A letter to Bitwise Industries leadership before the collapse

At the end of May this year, on Memorial Day, Bitwise Industries, a tech startup that “promised to uplift marginalized communities and change the narratives of underestimated places” furloughed its workers and soon shut down. Among those who lost their jobs were Kennan Scott, the former OUSD Director of Computer Science, a longtime educator and winner of one of the first State of Black Education Oakland (SoBEO) Impact Awards. Kennan’s wife, Karen, also worked for Bitwise Industries Oakland. In this guest piece, Kennan shares a message he sent to the Bitwise team shortly before the layoffs:


BayTech Recognized with Award for Ed Tech Tactics

At some schools, it’s just accepted that COVID-19 will increase the digital divide and harm vulnerable students the most. Not BayTech. Two years ago, Bay Area Technology School (BayTech), an East Oakland charter school made a big investment to bring in more computer-aided programs to help accelerate student learning. Talk about timely — when the pandemic…


Real Innovation in Education

The revolution will not be computerized, to riff on Gil Scott Heron.  No the education revolution will not be computerized. The innovation we need in schools will not be technology based.  No algorithm is going to reach and teach our most vulnerable students, nor will a panopticon manage their behavior and develop the social and…