Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="8389835" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Simon-Berger">Simon Berger</keyword> is an <keyword id="1150" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Artist">artist</keyword> who works with a hammer and glass.</li><li>He has figured out a way to crack the glass so precisely that it creates an image of a face.</li><li>It's a delicate process, and an expensive series of mishaps could cost hundreds of Swiss francs.</li><li><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>The following is a transcript of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>. Narrator: Simon Berger has been working with <keyword id="135496" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="portraits">portraits</keyword> made out of glass, like these, for three years. It's a process that requires delicately hammering glass to create just the right cracks to form a face. Sometimes it takes him one try, but other times it can take him five. And an expensive series of mishaps could cost hundreds of Swiss francs. One wrong hit and he'll have to start all over again. First, to understand Simon's portraits, you have to understand his unusual canvas. Glass is pretty much monochromatic, so the first secret to making the portraits pop is creating dimension through light and dark sections. The process is similar to a pencil artist drawing on a white canvas. To create more shadow and depth, they'll press harder and go over the section more times. Simon does the same thing, but with glass and a hammer. Before all the hammering, the process starts with a photo. He sets up a photo shoot in order to have a face to reference in his work, edits the image to adjust the contrast to make the photo more vivid, and then sketches it on the glass. Then he moves on to the first blow. Simon Berger: I kind of like it when there's some abstract touch to it, so for the first blow I really hit it with a lot of force so the whole glass cracks across the whole surface like a spider web. I like that. Once the glass is weakened you can work relatively controlled. Narrator: He's developed his techniques through trial and error. To get the depth he wants, he now has a clear idea of how many times he has to hit the glass. But that's not all. He also needs to know how hard to hit it every time. Unlike a traditional canvas, too much force and the canvas will shatter in a way that he doesn't want, meaning he may have to start over. One thing that helps minimize the chances of shattering the whole piece is the type of glass he uses. Simon works with laminated safety glass. This type of glass holds together when it's shattered because it has an inner plastic layer. That makes it more durable than normal glass, and if it's shattered, it will still stay together in one piece. But it isn't a foolproof recipe for success. Simon: Lots of broken glass. But every now and again one turns out good, and that's satisfying. It's also nice that people enjoy discovering something you don't see everywhere. Narrator: The cracks in the glass are different shades of white depending on their depth. The more shallow cracks create a dull, white color, and serve as the background for the face.The more important part is creating the deeper, brighter shades of white that will help guide your eyes to see the full picture. This is done by hammering in one specific area multiple times. The more often the hammer hits the glass, the more vibrant the cracks become, creating the appearance of white lines. He uses this technique to create details, like the white of an eye. Hammering it too many times might create too many bright lines, which will blur the actual detail, and doing it too little might mean the detail will get lost in the lighter cracks. Simon's work has made its way onto storefront windows, and he's installing one of his pieces at a landmark location in Bern, <keyword id="103" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Switzerland">Switzerland</keyword>: the <keyword id="1404608" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Loeb">Loeb</keyword> department store, which is a tourist attraction equivalent to the Macy's storefront windows in New York City. Simon: I only have one chance. If I do something here, I can go for it. But tomorrow I only have one piece of glass. One chance. What will happen will happen. But I really hope it will work out well. It's not actually the window I break; that would break into thousands of pieces. It's actually a piece of glass I hang in front of the actual window. Narrator: The fun part about Simon's work is that you don't always see the face right away. You have to stand far enough away, from the right spot, for your eyes to adjust and see the face appear. Simon: I used to tell the people where to stand so that they could recognize the portrait, but nowadays I kind of like leaving them in the misconception that the window has been vandalized. And if they ask what happened, rather than showing them from where to look at the broken glass, I just say, "That's art," and see how they react and say things like, "Ah, that's supposed to be art?" Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/artist-makes-portraits-glass-hammer-2020-4">Insider</a>

The artist who makes portraits on glass with just a hammer

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A cracked-glass portrait of <keyword id="180909" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kamala-Harris">Kamala Harris</keyword> has been unveiled at the Lincoln Memorial in DC.</li><li>Artist Simon Berger used glass in the piece to represent Harris' role as a "glass ceiling breaker." </li><li>Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff called the installation "incredible" after seeing it in person.</li></ul>A new portrait of <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/kamala-harris">Kamala Harris</a> made out of cracked glass celebrates her historic election as the first female, Black, and South Asian-American <keyword id="11696" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vice-President">vice president</keyword> of the US.The piece by artist <a href="https://en.simonberger.art/">Simon Berger</a> was unveiled on Thursday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, two weeks after <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/inauguration">the Biden-Harris inauguration</a>.On Friday, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made the trip from Pennsylvania Avenue to the National Mall to see the installation for himself."It's incredible," he tweeted of the 6.5 x 6.5-foot portrait.Read more: <a href="https://www.insider.com/kamala-harris-doug-emhoff-relationship-sweet-photos-2021-2">Doug Emhoff's kids called his marriage to Kamala Harris 'like the honeymoon phase forever.' These 19 photos show their relationship through the years.</a>To create the portrait, Berger lightly hammered sheets of laminated glass while referencing a photo of Harris taken by photographer <a href="http://www.celestesloman.com/">Celeste Sloman</a>, according to a press release from the <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/news/kamala-harris-glass-ceiling-breaker">National Women's History Museum</a>, which presented the piece and cosponsored the project with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chief-tribeca-clubhouse-female-network-community-photos-tour-2019-5">Chief</a>, a private network for women executives and CEOs.The museum's press release says the cracked glass is meant to represent Harris' breaking through the "glass ceiling," a term that refers to the barriers women and minorities face when it comes to career advancement. "This will just be a wonderful visual emblem of this moment in time and hopefully people will reflect a little bit on all the barriers that have been broken by her election," Holly Hotchner, president and CEO of the National <keyword id="10713691" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-history">Women's History</keyword> Museum, told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-56fbef7fde27d15b49f81424e108cad0?fbclid=IwAR3wJObCF1cx-CWV1uwiCMJu59BrvwwQDyOP9ZlxXObiFUCgbBAra1SE9o0">Associated Press</a>, speaking of the portrait of Harris.The installation also includes a QR code that visitors can scan with their phones to learn about other "historic firsts" Harris has achieved throughout her career, including being the first vice president to graduate from a historically Black college; Harris <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/11/why-kamala-harris-chose-howard-university-what-she-did-weekends-there/">graduated from Howard University</a> in 1986.<div type="image" title="kamala harris victory speech" height="1275" width="1700" msid="80716393" hostid="261"></div>In her <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/watch-kamala-harris-speech-video-transcript.html">victory speech</a> on November 7, Harris said that a woman becoming vice president broke "one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country."She also acknowledged the influence that women who came before her had on her career, paying tribute to "the generations of women - Black women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation's history who have paved the way for this moment tonight - women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all."Speaking of those women, she added: "Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision - to see what can be unburdened by what has been - I stand on their shoulders.""While I may be the first woman in this office, I won't be the last," she later said in the same speech. "Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.""<a href="https://chiefglassceilingbreaker.com/">Vice President Kamala Harris Glass Ceiling Breaker</a>" will be on display at the Lincoln Memorial through Saturday, February 6, after which it will move to Chief's headquarters in New York City.Read more: <a href="https://www.insider.com/number-one-observatory-circle-photos-where-vp-pence-lives-2018-1">Inside Number One Observatory Circle, the often overlooked but stunning residence where Kamala Harris will live as vice president</a>

A new Kamala Harris portrait celebrates the vice president as a glass ceiling breaker

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="180909" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kamala-Harris">Kamala Harris</keyword> and <keyword id="10160446" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="doug-emhoff">Doug Emhoff</keyword> went jogging at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday morning.</li><li>Bobby Tran took a video of Harris running up the steps with Secret Service agents in tow.</li><li>People were amused that the Secret Service had to do Harris' workout in order to follow her.</li></ul>When Bobby Tran and his girlfriend went jogging on the <keyword id="804466" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="National-Mall">National Mall</keyword> on Saturday morning, they were hoping to see the artist Simon Berger's "<a href="https://www.insider.com/vice-president-kamala-harris-portrait-glass-ceiling-2021-2">Glass Ceiling Breaker</a>" portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Lincoln Memorial. They ended up seeing the glass-ceiling breaker herself.Tran and his girlfriend spotted Harris running up and down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in her workout gear, trailed by Secret Service agents and accompanied by second gentleman Doug Emhoff."We turned around and there she was running the steps and being one with the community," Tran told Insider. "As we were getting closer, I also noticed somebody that appeared to be Doug Emhoff, too. It wasn't until later when I looked over the video that I noticed the second gentleman at the top, who paused to give her a high five as she finished her run. I thought that was the coolest thing to be so supportive of each other out there."Read more: <a href="https://www.insider.com/kamala-harris-doug-emhoff-relationship-timeline-2020-10">Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in with 2 Bibles held by husband Doug Emhoff. Here's a timeline of their relationship.</a>Tran's video of Harris' workout was shared on Twitter by the user @sammycakez_, where it racked up 3.5 million views.People loved seeing Harris' Secret Service agents trotting behind her as she exercised.Tran said Harris paused her workout to speak to kids who were out enjoying the sunny day and take a few quick selfies. He said he approached her as she was walking down the stairs to ask if he could also get a quick photo.<div type="image" title="kamala jogging" height="2065" width="2754" msid="80772946" hostid="261"></div>"She was kind enough to oblige," he said. "It was pretty cool ... It's still something I can't really believe happened, seeing her doing the same thing we do."

A video of Secret Service agents trying to keep up with Kamala Harris' workout went viral after she was spotted jogging in DC

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>It hasn't taken former London mayor Ken Livingstone long to plunge the Labour nto chaos after being made a co-chair of the party's defence review on Wednesday.First, Kevan Jones, the Labour MP for North Durham, <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/shadow-minister-blasts-ken-livingstone-defence-appointment">told the Politics Home</a> blog that Livingstone knows nothing about defence."I'm not sure Ken knows anything about defence. It will only damage our credibility amongst those that do and who care about defence," said Jones.Then Livingstone hit back, telling the Mirror that Jones needed psychiatric help:"I think [Jones] might need some psychiatric help. He's obviously very depressed and disturbed. He should pop off and see his GP before he makes these offensive comments."Jones, who has been <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18460039">open about suffering from depression</a>, hit back saying that he found Livingstone's comments "gravely offensive not just personally but also to the many thousands who suffer from mental illness."If Labour were running an effective communications operation, they would have got Livingstone to immediately apologise. Labour is not running an effective media operation.In an interview on the LBC radio station, Livingstone refused to apologise, saying that Jones was "rude about me, I was rude back. He needs to get over it."The defense review is a major undertaking that will help decide Labour's policy on Trident nuclear missiles, one of the most contentious issues facing the party.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a long time anti-nuclear campaigner who has said <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/30/corbyn-i-would-never-use-nuclear-weapons-if-i-was-pm">he wouldn't authorise</a> the use of nuclear missiles if he was Prime Minister, but many members of his shadow cabinet, including Shadow Defence Secretary Maria Eagle, <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2015/10/maria-eagle-nuclear-disarmament-i-m-not-ruling-it-out">are "pro trident."</a>Eagle will co-chair the review with Livingstone. Eagle only found out about Livingstone's appointment when she read the news this morning and was <a href="https://twitter.com/carolewalkercw/status/666927937015427072">reported to be furious</a> at the decision. It was very understandable that she was upset; two days ago Livingstone went on TV and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eziPUEp6E68&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;t=1m40s">said Eagle was "mad"</a> if she thought it was worth spending money on renewing the Trident nuclear weapon programme.This incensed Labour MPs who took to Twitter in their droves in order to slam their newly appointed defense review co-chair. <div></div><div></div><div></div>&#xa0;<div></div>&#xa0;<div></div>&#xa0;<div></div>&#xa0;<div></div>&#xa0;<div></div><div></div>At this point, Corbyn himself should have been on the phone to Livingstone, demanding he issue an apology. Instead, Labour's press operation issued a statement on Corbyn's behalf, saying Livingstone should apologise.&#xa0;Jeremy is incredibly concerned that people with mental health problems shouldn't be stigmatised. He has worked with Kevan in the past on this issue and is impressed by his bravery in speaking out on his own mental health issues. Ken should apologise to him straight away.Unfortunately for the Labour press office, Livingstone didn't pay any attention to them, once again refusing to apologise on a radio interview, this time on the BBC's World at One programme. "If he's upset I'm sorry. I grew up in south London if someone's rude to you, you're rude back," Livingstone defiantly proclaimed.&#xa0;Twenty minutes later he finally issued an apology through Twitter.<div></div>&#xa0;<div></div>The whole episode&#xa0;reveals that Labour has two big problems.One is that labour MPs are increasingly happy to openly weigh in on issues that will generate bad press for their party.The second is that Labour's press operation is a complete shambles; they could easily have shut down today's drama, instead they&#xa0;<a href="https://twitter.com/ianjsilvera/status/666972076251750400">allowed it to play out</a>&#xa0;simply because they didn't think they should get involved.If Labour don't pull themselves together, they risk seriously damaging themselves next time they need to deal with a negative story. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/woman-at-trump-rally-reads-book-about-racism-2015-11">This woman got a prime seat at a Trump rally, and spent the whole time reading a book about racism</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="d0NjlzeDozqnFmnzLKO5jnoBn4lhJESs" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Here's how the former Mayor of London plunged Labour into chaos

