Author: Editor

Many Schools Suffering From Threat-Rigidity Response To COVIDIn the wake of COVID-19 shattering the traditional routines and plans of so many schools nationwide, I have lamented that schools haven’t done nearly enough to create more compelling learning experiences for each student. Many schools have instead focused on logistics and operations—which are important given health concerns, but also insufficient. In too many cases, schools have sought to replicate the traditional classroom in a new format—a striking 42% of teachers, for example, reported in a nationwide survey by the Clayton Christensen Institute that they replicate their typical day in a remote format. Or they have offered a subpar learning experience in which students don’t receive the supports they need, as this article by ...

Two 30 Year Veterans Discuss The Education Technology MarketEducation technology is not new. We may think it is because the technology part confuses our senses of fluidity and speed. That’s why in edtech, as with most things, perspective and context are priceless as they help illuminate where we are and maybe remove some of the shadows around where the market and thinking are likely to go. Pam Nelson and Al Kingsley have been in and around edtech for more than thirty years. Not collectively, each. In edtech, that’s basically forever. They’ve been investors, advisors, administrators, entrepreneurs in for-profits and non-profits, and in and out of C-suites. Kingsley, the current CEO of NetSupport is in the U.K., and a member of Forbes Technology Council. Nelson, in the U.S., now runs her o...

Cornel West Is Leaving Harvard For Union Theological SeminaryCornel West, a public intellectual, prolific writer and non-tenured professor in Harvard’s divinity school, is joining the faculty at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He made the announcement today in an interview with The Boycott Times, which bills itself as “an independent non-profit publication of global dissent.” West, 67, earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Harvard in three years, graduating in 1974. He has a master’s and a Ph.D. from Princeton where he was on the faculty from 1988 to 1994. He taught at Union Theological Seminary early in his career and at Yale where he had a joint appointment in the divinity school and the American studies department. His departure will conclude his second stint on Har...

Enhanced Loan Counseling Now Available to Student BorrowersTwitterFacebookLinkedinemailiStock New features unveiled this week on StudentAid.gov are designed to help students better understand the process of borrowing for college and choose a repayment plan that’s right for them. Both the website and myStudentAid mobile app are now equipped with enhanced entrance and exit counseling modules. The new, streamlined entrance counseling module uses personalized information to help borrowers estimate the cost of their education, determine how much they can expect to borrow, and prepare for repayment after school. The enhanced exit counseling includes an assessment to help borrowers choose the best repayment strategy based on key factors, such as their marital status, tax filings, and employment s...

Opinions On Homeschooling Have Changed During The PandemicIt was one year ago when school buildings began to shutter and students retreated to their homes to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus. While not technically homeschooling (they were still enrolled in their school and working on curriculum prescribed by teachers, not their parents), many families got a hint of what homeschooling might feel like, and how the dynamics of their family might change were they to educate their children at home. If you only looked at social media, you would think it a complete disaster. Numerous posts on Twitter and Facebook decrying how unprepared and overwhelmed parents were went viral, as did calls to pay teachers multi-million-dollar salaries after parents had to try teaching their kids on the...