Penn in the News

I’m beginning to wonder if my edtech community is making a fundamental error when it comes to our work at the intersection of learning and technology. This error is to believe that technology will make education more productive. The idea that technology can lower the cost of education while improving quality - or improve quality while keeping costs steady, or lower costs while keeping quality steady - is anchored in basic misconception about how technology behaves. This misconception is that new technologies substitute for existing actions, or for existing technologies.

Alum Katlyn Grasso, a 2015 President’s Engagement Prize winner, is highlighted for creating “Discovery Days” to connect girls with successful female role models in the corporate world.

Emily Wilson of the School of Arts & Sciences reviews Ann Patty’s book, Living with a Dead Language.

David Glaser of the Perelman School of Medicine explains a new way to control post-surgical pain.

The University of New Mexico will reopen its investigation into a professor who was sanctioned previously for sexual harassment -- after it initially agreed to welcome him back to campus following a suspension. “Following recent media reports about a university investigation into claims of sexual harassment in [the] anthropology department, new information has surfaced that we feel must be considered,” President Robert Frank said in an emailed statement. “In light of these additional reports, we will thoroughly review the full case again along with any new material that we obtain.

Salimah Meghani of the School of Nursing is quoted about researching racial disparities in pain treatment.

Post-doctoral student Eric VanEpps of the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School says, “In the case of food, we care about what’s happening right now – like how tasty it is – but discount the long-term costs of an unhealthy meal.”

Even if Yale University doesn’t rename its Calhoun College, it may have set itself up to head off further protests over racist names. After months of debates over the college and its long-deceased honoree, John C. Calhoun, Yale isn’t saying yes or no to changing the controversial name. Instead, the president, Peter Salovey, formed the Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming, to set guidelines for when the university should change the names of its buildings and how it should be done.

Facebook is out to upend the traditional student-teacher relationship. On Tuesday, Facebook and Summit Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school network with headquarters in Silicon Valley, announced that nearly 120 schools planned this fall to introduce a free student-directed learning system developed jointly by the social network and the charter schools.

Orkan Telhan of the School of Design, Karen Hogan of the School of Nursing and alum Mike Hogan of the School of Engineering and Applied Science are featured for developing a countertop genetic engineering machine and for the Microbial Design Studio.