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This article by Tony Wan originally appeared on EdSurge.
Polish the dress shoes. Stiffen those shirt collars. This week, many of the education industry’s bigwigs are planning their annual pilgrimage to the next “ tech mecca” of America. Salt Lake City, recently christened by Forbes with that title, will host the ASU+GSV Summit on May 8-10.
The region boasts an unusual concentration of highly-valued tech startups—Domo, Qualtrics and Inside Sales are among them—along with big education companies, including Instructure, the developer of the Canvas learning management system. There’s also Pluralsight, a provider of tech-training courses that analysts bet will hit the public market soon. Luminaries in the edtech industry, including Richard Culatta (ISTE CEO and former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education) and David Wiley (the “godfather” of OER and Chief Academic Officer of Lumen Learning), trace their roots here.
What is it about the Utah that makes it a hotbed of education and technology talent? (Is it, perhaps, the state’s lower alcohol limit for beers?)
Religion is certainly a factor, suggests Pluralsight’s CEO and co-founder, Aaron Skonnard. Utah boasts “a melting pot of cultures and perspectives thanks to all the missionaries who have gone out in the world and have experienced different cultures, languages, and have come back to apply those skills in their work life,” he tells EdSurge. “There’s something about that experience that creates an affinity for education.”
Missionaries also hone a valuable skill for any tech company looking to grow: communication. “There’s nothing harder to sell than religion,” Skonnard quips. “They become very strong communicators, and that carries over to education.”
As many as 3,500 attendees from across the world are expected, including a large Chinese contingent whose dollars are supporting U.S. edtech deals. Another big focus of this year’s gathering, says event host Deborah Quazzo, is on workforce talent development and retention. “We’ve really broadened the focus beyond edtech and into enterprise training and talent,” says the co-founder and managing partner at GSV Acceleration. She adds: “If you don’t tie learning to talent, you miss the point of edtech.”
This year’s star-studded keynotes celebrities, from tennis legend Andre Agassi to author Michael Lewis, along with civic leaders Libby Schaaf (mayor of Oakland) and comedian W. Kamau Bell. The conference also welcomes the return of familiar faces in new gigs: former Knewton CEO is now with Bakpax, and Los Angeles Unified’s former superintendent John Deasy will share plans for rebuilding prisons to better serve incarcerated youths.
This is the week when everyone—us included—is finally locking in the calendars. (There’s a reason for the procrastination: FOMO. After all, you don’t want to over-commit early to an engagement for Fear Of Missing Out on an even juicier opportunity that comes by later.)
Keynotes aside, here’s what we’re looking forward to seeing:
10:00AM: Tech Titans Battle for Market Share: How Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft are Reshaping the K-12 Landscape with Kevin Bushweller (Education Week), Chris Curran (Tyton Partners), Holly Yettick (Education Week Research Center), Keith Bockwoldt (Township High School District 214) and Tom Ryan (Sante Fe Public Schools & CoSN)
11:00AM: Change Agents or Kamikaze Pilots? Can Higher Ed innovators survive the ongoing wave of market disruption? with Gordon Jones (Boise State University), Sean Gallagher (Northeastern), Michelle Marks (George Mason University), James DeVaney (University of Michigan), Dr. Ann Kirschner (CUNY)
2:00PM: Women EmpowerED: Strategies to Accelerate Women In Tech, In Classrooms, In Startups, In Senior Management and In Board Rooms with Liza Mundy (New America), Dr. Ann Kirschner (CUNY), Dr. Gilda Barabino (CUNY), Dr. Judy Spitz (Cornell Tech), Dr. Kim Scott (Arizona State University)
3:00PM: The Chalkboard Dilemma: New Research on Teachers’ Readiness and Willingness to Adopt Digital Tools for Learning with Alan Arkatov (USC), Julie Evans (Project Tomorrow), Ann Linson (East Noble School Corporation) and Jessie Woolley-Wilson (DreamBox Learning)
10:00AM: Heads Up Entrepreneurs, Investors & Educators: Candace Thille, Stanford University Professor, explains the missing link in creating a successful EdTech start-up and it has nothing to do with funding.
