Black Friday Ed-Tech News: The Future of Cathie Black, the Busuu Language, College Tuition in the UK and More

The New York Times is reporting that New York State's education commissioner has reached a deal with Mayor Bloomberg so the appointment of Cathie Black as Chancellor of the NYC Public Schools will move forward. Her appointment has been controversial in part as she lacks no background in education administration. Black is a former executive with Hearst Magazines.

Language-learning site busuu has launched a campaign to help save the busuu language. The Cameroonian language is only spoken by 8 people. In addition to making a film about the language, the busuu has created www.savebusuu.com. According to UNESCO, there are 3000 spoken languages that are currently endangered.

Language-learning site LiveMocha has launched a Teacher/Student Edition of its Active Courses. These courses, available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, offer a number of features, including practice with native speakers.

I've been watching the student protests in the UK with great interest. (My dissertation was, um, supposed to be on street theater and political protest -- and the French avant-garde and the Yippies. I digress...) While most of the tens of thousands of students protesting the tuition hikes have done so peacefully, there have been a number of violent clashes, with reports of police "kettling" protesters. I've got a lot more to say on this subject, but sufficed to say I am pleased to see people taking to the streets to demand access to education.

Photo credits: Flickr user See-ming Lee