10-to-10 schedule in Xiaomi

When 100k Mi3 smartphones were sold out in 86 seconds, it is not surprising to witness Xiaomi is in the ascendant. What it impresses me is the hard-driving entrepreneurship of its founder, Lei Jun. Is that really true that everyone needs to work 12 hours a day in Xiaomi (so-called 10-to-10 schedule)?
Xiaomi smartphone in the ascendant

Only 4 calculus professors are needed in the whole WORLD

"Winners-take-all" and "disruptive innovations" may evolve online education into a touch-and-go world. A sobering question is asked in today's NY Times, “How many calculus professors do we need in the WORLD?” The answer is 4: one to teach in English, one in French, one in Chinese, and one in the farm system in case one dies.
Business Schools, Disrupted

You are watched by your instructor in online learning

A new interactive online learning in Harvard Business School will make its debut in June, 2014. It has 60 HD TVs, each a stand-in for an off-site student. 
Harvard Business School new online learning

Protect workers, not jobs

Protect the jobs will increase unemployment.  "Protect workers, not jobs" as advocated by 2010 Nobel Prize laureate, Christopher Pissarides.

Job protection increases unemployment

Adaptive learning by big data: knewton

最近閲讀有關一家教育平台的公司，knewton.com，的資料。這家公司這六年來，投資者已挹注超過一億美元的資金。knewton 收集大量的數位學習資料，加以總體學習趨向的分析。然後根據每一個學生個人的學習資料和性向，給予個人化的即時學習建議和即時提供難易適中的問題。knewton 也提供老師每一個學生的詳細數位學習效率和預測每一個學生的學習效果。至今為止，knewton 平台在美國已經有五百萬學生使用，也提供超過二十億次的個人化學習建議。knewton 現在合作的對象，仍侷限在大型數位學習和教育機構，大型考試鑑定中心，大學和政府教育部門。knewton 網站宣稱他們在將來會免費供應中小學校老師軟體，讓老師能客製化學生的數位學習分析(但我相信老師使用的數位教學軟體供應者仍需和 knewton 合作，才會使得客製化學習分析達到最大效果)。knewton 的服務範圍仍限於美國和英國，以後可能會擴展到亞洲。
Knewton adaptive learning

It takes a village to raise a child

Astonished by the unfortunate events in the last few days across the Pacific Ocean, obviously attributed to the social anomie and discontent, probably many may beg the question that "it takes a family to raise a child" or it should escalate to "it takes the village to raise a child" ?
It takes a village to raise a child

Constant manna from heaven for bottom 20% stratum

Income inequality as measured by the tax records in the last 100 years may be "exaggerated". However, it is simply because government subsidy is not included in the statistics. In 2010, for family income in the bottom 20% stratum, 74% of the household income is from government alms. Income inequality has become more and more twisted.