11:00AM: The Promise of Big Data & Adaptive Learning with Dale Johnson (Arizona State University), Andrew Smith Lewis (Cerego), Dr. Colin Fredericks (HarvardX), Eric Frank (Acrobatiq), James Willey (Ellucian), Jose Ferreira (Bakpax)
2:00PM: TrumpED: How Will #45 Change the Learning and Work Landscape? with John Bailey (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative), Michael Sorrell (Paul Quinn College), Lauren Maddox (Podesta Group), Alison Griffin (Strada Education), Ben Wallerstein (Whiteboard Advisors), Senator Mike Johnston (Colorado)
4:00PM: DistruptED: Who Are the Real Disruptors in Higher Ed and The Future of Work with Louise Rogers (TES Global), Chip Paucek (2U), Dennis Yang (Udemy), Rick Levin (Coursera), Vish Makhijani (Udacity)
10:00AM: Educating Populations in Crisis – Refugees, Undocumented Immigrants, Victims of Urban Violence and People In Poverty: Delivering Great Education in the Most Challenging Circumstances with Katherine Bradley (CityBridge Education), Chris Pirie (Microsoft), Rebecca Tancredi (Upwardly Global), Rolando Posada (Idea Public Schools), Rebecca Taber (Coursera)
11:00AM: Districts and Public Charters: Sharing Secrets and What Workswith Romy Drucker (The74), Alex Shub (School Empowerment Network), D’Andre Weaver (Spring Branch Independent School District), Marcia Aaaron (KIPP LA), Mira Browne (Summit Public Schools)
2:00PM: Mapping EdTech Globally by Navitas Ventures
3:30PM: Driving Changes in Today’s Political Environment with Jeanne Allen (Center For Education Reform)
EVERYDAY, 1:00-3:00PM: We’ve teamed up with Shindig to host a series of interviews with key thought leaders, which will be streamed live online, and allow the virtual audience to pose questions. Our guests include Candace Thille (assistant professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education), Todd Rose (author of “The End of Average” and director of the Mind, Brain, & Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education) and Matthew Pittinsky (CEO of Parchment and co-founder of Blackboard.)
MONDAY, 10:00AM: EdSurge CEO and co-founder, Betsy Corcoran will dish wisdom about “Solving K-12’s most complex problems across edtech development, funding and procurement.” (Savoy Room)
TUESDAY, 10:00AM: EdSurge Senior Editor, Jeff Young will preside over a series of lightning talks about what’s next in digital learning—and what it means for the “new majority” of first generation, low income and adult learners. Featuring Bridget Burns (University Innovation Alliance), Rufus Glasper (League for Innovation in the Community College), Heather Hiles, Deputy Director (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), David Wiley (Lumen Learning) and Marie Cini (University of Maryland University College). (Envoy Room)
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The letter was delivered in response to the department’s request for information regarding the disclosure of confidential wage records under the department’s regulations governing the confidentiality and disclosure of state unemployment compensation data. Strada also included specific recommendations for regulatory amendments.
Report indicates both success and need for improvement in meeting students’ varied goals
A new and improved Free Application for Federal Student Aid expected late this year should provide opportunities for more students and their families to access money to pay for college. Yet the transition to this new form presents unprecedented challenges for those who work to help students complete it.
According to new Strada Education Foundation research, community college attendees who complete an associate degree or successfully transfer to a four-year institution value their education at rates comparable to or higher than recent bachelor’s degree completers. However, researchers found first-generation students rated the value of their community college education about 20 percentage points lower than those who are not first-generation students.
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president and CEO of College Futures Foundation and former chancellor of the California Community Colleges, will join a Strada Education Foundation webinar Sept. 7, when he and other panelists will explore Strada’s latest report, “The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students' Motivations and Outcomes,” which captures several factors that motivated recent alumni to enroll in community college.
