Archive: 2013

Personalized Learning

Next-Gen State U

A state policy maker called and asked how a next-gen state university would work. They had spent lots of money with a brand name consultant that had given them predictable advice (create a consortium or start a new institution) and the policy maker had the sense that they weren’t pushing hard enough. Given the pressure for lower costs, better outcomes, and expanded access, there’s a new conversation about further and higher education (as they’d say in the Eurozone).

Personalized Learning

Great Teachers or Great Technology?

Matt Miller, Washington Post columnist and host of KCRW's "Left, Right and Center," moderated a debate November 2012 around the motion that "Great teachers are more important than great education technology." Debate participants included Nakia Towns, Director of Human Capital Strategy at Knox County Schools in Tennessee, and Heath Morrison, Superintendent of Charlotte Mecklenberg School District in North Carolina, for the motion and Gloria Lee, Chief Operating Officer at New Schools Venture Fund, and Kwasi Asare, Executive Vice President of Everfi, against the most.

EdTech

Lulu: The Way to Self Publishing

Instead of waiting for some magic gatekeeper to accept them, people can publish when they are ready, and in turn, we get to see new and different things that we might never see in a bookstore.

Personalized Learning

School Cliff: Learning That Doesn’t Suck

A college prof called yesterday. He said, “College sucks.” He’s taking a couple courses as a humbling market research project. He found dated content and tools and disengaged students. I said, “If you want to see disengagement, you should try a high school algebra course.”

Personalized Learning

ASAP Case Study: Prizes Can Focus & Accelerate Innovation

The case study, “Automated Student Assessment Prize Phase One and Phase Two: A Case Study to Promote Focused Innovation in Student Writing Assessment,” was released today. It takes a close look at the ways the two phases of The Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP) demonstrated current capabilities and mobilized global talent to accelerate innovation in writing assessment.

EdTech

3 Ways to Embrace Change This Year

Teachers embracing technology to support the Common Core and new ways of teaching may want to get organized and prepared for some positive changes. Here are 3 ways to get ready for change in the New Year.

Leadership

SXSWedu Announces Bill Gates as Closing Keynote

Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will address the foundation’s U.S. education work, which focuses primarily on ensuring all students are prepared for success in college and career. The keynote will take place 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Ballroom D of the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.