Check out this edtech start-up: I spoke to the founder today, and their philosophy sounds like it's right out of T-545. It's all about promoting intrinsic motivation for positive classroom behaviors and increasing kids' engagement through technology and immediate feedback.

An alternative to free online courses for all (a la Coursera/Udemy/Udacity), Minerva plans to charge ~$20,000 in tuition for an Ivy League - equivalent education. Anyone else think this is a stretch?

GIVING a child a computer does not seem to turn him or her into a future Bill Gates-indeed it does not accomplish anything in particular. That is the conclusion from Peru, site of the largest single programme involving One Laptop per Child, an American charity with backers from the computer industry and which is active in more than 30 developing countries around the world.

I've been reading a lot about this trend - I think it's equally prevalent in the US. I wonder how much of it is caused by our move away from school as preparation for career to school as a place for learning for the sake of learning, dabbling in a number of subjects rather than specializing in hard skills, etc. I know there are many other reasons, but I think this is one key factor.

Good example of the huge variety of businesses that are jumping on the interactive children's media bandwagon...this media developer is partnering with broadcasters, publishing companies, toys, even Seaworld! I wonder how much longer until app overload - or maybe there's no such thing as too many apps?

Interesting NYTimes article - an elementary school organizes regular field trips to provide students with basic experiences that many low-income kids don't get to have (i.e. an auto repair shop so they get a chance to experience sitting in a car) and connects these to academic work.