The American Education Think Tank (AETT), with the help of a Maryland business executive long associated with historically Black colleges and universities, is going to launch a new online education think tank this week. This online education think tank has the objective of expanding the involvement of people of colour in the national debate on education.
This project will comprise of around 80 bloggers who will be dedicated to writing about ideas on education over the next year, which will be finally put together by the AETT’s Commission on Education in order to develop an agenda that addresses the educational needs of children, particularly those of colour.
These bloggers consist of several college presidents such as Dr. Henry Ponder, president of Oklahoma’s Langston University, as well as department heads from Jackson State University, and professors from Howard University and Boston University.
The new organization hopes to distinguish itself from others by being “efficient, cost effective and transparent.” Anyone can visit the organization’s web site and related social media vehicles to weigh in on ideas and opinions advanced by the fellows, not all of whom are expected to write and post on a regular basis or at the same time.
The online think tank discussions will be available to all of those with computer access, and the organisation will try to stimulate debate by periodically posing a question to participants.
This experience presents an opportunity to explore an idea presented several times in onthinktanks.org to develop digital think tanks that require little start-up investments.