C&B Notes

David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale University, recently shared his vision of a radically different future for higher education.  We have explored this subject in some detail in a past quarterly letter, and the harsh realities of…

The rate of non-performance among federally guaranteed student loans is staggering. Despite protestations by agency officials that the overall portfolio is in good shape, the federal government seems almost certain to realize principal losses on this loan book. More than 40%…

We recently shared an article where the author took academic journals and pop science media outlets for a ride.  Of course, the journals are not the only ones responding with poor behavior to the underlying economic incentives.  Academics have long…

In an effort to improve its attractiveness against both larger state schools and more prestigious smaller colleges, Kalamazoo College (among a handful of others) began publishing test results purporting to demonstrate what its graduates had learned during their time in…

Ubiquitous touch interfaces, wide-spread broadband access, and easy-to-buy and download apps are a potent combination for creating and promoting new and interesting ways to learn.  This trend is opening up challenging material to varied learning styles.  A compelling example is…

Clintondale High School, just outside of Detroit, is giving the flipped classroom idea a real-world test. In many instances, teachers at the school are recording their own lessons to broadcast to students. Ultimately, we suspect that best-in-breed content will provide…

The story of Battushig Myanganbayar, a 17-year-old Mongolian, highlights how Massive Open Online Courses provide widespread, global access to previously unavailable educational opportunities (the wireless infrastructure that enable all of this is increasingly important, as well).  Interestingly, the approach used to…

Alongside their teachers, students in a Paraguayan slum are reclaiming garbage to make musical instruments.  The results are cellos made from oil cans and violins crafted from scavenged wood, all played by the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra. Landfill Harmonic- The world…

College degrees were not overly important a century ago, and that situation could recur.  If technology-enabled content providers can offer higher education at a significantly lower cost and if users can demonstrate proficiency without a degree, the lower end of…

After-hour tutoring programs in Korea are meritocracies that have, by most indications, vastly improved the country’s academic performance.  This story highlights how teachers are using the internet to distribute lessons and enhance their earnings, a trend we suspect will eventually transform education in the U.S. Kim Ki-hoon earns…

Dr. Clayton Christensen, professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, discusses disrupting innovation in education.

Massively open online courses (MOOCs) are increasingly disrupting traditional secondary education.  We follow this shift in learning closely, and Thomas Friedman recently weighed in with some telling anecdotes: I was picked up at Logan Airport by my old friend Michael…