Much of Francis Mechner’s life’s work, starting at Columbia University in the 1960s, has involved innovation in education and educational technology. His work has ranged from the development of novel instructional materials, methods, and techniques, to the design and operation of schools.
Current examples of this work are the innovative CLASSESS software, the Paideia Individualized Education (PIE) model and LearningCloud, which is a primary support of the PIE model and has application in all schools and beyond. Mechner’s Queens Paideia School was the K-12th grade proving ground where all these technologies were tested and refined.
Other instances of novel educational technologies developed by Dr. Mechner are approaches to the teaching of thinking skills, a technology for learning and practicing skilled performance, and methods for assessing skill proficiency.