Major changes in the form, combined with an expected delay in its release, are combining to intensify the work of spreading the word about the updated FAFSA.
This article by Madeline St. Amour originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed.
Virginia’s largest community college and a prominent public research university have co-partnered with an educational management and student support service provider to improve academic outcomes for transfer students.
Edtech integration can cause headaches if technology solutions aren't "getting along"--but a new free tool could help alleviate that pain
New building will house over 500 employees
DXtera Institute, a nonprofit consortium of higher ed institutions, ed tech companies and other postsecondary education professionals, has released a free Next Generation Integration Scorecard (NGIS) aimed at improving technology integration in higher education.
Massachusetts will be the recipient of financial and technical help to build “data-driven approaches” to linking residents to jobs in growing industries, thanks to a partnership between the National Governors Association and the Strada Education Network.
This article by Carol D’Amico originally appeared on RealClear Education.
This article by Jeffrey J. Selingo originally appeared on the Washington Post.
The letter alerting Cal State Northridge students that they were being put on academic probation was pretty blunt and scary: shape up or risk getting kicked out.
Michigan State University has long worked with and competed against other colleges and universities in the United States.
One of the students leaving today on “Roadtrip Indiana” says she expects an “awakening” of what Indiana is about. Purdue University senior Shannon Newerth is joining two other Indiana students on a two-week RV trip throughout the state to take part in career exploration and work-based learning opportunities. The trip, organized in part by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and several private partners, will be the subject of an upcoming public television documentary.
As a lifelong baseball fan, former high school baseball player, and coach for 20 years, I have always been struck by how deeply intertwined baseball and learning really are. An education advocate for most of my career, I have seen firsthand how a passion for sports can shift mindsets and create sustainable pathways to college, meaningful careers, and inspired lives.
More than half of adults in the U.S. would change at least one aspect of their higher education experience, according to a new survey from Gallup and the Strada Education Network. Common regrets were choice of institution and major or field of study. Comparatively, relatively few regretted their degree type.
A majority of Americans who attended college say they received a quality education. But half would change at least one of these three decisions if they could do it all over again: the type of degree they pursued or their choice of major or institution.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Half of college graduates regret their choice of school or major, according to a national survey.
Approximately half of all U.S. adults who pursued or completed a postsecondary degree would change at least one aspect of their education experience if they could do it all over again, including their major or field of study, the institution they attended, or the type of degree they obtained.
Regrets, I’ve had a few…and so have most Americans — at least when it comes to decisions they’ve made regarding their education. A new Gallup poll out today finds that 51 percent of Americans would change at least one of their education decisions if they had to do it all over again. Thirty-six percent said they’d choose a different major, 28 percent would attend a different school and 12 percent would pursue a different type of degree, according to the poll.
On May 2, the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus in conjunction with the Alliance for Excellent Education hosted “College and Career Pathways: Stories of Innovation.” The Alliance is a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization focusing on high school redesign for underrepresented students. The briefing revolved around “highlighting innovative approaches across the country to college and career pathways that have led to positive outcomes for traditionally underserved students.”
Data analytics has proven to be a powerful tool in a number of industries, and in higher ed, it has significant potential to help institutions streamline operations and improve experiences for students. But in using that data, colleges and universities must also be careful to also consider the underlying causes behind some of those numbers.
This is important news for admissions officers, who may feel that low-income students pose more of a risk at a four-year college or university. These students are just as capable of thriving as those from more affluent households, but institutions and policymakers must also consider that they may need more resources.
In a Monday morning session at the ASU+GSV Summit in Salt Lake City, a panel of thought leaders discussed how to expand access and success, particularly among low-income, first-generation and underrepresented student populations.
INDIANAPOLIS — Higher Education Commissioner Teresa Lubbers recently announced a new initiative, “Roadtrip Indiana,” that aims to help Hoosier students make more informed decisions about their futures through intentional career exploration and direct engagement with employers across the state.