Should we consider today’s high school graduates defective products of our educational system?
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First published July 31, 2008
As school districts across the country have come clean about their real graduation rates in recent years, there has been anecdotal evidence from both colleges and businesses of the need to put newly minted high school graduates through a series of remedial courses to tune up their academic skills before they can handle first year college coursework or move into the ranks of workers.
George Winship, editor of The Anderson Valley Post in California writes about how public school failure financially impacts California citizens.
According to a Pacific Research Institute study released Wednesday, July 23, this remedial education is costing California’s taxpayers up to $14 billion each year, and this on top of the more than $44 billion annually that the state is already spending on K-12 education. Continue reading
“Old Marketing” v. “New Marketing”
First published September 14, 2008
Traditional marketing is still very much with us in K-12 publishing. Because of the institutional nature of our market, we still operate in “push” mode with direct mail, outbound sales, either in person or by phone, conferences, etc. For most K-12 publishers, sending occasional customer emails and offering online webinars and demos is as Web 2.0 as it gets. For educational publishers, it is still very much about filling the sales funnel moving prospects to customers through a multi-step process.
But even in educational publishing, this traditional model is giving way to something new. In traditional sales, the company was in charge of moving the process forward, and in the Web 2.0 world, the new driver is the customer. Continue reading
Book Review: A Whole New Mind
First published October 2, 2008
This insightful book by Daniel Pink should be required reading for those of us in education and business. There are a number of reasons why but most importantly because he is a big thinker. By that I mean he is one of those gifted with the ability to synthesize trends from different information streams to achieve new insights about our lives and culture.
For those in K-12 education who believe in the development of 21st century skills for our students, Pink provides the rationale. Essentially, he maintains that our culture which has been dominated by left-brain thinkers – accountants, lawyers, computer programmers, and MBAs – will now be guided and illuminated by right-brain folks who are empathetic and creative such as artists, designers, caregivers and storytellers.
"Today, the defining skills of the previous era – the "left brain" capabilities that powered the information Age – are necessary but no longer sufficient. And the capabilities of inventiveness, empathy, joyfulness, and meaning – increasingly will determine who flourishes and who flounders. For individuals, families, and organizations, professional success and personal fulfillment now require a whole new mind. " Continue reading
An Education President
First published November 5, 2008
The people have spoken and Barack Obama is now our president-elect. As a result of an unprecedented voter turnout for an inspiring leader, the U.S. will soon have at its helm a textbook case of what we espouse in this country. All of us have grown up being told that if we study hard and work hard we can be anything that we want to be. Certainly, that has been true for some of us. But now, we will be led by someone who achieved the highest office in our country "despite" his disadvantages. And he did it through hard work and a stellar education.
We will now have a president who understands the personal transformation that education brings. Someone who passionately believes in the importance of early childhood education beginning as early as possible in a child's life, and the importance of sustaining that throughout the K-12 years. Someone who can be a living role model for every child in this country – no matter their race or economic situation. Continue reading
The Gates Foundation Announces New Education Investment Path
First published November 13, 2008
In Seattle earlier this week…
“In a way, being Secretary of Education is less significant than being Bill Gates,” the education historian Diane Ravitch said, guessing that the foundation gives more money annually to education… Continue reading
Live from New York – Blogging Today at SIAA Ed Tech Business Forum (2008)
First published December 2, 2008
On the day following the announcement that the United States has officially been in recession for a year, more than 250 leaders in the educational technology industry are meeting today to discuss “Financing Growth” in… Continue reading
SIIA Ed Tech Buisness Forum – Round Two (2008)
First published December 2, 2008
At today's SIIA Ed Tech Business forum, there seems to be agreement among leading investors that quality companies will continue to find buyers despite the challenging market. It's not business as usual, so companies need to accept that cuts will be made in their marketing and operational areas.
However, companies that focus on their core strengths and strongly communicate those strengths to their customers will continue to thrive and stand out from their competitors. But the viewfinder must absolutely put the customer's experience front and center. Help them be successful. They should understand the core benefits of your products and solutions. Understand the customer needs on a micro level so that they can fully appreciate the value of your solution. Continue reading
SIIA Ed Tech Business Forum – the Final Word (2008)
First published December 5, 2008
There is always palpable energy in the room when educational technology folks come together. Many in the industry began their careers in the classroom and their missionary zeal for kids and education is still very much intact. Somewhere between the gloomy view of the investment community looking at the current educational marketplace as a "set of distressed assets" and the developer's Pollyanna enthusiasm for new technology lies the truth of where we currently sit. As the investors, developers, and marketers mixed and talked throughout the day at the SIIA Forum, it was clear that most were putting the best face on current economic realities.
Who could have foreseen even two months ago the climate in which we find ourselves today? Where exactly does all of this leave K-12 publishers, schools, teachers, and students? One of the panelists described students as a renewable resource. It's true and kids are going to keep showing up at school buildings across the country looking for an education, and there will be teachers there to teach them. This underlying driver of the industry is not going to change. School districts are always looking for opportunities to improve the value return on what they spend. This is now heightened, but not really a new factor. New technologies offer schools and districts the opportunity to streamline their infrastructures and save money. Continue reading
Geeks and Gadgets at NECC 2009
First published July 4, 2009
NECC 2009 (National Education Computer Conference) in Washington, D.C. this past week was the most upbeat and positive education meeting I’ve attended in some time. No doubt the anticipated impact of federal stimulus funds was the source of some of the optimism, but there was real electricity in the air as virtual colleagues from formal and informal professional learning groups and Twitter met in person after building online relationships over the past year. This was an interesting phenomena, not because it hadn’t happened before, but that it had so significantly increased its frequency that you could not walk very far without seeing or overhearing an enthusiastic meeting of virtual friends. The number of like-minded people breaking through school and district walls to find and collaborate with each other virtually will most certainly continue to increase creating additional learning opportunities for educators and students.
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