Education Powers Up! Did you know that online education could reach 14 million students in 2014? Find out how students in Africa are learning math via SMS, why first graders in Estonia are learning to code, and who is paying U.S. students to drop out of Ivy League schools. Designed to filter the social media conversation, FLTR focuses on one topic during one moment of time. This month we look at education, specifically how technology fuels access and is fundamentally redefining the way education is being created, delivered and paid for.

1. EDUCATION

2. EDUCATION
technology-fueled access
“ EDUCATION IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON
WHICH YOU CAN USE TO CHANGE THE WORLD.”
— NELSON MANDELA
FLTR EDUCATION | 2

3. FLTREDUCATION
Education is a fundamental and FLTR is designed to cut through the noise of social media to
focus on one topic during one moment of time. This month, we
transformative power that can help look at education, specifically how technology fuels access to:
people and nations overcome their
socioeconomic status. Globally,
new financing
technology is fueling new ways to
bring this power to more people in
more places and is fundamentally
txt-based programs
redefining the way education is
being created, delivered and paid for.
paperless classes
innovative TOOLS
Online education could reach 14 million students in 2014. 1
FLTR EDUCATION | 3

4. new financing
INFLATION
U.S. College costs are
3
rising at 2-3x inflation
$1 TRILLION
INCREASE
U.S. expected student
College costs rose 15%
loan debt in 2012 2
in two years, faster than
the cost of healthcare 4
A Better Loan Dropping Out Pays
SoFi, a lending solution piloted by students at Stanford’s Graduate School The Thiels Fellowship, the brainchild of Peter A. Thiel, co-founder of PayPal
of Business, is using the power of social communities to transform and early investor in Facebook, is luring a handful of students away from the
student loans. SoFi (short for Social Finance) connects students and likes of Princeton, Harvard and M.I.T., hoping to find the next big technology
alumni through a dedicated lending pool, offering students a lower loan innovation. His offer is this: $50,000 a year for two years, few questions
rate than their private or federal options and alumni a double bottom-line asked. Just no college. The first Thiel fellows are now in their second year of
return custom built around their alma mater. 5 the program. Twenty new ones were selected this summer. 6
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5. txt-based programs
e-reader
Worldreader, a program that provides school children with access to digital
books through donated Kindle e-readers, recently began publishing via a
mobile-phone-based e-reader. The Worldreader app and its library of stories
is already on 3.9 million handsets, with active readers in Nigeria, Ethiopia
and Ghana. 8
2ND
LARGEST
2+2=txt
MXit is Africa’s largest homegrown mobile social network. With more than 50
MOBILE MARKET
million users, the South Africa-founded service allows its mostly young users
to stay in touch by text chatting. Dr Math on MXit has connected 30,000
children with math tutors for live chat sessions via SMS. 9
For millions of Africans, much of their daily reading life lessons
and writing happens on mobile phones in the form Nokia Life, an SMS-based information service with more than 70 million
of SMS and instant message chats. Providers subscribers in Nigeria and other countries, delivers preparation tips for
middle and high school exams, health education aimed at families and
are responding, transforming the way traditional
English language learning. 10
education is delivered and the way people learn. 7
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6. paperless classes
TO
U.S. KOREA
62 OF THE TOP
100
SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
HAVE PAPERLESS
LEARNING PROGRAMS
One Tablet per child iPadagogy Elite Immersion
One Laptop per Child, the nonprofit dedicated The UAE’s Higher Colleges of Technology will Avenues, a new, nearly $40,000-a-year
to empowering the world’s poorest children, become the first school in the region to roll nursery-through-college-prep school in
has released its tablet — currently being sold out iPad-only lessons. The initiative, known as Manhattan, is taking paperless to the next
in bulk into education systems. Optimized for iPadagogy, is a bid to create a wholly paperless level: students and faculty will be equipped
learning in any environment, it can be charged educational environment and eliminate the use with both iPads and MacBook Air laptops;
with a hand crank or through its solar-powered of paper and pens on campuses. The move classes, designed in iBooks Author, will be
rubberized lid, and though indoors the display toward iPad education is being rolled out in shared via a dedicated channel on iTunes
looks like any other screen, outside it can be colleges around the world — from the U.S. to U; and on campus, students will be able to
used as a reflective e-ink type display and the Korea, 62 of the top 100 schools are engaged in share their work via interactive displays and
resolution jumps accordingly. 11
similar initiatives. 12 multimedia walls. 13
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7. innovative TOOLS
<!---->
Embracing Timeline Code Literacy Spotify for Education
A school in Amsterdam is using Facebook Through a pilot program in Estonia, students Inspired by the success of Spotify, education
Timeline to teach history. By focusing not only are being taught web and mobile app technology startup BenchPrep has
on the content through posts and various development as early as first grade. Mozilla has transformed into a subscription-based service.
media, but also on the chronology of events, been sponsoring events such as “Hack Jams” Now, for $30 a month, you can access test prep
students are able to experience a larger and has developed Hackasaurus, a collection of (GRE, LSAT, SAT, etc.) and a variety of courses
understanding of cultural and social themes. 14
tools that let kids “remix” elements of a site. 15
on your laptop, smartphone or tablet device. 16
TO
U.S. KOREA
62 OF THE TOP
100
SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD
FLTR EDUCATION | 7 HAVE PAPERLESS
LEARNING PROGRAMS