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Natalie Behring</div></div></div>Goldman Sachs has promoted 425 people to managing director."Our new Managing Directors represent the best of our firm's dedication to excellence, leadership and client service, and we wish them continued success in their careers," Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement.It's a big deal to be named a managing director. The title is just one step below "partner," which is one of the most highly-coveted titles in investment banking. The next class of MDs won't be selected until 2017. In 2013, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-managing-director-selection-2013-3">Goldman changed its managing director selection process</a> from every year to every two years. That year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-managing-director-class-2013-11">280 people</a> made the cut.The following individuals have been promoted:Catherine Addona-Peña Alokik Advani Sam Agnew Daniel Ahern Murtaza Ahmed Fusae Akamatsu Phil Almond Ana Alonso Roy Appelman Juliano Arruda Alex Ashwal Daniel Avery Misty Bailey Tom Barkes Jose Barreto Sushil Bathija Gregoire Baudot Olivier Belaich Sharon Bell Allison Beller Christine Benson Schwartzstein Sam Berberian Todd Berger Sandy Bernhardt Greg Berube Shashi Bhushan (Bengaluru) Lyla Bibi Julie Billings Alexander Blanchard Tristan Blood Katherine Bloom Alexander Blostein John Blythe Andrea Bonini Vijay Borkar Jean-Pierre Boudrias Dyson Bowditch Rhett Brewer Sean Brewer Cameron Brien Tyler Brooke Marios Broustas Melissa Brown Jacob Buitelaar Jason Burgess Manuel Camacho Tim Campbell Eliot Camplisson Susana Cao Miranda Nicholas Chan Sorubh Chandani Amy Chang Dennis Chang Scott Chastain Scott Chen (IBD) Yu Chikami Vikram Chima Sung Cho Caroline Chu Simon Clarke Ray Clifford Jorge Combe William Connolly Ron Cortina Daniela Costa Yasmine Coupal Patricia Creedon Brian Culang Michelle Daly Ranga Dattatreya Christopher Daur Brian DeCenzo Alexis Deladerriere Robert Devens Devanshu Dhyani Scott Dias Johanna Diaz Simon Dickinson Andrew DiMaria Darren Dixon Terence Donnelly Christopher Droege Lindsay Drucker Mann Frank Drury Caroline Dunne Steven Edwards (Internal Audit) Jeffrey Egee Naoko Ehara Inna Elyashkevich Jason English Andrew Erekson Joris Esch Ana Estrada Cristina Estrada Owain Evans Julia Feldman Jing Feng Albert Ferng Val Feygin Dan Fishman Dennis Fleck Terence Flynn Ian Foster (IBD) Kelly Galanis Ilya Gaysinskiy Libardo Gerardino Said Ghusayni Michael Gillott Arvind Giridhar Mark Glotfelty Chloe Goddard Lakshya Goel Peter Goertzen Andres Gonzalez Clara Gonzalez-Martin Claire Goodeve Anton Gorshkov Simon Gosling Jessica Binder Graham Michael Graham (Securities) Glenn Greilsamer Fabrizio Grena Alain Griveau Pierre-Yves Guerber Renaud Guidée Renu Gupta Christoph Haenschel Simon Hale Jay Handfield Deirdre Harding Nada Hassan Frances Hawkins Tobias Heilmaier Christoph Heuer Kenneth Ho Luke Hodges Jennie Holloway Matthew Hostasa Henry Howell Soomin Hu Victor Hu Andrew Huang Lee Hughes Michael Hui Shinichiro Ichiki George Ingram Francesca Innocenti Karen Ip Yuichiro Isayama Shubha Iyer Kristy Jago Matt Jahansouz Lear Janiv Jessica Janowitz Franklin Jarman Jabe Jerram Lei Jin Moritz Jobke Charles Johnston Ganesh Jois Katherine Jollon Colsher John Jonke Shrut Kalra Emiko Kamoda Markus Kant Yugandhar Karna Lotfi Karoui Vanya Kasanof Ting Ke Kyle Kendall Richard Kendrick Corey Kenyon Anthony Kim Seong Eun Kim Sean Kingston Teresa Kingswood David Kirschner Michael Klym Jared Klyman Andrew Knight Timur Kocaoglu Kevin Kochar Christina Kopec David Korpi Caroline Kraus Jennifer Krevitt Ajay Kumar Raj Kumar Kosuke Kurosawa Marc Kurz Takashi Kuwano Loredana La