Edutopia
| Company type | Nonprofit organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Marin County, California |
| Website | Edutopia.org |
Edutopia is a website published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF). Founded in 1991 by filmmaker George Lucas and venture capitalist Steve Arnold, the foundation "celebrates and encourages innovation" in K–12 schools.[1][2][3][4][5]
Organizational history
[edit]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.[6] On 4 September 1990, the organization was renamed to "The George Lucas Educational Foundation".[7] The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded in 1991[8][9] by George Lucas and Steve Arnold.[5] 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.[10] The foundation was one of the first philanthropies to invest in digital learning technology.[10]
The foundation does not usually provide grants.[citation needed] In 2006, Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater USC through the foundation.[11]
In 2010, the foundation had a $6 million annual budget and eighteen full-time staff.[9] 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.[10][11]
Publications
[edit]Print publications
[edit]About 1994, the Foundation began publishing a newsletter entitled Edutopia.[12][5] In September 2004, the foundation launched a free glossy magazine, also titled Edutopia[13][8][5][14] with educators as the target audience.[5][1] From its inception, the print magazine had 85,000 subscribers.[13][1][8] The print magazine was discontinued in Spring 2010. but the website continued as an online magazine.[5][10]
Edutopia.org
[edit]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.[9] Robert Pondiscio described Edutopia.org as an inspirational resource for teachers, exuding "unabashed idealism and cheerful optimism".[9] The website features a video series titled "Schools That Work" of in-depth profiles of specific schools.[9]
Advocacy
[edit]The Foundation has sometimes included in its mission spreading best practices.[14] 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.[9][16] The foundation has endorsed as its core principles: "comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project-based learning, social and emotional learning, teacher development, and technology integration".[17][9][18] 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.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ "George Lucas Takes on Education" CNN, May 13, 2011
- ^ "George Lucas On The Best Fix For K-12 Education" Forbes September 21, 2011
- ^ "How George Lucas is a Teacher" Oprah's Next Chapter January 22, 2012
- ^ a b c d e f 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.
- ^ Dorr, Christopher; Korty, John (4 August 1983). "Articles of incorporation of The Media Tree".
- ^ Korty, John; Mendelson, Dorothy (4 September 1990). "Certificate of amendment of The Media Tree".
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pondiscio, Robert (2010). "Edutopian vision". Education Next. Vol. 10, no. 3. ISSN 1539-9664.
- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Edutopia : the newsletter of the George Lucas Educational Foundation (33233451)". WorldCat. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
- ^ a b Colford, Paul D. (September 16, 2004). "Lucas rings bell for education mag". New York Daily News. ProQuest 305911061.
- ^ a b "Free for the asking". Tech Directions. Vol. 65, no. 7. February 2006. pp. 30–31. ProQuest 218558695.
- ^ "edutopia.org archives". Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
- ^ Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas' 2010 Philanthropy Pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "edutopia.org home page". Retrieved May 30, 2015.