8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & sources
<!---->
EXECUTIVE EDITORS FLTR EDUCATION 9. BBC, “The Future of Education in Africa is Mobile,” 24 Aug. 2012. Web: 15 Oct.
2012. http:/ /www.bbc.com/future/story/20120823-what-africa-can-learn-
1. Orgill, J., and D. Hervey, “How Online Innovators are Disrupting Education,” from-phones/2
Mario Natarelli 4, Nov. 2011. Web: 16 Oct. 2012. http:/ /blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/how_online_
innovators_are_disr.html
10. BBC, “The Future of Education in Africa is Mobile,” 24 Aug. 2012. Web: 15 Oct.
EDITORIAL AND DESIGN TEAM 2012. http:/ /www.bbc.com/future/story/20120823-what-africa-can-learn-
from-phones/2
Tara Mastrelli NEW FINANCING
Daniel Irizarry 2. “Student Loan Debt Clock,” FinAid.org. Web: 15 Oct. 2012.
PAPERLESS CLASSES Education
Embracing Timeline http:/ Code Literacy
/www.finaid.org/loans/studentloandebtclock.phtml Spotify for
Melissa Kalish 11. Wired, “OLPC Tablet Finally Arrives,” 9 Jan. 2012. Web: 15 Oct. 2012. http://
3. “How BLS Measures Price Change for College Tuition and Fees in the www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/olpc-tablet-finally-arrives/
A school in Amsterdam is using Facebook’s Through a pilot program in Estonia, students
Consumer Price Index,” Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web: 15 Oct. 2012. Inspired by the success of Spotify, education
http:/ /www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifacct.htm
12. Arabian Business, “UAE Colleges to Ditch Books for iPads,” 5 Sept. 2012. Web:
timeline to teach history. By not only focusing are being taught development as early as first technology startup, BenchPrep, has
15 Oct. 2012. http:/ /www.arabianbusiness.com/exclusive-uae-colleges-ditch-
books-for-ipads-472011.html
Special thanks to the entire team at MBLM
on the content through posts and various 4. “How in the World Did College Costs Rise 15% in Only 2 Years?” The Atlantic,
grade. Mozilla has been moving code literacy
13 Jun. 2012. Web: 16 Oct. 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/ transformed into a subscription-based service.
archive/2012/06/how-in-the-world-did-college-costs-rise-15-in-only-2-
media, theiralso the chronology of events,
for but contributions, observations, forward, sponsoring events such as “Hack
years/258463/ Now, for $30 a month, you can access test prep
13. DeLo, Dirk, “Technology @ The Avenues Campus,” 27 Feb. 2012. Press
Release: 16 Oct. 2012. http:/ /www.avenues.org/technology-the-avenues-
students are able to experience a largeron
insights and input — their FLTR work Jams” and devloping Hackasaurus, a collection (GRE, LSAT, SAT, etc.) and a variety of courses
campus
5. Venture Beat, “Investors make $77M bet that a startup can solve the
understanding of cultural and social themes.
education made this report possible. of tools that let kids “remix” elements of a site.
student debt crisis,” 11 Sept. 2012. Web: 15 Oct. 2012. on your laptop, smartphone or tablet device.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/11/sofi/
INNOVATIVE TOOLS
Check out other issues of FLTR: 6. The New York Times, “Forgoing College to Pursue Dreams,” 15 Sept. 2012. 14. PSFK, “School Uses Facebook Timeline to Teach History,” 17 Sept. 2012. Web:
Web: 15 Oct. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/business/the- 15 Oct. 2012. http://www.psfk.com/2012/09/facebook-timeline-teach-
thiel-fellows-forgoing-college-to-pursue-dreams.html?_r=3&hp& history-schools.html
FLTR Olympics
15. Wired, “Estonia Reprograms First Graders as Web Coders,” 4 Sept. 2012.
Web: 15 Oct. 2012. http:/ /www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/09/estonia-
FLTR Travel TXT-BASED reprograms-first-graders-as-web-coders/
7. GSMA, “Africa Now the World’s Second Largest Mobile Market, Reports
GSMA,” 9 Nov. 2011. Press Release: 15 Oct. 2012. http://www.gsma.com/
16. Venture Beat, “BenchPrep, ‘Spotify for education’, offers classes and test
newsroom/africa-now-the-worlds-second-largest-mobile-market-reports-
prep for $30 a month,” 18 Sept. 2012. Web: 15 Oct. 2012. http:/ /venturebeat.
gsma/
com/2012/09/18/benchprep/
8. BBC, “The Future of Education in Africa is Mobile,” 24 Aug. 2012. Web: 15 Oct.
2012. http:/ /www.bbc.com/future/story/20120823-what-africa-can-learn-
COPYRIGHT MBLM © 2012 All rights reserved. from-phones/2 TO
U.S. KOREA
62 OF THE TOP
FLTR EDUCATION | 8
100
SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD