. It provides a roadmap for how any education stakeholder can adapt, model, and sharie learner-centered innovations that help prepare students with the skills & knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

     

    Published by Rowman & Littlefield. Also available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Google Books, Trove, & Bokus.

  • The OWL Team

    A passionate team of education stakeholders willing to disrupt the status quo...

    Ben Owens - o-Founder & Chief Innovation Engineer
    Adam Haigler - Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer
    Ben Pendarvis - Outreach Director & Lead Instructional Coach
    Jim McCue - OWL Instructional & Leadership Coach and a Teacher with Embark Education, Denver, CO
    Dr. Aria Chernik - OWL Board Chair - Associate Professor of the Practice at Duke University
    Dominique Stone-Maddix, MSW, LCSWA - Board Member, Director of Operations Resident at Empower Lower School in Brooklyn, NY
    Syna Sharma, Board Member, John M. Belk Fellow at the NC Department of Public Instruction, Park Scholar at NC State University
    Nathan Strenge - Board Member/Treasurer & Senior Learning Designer at Fielding International & USA Country Lead at HundrED
    Mary Jo Deck - Board Member & Early Childhood Expert (ret)
    Dr. Bryan Behrenshausen - Board Member & Senior Open Source Program Manager at GitLab
    Amy Junge, Director of Teacher-Powered Schools for Education Evolving
    Margaret Borden - OWL Fellow, Graduate Research Assistant - The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
    Michelle Benigno - OWL Fellow, Director of The Mountain Office of The Science House of NC State
    Mike Dunn, EdD - OWL Ambassador, Dean of College & Career Counseling, Eagle Rock School, CO
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