What happens in Austin, gets posted on EdSurge.
Thousands of entrepreneurs, educators and investors will be packing their bags later this week for the “weird” city of Austin for SXSWedu on March 3-6. PR folks are furiously hammering emails, trying to set up meetings for their clients.
This year, one of the edtech industry’s trendiest gatherings will occupy two floors of the Hilton in downtown Austin. Last year, an estimated 5,000 showed up from across the country.
The EdSurge gang will be there in full force. You can catch a couple of us onstage, caffeinated, copacetic and candid at the following sessions:
Betsy Corcoran:
-
How Media Shapes Your Perception of Technology (March 5, 9:00 AM) with Anya Kamenetz (Fast Company), Louis Soares (American Council on Education) and Paul Fain (Inside Higher Ed) #HigherEdNext
- Women: Disruptors of Education (March 5, 3:00 PM) with Deborah Quazzo (GSV Advisors), Jessie Woolley-Wilson (DreamBox), and Lynda Weinman (Lynda.com) #eduwomen
Tony Wan:
- When Does “EdTech” Just Become Education? (March 6, 10:30 AM) with Idit Harel Caperton (Globaloria) and Jaime Casap (Google Education)
Then again, if talk is what you want, talk is what you'll get. With as many as 15 simultaneous panels and presentations at any given time, picking the right one can be a bit of a doozy. Here are ones on our radar. Add your favorites in comments below. And see ya' in Austin!
Join us Monday Night
Oh! and if you will be in town Monday night, join us, HireEducation, Ed-Invent, and Startup Weekend Education as we sponsor a fun night of craft beer, wine, spirits, and ping pong! As if free cocktails and table games with some cool Ed Tech cats isn't enough, you can win a chance to have HireEducation donate a bicycle to World Bicycle Relielf* in your name. All the details here.
Monday
1:00 PM Investing in Education Innovation 2.0: The lively bantering between Alex Hernandez, Tom Vander Ark and the audience about the moneyflow in edtech was one of the best well-received last year.
1:30 PM Reign of Error: The Danger of Privatizing Schools: When Diane Ravitch speaks, many teachers listen. Some of the corporate, reform-minded elements of this conference are sure to ruffle her feathers.
3:00 PM The Competitive Advantage of Teacher Leadership: How do edtech companies create leaders--and not just users--out of the teachers that they work with?
5:30 PM Startup Showcase: A special mixer that spotlights emerging education startups at SXSWedu.
Tuesday
9:00 AM NOLA: A Haven for Ed Startups: Everything you need to know about ‘Naw’leans.
10:00 AM The LAUNCHedu Competition Lightning Round
10:30 AM Surviving the Digital Zombie Apocalypse: The name says it all! Don’t let technology eat your brain.
12:00 PM Data, Lies and Videotape: Busting #EdData Myths: Amidst the hubbub over student data privacy, what’s really being stored and transmitted? What are the different roles that states, companies and parents play in safeguarding data?
Wednesday
9:00 AM A Liberal, Two Geniuses & Sir Knewton Walk Into a…: Jose Ferreira has pretty much trademarked the term “adaptive learning.” Michelle Rhee continues to stir up the education landscape--and quite a bit of controversy along the way.
12:00 PM There Are No Silver Bullets in Education: The solo presentation by Teach for America CEO comes at a time of increasingly vocal opposition to the organization led by college students and alums.
Thursday
ALL DAY LONG: The SXSW-edu Playground, a celebration of innovative pursuits in maker, STEM education, gaming, the arts and more.
9:00 AM Delivering on the Promise of Learning Games: The first graduates of Zynga.org’s and NewSchools’ co.lab incubator will show how fun and games isn’t a joke.
