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Thought provoking analysis of higher ed finances, and the prospects for emerging technology models to help "fix" the broken business model. By William Bowen, former President of Princeton and the Mellon Foundation.

Their senior team includes recent HGSE graduate Andy Cahill.

Article on how the government and philanthropies can support innovation in education.

I believe that the federal government used to spend more dollars for basic research in education, but that number has been reduced dramatically over the years. I agree 100% that we need to increase this type of investment, and the federal government is the natural source. These social innovation funds are a separate type of investment, distinct from basic research. These grants are "translational" in that they seek to help commercialize promising research, but are not intended to fund the basic research. For a healthy and dynamic ecosystem of innovation in education, we need both.

The ecosystem continues to build around MOOC's...

Head of education practice at world renowned design firm IDEO weighs in on education.

Another article about the bubble in edtech: "Most of today's education technology startups are doomed to fail. "But wait!" you say. "It's 2012 and edtech startups are sprouting up everywhere, pushing real innovation into a slow-moving yet vitally important market, gaining traction, getting funded!" True. Yet they are still doomed to fail."

Report from Alliance for Excellent Education on linking Teaching, Technology and Time to drive "Digital Learning".

"While some federal initiatives, such as The Investing in Innovation Fund (i3), have been aimed at promoting innovation in education, some of the fiscal requirements of two large federal education programs--namely Title I and IDEA Part B--stand in the way. This paper identifies three fiscal requirements of these programs that encourage the status quo, instilling in districts a profound deference for existing staffing and spending patterns."

Some interesting data on where private equity is going by stage and funder in the edtech space.

Sugata Mitra would be proud!

Michael Horn weighs in with a piece diametrically opposed to the previous post, calling out the end of the "old-edtech mindset".

Thoughtful piece about keeping a grounded historical perspective when analyzing edtech innovations.

I agree with this view that the Edtech market is getting very frothy. Huge valuations for businesses without revenues - eerily reminsicient of the dotcom and scoial media bubbles...

"The Internet certainly holds the prospect of tapping into the vast store of knowledge and teaching talent that resides beyond the schoolhouse door, addressing students' varying interests and needs more fully and efficiently. But while Rocketship attracts a steady flow of visitors hoping to glimpse education's high-tech future, I came away from my own pilgrimage to Discovery Prep believing that the school's success proves the opposite point: the younger and more disadvantaged students are, the more they need adults supporting them in many different ways day in and day out--the more they need school to be a place rather than merely a process."

Thought it was April Fool's for a minute