Dr. Barbara Kurshan

Dr. Barbara Kurshan is the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation. ECC is dedicated to improving learning and teaching with a focus on innovation in education. For the past 4 years, she was the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Curriki and continues to support the mission of Curriki.

Dr. Kurshan has honed her vision of “what can be” using technology while supporting the growth of new education companies and also developing innovative software products. In her role at Curriki, she helped to build a community that provides the best open source curricula globally. Curriki is a social entrepreneurship organization that supports the development and free distribution of open source educational materials to improve education worldwide. Dr. Kurshan also founded WorldSage in 2004 with the vision to create a for-profit higher education system to address education for the 21st Century and currently serves on the board and as the EVP.

Dr. Kurshan has been involved with education and technology for over 30 years. She developed the first children’s software products for Microsoft—Creative Writer and Fine Artist—and also created award-winning products for McGraw-Hill, Apple, CCC (Pearson) and others. As a professor Virginia Tech and Hollins College, she helped students research the impact of technology on learning. Dr. Kurshan also publishes articles based on personal research exploring women’s attitudes toward technology, how kids learn using computers, and new ways of learning through understanding. She has authored several books on educational technology including one of the most used textbooks on computer literacy for middle school and high school, Computer Literacy through Applications. She has been quoted in many influential journals and serves as a reviewer and advisor to research projects for the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Education, UNESCO and other government and business groups.

Through her venture fund Core Learning she invested in companies and entrepreneurs who are impacting education. Currently she serves on the board of several education technology companies, including Interschola and Fablevision. Among numerous honors, Dr. Kurshan received the Education Academic Society’s Making It Happen Award and the Highest Leaf Award from the Women’s Venture Fund. She is listed in Who’s Who in Technology Today.

Dr. Kurshan received her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction and her M.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech University and her B.S. from Newcomb College, Tulane University.