Pace Phil Labbe Marco Laicini Vidya Lakshmi Lia Larson Kinger Lau Max Layton Jerome Lebuchoux Andrew Lee (GIR) David Lee (IMD) Jay Hyun Lee (MBD) Jerry Lee Shane Lee Valerie Leeder Panayiotis Lemonidis Joe Lenehan Daniel Levy Yael Levy Olga Lewis Christina Sun Li Chuan Li James Li Edmund Lim Stephen Little David Liu Daniel Lochner Michael Loetzsch Donald Lu Rochelle Lucas Matthias Ludemann Christopher Lvoff Andrew Lyons Kristen Macleod Manju Madhavan Lynn Magnus Thomas Malafronte Sajith Maliakel Rakesh Manani Elizabeth Mann Jim Mannoia John Manzi Jia Mao Guillaume Marinacce Jeremie Marrache Matthew Mason Gaurav Mathur Yuji Matsumoto Tom McAndrew Scott McHugh Andrew McIlroy Jenny Meng Shahmil Merchant Joann Mercurio Maryline Mertz Marco Messeri Hideo Michiba Jared Miller Stacey Miller Elizabeth Milonopoulos Pascal Mischler Pooja Mishra Prahlad Doretta Mistras Matthew Mizrahi Hillel Moerman Soren Moller-Rasmussen Fausto Monacelli Q Montazeri Leonie Morel Owen Morris Daniel Motta Ricardo Mourao Christian Mueller-Glissmann Niladri Mukhopadhyay Mathieu Munuera Francis Murphy Thomas Murray Charles Myers Harsh Nanda Asad Naqvi Ryan Nash David Naulty Toh Ne Win Shapour Neshatfar Billy Newport Anya Newton Katrina Niehaus Christos Nifadopoulos Ryan Nolan Brian Nordahl Steven Nowak Matthew O'Callaghan John Olivo Oscar Ostlund Marco Paesotto Kanak Palanisamy Sundaram Pandiarajan Mrudang Pandya Francesco Paolicelli Dhaval Parekh Keyur Parekh Akash Patel Himin Patel Jatin Patel Cristina Patron Nicholas Peach Agostina Pechi Xi Pei Shlomit Perry Joseph Persky Carlos Prieto Ricardo Puggina Tim Quandt Stephanie Rader Emilie Railhac Amit Raje Sudarshan Ramakrishnan Akila Raman Vishaal Rana Robert Rancitelli Zeeshan Razzaqui Paolo Re David Reis Kevin Relihan Ben Reuter Matt Rhodes Clare Richards Brian Richardson Richard Rivero Duane Robinson Fabiano Romeiro Agustin Romo Calvo Karen Rossi Matias Rotella Anne Russ C. Kyle Russ Jamie Russell Isidoor Rutten Timothy Ryan Craig Sabal Carolyn Sabat Michael Sachs Hassan Salamony Nicholas Saunders Carly Scales Marc Schaffer Tom Schouwenaars Jameson Schriber Leonard Seevers Masataka Sera Arpan Shah (Internal Audit) Dhruv Shah Nitin Shah Ashoke Sharma Nik Sharma Salil Sheth Jonathan Shugar Aaron Siegel Eric Siegel Julie Silverman Jim Sinclair Balaji Sivasubramanian Neil Slee Martin Smith (IMD) Scott Smith Lin Smyth Douglas Spell David Sprake Jack Springate Sujatha Srinivasan Ricardo Stabile John Startin John Stecher Alexander Stiles Peter Stone Miruna Stratan Matthew Straughen Hiroyuki Sugiura Joseph Sumberg Philip Sun Lawrence Tankel Richard Tarling Ian Taylor Mike Taylor (Services) Sophie Taylor Latifa Tefridj-Gaillard Kurt Tenenbaum Prasanna Thati Radha Tilton Vincent Tiseo Jandirk tom Dieck Margo Topman Shinsaku Toriyama Dom Totino Joseph Traina Matthew Traina Alexis Tsang Tetsuya Ukai Silvia Valente Laura van Alkemade Carol Van der Vorst Alexis Vassilakas Kerone Vatel Thomas Vaughan Meriel Vessey Alexandra Vincenzi David Wade Dennis Walsh Alex Wang Jun Wang Moon Wang Katherine Ward Amy Watson Peter Watson Whitney Watson Gregory Watts Jie Wei Michael Weiss Miriam Wheeler Pete Williams Wes Williams Jiahong Wu Tony Xu Michael Yaeger Satoshi Yamagata Huan Yang Jonathan Yarrow Sylvia Yeh Vincent Yeung Derek Yi Jon Yoder Jaewon Yu Brendan Zeigon Daniel Zimmerman Martin Zoll <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/seaworld-end-killer-whale-show-san-diego-blackfish-2015-11">SeaWorld is ending its killer whale show after being criticized for how it treats them</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VjdnBxeDr7ABHNOUF_pwCshHV8m9AMwX" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The Goldman Sachs new managing director list is out!

