Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Can technology close achievement gap?

by Dave Boyce

Professionals involved with classroom technology will join in a panel discussion about whether technology can close the academic achievement gap at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, at Woodside High School at 199 Churchill Ave. in unincorporated Woodside.

The scheduled panelists are:

• Karen Cator, a former Apple Corp. director and now director of the U.S. Office of Educational Technology.

• Neeru Khosla, the cofounder and executive director of the Palo Alto-based nonprofit CK-12 Foundation, which focuses on lowering the cost of textbooks.

• Alan Louie, a partner with Imagine K12, an "incubator of new high-tech companies focused on K-12 education," according to an event announcement.

• Principal David Reilly, who has expanded career technical education at Woodside High "in an effort to harness the potential of technology in a comprehensive high school setting," the announcement said.

The moderator, Betsy Corcoran, is a former journalist and cofounder of EdSurge, a "team of journalists, educators, and technologists dedicated to accelerating the adoption of education technology," according its website.

While the panel appears weighted in favor of classroom technology, Ms. Corcoran, replying to an emailed question as to whether contrarian views would be represented, said: "I will do my best to ask a wide range of questions. Technology is certainly not always the answer. We will also make time for audience Q&A."

The event's sponsors are Kepler's Books of Menlo Park and Woodside High School.