A sense of serious purpose pervaded SXSW.edu last week. Not that hype and heat were wholly absent, but what most struck me was the shared attitude of "let's get to work." 

Sleeves rolled up like Rosie, folks seem bent on tackling a huge challenge with collaborative spirit and close attention to the material (as opposed to the putative theory). For instance, at several of the panels I attended on the use of games in the classroom, the word was that learners and educators sought more rigorous content.

On a panel entitled "Makers, Geeks and Mentors: Community Learning Hubs," Bryan Wunar of Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry noted that visitors increasingly want content, not merely entertainment, for the price of their ticket.

As usual, the young learners themselves were most eloquent: a fourth- or fifth- grader in New Orleans, when asked what most appealed to her about the renewal efforts at her school, said they helped her focus and put aside "the silliness in her." (She is on this video about a remarkable initiative underway at the Batiste Cultural Arts Academy, led by Principal Ron Gubitz as part of the ReNEW Schools project funded by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities).

Putting aside the vehemence of the debate over education, I suggest that our future is brighter than the headlines might have us believe. Above the vitriol flows a much broader stream of pragmatism, upon which steam a thousand ships of experimentation and inquiry.

Daniel Rabuzzi is the Executive Director of Mouse.