Why OLPC failedVishy KurugantiOctober 09, 20207 minsIf you’ve heard of Nicholas Negroponte and MIT Media Lab, chances are you’ve also heard of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). If Negroponte doesn’t ring a bell, here’s the briefest of introductions: an…
A phone is indeed not enoughVishy KurugantiSeptember 26, 20203 minsIf you are reading this article, you are probably witnessing (directly or indirectly) the Zoom’ification of the Indian classroom. While the Ubers and the Olas have come to a screetching halt, Byju’s…
More coaching less schoolingVishy KurugantiMay 22, 20161 minsIITs to release 50 years of solved JEE Question Papers!! India’s Human Resources Department (akin to Department of Education in US and elsewhere) made this decision after consultation with the IITs…
John Cochrane's MooconomicsVishy KurugantiFebruary 11, 20145 mins[Editor’s Note: After a long time, I’ve read a most EXCELLENT post on state of the state of moocs. The author is John Cochrane, professor at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He taught…
12 MOOC perspectives you may not have heard ofVishy KurugantiSeptember 08, 201312 mins[Editor’s Note: There are some who consider educational institutions to be the best examples of social enterprises. I’m not one of them. The reason why I periodically share education perspectives on…
Is the no-frills traveling MBA program (CREAM) working?Vishy KurugantiAugust 31, 20134 mins[Editor’s Note: In the early days of this blog (circa Apr 2011), I wrote about CREAM – a unique no frills traveling MBA program targeting rural and social entrepreneurs. Last month, I had a chance…
Acara Summer Institute 2012 – Nine Impressive Teams (Part 2)Vishy KurugantiAugust 17, 20124 mins[Editor’s Note: In late Jun 2012, I attended the final presentations of nine teams that made it to Acara Summer Institute 2012. Each team had 7 minutes of presentation followed by 7 minutes of…
A development economist's journey to parallel social entrepreneurVishy KurugantiJuly 24, 20126 minsPic: courtesy aspenideas.org [Editor’s Note: The publishing delay of this post is a deeply personal reminder on the need for an “editor” hat — even for a one-person blogging organization. A partial…
Stuart Hart is in town and IISE will open its doors shortly. Apply soon!Vishy KurugantiJuly 17, 20123 mins[Editor’s Note: I was alerted to the existence of the Indian Institute for Sustainable Enterprises (IISE) by Priya Naik, CEO of Samhita Social Ventures (IISE’s outreach partner). If you are thinking…
Dasra Social Impact: Executive Education for Cohort #7 of Social EntrepreneursVishy KurugantiJuly 13, 20123 minsLast month, we wrote about Chennai-based Villgro’s announcement of its new high-touch training program for social entrepreneurs. Dasra Social-Impact (DSI) is a grand daddy when it comes to “executive…
