Blue Sky Alternative Investments — Wednesday, September 30, 2015Math Curriculum Provider Receives Major Investment To Boost Presence in U.S. MarketSt. Charles, MO. (Sept. 30, 2015) – Blue Sky Alternative Investments (ASX:BLA) has stamped the education-technology sector as one to watch after securing a multi-million dollar stake in ORIGO Education through its private equity division.“ORIGO Education is leading the market in innovative learning,” stated Lachlan McMurdo, investment director for Blue Sky Private Equity. “The key competitive advantage lies in the high quality of their resources, written by an expert team of authors. Educators worldwide seek out ORIGO’s founders because of the impressive intellectual property they have developed over the years.”The capital investment will enable the company to increase research and development across its existing suite of products. ORIGO creates resources that empower teachers, engage students, and promote a deep level of mathematical understanding. Its elementary mathematics solutions are tailored to local curricula through cloud-based digital products. ORIGO has won several long-term contracts over the past two years, boosting revenue by 400 percent in 2014. The company’s core product, Stepping Stones, is used in over 100 school districts across the US including three of the top 50 largest – reaching half-a-million students. “The fact prominent school districts have selected ORIGO’s products over other established education publishers has strengthened our reputation both in the U.S. and internationally,” said James Burnett, co-founder of ORIGO Education. “ORIGO’s successful expansion in the massive U.S. market is proof of the global scalability of the business. Its recurring revenue base gives us and our investors a great deal of confidence,” said McMurdo. The K-5 math instructional materials market in the U.S. alone is worth $1.3 billion in revenue each year, according to research by the investment firm. “We are excited about the opportunities this partnership brings,” said Burnett. “Our expanded capacity will drive the development of products and services that disrupt the status quo to positively impact students in the classroom. It will also equip us with the resources to cultivate new territories and product markets, and gain widespread adoption of our core curriculum.” To learn more about ORIGO Stepping Stones, visit .About ORIGO Education ORIGO Education covers all facets of elementary mathematics education, from traditional printed products to digital interactive resources and professional learning. ORIGO’s web-based curriculum, Stepping Stones, is a comprehensive, core mathematics curriculum for grades K–5. The technology-rich program blends online resources with traditional printed materials, resulting in a classroom that is engaged and provides differentiated learning. Professional development videos are embedded within the online program, giving teachers the confidence and knowledge they need to be successful. For more information about Stepping Stones, visit .
R ob Kingyens, President and CEO of Qubed, discusses how they have incorporated globally recognized brands with top-tier universities to develop unique educational experiences. Qubed has been recognized as a leading technology company shaking up the education industry. Kingyens, along with nearly 900 participants, including some 250 global education companies, was in New York for the BMO Capital Markets 15th Annual Back to School Education Conference. Dr. Berger, in collaboration with MindRocket Media Group and edCircuit captured views from business leaders to investors taking a look behind the scenes of investment in education and technology.
Photo credit: Martin Jacobsenby Lyndsey LaytonTeachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies — most of the nation’s nearly 4 million K-12 teachers — would be eligible for a permanent tax credit of up to $250 annually for unreimbursed expenses, under a bill passed by the House Ways and Means committee on Thursday.Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post.
by Juan Perez, Jr.In an effort to put an end to a hunger strike and protests that have upended two public hearings this week, Chicago Public Schools on Thursday announced that Dyett High School will open in the fall of next year as an “open enrollment, arts-focused neighborhood high school.”Read the rest of the story at the Chicago Tribune.
Photo credit: U.S. Department of Educationby Lyndsey LaytonOn day 17 without food, two of the dozen Chicago activists on a hunger strike over a city high school traveled to Washington to ask Education Secretary Arne Duncan for help. Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post.
I t’s that time again, and the numbers behind this year’s back-to-school season offer insights into both educational and business trends.How many students and teachers are going back to school?The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has just released its Fast Facts for Back to School 2015.
