Hacking the University

If 2012 was the year of the Massive Open Online Course, according to the New York Times, 2013 was something of a reality check. MOOCs were meant to give people all over the United States (and the world) access to the best lecturers and classes from some of America's top universities. But their first iterations have been beset with problems--lack of student engagement, high dropout rates--leading critics to question their long-term value. MOOCs highlight the usual trajectory of new technologies that are supposed to transform education: big promises, followed by the trough of disillusionment, and a return to the status quo. So, what's next for technology in higher education in 2014 and beyond? Should we just give MOOCs some room to grow? Does big data have the answers? And anyway, is college even the best option in the tech economy?

Agenda

8:45 a.m. Registration

9:00 a.m. What's Wrong with the Old-School?

Kevin Carey
Director, Education Policy Program, New America Foundation
@kevincarey1

9:15 a.m. My First MOOC

Robert Wright Author, Nonzero
Senior Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation
Visiting Lecturer, Princeton University
@robertwrighter

9:30 a.m. What Can We Expect From Tech in Higher Ed?

Adrian Sannier
Chief Academic Technology Officer, Arizona State University Online
@sannier

Robin Goldberg
Chief Marketing Officer, Minerva Project
@minervaproject

Jeffrey Selingo
Author, College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students_Contributing Editor, _The Chronicle of Higher Education
Professor of Practice, Arizona State University
@jselingo

Moderator:

Robert Wright
Author, Nonzero
Senior Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation
Visiting Lecturer, Princeton University
@robertwrighter

10:15 a.m. Hack 1: Get Government Money out of Higher Ed

Bryan Caplan
Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Author, the upcoming The Case Against Education
@bryan_caplan

10:25 a.m. Hack 2: Cracking the Credit Hour

Amy Laitinen
Deputy Director, Education Policy Program, New America Foundation
@amylaitinen1

10:35 a.m. In the Tech Economy, Does a Degree Still Matter?

Bryan Caplan
Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Author, the upcoming The Case Against Education
@bryan_caplan

Michael Gibson
Vice President for Grants, Thiel Foundation

Leng Lee
Head of Operations, Codecademy
@Codecademy

Moderator:

Katherine Mangu-Ward
Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation
Managing Editor, Reason
@kmanguward

11:20 a.m. Hack 3: Radically Improve Math Preparedness for College

Adrian Sannier
Chief Academic Technology Officer, Arizona State University Online
@sannier

11:30 a.m. Can Tech Fix the Inequalities of Higher Ed?

Hal Plotkin
Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education
@usedgov

Naomi Davidson
Education Partnerships, Higher Education, Khan Academy
@khanacademy

Greg Ratliff
Senior Program Officer, Postsecondary Success Program
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
@gatesfoundation

Tammy Wincup
Chief Operating Officer, EverFi
@tmwincup

Moderator:

Kevin Carey
Director, Education Policy Program, New America Foundation
@kevincarey1