Moonshot Factory

Google does not have R&D Center, they just have "moonshot factory". I love this term since "moonshot" connotes the pride of being in the skunkworks projects which "factory" hints its path to the final product.
Moonshot Factory

Handwriting learns more than verbatim laptop note-taking

Taking handwritten notes will learn more and have better test performance than verbatim laptop note-taking. Though I take it with a grain of salt, I strongly agree that, by handwriting, it forces you to ruminate constantly what the teacher just delivers. That listening-while-thinking will definitely facilitate the learning process.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/06/princeton_university_study_finds_students_more_likely_to_learn_by_taking_handwritten_notes.html

Nuanced aptitude distinction from common-core education

Recent NYT has an article about the impact of standard common-core education in NY state. The test score in 2013 (after common-core) is 58% worse than in 2012 (before common-core). The common-core guidelines seem to be just the basic training and it proves that US students have lagged behind way too long. By adopting the rigorous common-core, according to NYT, only the strong dedication from teachers can make a difference. Typical 4th grade math question under common core is as follows: "A club’s first meeting was attended by 28 people. The first meeting was attended by 4 times as many people as the second meeting. How many people attended the second meeting?" The question should be pretty easy but it stumps many 4th-grade students in NY city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/education/common-core-in-9-year-old-eyes.html?_r=0

Reflection of personality from Facebook posts

Want to know your personality? Go to http://labs.five.com/ and it will evaluate your Facebook posts and display the scores of your openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion. Then, you can compare your scores with scores of Bill Gates, Obama and Zuckerberg.
Test your personality from Facebook posts

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