Template:Short description Template:Infobox organization
The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit publisher that documents and publicizes exemplary K-12 education practices and programs, especially through video.<ref name="Ash 2012" /><ref name="Tech Directions 2006" /><ref name="Block 2012 pledge" /> It does this primarily through the Edutopia website.
Organizational historyEdit
An organization named "The Media Tree" was founded on 4 August 1983 in Mill Valley, California by John Korty and others. It engaged in public relations for media content creators to the public of Marin County.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 4 September 1990, the organization was renamed to "The George Lucas Educational Foundation".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The George Lucas Educational Foundation is widely reported to have been founded in 1991<ref name="Neil 2004">Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name="Pondiscio 2010">Template:Cite magazine</ref> by George Lucas and Steve Arnold.<ref name="Riddell 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lucas originally planned for the foundation to develop technology for schools, but soon determined that schools were not interested or able to use this technology.<ref name="Ash 2012" /> The foundation was one of the first philanthropies to invest in digital learning technology.<ref name="Ash 2012">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The foundation does not usually provide grants.Template:Citation needed In 2006, Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater the University of Southern California through the foundation.<ref name="Block 2012" />
In 2010, the foundation had a $6 million annual budget and eighteen full-time staff.<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /> In 2012, the Foundation significantly increased its assets when it received the majority of the proceeds from the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company<ref name="Ash 2012" /><ref name="Block 2012">Template:Cite news</ref>
PublicationsEdit
Print publicationsEdit
About 1994, the Foundation began publishing a newsletter entitled Edutopia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Riddell 2019" /> In September 2004, the foundation launched a free glossy magazine, also titled Edutopia<ref name="Colford 2004">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Neil 2004" /><ref name="Riddell 2019" /><ref name="Tech Directions 2006">Template:Cite magazine</ref> with educators as the target audience.<ref name="Riddell 2019" /><ref name="Freedman 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> From its inception, the print magazine had 85,000 subscribers.<ref name="Colford 2004" /><ref name="Freedman 2005" /><ref name="Neil 2004" /> By 2006, it has 100,000 subscribers.<ref>Template:Cite Q</ref><ref>Template:Cite Q</ref> The print magazine was discontinued in Spring 2010. but the website continued as an online magazine.<ref name="Riddell 2019" /><ref name="Ash 2012" />
Edutopia.orgEdit
The Edutopia.org website was started in 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2009, the foundation launched an advertising campaign, leading the website to receive 300,000 readers per month in 2010, a 70% increase from 2009.<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /> Robert Pondiscio described Edutopia.org as an inspirational resource for teachers, exuding "unabashed idealism and cheerful optimism".<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /> The website features a video series titled "Schools That Work" of in-depth profiles of specific schools.<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /> Edutopia.org includes interactive features including comments, blogs, and internet forums.<ref name="Sherry Tremmel 2012" />
AdvocacyEdit
The Foundation has sometimes included in its mission spreading best practices.<ref name="Tech Directions 2006" /> However, in practice, Edutopia is a nonprofit media company focused on satisfying and increasing its audience, not an educational reform advocacy organization strategizing to change educational systems.<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /><ref name="Block 2012 pledge">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The foundation has endorsed as its core principles: "comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project-based learning, social and emotional learning, teacher development, and technology integration".<ref name="Sherry Tremmel 2012">Template:Cite Q</ref><ref name="Pondiscio 2010" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Robert Pondiscio has been critical of Edutopia's tagline "what works in public education" given the lack of empirical support for these recommendations and uncertainty about how they were developed.<ref name="Pondiscio 2010" />
Research findingsEdit
Edutopia increases teachers engagement with educational best practices by packaging it in an appealing multisensory video format.<ref name="Malin 2020">Template:Cite journal</ref> Edutopia disseminates scientific/factual knowledge, technical knowledge, and practical wisdom, with a greater emphasis on practical wisdom, which includes judgments, values, and beliefs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Many of the tips and strategies on Edutopia have not been systematically researched.<ref name="Malin 2020" />
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Template:Cite AV media Transcript.
- "George Lucas Takes on Education" CNN, May 13, 2011
- "George Lucas On The Best Fix For K-12 Education" Forbes September 21, 2011
- "How George Lucas is a Teacher" Oprah's Next Chapter January 22, 2012
- Template:Cite book