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George Lucas Educational Foundation

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Coordinates: 38°03′49″N 122°39′09″W / 38.063534°N 122.652402°W / 38.063534; -122.652402
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Named afterGeorge Lucas
PredecessorThe Media Tree
Formation1991; 34 years ago (1991)[a]
Founders
Founded atMarin County, California[1]
TypeNonprofit
EIN 680065687
HeadquartersSkywalker Ranch
San Rafael, California
Coordinates38°03′49″N 122°39′09″W / 38.063534°N 122.652402°W / 38.063534; -122.652402[2]
Region served
United States
Products
  • Edutopia.org
  • Edutopia magazine
Websiteglef.org
  1. ^ This date has been widely reported, but is debatable. See § Organizational history for details.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation is a nonprofit publisher that documents and publicizes exemplary K-12 education practices and programs, especially through video.[3][4][5] It does this primarily through the Edutopia website.

Organizational history

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An organization named "The Media Tree" was founded on 4 August 1983 in Mill Valley, California by John Korty and others. It engaged in public relations for media content creators to the public of Marin County.[6] On 4 September 1990, the organization was renamed to "The George Lucas Educational Foundation".[7] The George Lucas Educational Foundation is widely reported to have been founded in 1991[8][9] by George Lucas and Steve Arnold.[1] Lucas originally planned for the foundation to develop technology for schools, but soon determined that schools were not interested or able to use this technology.[3] The foundation was one of the first philanthropies to invest in digital learning technology.[3]

The foundation does not usually provide grants.[citation needed] In 2006, Lucas donated $175 million to his alma mater the University of Southern California through the foundation.[10]

In 2010, the foundation had a $6 million annual budget and eighteen full-time staff.[9] In 2012, the Foundation significantly increased its assets when it received the majority of the proceeds from the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm Ltd. to the Walt Disney Co.[3][10]

Publications

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About 1994, the Foundation began publishing a newsletter entitled Edutopia.[11][1] In September 2004, the foundation launched a free glossy magazine, also titled Edutopia[12][8][1][4] with educators as the target audience.[1][13] From its inception, the print magazine had 85,000 subscribers.[12][13][8] By 2006, it has 100,000 subscribers.[14][15] The print magazine was discontinued in Spring 2010. but the website continued as an online magazine.[1][3]

Edutopia.org

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The Edutopia.org website was started in 2002.[16] In 2009, the foundation launched an advertising campaign, leading the website to receive 300,000 readers per month in 2010, a 70% increase from 2009.[9] Robert Pondiscio described Edutopia.org as an inspirational resource for teachers, exuding "unabashed idealism and cheerful optimism".[9] The website features a video series titled "Schools That Work" of in-depth profiles of specific schools.[9] Edutopia.org includes interactive features including comments, blogs, and internet forums.[17]

Advocacy

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The Foundation has sometimes included in its mission spreading best practices.[4] However, in practice, Edutopia is a nonprofit media company focused on satisfying and increasing its audience, not an educational reform advocacy organization strategizing to change educational systems.[9][5] The foundation has endorsed as its core principles: "comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project-based learning, social and emotional learning, teacher development, and technology integration".[17][9][18] Robert Pondiscio has been critical of Edutopia's tagline "what works in public education" given the lack of empirical support for these recommendations and uncertainty about how they were developed.[9]

Research findings

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Edutopia increases teachers engagement with educational best practices by packaging it in an appealing multisensory video format.[19] Edutopia disseminates scientific/factual knowledge, technical knowledge, and practical wisdom, with a greater emphasis on practical wisdom, which includes judgments, values, and beliefs.[20] Many of the tips and strategies on Edutopia have not been systematically researched.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Riddell, Roger (May 23, 2019). "Common Cents: George Lucas Foundation details strategy of exploring innovation without being prescriptive". K-12 Dive. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  2. ^ "The George Lucas Educational Foundation". D&B Hoovers. 10 December 2024. p. 1. ProQuest 1860789698. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e Ash, Katie (November 13, 2012). "George Lucas' promise to invest in education prompts speculation". Education Week. Vol. 32, no. 12. p. 10. ProQuest 1197616487.
  4. ^ a b c "Free for the asking". Tech Directions. Vol. 65, no. 7. February 2006. pp. 30–31. ProQuest 218558695.
  5. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas' 2010 philanthropy pledge". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  6. ^ Dorr, Christopher; Korty, John (4 August 1983). "Articles of incorporation of The Media Tree".
  7. ^ Korty, John; Mendelson, Dorothy (4 September 1990). "Certificate of amendment of The Media Tree".
  8. ^ a b c Neil, Alissa (September 22, 2004). "George Lucas Educational Foundation launches Edutopia, a new magazine for a new world of learning". PR Newswire (Press release). The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Gale A122354177.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Pondiscio, Robert (2010). "Edutopian vision". Education Next. Vol. 10, no. 3. ISSN 1539-9664.
  10. ^ a b Block, Alex Ben (October 31, 2012). "George Lucas will use Disney $4 billion to fund education". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  11. ^ "Edutopia : the newsletter of the George Lucas Educational Foundation (33233451)". WorldCat. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Colford, Paul D. (September 16, 2004). "Lucas rings bell for education mag". New York Daily News. p. 62. ProQuest 305911061.
  13. ^ a b Freedman, Samuel G. (August 31, 2005). "Like Aristotle with a light saber, Lucas urges hands-on learning: Taking a light saber to tired old teaching". The New York Times. Gale A135634517. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  14. ^ Access Intelligence (14 August 2006). "In January, "Edutopia" and Mcgraw-Hill will showcase good-looking schools". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (31). ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936156.
  15. ^ "An "endemic" June cover line that almost every 10-year-old will hate". Media Industry Newsletter. 59 (22): 8. 29 May 2006. ISSN 0024-9793. Wikidata Q131936191.
  16. ^ "edutopia.org archives". Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Michael Bruce Sherry; Robert Tremmel (October 2012). "English education 2.0: An analysis of websites that contain videos of English teaching". English Education. 45 (1): 35–70. doi:10.58680/ee201221574. ISSN 0007-8204. JSTOR 23365000. Wikidata Q131935163.
  18. ^ "edutopia.org home page". Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  19. ^ a b Malin, Joel R. (June 1, 2020). "Mediated, Evidence-Informed Practice as Impact". International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership. 16 (8): 3-4. doi:10.22230/ijepl.2020v16n8a955. ISSN 1555-5062.
  20. ^ Malin, Joel R.; Brown, Chris; Trubceac, Angela St (2018). "Going for Broke: A Multiple-Case Study of Brokerage in Education". AERA Open. 4 (2). doi:10.1177/2332858418769297. ISSN 2332-8584.

Further reading

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