Mastery Connect Makes Common Core Easier for Teachers and Parents

Teachers may soon see a rush of new apps for the iPad and iPhone that will parse all the difficult language and standards of the Common Core appendices and provide it for them in an easy to use format.

And the popular Khan Academy videos, which are not linked to any standards at the moment, are being linked to standards through deliberations and conversations currently with Mastery Connect, according to Mick Hewitt, a team member at the company.

Hot on the heels of the 1,400 downloads for its Common Core concepts apps released over Memorial Day weekend, Mastery Connect is launching an app update at the iTunes platform that will make all of this easier for teachers and parents, says Mick Hewitt. I’ve asked Mr. Hewitt to list some of the compelling cases for this new app here.

Here is what he had to say.

Filed under: Digital Learning, Influence, Video, Common Core Standards, IPhone, Joel Klein, Khan Academy, Teacher

Breanne Hull: CEO & Founder, Educlone

Educlone has not launched yet, but Breanne Hull is relentlessly working the phones and talking to teachers. She runs Educlone, which promises to be an online video sharing tool for teachers and their drive to share and create curriculum.

Here is an interview that I did with her a couple of weeks back. Travel and family obligations kept me from publishing this, but it’s worth a good read.  Her description of her company is very interesting, and it comes with some pointed comments about vendors and the role they play in a teacher’s professional life. It comes at the end, so read through.

Filed under: Digital Learning, Influence, Tech, Video, E-learning, edtech, education, educlone, entrepreneurs, learning, social media, Teacher, technology

Y-Combinator of Education Receives 40 Applications in First Week

Hoping to build on a rise in tech investment and a shift in cultural attitudes about how education is delivered in this country, Geoff Ralston, co-founder of Y-Combinator education investment clone ImagineK12 says that his incubator has received 40 new applications for startup ventures since they opened shop.

Read more to see the notes from the interview:

Filed under: Digital Learning, Influence, Tech, digital learning, Geoff Ralston, incubators, k12, public education, QuestBridge, social learning, students, Teacher, technology, Tim Brady, Y Combinator

Lisa Graham Keegan: President, Education Breakthrough Network

I like to call up education leaders and ask them what they are thinking right now; it’s kind of a live version of a blog post. Today I talked to Lisa Graham Keegan, President at Education Breakthrough Network. The question was, “What are we going to do with teachers, who seem to be caught in the middle of political and budgetary fights that limit their ability to express innovative ideas and implement them?” Here is what she said.

Filed under: Influence, Work, Diane Ravitch, Education Breakthrough Network, KCRW, Lisa Graham Keegan, School choice, Teacher