PierreAntoine Ullmo

Tag: innovation

  • A samba school for education entrepreneurs

    Learning the Samba ypcofnyc.blogspot.com
    Learning the Samba
    ypcofnyc.blogspot.com

    One of the many lessons learnt from the first round of Open Education Challenge applications has to do with our responsibility to sustain and widen an education entrepreneurship community.

    Why not exclusively proceed with the selection of the ‘10 best European startups’ and just work with them as planned?

    Having received 611 applications has made the OEC much more than a ‘competition’. The 611 entrepreneurs from 74 countries that submitted a project in less than 2 months send a powerful message: education entrepreneurship exists! This powerful movement can’t be seen as an extension of the ‘traditional’ startup incubators. It should be one of the main drivers of change for our education systems.

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  • Pierre, Mathieu, Xavier and the others: How old are the web talents?

    Founders of Openclassrooms: Mathieu Nebra and Pierre Dubuc
    Founders of Openclassrooms: Mathieu Nebra and Pierre Dubuc (credit : Julien Faure / REA)

    Are you too old to go to school? Are you too young to innovate?

    Pierre Dubuc and Mathieu Nebra, co-founders of Openclassrooms, created their first start-up when they were 11 years old (although they had to wait until they turned 18 to register it). They are now one of the main publishers of MOOCs for web skills in French. Xavier Fontanet, on the other hand, started selling his strategy courses for entrepreneurs on the Apple app store at the age of 64, and made them into digital bestsellers.

    Innovation in education is very simple: it is about sharing the right knowledge with the right people using the right tools. It is not about age. (more…)

  • WhatsLearn vs. WhatsApp

    $19bn for a smile

    $19 bn for a smile (credit – WhatsApp)

     

    Is learning worth $19 billion?

    Facebook just bought WhatsApp for $19 billion. Insane, isn’t it? Is chatting worth $19 billion? Is the possibility of sending a two word message (often badly spelled) worth $19 billion? Is a collection of emoticons really worth $19 billion?

    WhatsApp converted a very simple idea – of sending and receiving messages – into a huge social and financial success. 500 million individuals depend on WhatsApp to remain connected to their beloved, their friends and their colleagues. Why? Because being in touch is essential to our lives.

    And what about learning? Isn’t it that essential to our lives? (more…)

  • In education also, users come first!

    Panel discussion
    Panel discussion with Pierre-Antoine Ullmo, P.A.U. Education, Spain; Johannes Heinlein, EdX, USA; Andrew Ng, Coursera, USA; Simon Nelson, FutureLearn, UK at the EMOOCs 2014 conference.

    The most retweeted tweet of the EMOOCs 2014 conference was from Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera: “We hope to get to that future where students that’re so hungry, so eager, so desperate to get an education can get one.” (more…)

  • First lessons from the Open Education Challenge

    transforming education
    Transforming education. © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com

    Graham Attwell makes an interesting review of the Open Education Challenge in his blog. He rightly questions the meaning of our phrase: “All projects are welcome; the only condition is that they must contribute to transforming education”.

    What do we mean by transforming education? I would suggest three things:

    –          Trusting enough in the individual talents of teachers, educators, researchers and students to find innovative solutions for the future of teaching and learning;

    –          Thinking that innovation in education also means creating new jobs in the education sector;

    –          Considering education as a global issue that transcends borders, nationalities, skills…

    (more…)

  • MOOCs in secondary school: an incredible project!

    MOOC: a collective challenge
    MOOCs: a collective challenge ©Yaacov Hecht

    An incredible project is changing the way MOOCs will be used to support innovation in the classroom. This is happening right now in Israel in secondary schools. It is launched in partnership with the Ministry of Education by the team of Yaacov Hecht, founder of the Democratic Schools, and also a very good friend that was with us in Barcelona for the last three days. (more…)

  • Dear Johana, no need for a PhD to innovate in education

    Innovative ideas in education. ©Skypixel
    Innovative ideas in education. ©Skypixel

    “I am preparing a project for an innovation approach to learning. I am a PhD student in the UK. We are very committed with education and teacher professional development as well as a PGCE program. What I do not know is if the team has to have a company already established for submitting?  And the team for the moment is composed of two PhD students one in computer science and me in math education with the support of one faculty member. Would that be ok?” 

     This is the first query we have received, and it comes before the Open Education Challenge has launched. No and yes are the answers. No, you don’t have to have a established company to start submitting. And yes, it will be OK.

    However, this potential applicant’s questions made me think more in depth about who the true innovators are in education.

    (more…)

  • “More” is what we need

    Innovation in education. Photo credit: leighstjohn.com
    Innovation in education. Photo credit: leighstjohn.com

    Who are the innovators in education?

    We – at P.A.U. Education – are about to launch the first European Incubator for Innovation in Education. Our Open Education Challenge is an invitation to all education practitioners and all innovators passionate about education to push forward their ideas and their dreams, create a startup and contribute to changing education. The launch is around the corner and we are still wondering:

    • How can private entrepreneurial initiatives truly transform the way we learn, and how can they adapt to our education systems in an ethical way?
    • How can startups respond to education challenges in terms of efficiency, social equity and cultural diversity?

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  • Investing in education

    Investing in education
    Investing in education. ©Sergey Nivens

    Why invest in education? Why invest now? Where should we invest?

    Asking these questions is already a sign that much has changed on the education scene. Education is no longer a matter reserved for public authorities or free from real life constraints. The world is spending more on education than ever before. Education is the answer to parents’ desire to guarantee a future job for their children and to companies’ needs for more innovation and better skilled employees. Education is the key to building better lives for hundreds of millions worldwide and responding to challenges such as climate change, sustainable development and gender equality.

    (more…)

  • Ask provocative questions to change education

    It is time for change education.
    It is time for change in education.

    Boosting innovation in education was one of the main objectives of the first Erasmus+ call for proposals that has just been published.

    But what do we mean by innovation in education? And what are the keys to making innovation in education possible?

    Innovation in education is often considered as the development of curricula that will provide students with “the knowledge and skills necessary for a knowledge and entrepreneurial society.”  This is the core of the Knowledge Triangle designed by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology).

    (more…)