innovation-conference-clips

The 4 short clips that wowed during education’s hottest innovation conference


Education expert Casey Green teams up with eCampus News to interview some of higher education’s leading trailblazers in sustainable, scalable and successful programs during innovation conference.

“These are not infomercials,” is perhaps the best way to describe the reinvented interview lineup recently part of ASU GSV 2016’s Innovation Conference Summit held in San Diego April 18-20, said Casey Green, host of the interactive interviews and founding director of Campus Computing—the largest continuing study of eLearning and information technology in American higher education.

In what could be considered a remodel of the education conference to reflect the disruptive change occurring throughout K-12 and higher education, ASU GSV’s Innovation Summit hosted a diverse mix of educators, corporate executives, public officials, education entrepreneurs, and foundation officials—and Green, in partnership with eCampus News, was there to capture the invaluable advice and thought leadership from some of the most notable attendees.

Here, you’ll find a sample of the interviews recently conducted during the innovation conference, as well as a brief description of some of the topics discussed. For even more interviews (more will be added to the current list as we receive the archived versions), go to: http://www.ecampusnews.com/asugsvsummit/

[Listed in alphabetical order by interviewee]

1.Why it’s critical for institutions to get away from the “just a project” mentality

In his interview with Dan Greenstein, director postsecondary success, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Green delves into how colleges and universities can successfully transition from pilot and small programs and projects to large-scale implementations. He also asks Greenstein what makes some projects successful and sustainable versus those that don’t make it past a year or two.

“What we’ve found in working with institutions that are at-scale with innovative and successful programs is that those who find the most success are those that realize these aren’t ‘projects,’ but critical components to the institution’s and students’ success—the ‘project’ or ‘projects’ aren’t one-offs or scattered pieces outside of a whole, but rather part of the overall strategic institutional objective to improve outcomes and retention,” said Greenstein. “We’ve also noticed that institutions that have been trying to implement innovation for 5 to 10 years have staff at the ground-level speak in terms leadership often uses; and that’s a great indicator of sustainability and a deep infrastructure in place for innovation-based successes.”

(Next page: Innovation conference interviews 2-4)

2.Innovation as faculty-designed and student-centric

Speaking in-depth with Dr. Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University (ASU), Green delves into the secret sauce behind ASU’s dramatic success in some of the most important areas of higher education today: enrollment, retention and garnering research funding.

“It’s really an overall culture change,” explained Crow. “We have a massive diversification of our student body, representative of the entire socio-economic distribution in our area. We also have a faculty-designed, but student-centric, culture that truly allows us to alter strategies for better outcomes. We ask ourselves the question ‘Why are we here? Are we here to feed ourselves or to be transformative on a social scale?’ The commitment from faculty to be transformative on the social scale is imperative and we have it—we call them super faculty, because they are the designers of the institution and are free from academic bureaucracy common on other campuses.”

Green also delved into why some institutions are doing better than others in terms of strengthening enrollment and retention, and Crow delivers an enlightening response.

3.The role of today’s conference as a catalyst for innovation

Ron Reed, founder of SXSWEDU, says most of SXSWEDU’s success comes from the ability to converge a diverse audience that’s passionate about teaching and learning.

“SXSW is about creativity, innovation and cultural drivers. SXSWEDU just completed its sixth event and we aspire to be an international convergence zone of those passionate about teaching and learning, both in K-12 and higher education. The more diverse the community we convene, the more impactful the conversations.”

Green also asks Reed some audience questions, including “what’s a ‘big wow’ you’ve witnessed during SXSW events?” And though there are some big names Reed could drop, it’s one organization’s name that has exploded within educational technology that he says he’s most excited to discuss, thanks to its recent traction in the education realm.

4.On why education’s perceived problems aren’t like paving a new highway

As Green cites recent policy briefs that chide education for not improving quickly enough for the general public’s approval, Ted Mitchell, Under Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education, discusses why systemic change and improving student learning outcomes aren’t quick fixes—and where the real solutions might lie.

“These are systemic systems you’re talking about with huge numbers of moving parts, things like family dynamics, social systems, et cetera. So looking  at broad reform in education within a linear model is tough. It’s not just give us your money and we can repave this highway and then the problem is fixed; though, many in education seem to think the solution does lie within a single-point solution on a linear path (e.g. professional development). The problem is, however, that when you focus on a single point, every other aspect tends to drop away! Also, there’s the mentality that a problem addressed means that it’s forever solved. I think there’s real hope in the change management model, where the focus is not on ‘fixing,’ but keeping eyes on what’s going on around you. This model focuses on agility, iteration, evidence, gathering data, and refining practice, and I believe it has real promise.”

Green goes on to ask Mitchell whether or not education is really using data to its full advantage.

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