A year of Learning Innovation Conversations

Over the past year the Drexel ExCITe Center hosted six Learning Innovation Conversations, public discussions with national thought leaders to share their novel and creative approaches to education innovation and improving learning. Here, we take a look back at this phenomenal year-long series to summarize our big takeaways and also ask for your input on where we should be headed next with this initiative. For these Conversations, we were joined by the following distinguished speakers:

• John Maeda, Interdisciplinary, innovative designer and iconoclast educator (January 24, 2017).
• Mimi Ito, Creator of connected learning camps and learning-through-gaming expert (March 21, 2017).
• Leah Beuchley, Inventor of the LilyPad Arduino and expert on making across gender and cultural boundaries (May 23, 2017).
• Katrina Stevens, EdTech expert, educator and former Obama administration official (September 19, 2017).
• Christopher Emdin, Creator of Reality Pedagogy and leader in HipHopEd (October 24, 2017).
• Melina Uncapher, Trailblazing neuroscientist creating classroom-based research through Learning Engineering (January 30, 2018).

We curated this series to highlight a broad sampling of backgrounds, perspectives, and approaches spanning all levels of learning. Our speakers addressed a wide variety of topics including classroom pedagogy, learning science, and education technology. And while each speaker contributed particular areas of depth and expertise, we also found six common themes that echoed across multiple speakers. These concepts resonated deeply with us, and may serve as a foundation for enhancing teaching learning in your classroom, school, or organization:

• Connecting learning to student interests and experiences
  We heard from several speakers about how learning is greatly enhanced by authentically connecting to students’ interests and passions. Some examples of this are using art and design as a pathway to computing (John Maeda), discovery through exposure to passionate experts (Mimi Ito), exploring cultural traditions beyond the narrow definition of STEM education (Leah Buechley), or the power of hiphop to build topical fluency (Chris Emdin).

• Engaging the right stakeholders
  Students and teachers are too often divorced from the decision-making process regarding institutional policies, curricular and project choice, learning environments, and technology. The knowledge, data, and experience these stakeholders provide is easily overlooked or dismissed, limiting an easy opportunity for feedback and improvement.

• Innovation isn’t easy. It takes time and requires iteration.
  While it is easy to desire and seek innovation, more often than not there are systemic impediments and issues of longstanding cultures that must be addressed in order to create and sustain change. True innovation requires a long, methodical process, a high degree of commitment, and an understanding of the implicit risks.

• Learning Heroes: Teachers and guiding mentors are crucial
  All six speakers spoke passionately about the incredible value of teachers and mentors. Anyone who understands learning knows that teachers play a crucial role in everyone’s development. We must develop new ways to better acknowledge, prepare, and support these learning heroes.

• Open source approaches encourage customization and evolution
  Too often, the tools and technology deployed in schools and classrooms is proprietary and driven by for-profit companies rather than learning experts. Beyond the democratizing of freely accessible tools and information, the open source movement is about building as a community with a philosophy for creating impactful solutions in a manner akin to “showing and sharing your work”.

• Inclusivity sparks innovative thinking
  A range of perspectives is a prerequisite for new ideas and research is increasingly demonstrating that diverse teams create better solutions. Diversity is no longer an aspiration, but a necessity for creativity and innovation. This includes diversity of race/ethnicity and gender, but also diversity of interests and socio-economic status.

We hope these insights provide ideas and inspiration for schools and learning spaces and also draw attention to the innovative work already happening in our region.

Join the Learning Innovation Network

To move these concepts and initiatives forward, the ExCITe Center is now embarking on an inclusive process to consider how Philadelphia can develop an education innovation cluster to connect and share these approaches with like-minded educators, researchers, and administrators across the region. Please take our brief survey on how we can amplify the work already happening locally, and join the Learning Innovation Network email list to be informed about opportunities to meet up in person and take part in these formative discussions. We invite all stakeholders to participate!