January 30, 2013 | Posted At: 02:50 PM | Author: Alexander Russo | Category: (Who Cares What) Research Says , Foundation / Advocacy Follies , Teachers, Teaching, Unions , Technology Is Scary , The Business Of Education
Events: Gates To Keynote SXSWedu Event In March
Before I forget, you might be interested to know that Bill Gates is keynoting SXSWedu.com, closing things out on March 7.
What is SXSWedu? It's this thing that used to be a music event, then morphed into a tech event, and now includes some education, too. Last year, the documentary Brooklyn King premiered at the event, so ... anything can happen.
There will be lots of edtech, needless to say, and lots of talk about how technology is going to save (but not replace) us all. This year, I think I'll send my vGo telepresence device instead of attending in person, or perhaps just monitor the event via my personal drone.
It's a crazy place down here during SXSW weeks....
Posted by: Kimmy | January 30, 2013 at 15:14 PM
Well, if you happen to be in Austin, you could warm up with this much-less-crazy non-corporate event, the Save Texas Schools rally.
"In the face of underfunding, over testing and proposed vouchers, get ready to join thousands of concerned Texans as we stand up for quality education for ALL Texas students."
http://savetxschools.org/rally-to-save-texas-schools/
On the high-powered corporate side, I spent an hour studying the SXSW program. My favorite "Distinguished Speaker" is Jim Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. He's a former Program Director for Education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and was East Coast lead for NewSchools Venture Fund. He co-founded LearnNow, a school management company that later was "later acquired".
Wait, what? That sounds like somebody cut his bio blurb off in mid sentence. Acquired by Edison Schools, as it turns out.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edison-schools-to-acquire-learnnow-inc-72019022.html
Shelton's background includes advising CEOs and other executives on issues related to strategy, business development, and organizational design and effectiveness at McKinsey & Company, and also Knowledge Universe, Inc., where he launched, acquired, and operated education-related businesses.
If Shelton is a big fish, in the distinguished shark tank, there are also hundreds of those hungry little entrepreneurial piranhas that school with every lead Turnaround Partner, Lobbyist, and Astroturf Advocacy operation. They'll be roiling around and darting in to chew your public education budget up after the accountability industry insiders deliver its carcass to them.
http://sxswedu.com/conference/sessions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea6DfhkY53c
Posted by: Mary | January 31, 2013 at 10:04 AM