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Live from Summit 2013– Hour of Power One

Welcome to Summit 2013′s first Hour of Power networking session. As conference participants power network over a cup of coffee sharing business cards and discussing the ideas of “frustrated optimist” Thomas Friedman, we were privileged to visit with some of the innovative individuals, organizations and companies helping to usher in the next generation of education technology.Combining gaming with instruction, Sifteo provides a portable platform – the Sifteo cube – and new hands-on […] Read more

Live from Summit 2013: Opening Plenary

Ted Mitchell kicked off Summit 2013 this morning at the opening plenary. After welcoming all of the attendees, Ted was joined by Thomas Friedman, author and columnist for the The New York Times, who has been “calling consistently for the change that drives our work…and sets the national dialogue about who we are as a country.” Read more

2013 NewSchools Venture Fund Portfolio Award Winners

While more than 900 supporters of entrepreneurial change in public education gather today at the annual NewSchools Summit in Burlingame, CA, we are proud to announce the recipients of our annual awards. These awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of this important class of social innovators, who are making a difference in the lives of students in underserved communities across the country and changing the national conversation about what’s possible in public education. Read more

Nick Ehrmann’s Rethinking Human Capital in Technology–Based Education

In his response to last week’s NewSchools Summit, Nick Ehrmann of Blue Engine gives a warning to those who would believe that ed tech will accelerate student learning in the absence of other fundamental shifts in the way that K-12 schools and classrooms are structured. It’s a terrific piece, although we hasten to add that NewSchools is enthusiastically interested in entrepreneurial work outside the education technology world—and particularly in organizations that integrate […] Read more

Guest Post: The NewSchools Summit: Ringing in change

By Elizabeth Corcoran, Co-founder, EdSurge Telltale signs of an industry starting to gel seemed everywhere at the NewSchools Venture Fund’s annual meeting this past week in Burlingame: Young—and over-caffeinated—entrepreneurs sporting “edupreneur” tee-shirts faced off in an “American Idol” like recital of business plans. Potential investors with expensive shoes and iPads lingered in receptions, swapping business cards with new acquaintances. Long-time educators clustered with former colleagues, comparing notes over who was collaborating with […] Read more

Guest Post: Transforming education faster bottom-up instead of top-down

By Tory Gattis, Social Systems Architect and Founder of OpenTeams This post is an attempt to introduce some controversial buzz into the conversations at the summit: Is it possible our whole approach to reforming education is wrong? And by wrong, I don’t mean failing – great things are definitely happening – but wrong in the sense that we’re making progress too slowly given the size and urgency of the problem. Even today, after […] Read more

Guest Post: What’s smoking got to do with ed reform?

By Ellen Winn, Executive Vice President, 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now Education advocacy is the hot item of the year. After years of focusing almost solely on educational practice and structure (and amassing a serious list of “what works”), there is consensus in our field that if we don’t get serious about removing political obstacles that stand in the way of implementing these proven strategies, we will never be able […] Read more

Guest Post: The New Normal Summit

This Summit will be different.  It’s the first Summit held under “new normal” conditions.  We went over the cliff.  We are getting ready to live with less and many have more cuts to come.  The hangover of the Great Recession took its toll on education, but for some leaders it forced a new round of learning as a result of asking difficult questions. Did you see Duncan’s November 2010 new normal speech […] Read more

Joel Klein and Sal Khan announced as speakers at Summit 2011

Adding to the list of innovators and entrepreneurs at Summit 2011, we are delighted to announce that the day will open with a conversation between Joel Klein and Sal Khan. Klein, the former Chancellor of Schools in New York City, recently joined News Corporation to lead education innovation there. Sal Khan is the hedge fund analyst-turned video impresario behind Khan Academy, which has received enormous attention for its virally popular instructional videos. […] Read more