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In The Classroom
What To Consider Before Bringing EdTech Into The Classroom (Chicago Innovation)
What is the bandwidth at your school? How often are devices refreshed and replaced? Based on your wireless access points, how many devices can be simultaneously connected per student in the classroom? These are a few of the questions that teachers and administrators were asked at a session at the first day of the EdTech Collaborative Summit, a two day conference aiming to bring educators and edtech vendors together to discuss personalized and blended learning. Bringing tech into the classroom isn't always straightforward, which is why a number of sessions focused on how to assess the needs of tech at each individual school, rather than looking at overarching trends in the edtech world. "Don't just jump in the deep end because you think that's where everyone's going," said Chris Liang-Vergara, chief of learning innovations at Chicago-based edtech collaborative LEAP Innovations.
Integrating technology too tightly with education presents its own kind of problems (PRI)
Technology is usually seen (and sold) as a force for good. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman famously made the case a decade ago that technological innovation is creating a flatter world. He traveled to the tech hub of Bangalore, India, where he found workers connecting to the global economy in ways never before possible. His take-away? People everywhere are "on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world using computers, e-mail, networks, teleconferencing and dynamic new software." Former Microsoft researcher and computer scientist Kentaro Toyama has also traveled to Bangalore. He led Microsofts efforts in India to develop technology that could support socio-economic development in very poor areas. He took away a much different lesson from his time there.
Start-Ups
5 Major Challenges Edtech Startups Face (Tech Cocktail)
Education is a unique and sometimes unpredictable industry. And if you are launching a startup in edtech niche, you need to be prepared for the specific and often quirky challenges that you face as you attempt to market and sell your products and services. Educators are their own breed of cat, and organizational structures are not necessarily those you will find in business organizations. Edtech startups have the potential to truly transform the world of education over the next several years, says Slava Orishechko of Unplag.com, and thats why they are just so exciting and challenging at the same time. You are bound to offer a great product that will benefit the students, the educators and the administration at the same time! Here are 5 of the biggest hurdles you will have to clear if you intend to survive and, indeed, thrive in the edtech industry.
Heres a $5M Seed Fund to Support Higher-Ed Innovations Besides MOOCs (edSurge)
Believe it or not, there are innovations in higher education beyond the headline-grabbing MOOCs that have soaked up so many investment dollars in recent years. And now those non-MOOCs may get some funding, too. Today, New York City-based University Ventures announced a $5 million seed fund for investing in startups focused on serving the higher education industry, particularly around needs that colleges and universities have around connecting students with employment, says Ryan Craig, managing director of University Ventures.
Chinas Startup Boom in Online Learning (MIT Technology Review)
China knows a thing or two about distance learning. For two decades, the countrys education ministry has used the television airwaves to broadcast agricultural lessons to more than 100 million rural studentsmaking it the largest such program in the world. And in the early 2000s, the charitable Li Ka Shing Foundation installed satellite dishes and computers to broadcast lectures to 10,000 rural schools. Now this top-down model of online learning is being joined by a surge in new commercial and university offerings. And its no longer just about reaching rural provinces. In China a rapidly rising middle classpart of a population that now totals 1.4 billionis creating a demand for education far outpacing what traditional teachers and schools can supply. In response, Chinese startups are identifying market niches and developing entirely new products, while universities are emulating online platforms first developed in the United States.
Higher Education
Why Consumer Technologies Cloud Our Thinking About Higher Education (Inside Higher Ed)
Consumer technologies and higher education feel like they should be closely related. The tools are now largely the same. We use the same laptop for connecting with online communities and managing our finances as we use to teach online and blended courses. We use the same tablet and smartphone to discover and listen to music and watch movies and TV shows as we use to read class materials and watch online lectures. So why has higher education been so resistant to the positive forces of technology evolution? Why is it that costs continue to rise, student debt continues to soar, schools continue to struggle, contingent faculty keep staying contingent, and so many students keep dropping out?
