The Innovator Network
A collective of individuals, universities and employers committed to student-centered academic transformation. Curated and hosted by Education Design Lab, the Network fosters thoughtful dialogue, collaboration and solutions to challenges facing higher ed today.
The Learner Revolution
How Colleges Can Thrive in a Skills and Competencies Marketplace
Education Design Lab's 2019 white paper
Reflections from five years of applied human-centered design at 100+ institutions
The Learner Revolution Discussion
On Tuesday, March 19, 2019, we celebrated the Education Design Lab's five year anniversary by hosting a dinner and discussion about the future of work and the demand for new postsecondary education-to-workforce solutions.
Moderated by Kathleen deLaski, Founder and President of the Education Design Lab, and featuring George Mason University President, Ángel Cabrera, and Amazon Web Services Senior Manager of Worldwide Education Programs, Ken Eisner.
Discussants include Goodwill Industries International Senior Vice President of Strategy and Advancement, Wendi Copeland, Penn Foster CEO, Frank Britt, League for Innovation in the Community College President and CEO, and Lab board member, Rufus Glasper.
The Lab’s Kathleen deLaski was on a panel with David Leaser, IBM’s Senior Program Executive for Innovation and Growth Initiatives, and was fascinated by some of the ways IBM is starting to use badges. Most timely is yesterday’s announcement about IBM badges counting as credits toward graduate degrees at Northeastern University. David agreed to sit down with the Lab and describe why he advocates for badges as a key hiring and development tool as it becomes clearer to IBM that traditional methods can’t keep up. Much of the conversation was driven by this observation by David: “The pace of technology development has outpaced the pace of learning.”
Read MoreWe asked Casey, a student at Georgetown University who earned a Catalyst Badge, to share with us her experience with navigating college while building a career path for herself. In this post, she explores her encounter with the skills gap so many college students face and how her learning experiences better prepared her to face a […]
Read MoreEvery year in the United States, hundreds of thousands of students enter a community college aspiring to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree one day; most will fail to do so. Community colleges continue to be popular entry-points into post-secondary education, and the 21st Century economy increasingly requires a college degree, so the fact that […]
Read MoreWhy did MOOCs create such a stir a few years back? Why are bootcamps all the rage now? We are all looking for potential shortcuts to career success for the learner who doesn’t have access to or time for traditional learning. At least that’s the vision. (The current reality is that much of the early […]
Read MoreWhat is the Innovator Network?
We’re glad you asked. It’s a collective of individuals, universities and employers committed to student-centered academic transformation.
Curated and hosted by Education Design Lab, the Network fosters thoughtful dialogue, collaboration and solutions to challenges facing higher ed today. We hope you’ll join us.
Learn more or…
The Innovator Network is a place for you to form connections with similarly motivated colleagues in higher ed, as well as other higher ed institutions and industry. The Network also serves as a community and sounding board for issues and opportunities that you and your institution face.
