A note to participants of the 2019 K12 Innovation Summit
from John Bowie, Director of Experience Design at
Edmentum
It was an honor for Edmentum to be a sponsor of the K12 Innovation Summit this year. I was personally inspired to hear your amazing stories of innovative programs you are implementing in your districts.
The theme of human-centered design is of particular interest to me. I have practiced human-centered design for the past thirty-five years, first at HP, then on to Microsoft, GE, UnitedHealth Group, Deloitte, and, for the past seven years, at Edmentum. I have witnessed firsthand the challenges educators face (my wife is a teacher) and it has been the most rewarding job of my career to work at a company whose guiding principle is
#EducatorFirst
,
and that is dedicated to being educators' most trusted partner in creating successful student outcomes everywhere learning occurs.
At Edmentum, we strive to balance innovation with simplicity and rigor. My personal opinion is that simplicity is the greatest innovation, which is why the practice of human-centered design is so critical to technology adoption. The most innovative technology provides no value if it is so complex that people can’t figure out how to use it. At Edmentum, our goal is to design simple technology so that educators can focus on, and spend more time with, their students. Toward this end, we conduct extensive observational research, focus groups, and usability tests to ensure we identify and mitigate educator pain points and continuously improve our products. As director of the experience design team, my job is to make your job easier.
Thanks for a great conference and have a great 2019-2020 school year!
John
