SXSWEdu: We Need Your Vote!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve submitted two panel proposals to SXSWEdu. We’ve lined up some great speakers, and can’t wait to share their insights with you.

So we need your help! Please take a couple of minutes to register at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com – it’s free and easy! Learn more about the panels that we’ve proposed below, and then vote for us – it’s that simple.

Our panels:

Apps with Impact in the Digital Wild West
In a knowledge-based, global economy, knowing how to read well is more important than ever, and yet a large majority of the coming generation — two-thirds of America’s children — are leaving elementary and middle schools with distressingly weak reading skills.  And, unfortunately tens of billions of dollars have been spent on reading intervention programs in the past decade with little measurable impact. Can new technologies be a game changer? Although well-developed apps hold the potential to both engage and educate struggling learners, very few have tamed the market.   This panel discussion will explore pathways to pioneering smart, curated distribution systems and new revenue models.  Leaders from the research, distribution, app creation and education frontiers will share their own successes and failures and answer questions from the audience. See more and vote.

Lost in Translation: Applying the Latest Research
?The gaming industry has grown to be a $65 billion-a-year industry, with products ranging from traditional arcade-style shooter games to increasingly complex tools for learning and education. Although games have made their way into classrooms and informal learning outlets for decades, funders and producers are often left to their own devices when trying to meet the needs of teachers and students. Research that could benefit new work too often remains trapped in scholarly journals, accessible to only other researchers. How can the important studies make their way into the decisions made by game developers and the funders who support them? Drawing on the unique perspectives from investment, game creation and education experts, this panel will extract in real time the important takeaways from a new piece of research. We will kick off with a video interview of the report’s author, discuss the specific study, provide tips for translating future research and open discussion to the audience.? See more and vote.