Giving Compass' Take:

• EdSurge reports on the recent Edvation X Summit in Tokyo, which gave attendees a glimpse of what the future of education would look like in Japan, including cat ears that track student brainwave data.

• There are a lot of cool bells and whistles mentioned in the piece, but how many of the innovative tools could be applied here in the U.S.? Where do our needs converge and diverge?

• Here's some practical advice on building a strategic plan for edtech interoperability. 

Some of the world’s most beloved inventions — from Cup Noodles and Nintendo to emojis and digital Tamagotchi pets — trace back to savvy Japanese entrepreneurs, who bring fantastical ideas to life, in our pockets and on our store shelves. What happens when that creativity is applied to the classroom?

That overlap between futurism, exuberance and education was on display this week at the Edvation x Summit in Tokyo, where education technology entrepreneurs, educators, students and members of Japan’s Ministry of Education shared their vision of what the future of education might look like in the country that brought us everything from the first camera phone to Hello Kitty.

Education is serious business in Japan. The country regularly ranks among the highest in mathematics, science and reading on international tests like the PISA exam. Yet that comes at a cost: immense academic pressure to do well on exams, which critics believe is a factor that fuels bullying in schools. The 2016 academic year in Japan saw more than 320,000 such cases — more than any year on record for the country, according to The Japan Times.

Some presenters at the Edvation x Summit, however, believe technology could help solve some emotional challenges or even loneliness for students.

Read the full article about looking into Japan's educational future by Sydney Johnson at EdSurge.