Category: Edtech

I attended (but didn’t participate in) another Startup Weekend this week. This one was focused on immigration. I didn’t really have time to work on this – already had previous commitments. I just stopped by on Friday and Sunday to catch the pitches. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. Most

I’m working for a great edtech company and looking for recommendations on educational products we can promote!

Earlier this week, the New York Times published an interesting piece by Jeffrey Selingo on the current state of MOOCs (“Demystifying the MOOC“). It’s an easy read, and it hits on something that I’ve been thinking myself and hearing from people working in a variety of MOOC organizations around the Bay Area. When MOOCs (massive… Continue reading Where MOOCs are now

A few weeks ago, I noticed that EdSurge doesn’t have an international section on the Edtech Index (their listing of edtech-related products in various categories), even though they do post a lot about international education. @finnismundi most of the tools in the Index can be used around the world! What kind of tools would go in… Continue reading What is international edtech?

In a sign of how prominent concerns about student privacy have become, the New York Times Opinion section this week featured a collection of viewpoints on the topic from people working in the field (“Protecting Student Privacy in Online Learning“). The most interesting (I think) perspective is from Tyler Bosmeny, co-founder of Clever. I like Clever. They… Continue reading Clever Responds on Student Privacy

This week I attended a panel discussion of the Internet of Things at a design firm in San Francisco. If you haven’t heard of it, the concept refers to the so-called third wave of the internet. The first wave was a mechanism for distributing information, the second was the growth of social media and peer-to-peer… Continue reading The internet of things (and of student data)

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a great experience at Startup Weekend EDU in Oakland. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts on how to make the most of SWEDU and what I admired about the winners, mySidekick. Pitch your idea. Yes, you. Startup Weekend always begins

#FirstRunnerUp tonight, @uBoundCo making it easy to to college! pic.twitter.com/CkCJHpDbD2 — SWEDU Oakland (@SWEDUOak) September 15, 2014 Great news: my idea, UBound, won second place at Startup Weekend EDU! We also took first place of the votes of other participants. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour business plan competition. Participants show up on a Friday, give… Continue reading UBound wins 2nd place at Startup Weekend EDU

Last night I went to the Castro Theatre to see a Q & A with Sal Khan of the Khan Academy. I’d never been to that theater before, so the venue alone was kind of a treat. It’s a huge, classic place that looks like it hasn’t been altered much from when it opened in… Continue reading The Path of Khan

Great follow-up to yesterday’s post. Dylan of the Learning Equality Foundation confirmed on Twitter that they’re planning on doing randomized control trials (RCTs) on the KA Lite program. Rigorous testing is sorely needed in the edtech world. It’s understandable that private companies don’t seek it out as much (since they need to please clients and institutions),… Continue reading Who will test the testers?

This week I learned (via Tony Wan at Edsurge) that Khan Academy lessons are now being offered offline. The program is called “KA Lite” and is run by the Foundation for Learning Equality. The idea is that users, or teachers, around the world will be able to download lessons with translations in their local language,… Continue reading Somebody’s making the web go world-wide

This is old news (well, from last week), but I didn’t see it while I was in San Francisco for interviews. Chegg, the company that made its name buying and selling textbooks, is offloading the actual warehousing and shipping of books to the Ingram Content Group. I suppose it make sense, but I’ve still been… Continue reading Chegg ditches books (or at least, sending them)

My recent job search has been interesting. I’m moving from working in a tech/data position in higher ed (at NYU) and hunting in edtech. It’s been awesome so far – I’m getting great reception in the Bay Area, and it seems like there is a great new edtech company every day. But I feel like… Continue reading Edtech gaps

I’ve recently given notice at my job (to move to the Bay Area), and the process of wrapping up in New York has given me the chance to reflect on a lot of skills I’ve learned in the past few years. One thing that’s been really amazing is learning how to code, which has changed… Continue reading Learning to Code in 2014