How technology can reinvigorate the education system The path to
a global No. 1 ranking in education requires technology
President Barack Obama set a goal of making the United States
first in the world in post-secondary academic degrees by 2020,
and Jim Shelton says technology is what will get us there. Named
assistant deputy secretary for technology at the Education
Department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement in April 2009,
Shelton is in charge of grant-making and educational technology
strategy at the department. He also coordinates Education's
technology efforts with other federal and state agencies.
Previously, he was education program director at the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, where he spurred investments in next-
generation models of learning. He has a bachelor's degree in
computer science from Morehouse College and a master's degree in
education and master's degree in business administration from
Stanford University. He began his career in computer system
development and became a senior co