Welcome to way-too-cold San Diego. As a trio here from Britain, we expected sunshine and look forward to welcoming some anytime.
We’ve traveled from Learnit in London to bring back some insights to share with our 100,000-strong community of global educator leaders. We are also here alongside our partners at ASU+GSV to bring you highlights from the conference, often with our tongue lodged firmly in our cheek.
Day one of the conference required reactivating conference muscle memory: how to race between sessions, eat on the go, meet 100 people and remember some fraction of their names, and absorb some of the stellar content on offer. We are all a bit out of shape, which makes the experience both wonderful and slightly overwhelming. Key themes on day one included the importance of tackling climate change, the messy edtech market, the importance of relationships in learning, and Web 3, which, to some of us, is still a bit hazy (but we know is Very Important).
A highlight for us was a panel Paul LeBlanc, President and CEO of Southern New Hampshire University, held with students about what flexible and relevant higher ed looks and feels like. When he asked what having a college degree meant to the soon-to-be-graduates, Brittney Mercado said “I’m walking with confidence. You can see it at work and you can see it here. If you had given me the opportunity to speak here two years ago, I would have said thanks but no thanks. Everything for me has improved.”
John Doerr, founder of Kleiner Perkins, laid out a plan to tackle climate change. He discussed the importance of OKRs (objectives and key results), laid out the five traits of successful founders and lamented investing in Fisker over Tesla (he’s had a few pretty good investments including Google, Amazon and Coursera).
Divya Golkunath, cofounder of edtech giant BYJU’S did not disclose details about the company’s announced IPO, but did confirm the timing is in the next 12 months. She also said we should not worry about BYJU’S scale of acquisitions because they are partnerships.
At a “A Fierce Panel on Well-Being for Success in Learning and Life”, D Nigel Green basically got a standing ovation after introducing himself, which then set off a flurry of support, affirmation and energy for other panelists (note to attendees: cheer loudly and more cheering will follow). Marc Brackett, director of Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, said the emotions students most feel are tired, bored and stressed but what they want to feel is inspired and to feel inspired they want school to be more relevant and meaningful. Patrick Cook-Deegan, founder and CEO of Wayfinder clarified that students are “not overwhelmed by stress they are overwhelmed by meaningless.” The Center for Emotional Intelligence will be releasing an app in the next two months called “How we Feel” which uses emotion science to track 144 emotions, attach them to what students are doing and feeling and help coach them toward more positive emotions.
To the question “has edtech delivered on its promise to improve access and equity?” Nirmit Parikh, founder and CEO of Apna.co said no, Chandra Pemmasani, CEO and founder of UWorld said “in places”, Jamie Candee, CEO of Edmentum said “not yet” an Martin Basiri, cofounder and CEO of ApplyBoard offered a plaintive “we’re trying.” Parikh said the funding market was more discerning and there was still plenty of money for good ideas. He was optimistic valuations would bounce back.
A panel with Arne Duncan, former secretary of education and managing partner of Chicago CRED and Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education concurred now was the the time for ‘leapfrogging’ - using innovations to accelerate learning and close equity gaps; Duncan said the biggest obstacle wasn't figuring it out—”it's not rocket science”— but the courage of adults in society to do it. Winthrop encouraged everyone to adopt a leapfrogging mindset.
Gautam Tambay co-founder of Springboard argued that talent, learning and reskilling “have become CEO topics” which would lead to more investment and more demand on ROI from said investments. Amanda Nolen, cofounder of NilesNolen, and the moderator of the session cautioned that TikTok recently fired their entire L&D department in one go in January so being front and center may have downsides.
Vivek Murthy received a standing ovation Monday evening. He said that one positive from the pandemic was that it led people to rethink their priorities. “For too long, we have been pursuing metrics and success that don’t lead to happiness. The question that we have now is do we have the courage to build a different society, one that centers on relationships and real human connection?”
What everyone is talking about
In a session about bringing Web 3 to the next billion people, panelists discussed how to make NFTs an equitable industry and why so much free content is not changing more lives. We understood about half of that.
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This is a special edition of the Learnit Memo produced for attendees at ASU-GSV. The Learnit Memo provides a neat summary of global education news, keeping you up to date without wasting your time. Delivered to your inbox on a weekly basis, sign up to receive on an ongoing basis.
ICYMI
At the school visits, Sarah Cunnane got some killer stock market tips (buy the Russian dip) while wondering how Isaiah knew so much more than she did about the market. Isaiah is a fifth grader. On his advice, she will be investing in gold.
Also, the investment opportunity you don’t want to miss out on is Megabird: part bird, part cat, part googly eyes, all genius. It is the invention of a team of Cajon Valley fourth graders. Megabird reduces stress when squeezed.
Activities
ASU+GSV Bingo. Place a pencil (or mobile phone, since this is an edtech conference) on each square when you hear it during panels. If playing late, make it a drinking game.
Tweet of the Day
Enjoying this email?
This is a special edition of the Learnit Memo produced for attendees at ASU-GSV. The Learnit Memo provides a neat summary of global education news, keeping you up to date without wasting your time. Delivered to your inbox on a weekly basis, sign up to receive on an ongoing basis.
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