OTBC changes leadership

Beaverton startup hub OTBC is changing its leadership team. Steve Morris, who has led the organization as executive director for 16 years, is retiring. Jim McCreight, director of strategic partnerships, will assume the executive director role. Julie Brown will take on the role of director of operations.

Expensify S-1 is available

If you’ve been curious about Portland’s Expensify going public, the S-1 is now available for your reading pleasure. The high notes? They plan to raise $243 million by selling about 10 million shares priced between $23-$25 range. And they plan to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol EXFY.

And from my personal perspective, I don’t ever recall reading an S-1 — and I’ve read quite a few — that reference a motivation to “Get shit done.” But this one does.

Science and Technology (October 31st 2021)

1. Though exoskeletons are exciting and they allow some of us to carry one with physical activities despite handicaps, they appear to require quite a bit of brain power. In effect, though they may help you move, they require a lot of mental effort which can be distracting.
2. It is difficult to make people smarter by changing their environment. Socioeconomic background effects on children’s cognitive development and student achievement are likely to be spurious according to new research.
3. There is a U-shaped association between cardiovascular health and physical activity. A moderate amount of physical activity is really good for you, but you can do too much.
4. In richer countries where women are treated as equals to men, there are greater differences between boys’ and girls’ aspirations. For example, boys are more likely to be attracted to science compared to girls in a rich country.
5. Scientists spend ever more time in school for relatively few desirable positions. These scientists are then ever more likely to pursue post-doctoral positions. These longer studies are a significant net loss of their lifetime income.

Different Ways to Show Learning

For many of us, our preparation to become teachers consisted of courses focusing on classroom management, lesson design, grading, and proven strategies that had withstood the test of time.  We were also exposed to learning style theory and the many benefits it had on meeting the diverse needs of students. To this day, it is still heavily referenced, even though it has been debunked extensively.  Cindi May shared the following in Scientific American:

Just because a notion is popular, however, doesn't make it accurate. A recent review of the scientific literature on learning styles found scant evidence to clearly support the idea that outcomes are best when instructional techniques align with individuals' learning styles. In fact, several studies contradict this belief. It is clear that people have a strong sense of their own learning preferences (e.g., visual, kinesthetic, intuitive), but it is less clear that these preferences matter.

There is little scientific support for this fashionable idea—and stronger evidence for other learning strategies.

Research continues to provide further evidence that the conventional wisdom about learning styles should be rejected by educators and students alike (Kirschner, 2017; Husmann & O'Loughlin, 2018; Riener & Willingham, 2010).  While this challenge to conventional wisdom might be hard to swallow, some good news comes in the form of a silver lining. There isn't one best way to learn as the path and preference are different for everyone. Hence the need to incorporate an array of strategies that pull on the strengths of some learners while addressing weaknesses in others.  

In Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms, I laid out an array of personalized strategies that can be implemented after a mini-lesson is facilitated.  While these take some planning upfront, there are some simpler techniques that can be readily integrated into any lesson in the form of voice and choice.  When reviewing prior learning, checking for understanding, or closing lessons, allow students to choose how to show what they have learned through the following means:

• Writing (digital tools, individual whiteboards)
• Video (Flipgrid, Padlet, Seesaw)
• Audio (Padlet, Seesaw)
• Images (Padlet Jamboard)
• Drawing (Nearpod, Pear Deck, Padlet, individual whiteboards)

While tech presents a myriad of options for students to show learning, traditional mini-whiteboards can also be used in some cases. None of the pathways above are meant to replace summative assessments, but using varied formative means caters to a learner's preference by giving them the best opportunity to show what they have learned. It builds confidence, fosters creativity, and empowers students during lessons. 

Husmann, P.R., and V.D. O'Loughlin. 2019. "Another Nail in the Coffin for Learning Styles? Disparities among Undergraduate Anatomy Students' Study Strategies, Class Performance, and Reported Vark Learning Styles." Anatomical Sciences Education 12, 6–19. 

Kirschner, P. 2017. "Stop Propagating the Learning Styles Myth." Computers and Education 106, 166–171.

Riener, C., and D.T. Willingham, 2010. "The Myth of Learning Styles." Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 42(5), 32–35.

Not monkeying around: Zendesk to buy SurveyMonkey in $4 billion all stock deal

Now, I realize that this isn’t exactly Portland startup news. But it is former Portland startup news. And the company in question still has a significant presence here in town. And it’s Friday. So I feel it’s warranted. SurveyMonkey — now known as Momentive — is getting acquired as part of a $4 billion deal.

Momentive shareholders will receive 0.225 shares of Zendesk’s stock for each share of Momentive stock they own, which implied a value of about $28 per share at the time of the announcement.

“The SurveyMonkey brand is iconic, and we’ve admired their business from afar since the inception of Zendesk. They truly democratized an industry — almost everyone in the world has responded to one of their surveys at some point,” said Zendesk CEO and cofounder Mikkel Svane in a statement quoted by VentureBeat. “We’re very excited to have them join the Zendesk mission along with Momentive’s market research and insights products and together create a powerful new customer intelligence company. We will deliver a rich, colorful picture of every customer, so businesses really understand their customers and can build more authentic relationships.”

SurveyMonkey was founded in 1999 by Chris Finley and Ryan Finley. For a time, it was quietly headquartered in Portland before being sold to private to Private Equity in 2009. And has retained a significant office here, even through its variety of transitions. No word on what impact, if any, this will have on the Portland footprint of what is now Zendesk.

For more on the acquisition, see the statement from SurveyMonkey parent Momentive.

Sila cofounder chats with Nasdaq about the state of fintech

Listen as Portland’s Shamir Karkal, cofounder of fintech startup Sila and cofounder of Simple, discusses the current state of fintech with Nasdaq.

Community kudos: Skip Newberry, Technology Association of Oregon

Skip and his growing team at TAO provide PDX startups with mentors, investors, and resources that help our Silicon Forest thrive. While TAO brings education, excitement, and community to Oregon-based tech companies, Skip operates at a national level, sharing insights and ideas with tech leaders, incubators, associations, and government programs across the country. TAO executes on exciting new ideas and services for its members with amazing speed. This is leadership in action, starting from the very top with Skip. Thank you for everything you continue to do to make Portland a great place to build technology.

Follow Skip on Twitter.

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