A few weeks ago, we hosted speakers and participants from around the world for the second annual Global Learning Alliance conference at Teachers College.  This year’s conference focused on the central theme, “What in the world are schools doing to cultivate 21st century capacities, and why does this matter?” Over 200 people joined us to begin to answer how to effectively empower students with the knowledge, skills, and capacities to engage in our increasingly connected world.  We’d like to thank all of our speakers and presenters from universities and K-12 schools from Finland, Canada, Australia, Singapore, China and the U.S. for their participation and look forward to future collaborations!

The 2014 Global Learning Alliance conference is fast approaching, and we're excited to share our mobile app with you, which is hosted by Crowd Compass. The app is a great way to:

• Browse conference schedules
• Preview session descriptions
• Learn more about presenters, speakers and organizations associated with the conference
• Receive important notifications and reminders during the GLA
• Connect with other attendees

You can download the app starting today via the app store (for Apple devices) or Google Play (for Android devices). For detailed instructions on how to use the app for #GLA2014, see below! 

This week's featured GLA speaker is Dr. Suzanne Choo, a graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University, and one of the co-founders of CPET's Studies in Educational Innovation. She currently acts as Assistant Professor in the English Language and Literature Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, in Singapore. In 2013, she published her latest book: Reading the World, the Globe, and the Cosmos.

At this year's conference, Dr. Choo will speak alongside Dr. Manu Kapur and Dr. Wen Chee Chung about curricula innovations in Singapore in the areas of English, Math and Science. She will focus on bilingual education, and will discuss Singapore's holistic approach to language learning, as well as how this strategy furthers students' literacy skills.  

To attend this and other offerings at #GLA2014, click here to register by March 31st. 

This week we're featuring two #GLA2014 speakers: Alexandra Fallon, Chief Operating Officer of mSchools, and Joel Rose, CEO and Founder of New Classrooms. At mSchools, Alexandra works with schools and communities to create state of the art learning labs and blended microSchools. In his work at New Classrooms, Joel works to design instructional models that help teachers personalize learning to the needs of each student. 

They will present alongside each other at this year's GLA on blended, design, and game-based learning, and will share their expertise on how their partnerships allow them to accelerate student learning while reducing the administrative burden of implementing blended learning programs. For a preview of their work, check out the video below:

This week's #GLA2014 featured speaker is Juliette LaMontagne, Ed.D., who is not only a former Teachers College professor, but a TED Fellow and the founder of Breaker - where her mission is to drive social innovation by mobilizing interdisciplinary teams of young creative collaborators.

At the GLA, Juliette will draw on her work at Breaker, and share how the difficulties found in "messy collaboration" can serve as a great point of departure for deep learning and truly innovative change. The idea for this creative problem-solving process began with LaMontagne's personal experiences in teaching. She noticed, time and again, that the most effective learning strategies often involved extra-curricular activities. The interaction and hands-on approach simply stuck better than more traditional methods. Breaker arose from the desire to focus and intensify these results and establish a model for education in the real world.

Watch below to hear her talk more about alternative design learning, and register for this year's GLA conference to attend her presentation and other offerings!