The GSV Big 10: Live From Tempe...It's ASU!

#1 Innovator at Scale: Ed on the Edge | Lev Gonick | Dash Media 

Ok, ok, ok. We know we give a lot of attention to our partners at ASU. But it’s because they’re doing the coolest things on the Planet in education. Our friend Lev Gonick joins Ed on the Edge to talk about all things ASU innovation. As President Crow shared in his interview, ASU’s magic has been embracing and integrating technology into the learning experience, not shying away from it. Lev’s mission is to make that vision a reality…tune in to hear how he pulls it off.

#2 Ep. 571 – Michael Crow - The Axe Files with David Axelrod | Podcast on CNN Audio 

Axe goes from advising 44 to interviewing 16 at ASU. Michael Crow is nothing if not courageous. His life story is fascinating and unique, and has helped drive his passion to build the New American University. Elite shouldn’t mean exclusivity…it should mean excellence. The goal of ASU is how many people they can give quality education to achieve scale impact. 

#3 Biden Calls for Teacher Pay Raises, Expanded Pre-K in State of the Union 

The cynic inside us rolls our eyes when we hear President Biden’s proposal to increase teacher pay as a transparent way to buy votes. But, the reality is to have great schools, we need great teachers, and great teachers need to be paid in accordance with their importance to society and our future. So hear, hear for increasing teacher’s pay, as long as it's aligned with student outcomes and school choice for all students. 

#4 Accenture to Acquire EdTech Leader Udacity to Accelerate Capabilities of Accenture LearnVantage | Accenture Newsroom

At its core, consulting firms are education companies…they help their clients learn how to be most effective. Give Accenture credit for being opportunistic when Mr. Market was providing a very inexpensive gift in Udacity. In a knowledge economy and a global marketplace, your education makes a difference for an individual, company, and a country. The trend of reskilling and upskilling makes this a very interesting move.

 #5 Inkitt, the self-publishing platform using AI to develop bestsellers, nabs $37M | TechCrunch 

Reading is the original form of entertainment and education. A platform that makes writing a bestseller as easy as posting on YouTube will be incredibly disruptive to learning. 

#6 Unlocking GenAI in the Enterprise: Our Investment in Ema | Accel

Everyone got an AI intern over the past 18 months…in the next 18 months, they might have an actual AI employee. Ema is Accel and Prosus’ horse in the race to create a Gen AI coworker that’s as natural as a human employee. Just like autonomous driving, the last 1% of skill might take as long as the first 99%, but a proficient knowledge worker at a fraction of the cost will be incredibly disruptive. An AI worker doesn’t need to pee, sleep, or get sick. 

#7 Sal Khan Has Big Dreams for AI in Education. Are They Too Big? | WSJ 

The extraordinary results of Bloom’s 2 Sigma Problem have been education’s holy grail for 40 years, but a recent study shows that maybe those gains are overstated. Sal was early to recognize the power of YouTube as a learning platform, and he’s in a similar position with AI. Accuracy will come with time, but the most important fundamental is engagement.

#8 Google’s Deal With Stack Overflow Is the Latest Proof That AI Giants Will Pay for Data | WIRED 

Second Life for Stack Overflow? Google continues its Training Data spending spree by buying access to Stack Overflow’s training data. The question here for Stack Overflow is if selling data to the superscalers will be a one-time way to “patch the holes on a sinking ship” or create a durable stream of recurring revenue. Time will tell. 

#9 Parents’ rights, yes. But parent responsibilities, too | kappanonline.org 

Rick Hess and Michael McShane hit the nail on the head again. When Terry McAuliffe told Glenn Youngkin that he didn’t “think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” it empowered Republicans to connect with frustrated parents and pursue education innovation. Education is a partnership between schools and families, and teachers and students. Like any partnership, each party needs to show integrity, honesty, and transparency. 

#10 Elitism in Higher Ed: A Conversation with Ryan Craig

Scott Pulsipher and Ryan Craig sit down for a conversation on what the “elite” (aka exclusive) schools miss and what a truly excellent American university could look like. Just look at Canada’s top university, the University of Toronto, as an example. The college is the country’s largest with 65,000 students, and Canadian students are 10 times more likely to gain admission to a top university than US students.