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div>AP</td></tr></table>March 3 (<keyword id="76338" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reuters">Reuters</keyword>) - An education technology conference this week in Austin, Texas, will clang with bells and whistles as startups eagerly show off their latest wares.
But the most influential new product may be the least flashy: a $100 million database built to chart the academic paths of public school <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="students">students</keyword> from kindergarten through <keyword id="9096" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="High-School">high school</keyword>.
In operation just three months, the database already holds files on millions of children identified by name, address and sometimes social security number. Learning disabilities are documented, test scores recorded, attendance noted. In some cases, the database tracks student hobbies, career goals, attitudes toward school - even homework completion.
Local education officials retain legal control over their students' information. But federal law allows them to share files in their portion of the database with private companies selling educational products and services.
Entrepreneurs can't wait.
"This is going to be a huge win for us," said Jeffrey Olen, a product manager at CompassLearning, which sells education software.
CompassLearning will join two dozen technology companies at this week's SXSWedu conference in demonstrating how they might mine the database to create custom products - educational games for students, lesson plans for teachers, progress reports for principals.
The database is a joint project of the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided most of the funding, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and school officials from several states. Amplify Education, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, built the infrastructure over the past 18 months. When it was ready, the Gates Foundation turned the database over to a newly created nonprofit, inBloom Inc, which will run it.
States and school districts can choose whether they want to input their student records into the system; the service is free for now, though inBloom officials say they will likely start to charge fees in 2015. So far, seven states - Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Massachusetts - have committed to enter data from select school districts. Louisiana and New York will be entering nearly all student records statewide.
"We look at personalized learning as the next big leap forward in education," said Brandon Williams, a director at the Illinois State Board of Education.
<h3>IF DATA LEAKS, WHAT REMEDIES?</h3>
Federal officials say the database project complies with privacy laws. Schools do not need parental consent to share student records with any "school official" who has a "legitimate educational interest," according to the U.S. Department of Education. The department defines "school official" to include private companies hired by the school, so long as they use the data only for the purposes spelled out in their contracts.
The database also gives school administrators full control over student files, so they could choose to share test scores with a vendor but withhold social security numbers or disability records.
That's hardly reassuring to many parents.
"Once this information gets out there, it's going to be abused. There's no doubt in my mind," said Jason France, a father of two in Louisiana.
While inBloom pledges to guard the data tightly, its own privacy policy states that it "cannot guarantee the security of the information stored ... or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted."
Parents from New York and Louisiana have written state officials in protest. So have the Massachusetts chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and Parent-Teacher Association. If student records leak, are hacked or abused, "What are the remedies for parents?" asked Norman Siegel, a civil liberties attorney in New York who has been working with the protestors. "It's very troubling."
<h3>VENTURE CAPITAL MAGNET</h3>
Fans of the project respond that the files are safer in the database than scattered about school districts. Plus, they say, the potential upside is enormous, with the power to transform classrooms across the U.S.
Does Johnny have trouble converting decimals to fractions? The database will have recorded that - and may have recorded as well that he finds textbooks boring, adores animation and plays baseball after school. Personalized learning software can use that data to serve up a tailor-made math lesson, perhaps an animated game that uses baseball statistics to teach decimals.
