EdTech
Personalized Learning
The Weight of Leadership
Winston Churchill took office the day the Germans invaded the low countries of Europe. Perhaps born a warrior and an idealist, Churchill in some ways relished the epic nature of conflict but never took it lightly. A recent HBO film, Into the Storm, explored Churchill’s leadership and life during…
Personalized Learning
Gentlemen, Start Your Hearings (But Let the Race Run)
Here we go. McNeil outlines House plans to begin ESEA reauthorization hearings starting with charter schools (great place to start). Miller and Kline are thoughtful and could actually put together a decent bipartisan draft. No word from the Senate where it’s harder to imagine anything thoughtful happening.
Personalized Learning
Thoughts on Consumer Learning
Consumer learning will get big. Consumer learning will be social. Consumer learning will be freemium: free plus premium services. Consumer learning will incorporate Massively Multiplayer Online learning games and learning environments (MMOLG, MMOLE). Consumer learning will mobilize money, energize entrepreneurs, and personalize a process that for…
Personalized Learning
Pearson Vision Impressive
Textbook publishers are catching a lot of grief these day, some of it deserved. Â But I met with a Pearson exec this morning and continue to be impressed by the leadership of this company (with whom I have a business relationship). Long before Obama landed on readiness, Pearson realigned…
Personalized Learning
Teacher Quality Means Some Must Go
The President and Secretary deserve credit for advancing the teacher quality agenda–a tough thing for democrats to do. Â Some of the credit for that goes to Jon Schnur and DFER. Â Because we don’t have very good predictive techniques, it’s important to watch teachers in their first few years,…
Personalized Learning
Brookings Makes Thoughtful Recommendations on Choice
Brookings  released a thoughtful report encouraging expanding K-12 choice including the following recommendations choice be exercised through systems in which parents have more options than at present (with the expansion of virtual education programs being a promising means to that end); admission into particular schools within choice systems be…
Personalized Learning
RttT Plans: Detailed, Compliant, Insufficient
I spent the last two days reading Race to the Top plans.  Here’s a few observations: 1. The plans are comprehensive and detailed. They all slavishly follow the Department of Education scoring rubic. As I’ve repeatedly said, RttT is a great program, but this isn’t ‘loose on means’.
Personalized Learning
New Frame for ESEA: Half Right, Big Risk
Message refined, Secretary Duncan is doing the morning show circuit socializing a proposal for the reauthorization of federal education policy.  He’s attempting to assemble the first bipartisan coalition of the Obama administration to address a major piece of legislation. It won’t be easy and it probably won’t happen this year…
Personalized Learning
10 Reasons This is the Decade of Edupreneurs
Here’s 9 reasons that this will be a great decade for edupreneurs. new money foundations focused on new school development a multiplying horde of venture/private equity investors interested in disruptive learning technology a small but growing number of impact funds investing for return and social impact mature engines of social…
Personalized Learning
Competition, Civil Rights, and Change Theory
Civil rights advocates are split on the competitive nature of $10 billion in grant programs from the US Department of Education. Some, like Education Equality Project, view it as an opportunity for states and districts with competent leadership to make important performance-promoting and gap-closing advances. Others, like the…