Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

When I grow up: Nurturing girls to become leaders

Growing up, I was the class vice-president; the de facto leader of every group project ever assigned; elementary and high school valedictorian; and the captain of my sports teams. I met all the stereotypes of a typical, Type A student. Yet, it never crossed my mind that when I grew up, I could be a CEO.

I’m not alone. 

According to Harvard Business Review 5.3 percent of large U.S. companies have CEOs named John compared with 4.1 percent that have CEOs who are women. Firms with CEOs named David, at 4.5 percent, also outnumber women-led businesses. More than half of college graduates are women, yet, less than 8 percent of the fortune 500 CEOs are women. The stats speak for themselves. …Read More

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The race for education tech heats up

Selling out, cashing in and calling it a day seems to be many startup founders’ dream these days. And in a shaky market, who can really blame them? New York-based Knewton is hanging tough, Fortune reports. The online learning company announced on Tuesday that it is pairing up with Pearson to add its adaptive learning technology to all of the publisher’s online courses, starting with its college-level programs. Instead of selling itself, Knewton has entered into an agreement with the industry giant, which might otherwise have been an acquirer. The deal is just the latest sign that some startups are holding their own with the industry’s heavyweights as the market for new educational technology heats up…

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Google gives Voice to students, faculty as Gizmo integration looms

Google is now offering a Google Voice invite to anyone with an .edu eMail address, Fortune reports. The announcement, made on the official Google Voice Blog, lets the floodgates open to higher-ed users interested in managing their voice communications with Google. Google offers a free phone number, voice mail transcription, call routing, cheap international calling, and many other features with Voice. Until now, the free service had been available by invitation only, but now students, faculty, and anyone else with a school eMail address can sign up. The service now counts 1.4 million U.S. users but probably will explode with the current offer. Google also is expected to announce a fuller-featured VoIP service integrating its purchase of Gizmo5 last year. In fact, part of the Google Voice setup also includes a link to “Gizmo” SIP services…

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