Johnny's teacher can watch his development on a "dashboard" that uses bright graphics to map each of her students' progress on dozens, even hundreds, of discrete skills.
"You can start to see what's effective for each particular student," said Adria Moersen, a high school teacher in Colorado who has tested some of the new products.
The sector is undeniably hot; technology startups aimed at K-12 schools attracted more than $425 million in venture capital last year, according to the NewSchools Venture Fund, a nonprofit that focuses on the sector. The investment company GSV Advisors tracked 84 deals in the sector last year, up from 15 in 2007.
In addition to its $100 million investment in the database, the Gates Foundation has pledged $70 million in grants to schools and companies to develop personalized learning tools.
New products regularly come to market, but both educators and entrepreneurs say adoption has been slow because of technical hurdles.
<h3>WARNING SYSTEMS TO FORESTALL DROPOUTS?</h3>
Schools tend to store different bits of student information in different databases, often with different operating systems. That makes it clunky to integrate new learning apps into classrooms.
At the Rocketship chain of charter schools, for instance, administrators must manually update at least five databases to keep their education software running smoothly when a child transfers from one teacher to another, said Charlie Bufalino, a Rocketship executive.
The extra steps add expense, which limits how many apps a school can buy. And because the data is so fragmented, the private companies don't always get a robust picture of each student's academic performance, much less their personal characteristics.
The new database aims to wipe away those obstacles by integrating all student information - including data that may previously have been stored in paper files or teacher gradebooks - in a single, flexible platform.
Education technology companies can use the same platform to design their software, so their programs will hook into a rich trove of student data if a district or state authorizes access.
That prospect has some companies dreaming big.
Larry Berger, an executive at Amplify Education, says the data could be mined to develop "early warning systems." Perhaps it will turn out, for instance, that most high school dropouts began to struggle with math at age 8. If so, all future 8-year-olds fitting that pattern could be identified and given extra help.
Companies with access to the database will also be able to identify struggling teachers and pinpoint which concepts their students are failing to master. One startup that could benefit: BloomBoard, which sells schools professional development plans customized to each teacher.
The new database "is a godsend for us," said Jason Lange, the chief executive of BloomBoard. "It allows us to collect more data faster, quicker and cheaper."
Whether all this data, and all the programs that use it, will transform education is another question. Most data-driven software has only been tested on a small scale; results are often mixed.
Though he is bullish on the sector, Michael Moe, the chief investment officer at GSV Capital, cautions that there is as yet no proof the new technology will produce "game-changing outcomes" for students - or, for that matter, sterling profits for investors.
Others are more skeptical still.
"The hype in the <keyword id="6358815" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech">tech</keyword> press is that education is an engineering problem that can be fixed by technology," said Frank Catalano of Intrinsic Strategy, a consulting firm focused on education and technology. "To my mind, that's a very naive and destructive view."
(Reporting by Stephanie Simon; editing by Prudence Crowther)
<div class="nc_footer">
Copyright (2013) Thomson Reuters. <a href="http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/media/brand_guidelines/legal_notice/">Click for restrictions</a>
</div>

You Searched For "Simon Berger" and got 7 results

The artist who makes portraits on glass with just a hammer

Maggie Cai,Hailey Gavin

A new Kamala Harris portrait celebrates the vice president as a glass ceiling breaker

Melissa Wiley

A video of Secret Service agents trying to keep up with Kamala Harris' workout went viral after she was spotted jogging in DC

Talia Lakritz

Here's how the former Mayor of London plunged Labour into chaos

Jeremy Wilson

The Goldman Sachs new managing director list is out!

Julia La Roche

This Database Could Save Education In America

Reuters

The Making Of Tesla: Invention, Betrayal, And The Birth Of The Roadster

Drake Baer

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides