On September 24, I was honored to chat with Karl Mehta, the founder and CEO of EdCast Inc.
Thousands of new education technology platforms have emerged in the past decade. As education technology continues to grow, it is important to identify services with purpose and meaning. Technology that makes a difference in the world is the focus and mission of EdCast. EdCast is a social knowledge network built in an effort to enhance our ability to collaborate and learn. The open source network provides learners with the opportunity to garner knowledge in both formal and informal learning settings. EdCast Knowledge NetworksTM power social, mobile and cloud-based learning for influential institutions, enterprises, governments and nonprofits and enables millions of lifelong learners to collaborate. Karl Mehta and his team are passionate about the global impact of mobile and online education.
Karl, you have over 20 years of experience in founding, funding and building technology businesses. How did you become involved in the education space?
In 2012, the White House chose me to be a Presidential Innovation Fellow. During my time outside of Silicon Valley, I had a closer look at education on a national and global level. We are facing a crisis in higher education not only here in the states, but across the world. Students who graduate today lack many of the necessary skills to find employment. Our country faces trillions of dollars in college loan debt. In turn, this affects everyone from the community to the global level. Today, our education system is built on a front-loading model, or sixteen years of formal schooling. We want to encourage life-long learning to ensure the middle class has access to knowledge throughout their lives. Millennials are estimated to have 16 careers in their lifetime. These employment changes require access to ongoing education in order to grow and sustain the economic and social health of our nation as well as the world.
EdCast is a platform that can be used for public and private learning environments. Can you elaborate on each one?
Yes, EdCast is a platform for public knowledge and learning. EdCast.com is a social learning knowledge network open to the public. Anyone can join, share and follow 15 different channels of information. Participants can also make their own channel and encourage people to follow their work. The platform is built for social media, therefore, users can like, share and comment on articles. In addition, we have a new exciting addition, the 10 Minute Insight Series.
The 10 Minute Insight Series is the first interactive setting for global influencers to share their insights to help better the world. The series' mission lets knowledge seekers and lifelong learners interact and gain bite-sized pieces of knowledge from a wide-range of specialists to help understand and answer global issues. Participants can ask questions and connect with influencers in real time, and there is no fee.
Where can we find a schedule of videos?
You can find a continuously updated video schedule here.
You also have a platform for private and public organizations to host classes. Can you please elaborate more on those initiatives?
Yes, EdCast is also built for institutions, organizations and companies.
We lead the way in Social Collaborative Learning (SCL). SCL blends informal and formal learning in a social and collaborative setting to drive daily engagement and effective outcomes.
How does EdCast stand out from other online learning platforms?
First, we assist outlets with their own online courses from a technological perspective. We build the software that is continuously improved by a large open source community. Secondly, we do not create the curriculum. In addition, multiple groups of institutions can come together and collaborate on courses, rather than work in isolation on their own. The collaboration of public and private entities has not been offered in a global, online format.
Can you tell me about The Sustainable Development Solutions Network?
Sure. On Wednesday, September 30th, EdCast launched a partnership with the United Nations supported Sustainable Development Solutions Network. All communications are held through our platform. We are sharing information and hosting classes to cover the 17 sustainable development goals. A few courses have already been launched, and those can be found at: https://www.sdsnedu.org. The platform also has more than 200 university and organizational members. Informal and formal classes are up and running for private institutions and for the general public.
What are some of EdCast's goals?
We want to offer open access to knowledge and engagement to ensure life-long learning is available in private and public spaces. In addition, by providing these user-friendly tools for collaboration, we hope to bring public and private entities together, as this type of collaboration is the first of its kind. We hope to make a difference in the world by providing our platform to engage users, close the skills gap and create effective global outcomes.
For more information:
To learn more about EdCast, follow influencers and to share your own work, please visit www.edcast.com.
If your institution or company is interested in sharing online courses, please visit: http://efo.edcast.com/edcast-for-organizations/.
Finally, to learn more about the classes offered via the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, please visit SDSN.edu.
You can also find me on EdCast along with my new Education Thought Leadership Channel.
About Karl:
Karl Mehta is a serial entrepreneur, investor, engineer, and civil servant with over 20 years of experience in founding, building, and funding technology companies in the U.S. and international markets.
To read more education and edtech articles, please visit ED News Daily.