Leveraging technology and open data to make college more accessible
As part of the Education Data Initiative, the White House and the U.S. Department of Education hosted the second annual Education Datapalooza in January 2014. More than 600 people packed into an auditorium to discuss innovation in higher education. The gathering was a response to President Obama’s call this past August to improve value and affordability in postsecondary education, in which he outlined an ambitious plan that included a major focus on innovation. For more information, check out the Department of Education Fact Sheet.
At the Education Datapalooza, we gathered to celebrate innovative products, apps, websites, and other tools to help students get to and through postsecondary education. Many of the tools help students and families navigate the college choice and selection process. Others focus on improving teaching and learning, especially in ways that leverage technology to improve online and classroom-based instruction.
Guests included:
- The Honorable Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
- The Honorable Cecilia Muñoz, Assistant to the President, Director of the Domestic Policy Council
- The Honorable Daniel Tangherlini, Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration
- Jim Shelton III, U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of Education
- Nick Sinai, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer
- Richard Culatta, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education
Watch the videos from the Education Datapalooza
Past Events
On October 9, 2012, the White House and the U.S. Department of Education hosted the first Education Datapalooza showcasing entrepreneurs and innovators working with open educational data to improve educational outcomes. Open education data has the potential to change students’ lives and create new businesses:
Watch all Education Datapalooza 2012 videos on YouTube
Data Jams
The Department of Education hosted a series of Data Jams to help catalyze new private-sector tools, services, and apps to help students evaluate and select colleges. To bolster these efforts, the Department of Education highlighted available open data sets that provide valuable information to students considering options for higher education.
