Education innovations do not only happen in schools. Cross-school collaboration is necessary for students and teachers to expand their access to different and more educational experiences. While there are many teacher-led opportunities that enable students to go beyond their classrooms, the Global Online Academy (GOA) represents another type of innovation that is much needed in the world, especially during COVID. GOA is a consortium of schools from different parts of the world. The GOA supports students and teachers from its member schools to take and offer courses across schools. It also offers courses that students from different schools can take. “Learning Unbound” characterizes GOA.
More info about our guests below the video
We have invited two people to our next episode to discuss GOAL and other forms of global collaboration: Michael Nachbar, Executive Director of GOA and Emily McCarren, academy principle at Punahou School, one of the founding members of GOA. Please join us from 5:30-6:30pm Easter Time on November 14th.
Michael Nachbar, Executive Director of GOA
Prior to founding GOA, Michael served as Lakeside School’s middle school assistant director, and worked for seven years at Village Community School in New York City in a variety of roles, including teacher, curriculum coordinator, and director of technology. Michael started his career in education as a Teach for America corps member, teaching high school English in Roma, Texas.
He is a frequent speaker and workshop facilitator at national and international conferences, and has presented dozens of times on such topics as educational trends impacting schools, modern teaching and learning, and global education.
Michael is an active board member for several education organizations, including the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Independent School Association Network (ISAnet), and Jump! Foundation, and serves on the advisory board for Sea Change Mentoring. He is also on the Lakeside School’a board of trustees. Previous boards include the Mastery Transcript Consortium and Summer Search. He lives in New York with his family.
Dr. Emily McCarren Academy (9-12) Principal, Punahou
Originally from Vermont, Dr. McCarren graduated from Colby College in Maine where she majored in Spanish and Biology, and was a two-sport athlete, captaining the Alpine ski team and lacrosse team. She holds two master’s degrees: in Spanish Literature from the Saint Louis University Madrid campus and in Educational Leadership from the Teachers College Klingenstein Center at Columbia University. She completed her Ph.D. in Educational Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi, where her dissertation examined the role of teacher care on a student’s online learning experience.
Dr. McCarren began her teaching career at The Thacher School in Ojai, California, where she taught, coached and served as a residential advisor for six years before joining the Punahou faculty in 2006. At Punahou, she has taught all levels of Academy Spanish and a year of biology, served as a department head of both Asian-Pacific and European Languages, and as Academy Summer School director. She also led Wo International Center prior to becoming Academy Principal in the 2015 – 2016 school year.