The GSV Big 10: Of Course...
Trump's Green Cards, Louisiana's 18 new laws, Chick-fil-A's summer camp...
This Week’s People Moves in Education
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Stephen DiStasio: Huron ➡️ Nearpod, Group Technical Product Manager
Harpreet Matharoo: CAD Microsolutions Inc. ➡️ Coursera, Senior Machine Learning Scientist
Brittany Wilson: Learnexus | HQ for Learning Leaders ➡️ Imagine Learning, Customer Success Manager
Kevin Lustgarten: Unspoken App ➡️ Duolingo, Senior Software Engineer (iOS)
Justin Krasner-Karpen: Sown To Grow ➡️ Study.com, Software Engineer
The Big 10:
As CEO of Coursera, Jeff runs the largest learning platform in the world with 142 million students. My conversation with Jeff includes Coursera’s evolving business model and opportunities, COVID's lasting effects on online education, remote work, and the global labor market, generative AI as both a threat and opportunity for Coursera, plus key initiatives and future predictions.
Bonus: Listen to Tom Vander Ark’s thoughts on the interview here.
Disclosure: GSV is an investor in Coursera.
For decades, America’s higher education system has been a magnet for talent from around the globe. Making it easy to stay here post-graduation to be productive members of society seems like a no-brainer. President Trump’s proposal should not be controversial – and if it is, it’s because of the messenger, not the message.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Universities of all shapes and sizes are feeling the headwinds of a student customer base questioning the return on investment…in terms of both money and time. Technical schools are thriving, and liberal arts schools are feeling more pain. Currently, there are two college closures per month – this does not yet feel like a tidal wave, but our sense is that we will see an acceleration of this trend.
We’re not Constitutional scholars, and we do respect the principle of the separation of church and state. It does appear, however, that our society needs to have a foundation of values upon which to build the future. We’ll stay away from the specifics on this one, however, we will boldly state that the silver bullet for all of this is love. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, which includes caring about our neighbors’ children’s education, should be non-controversial.
“Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.” Leviticus 19:18 ✡️
“Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31 ✝️
“Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others that which you wish for yourself.” Hadith ☪️
“This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you.” Mahabharata 5, 1517 🕉️
The river of human capital flows to opportunity. But increasingly, it avoids ports that are contrary to its values. Whether you agree or disagree with the expressed points of view, it doesn’t matter because workers are voting with their feet. Mission alignment – combining purpose and profits – is the future of work.
America’s first-ever charter school opened its doors in my homeland – the great state of Minnesota – in 1991. For most of the last 30 years, school choice has been a growing undercurrent. Today, the waves are powerful forces that are changing the education landscape as we know it. In a country where we can’t agree on what day of the week it is, school choice enjoys a 75% approval rating among Americans. a
🎥 Bonus: Condoleezza Rice nails it
Anybody who has been to a private club knows you can’t use your cell phone out in the open. Schools are now joining this movement, albeit for different reasons. Improving mental health, reducing distractions, and reducing bullying are all good reasons for the change. Nearly every K-12 student in America today was born a digital native…this effort will be like fighting gravity. The nuance between “always on” and total device erasure will be crucial. Threading the needle will allow students to leverage the supercomputers in their pockets for good and to be more present in class.
Mike Rowe backs Chick-fil-A's $35 skills summer camp that was slammed as 'child labor': 'God bless them' | Fox Business
Many of us received some of our best education from summer jobs. For me, that was mowing lawns, filling potholes, and selling advertisements to be placed on stadium seat cushions (don’t laugh, that one was actually pretty lucrative). Why? Because these jobs teach life skills. Chick-fil-A’s summer camp is designed to provide kids with real experiences but is controversial because critics say it takes advantage of these young people. Despite the pushback, the camp sold out in seven minutes.
ETS created a formidable franchise in selling picks and shovels to the miners as higher education was on a 100-year growth cycle. They have faced a variety of challenges as of late, caused by both a shift in demand and the loss of some of their key products. When the gold became scarce, Levi Strauss was able to pivot to selling jeans to a broader audience – he was not concerned about whether or not they’d strike gold, but he wanted to give them durable workwear that would help them get the job done. We are rooting for ETS in its effort to shift its knowledge and skillsets in accordance with the rapidly evolving market.
Led by our friend Sunny Varkey, GEMS is one of the largest and most prestigious private school systems in the World. Partnering with Brookfield seems to be a match made in heaven, combining Brookfield’s real estate prowess with Varkey Group’s uncanny ability to deliver innovative education services. GEMS’ headquarters in Dubai provides it with access to over two-thirds of the global population within a 6-hour flight.
BONUS: “EIEIO” is now available as a weekly mini-podcast | Dash Media
Our newsletter is now available as a weekly mini-podcast! No matter the topic, I promise you'll learn something new in each episode. Check it out, follow the show, and leave us a review if you enjoy it. Each episode is read aloud by Michael - not me, but "Michael" from ElevenLabs.