Education
Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.
Why more and more high schools are acting like startups
A railroad bridge had become a rusty eyesore in Marion, Iowa, and a local firm was on the hunt for a new design. So Martin Gardner Architecture turned to high school students. A group of budding architects from Iowa BIG, which brings in students from seven Cedar Rapids area high schools to spend Read More...
Florida school district bans homework and asks kids to read books instead
When elementary school students in one Florida district will come back to school next month, they won’t receive traditional homework anymore. Instead, they will be asked to read for 20 minutes every day. The superintendent of the school district says she is basing her decision on research showing Read More...
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ is a superheroic meditation on how to be a good person
“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which zipped into theaters last weekend, is almost everything a summer blockbuster should be: It’s very funny without using humor as an excuse to be less than emotionally accessible; its super-sized throw-downs are anchored in real, human-scale conflicts; its world Read More...
One of India’s brightest computer minds never went to a technology school
It’s a fact that many successful entrepreneurs are college-dropouts. Self-made business leaders are not burdened by the often rigid requirements of conventional education, it seems. This son of a farmer in India did make it to college, though. That’s where he used a computer for the first time. Read More...
New in the US: Resistance schools teaching people how to create a better world
Many people feel lost in the current political climate in the U.S. and Europe. However, the widespread frustration is also leading to an outpouring of interest in engaging with politics and social movements. In the U.S. there is a number of new schools cropping up to train people to become Read More...
Watch this clock and see the world become a better place
According to this clock, every second people somewhere in the world escape extreme poverty a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs such as food, water, and sanitation. Around 9 percent of the world’s population suffers from extreme poverty, which is nearly 700 million Read More...
More monkeying around
Possibility From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Bullrush used to be a popular chasing game at schools in New Zealand. It starts with a “chaser,” one child who tries to tackle other children as they run to the other side of a field. But at some point, it got banned at schools. The reason: Read More...
Harvard just launched a center for happiness
As two enormous, golden doors part, sunlight pours into an atrium filled with babies and puppies. Everyone is smiling. The air smells of freshly mown mint. Ripe avocados rain from the sky. (Somehow, they always miss the babies.) This is Harvard University’s new Center for Health and Happiness. At Read More...
Creative people physically see and process the world differently
If you’re the kind of person who relishes adventure, you may literally see the world differently. People who are open to new experiences can take in more visual information than other people and combine it in unique ways. This may explain why they tend to be particularly creative. Openness to Read More...
Education for all: 250 Ivy League courses anyone anywhere can take online
Education is the best way to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots in the world. Poor people in developing countries can never attend the best schools in the West. But here's the good news: Prestigious Ivy League schools in the U.S. are now offering free online courses across multiple Read More...