Photo credit: ccarlsteadby Eric HooverWhen Jon Erickson joined the ACT, in 1984, the college-admissions process was not yet a front-page fixation. These days, he can’t go to a dinner party without anxious parents asking him to explain the secret recipe for conquering the ACT and getting into a big-name college.Read the rest of the story at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
by Howard Pitler, Ed.D.”The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.” — Anatole France, French novelist, 1844-1924There is much discussion in education these days about teaching curiosity. From my observation as a teacher, administrator, and most importantly, a grandfather, I think we are looking at curiosity through the wrong lens. The question to me isn’t “How can we teach curiosity?” but rather, “What can we do in schools to stop killing curiosity?”This realization came to me recently while watching my two grandsons, ages 2 and 4. I bought a toy for the 4-year-old that was labeled for ages 5 and up. It was a small foam rocket that was to be put on a launcher tube and then launched by air pressure created by squeezing a bulb. The 4-year-old took the toy and experimented with different ways to put it together and make it work, and sure enough, after a few minutes he had it totally under control and the foam dart shot across the patio. Next, the 2-year-old wanted a turn. He took the parts of the toy and tried different ways to put them together to make it work. No one told him he was too young for the toy, read him the manual, or told him his solution wasn’t the “right” one. The end result was success on his part. He was soon launching rockets and running after them.Curiosity is the way children learn everything from crawling, walking, riding a bike, or climbing on the monkey bars. Along the way there are surely false starts, stumbles, and bruises. Eventually the skill is learned and later, mastered.What would it look like if we taught a toddler to walk the way we teach math or science procedures in school? First, we would talk with the child about the steps in walking and have them pass a quiz on the fundamentals of walking. Toddlers who didn’t pass the quiz would be moved back to remedial crawling, likely at the expense of music or art time. Next, we would have them actually try walking with some assistance a few times. After that, of course, is the independent practice. This practice would be done in the child’s room as homework without guidance. If the toddler was able to walk the next day he or she would be rewarded and begin running practice. If the toddler could not walk independently he or she would be reprimanded and then also moved on to running. The assembly line waits for no one.Nurturing the natural curiosity of all learners should be job one for every teacher. A glance at the Framework for 21st Century Learning shows the 4Cs: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity. The 4Cs are built on an underlying foundation of curiosity. Why does ______ do that? How can I _____? Is there a better way to ____? I propose a three-step process to help build a curious classroom.Step one – Begin with the question. A classroom that encourages curiosity is one in which a variety of different strategies are encouraged. “Can you think of another way to ____?” “What might happen if ____?” Start with a question that is interesting and might not have a clear and simple answer. A good question should have what George Loewenstein, professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University referred to as an “information gap.” Loewenstein wrote, “The information-gap theory views curiosity as arising when attention becomes focused on a gap in one’s knowledge. Such information gaps produce the feeling of deprivation labeled curiosity. The curious individual is motivated to obtain the missing information to reduce or eliminate the feeling of deprivation.”Step two – Ensure foundational knowledge. There needs to be some basic knowledge from which to build. It’s hard to be curious about something of which the learner has zero knowledge. As soon as we know something however, our curiosity increases and we want to know more. We want to branch out and look at other possibilities. Loewenstein refers to this as “priming the pump.” He writes, “Because curiosity is more likely to occur and will tend to be stronger as information is accumulated, interest, in effect, primes the pump of curiosity.Step three – Communicate and collaborate. While some innovations and creations are made in isolation, it is generally helpful to talk with others to work on the question, pose a variety of solutions, and problem-solve together. In the classroom, cooperative learning is an excellent vehicle for this kind of communication and collaboration.As educators are planning their instruction, keep in mind the words of Albert Einstein – “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.” While he referenced science, this idea is not content dependent.The opinions contained here are solely those of Howard Pitler.Howard Pitler, Ed.D. is an author of Classroom Instruction that Works, 2nd ed., Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, and A Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works, 2nd ed. He has worked with teachers and administrators internationally for over a decade to improve outcomes for kids. He was named a National Distinguished Principal be NAESP and is an Apple Distinguished Educator. He can be reached at hpitler@gmail.com, on Twitter at @hpitler, or on his website, www.hpitler.com.
It’s not often that one comes across two articles in the same day that put the reader into a surreal mindset. But today I am stuck in that literary “Twilight Zone.”The first story appeared August 7 in The Onion, the widely-read satirical “news source.” It’s titled, “New Statewide Education Standards Require Teachers To Forever Change Lives Of 30% Of Students.”