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Edutopia

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Edutopia
George Lucas Educational Foundation
Company typeNonprofit organization
Founded1991
FounderGeorge Lucas Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersMarin County, California
WebsiteEdutopia.org

The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit media company that documents and publicizes exemplary K-12 education practices and programs, especially through video.[1][2][3] It does this primarily through the Edutopia.org website.

Organizational history

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An organization named "The Media Tree" was founded on 4 August 1983 in Mill Valley, California by John Korty and others. It engaged in public relations for media content creators to the public of Marin County.[4] On 4 September 1990, the organization was renamed to "The George Lucas Educational Foundation".[5] The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded in 1991[6][7] by George Lucas and Steve Arnold.[8] Lucas originally planned for the foundation to develop technology for schools, but soon determined that schools were not interested or able to use this technology.[1] The foundation was one of the first philanthropies to invest in digital learning technology.[1]

The foundation does not usually provide grants.[citation needed] In 2006, Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater USC through the foundation.[9]

In 2010, the foundation had a $6 million annual budget and eighteen full-time staff.[7] In 2012, the Foundation significantly increased its assets when it received the majority of the proceeds from the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm Ltd. to the Walt Disney Co.[1][9]

Publications

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About 1994, the Foundation began publishing a newsletter entitled Edutopia.[10][8] In September 2004, the foundation launched a free glossy magazine, also titled Edutopia[11][6][8][2] with educators as the target audience.[8][12] From its inception, the print magazine had 85,000 subscribers.[11][12][6] By 2006, it has 100,000 subscribers.[13][14] The print magazine was discontinued in Spring 2010. but the website continued as an online magazine.[8][1]

Edutopia.org

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The Edutopia.org website was started in 2002.[15] In 2009, the foundation launched an advertising campaign, leading the website to receive 300,000 readers per month in 2010, a 70% increase from 2009.[7] Robert Pondiscio described Edutopia.org as an inspirational resource for teachers, exuding "unabashed idealism and cheerful optimism".[7] The website features a video series titled "Schools That Work" of in-depth profiles of specific schools.[7]

Advocacy

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The Foundation has sometimes included in its mission spreading best practices.[2] However, in practice, Edutopia is a nonprofit media company focused on satisfying and increasing its audience, not an educational reform advocacy organization strategizing to change educational systems.[7][3] The foundation has endorsed as its core principles: "comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project-based learning, social and emotional learning, teacher development, and technology integration".[16][7][17] Robert Pondiscio has been critical of Edutopia's tagline "what works in public education" given the lack of empirical support for these recommendations and uncertainty about how they were developed.[7]

Research findings

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Edutopia increases teachers engagement with educational best practices by packaging it in an appealing multisensory video format.[18] Edutopia disseminates scientific/factual knowledge, technical knowledge, and practical wisdom, with a greater emphasis on practical wisdom, which includes judgments, values, and beliefs.[19] Many of the tips and strategies on Edutopia have not been systematically researched.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Ash, Katie (2012). "George Lucas' promise to invest in education prompts speculation: 'Star Wars' creator advocates digital learning". Education Week. Vol. 32, no. 12. p. 10. ProQuest 1197616487.
  2. ^ a b c "Free for the asking". Tech Directions. Vol. 65, no. 7. February 2006. pp. 30–31. ProQuest 218558695.
  3. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas' 2010 Philanthropy Pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  4. ^ Dorr, Christopher; Korty, John (4 August 1983). "Articles of incorporation of The Media Tree".
  5. ^ Korty, John; Mendelson, Dorothy (4 September 1990). "Certificate of amendment of The Media Tree".
  6. ^ a b c Neil, Alissa (September 22, 2004). "George Lucas Educational Foundation Launches Edutopia, A New Magazine for a New World of Learning; First Magazine by Filmmaker's Foundation Showcases Innovation & Questions The Status Quo, Serving as Catalyst for Educational Change" (Press release). The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Gale A122354177 – via PR Newswire.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Pondiscio, Robert (2010). "Edutopian vision". Education Next. Vol. 10, no. 3. ISSN 1539-9664.
  8. ^ a b c d e Riddell, Roger (May 23, 2019). "Common Cents: George Lucas Foundation details strategy of exploring innovation without being prescriptive". K-12 Dive. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas Will Use Disney $4 Billion to Fund Education". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  10. ^ "Edutopia : the newsletter of the George Lucas Educational Foundation (33233451)". WorldCat. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Colford, Paul D. (September 16, 2004). "Lucas rings bell for education mag". New York Daily News. ProQuest 305911061.
  12. ^ a b Freedman, Samuel G. (August 31, 2005). "Like Aristotle with a light saber, Lucas urges hands-on learning: Taking a light saber to tired old teaching". The New York Times. Gale A135634517. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  13. ^ Access Intelligence (14 August 2006). "In January, "Edutopia" and Mcgraw-Hill will showcase good-looking schools". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (31). ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936156.
  14. ^ "An "endemic" June cover line that almost every 10-year-old will hate". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (22): 8. 29 May 2006. ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936191.
  15. ^ "edutopia.org archives". Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  16. ^ Michael Bruce Sherry; Robert Tremmel (October 2012). "English education 2.0: An analysis of websites that contain videos of English teaching". English Education. 45 (1): 35–70. doi:10.58680/ee201221574. ISSN 0007-8204. JSTOR 23365000. Wikidata Q131935163.
  17. ^ "edutopia.org home page". Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  18. ^ a b Malin, Joel R. (June 1, 2020). "Mediated, Evidence-Informed Practice as Impact". International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership. 16 (8): 3-4. doi:10.22230/ijepl.2020v16n8a955. ISSN 1555-5062. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  19. ^ Malin, Joel R.; Brown, Chris; Trubceac, Angela St (2018). "Going for Broke: A Multiple-Case Study of Brokerage in Education". AERA Open. 4 (2). doi:10.1177/2332858418769297. ISSN 2332-8584. Retrieved January 30, 2025.

Further reading

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