EARCOS Heads' Institute 2026

April 24-25, 2026 | Sheraton Opera Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Leading Schools in the Digital Age

We are living through the most profound transformation of childhood since the Industrial Revolution. The digital world offers students extraordinary opportunities for connection, creativity, and learning, but it also exposes them to cyberviolence, misinformation, commercial exploitation, and deep impacts on their well-being. This two-day institute invites Heads of School to reflect on what it means to lead with wisdom in an age of rapid technological change.

Participants will learn how to

Create a values-based school culture in the digital age
Ensure students develop the skills they need to navigate their digital lives
Partner with parents in helping students thrive
Support students facing bullying, cyberviolence and other online harms
Navigate policy with clarity
Model healthy digital engagement as leaders

At the heart of our journey is cyber wisdom: the ability to make context-sensitive, ethical decisions about how we use technology and who we become through it.

About Nicolas Carlisle

Nicholas Carlisle is a lawyer, child psychotherapist, creator of the No Bully program, and CEO of Power of Zero, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring children’s well-being of children in the digital age. Nicholas has given a TEDx talk on bullying, and has been recognized by Toms as a Game Changer, by Ashoka as a Champion of Children’s Wellbeing and by Hearts on Fire as a visionary.

About Patrick Green

Patrick Green is a dad to a teenager, digital wellness educator, and keynote speaker who helps families and schools navigate technology with balance and purpose. With 20+ years of experience as a teacher and education technology leader, he now empowers parents, educators, and students with research-backed strategies for building healthy digital habits. An Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Innovator, Patrick is the author of Classroom Management in the Digital Age and 50 Ways to Use YouTube in the Classroom.

About Warren Apel

Warren Apel is a recognized leader in educational technology and the Executive Director of the World Digital School Project, where he helps international schools navigate the pedagogical shifts driven by artificial intelligence. In this role, he leads initiatives focused on AI evaluation, cybersecurity, and regional professional development. As the Director of Technology for The American School in Japan, Warren spearheads strategic work in leveraging digital tools for deeper learning.

Beyond his school leadership, he serves as the Regional Technology Consultant for EARCOS and co-founded the successful EdTech startups Scholastico and Ecoballot. An accomplished writer and advisor, Warren has contributed to PC World and Business Today and sits on multiple corporate advisory boards. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, an Apple Distinguished Educator, and a Google Certified Innovator, dedicated to improving education through the purposeful and well-managed use of digital technologies.

Welcome

We are pleased to invite you to this year's EARCOS Annual Heads' Institute 2026 in Sheraton Opera Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam scheduled for April 24 and 25, 2026. EARCOS provides this opportunity annually to show our appreciation to the heads of our schools. The focus this year will be on the plaque of Cyber-violence impacting schools and young people everywhere. The institute will be led by Nicholas Carlisle, CEO of thePower of Zero, Patrick Green, noted author on schools in the digital age, and Warren Apel, Director Technology at ASIJ and Executive Director of the World Digital School Project.

This promises to be a powerful end-of-year program that will enable heads of EARCOS schools to come together in a supportive and collegial environment to share, explore and build together. Please join us in Ho Chi Minh City as we look for solutions and safe passage through this incredibly challenging phenomenon. Heads who have attended this meeting in the past give the event exceptionally high marks and this year will be no exception.

Edward E. Greene, Ph.D.
Executive Director

A snapshot from last year’s Heads' Institute held in
Shangri-la Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Come and Join us!

Registration for the 2026 EARCOS Heads' Institute will open in early January 2026. Invitations will be sent to all EARCOS Heads of School.

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