Category: Education

Impact Lab > Education
Big Problems, Brain, Coding Schools, Culture, Economy, Education, Human Behavior, Latest Trend, New Viewpoints

The Sorry State of Higher Education

cp_5

It’s dismaying how easy it is to screw up college.

I don’t know exactly when, why, or how it happened, but important things are breaking down in the US higher education system. Whether or not this system is in danger of collapsing it feels like it’s losing its way, and failing in its mission of developing the citizens and workers we need in the 21st century.

This mission clearly includes getting students to graduate, yet only a bit more than half of all US students enrolled in four-year colleges and universities complete their degrees within six years, and only 29% who start two year degrees finish them within three years. America is last in graduation rate among 18 countries assessed in 2010 by the OECD. Things used to be better; in the late 1960s, nearly half of all college students got done in four years.

Continue reading… “The Sorry State of Higher Education”

Analysis, App, Award Winner, Big Problems, Breakthrough Thinking, Coding Schools, DaVinci Coders, DaVinci Institute, Education, Futurist, Great New Product, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Human Behavior, Ideas, Latest Trend, mobile apps, mobile technology, New Discoveries, New Inventions, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference, Technological Unemployment, Tom Frey, Upcoming Events

Exploring the Future of Jobs and Education

Futurist-Speaker-Thomas-Frey-319

On November 7, 2014, I attended the “Idea Jam – Innovating for the Future” session put on by the Pacific Center for Workforce Innovation in San Diego. The purpose of the session was to identify the major challenges to the San Diego workforce in the coming years and to generate audience participation in visioning exercises to explore new and innovative workforce development ideas. The event was held at Colman University, and major sponsors were SDG&E, Qualcomm, the Eastridge Group, Point Loma Nazarene College, and Cal State University, San Marcos.

To get our creative juices flowing, Master of Ceremonies Susan Taylor, San Diego’s TV news icon, introduced futurist speaker, Thomas Frey, of the DaVinci Institute as the keynote speaker. It is difficult to do justice to his very visual presentation of images of break-through technologies, but his statements alone created much food for thought about the future. He stated, “We are a backward-looking society…the future gets created in the mind. The future creates the present…Visions of the future affect the way people act today.” He rhetorically asked, “What are the big things that need to be accomplished today?

Continue reading… “Exploring the Future of Jobs and Education”

Analysis, Business, Education, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Hour of Code initiative hopes to spark students’ interest in computer programming

Could you love coding in an hour?

The goal of this year’s Computer Science Education Week (CSEW) initiative “Hour of Code” to encourage students to try coding for an hour. CSEW has been going on since 2009, but this year nonprofit Code.org took over and put the focus on getting kids interested in computer science. President Obama, Ashton Kutcher, and Mark Zuckerberg are among the nonprofits’ recruits that are advocating to kids to spend one hour this week learning code, in hopes of spurring interest in a future increasingly interconnected with computer literacy.

 

 

Continue reading… “Hour of Code initiative hopes to spark students’ interest in computer programming”

Analysis, Business, Education, Latest Trend, Money Talk

The number-one state with the highest public-college tuition is…

Where do students have it worst?

Student debt is a national problem that affects all 50 states (51, if you count D.C.). The amount and frequency with which undergraduates borrow varies vastly from state to state, some of which are far better at providing an affordable education than others.

 

 

Continue reading… “The number-one state with the highest public-college tuition is…”

Analysis, Education, Internet, Latest Trend, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun: MOOC’s not effective for undergraduate education

Sebastian Thrun

Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity, captivated the world with visions of self-driving cars and Google Glass and has signed up 16 million students for online classes. So why is he pivoting away from MOOC’s? Thrun says, “We don’t educate people as others wished, or as I wished.”

 

 

Continue reading… “Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun: MOOC’s not effective for undergraduate education”

Education, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Elementary school students in Finland to learn coding

Teaching programming is part of an effort to encourage the development of tech skills at an early age.

In the near future, elementary school students in Finland could be adding coding and programming to their nightly homework routine. Following in the footsteps of neighboring country Estonia, Alexander Stubb,  the Finnish Minister of European Affairs and Foreign Trade, says that teaching basic programming skills to young kids in the classroom is on the country’s radar.

 

 

Continue reading… “Elementary school students in Finland to learn coding”

Analysis, Education, Internet, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Only 39% of U.S. public schools have adequate wireless access

Millions of schoolchildren around the country go to school every day without Internet or broadband connections.

Only 39 percent of public schools in the U.S. have wireless network access for the whole school. But perhaps the greatest offense—up to this point, at least—has been apathy about the problem.

Analysis, Education, Great Videos, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Coding is a privilege which is not available to most Americans: Code.org creators

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc[/youtube]

A video on coding education trended higher on February 26th than the video of Jennifer Lawrence’s adorable fall at the Oscars. The short YouTube film, dubbed “What most schools don’t teach,” features interviews with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. The goal, according to the video’s creator Hadi Partovi, is to make coding seem cool to kids.

 

 

Continue reading… “Coding is a privilege which is not available to most Americans: Code.org creators”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Education

Why you should be a big fish in a little pond: Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell lays out his argument for being a big fish in a little pond.

Attending an elite college or working for a famous company could kill your dreams is what Malcolm Gladwell seems to think. The popular author lays out his argument for being a big fish in a little pond in his latest book, “David and Goliath,” a work that aims to overturn conventional notions about what makes for a disadvantage and who should be considered an underdog.

 

 

Continue reading… “Why you should be a big fish in a little pond: Malcolm Gladwell”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.