Dear Reimaginer,

Each year, one of the most exciting moments for Serena and me is the moment at which we’re able to announce the showcase schedule for the Reimagine Education Conference – the moment at which we’re able to tell the world which of our top applicants are going to be championing their pedagogy, or innovation, with our audience.

This moment is here: the first draft of this year’s showcase schedule is now live. We’re proud and excited to introduce our showcasers to you: among the 120 or so featured applicants readers – and delegates, potential or confirmed – will find some of the world’s leading universities (and some of the most ambitious, the most passionate about providing top teaching experiences); exciting, emerging startups, and truly transformational educational initiatives.

A mere glance at the showcase will emphasise the variety on offer, with perhaps no event offering so global, or so intersectoral, an overview of pedagogical innovation. From Qatar University to Quartolio, from MIT to Mathigon, from Carnegie Mellon to Cleverbooks – our best startups, schools, universities, and not-for-profits are all there.

We’re also giving readers the chance to meet our strongest applicants in this newsletter, too, and two of them are featured this week. First, we introduce you to Howard Esbin, CEO of The Prelude Suite. His virtual team training solution is designed to respond to employer anxieties about a world that is volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex, by giving students the experiences and skills required to thrive in this environment.

Empowering students to come out of college with the capacity to thrive in the modern economy is essential – as evidenced by Howard’s ‘shortlisted’ status – but empowering them to get there in the first place is just as important, especially if they’re from the type of background that makes doing so harder. Improving access – alongside affordability, employability, and attainment, one of the four key pillars on which the Reimagine initiative rests – is at the heart of Jennifer Money’s work with KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy (NCA), an inner-city high school in Newark that is proving the possible for students like Shaheed, who have all the ambition and drive to succeed in college but find themselves unable to access the same quality of test preparation available to more privileged students.

Finally, our interview this week features Jenny Bergeron, Harvard University’s Director of Educational Research and Evaluation. We ask her how Harvard are driving teaching innovation, yes – but also how they are ensuring that their leading educational initiatives are evidence-based. She provides an overview of Harvard’s most noteworthy pedagogical projects, and explains what she’s learnt from her oversight of educational practice at one of the world’s most-esteemed traditional universities.

If you’d like to meet Jenny – or, indeed, any of those featured in this newsletter – we still have spaces available at this year’s Reimagine Education Conference (San Francisco, 29^th-30^th November). To ensure you’re in The Room(s) Where It Happens – secure your place today!

Never stop innovating!

Kind regards,

Jack Moran
Editor
Reimagine Education