MOOCs
India Loves MOOCs (MIT Technology Review)
How does a talented Indian teenager like Gaurav Goyal make his mark on the world? Ordinarily, his destiny would have been set on the morning in 2008 when he took his countrys toughest college placement exam: the IIT Joint Entrance Exam. More than 300,000 students attempted the test that year; only 8,652 qualified for a spot at one of the ultra-elite Indian Institutes of Technology. Goyal mustered a score in the top 1 percent, winning entry to IIT Delhi. But he fell just short of the cutoff for the schools most competitive degree program, the one he most wanted to pursue: computer science. Instead, Goyal was told to major in civil engineering. Other students could learn about databases. For him, hydrology awaited.
Industry
IBM Launches Cloud-Powered Academic Initiative Worldwide (EdTech Magazine)
IBM is empowering the next generation of developers with a new brand of cloud curricula. IBM has made strides in the higher ed cloud. The companys SmartCloud is a software-as-a-service offering that gives schools a cloud-based content-delivery system. IBM has rolled this service out in the French business school EMLYON and has similar plans for another cloud initiative. The company announced this week that it was launching its Academic Initiative for Cloud, kicking off the development of curricula powered by IBM services in over 200 universities, reaching more than 20,000 students in 36 countries, according to a news release. IBM also announced a series of hackathons, along with a set of diversity programs for female coders, designed to create "hands-on experiences that propel radical ideas and innovation in cloud application development."
Viewpoints
How Education Policy Waves Shape Ed-Tech Products (Huffington Post)
The goal of an education startup is no different than startups in another sector: find a need great enough that someone will pay to solve it. But market needs are not solely defined by the whims of a potential buyer or their ability (or lack thereof) to be influenced by marketing efforts. The buyer's needs-- especially in education--are often shaped by the policy context of the system. The current congressional debate for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the law which determines federal policy for public schools, is certain to create new opportunities for businesses and may even create new roadblocks. A great example of how policy dramatically impacted the trajectory of a company is the rise of Study Island.
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STEMconnector®
Summer Time is STEM Time with the STEM Activity App!
 Before this summer, I was not at all familiar with the term STEM, or its relationship to every childs education both inside and outside of the classroom. More importantly, I did not fully realize the level which parent engagement is essential to childrens learning success. Not only does parent engagement support academic gains, increase motivation, and reduce behavioral issues, it also excites children about learning and a future in STEM careers. I know that my love of reading and writing grew from my parents love of both of those things. So how can we help families excite their children about learning, and especially STEM? This is the question the STEM Activity App was designed to answer. The STEM Activity App is a free, open-source tool created by the Wheelock College Aspire Institute (Aspire) three years ago that provides families and teachers with the resources they need to help integrate STEM education into their everyday lives.
STEMconnector and MIND Research Institute to Host Town Hall on Game-Based Learning
 STEMconnector®, in collaboration with MIND Research Institute, will host a STEM Town Hall on August 25th entitled "Leveraging Game-Based Learning to Increase STEM Engagement." The Town Hall will take place from 2-3:30 pm, and will be hosted via Google+ Hangouts On Air. Further details and a link to the event page are provided upon registration. For this event, we look beyond the achievement gap and into the "experience gap" where too many students are lacking the rich mathematical experiences that lead to deeper mathematical understanding and greater joy in the learning process. In a STEM-focused world, students of all backgrounds need these experiences to see themselves as capable mathematical thinkers and problem solvers. Find out about how a new MathMINDs movement is bringing hands-on mathematical experiences to families and communities, through activities including the National K-12 Game-a-thon and Math Fair.
Governor Terry McAuliffe serving as the First Governor to be the Honorary Chair for Million Women Mentors® for Virginia
 Today, Virginia announced that Governor Terry McAuliffe will be the First Governor to be the Honorary Chair for the Million Women Mentors® (MWM) effort in Virginia! Governor Terry McAuliffes support will be instrumental in growing the movement to reach the 3000 pledges for the state.
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