The wonks are at it, diving deep into the weeds on what Betsy DeVos may do with the Department of Education and what the would mean for emerging technologies like personalized learning. This Education Week piece looks at some short term possibilities: “If DeVos is confirmed, expect her Education Department to use its new megaphone to highlight these parts of the [ESSA] law, and give states and districts guidance on how to make the most of them. Harold Levy breaks down what he sees as problems and possibilities: “The single biggest roadblock to accelerating the adoption of effective edtech in American classrooms is a lack of sufficient knowledge by local school district officials about what to buy and who to buy it from.” But this Scientific American analysis of Trump’s first 100 is disturbing: “Donald Trump has shown a contempt for science, a willingness to play fast and loose with the very idea of truth and an absence of intellectual curiosity,” says Laurence Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School. “This leaves me with the sinking feeling that he will have a terribly destructive impact on the entire project of making excellent education broadly available.” Merry Christmas! —Kevin Hogan, Content Director
