Why We Love the Inventor’s Challenge!
An interview with Anne Wintroub, Director of Social Innovation, AT&T Aspire, and Tara Tiger Brown, Chief Inspiration Officer, KitHub, on the launch of the Imagination Foundation’s 2nd annual Inventor’s Challenge (January 23-February 24, 2017)
Our next big adventure at the Imagination Foundation is the Inventor’s Challenge (Jan. 23-Feb. 24, 2017), which basically means kids in our Imagination Chapters (and all over the world) will have a blast designing and building unique projects that solve kid-identified community problems. For last year’s inaugural Challenge, co-sponsored by AT&T, an international cohort of thousands of children participated in the event. To kick start this year’s Challenge, I interviewed two inspirational movers and shakers in the world of innovation and invention: Anne Wintroub, Director of Social Innovation for AT&T and Tara Tiger Brown, Co-Founder of LA Makerspace and Chief Encouragement Officer at KitHub.
CB: Why are innovation and invention so important for kids?
TTB: Innovation shouldn’t have to wait for you to finish school, things are moving too fast. A lot of kids still believe they have to wait until graduation to do something to change the world. It’s important to remember that regardless of age, everybody’s ideas are valid.
With the mounting challenges in the world, the cohort of folks who actually solve problems also feels like it’s shrinking. There aren’t enough professionals who actually solve problems, and definitely not enough women in STEM. We don’t do a good enough job of encouraging skilled blue collar work, those who actually do the building. So, we can continue to rely on a small corps of people who have degrees, or we can decide that everyone can help provide solutions. We can help kids understand that you don’t have to be specialized in order to help solve a problem.
AW: At AT&T, we are focused on building the workforce of the future, creating a diverse and dynamic talent pipeline. As a co-founder of the Inventor’s Challenge, we were looking for fun, exploratory experiences that are super engaging for kids, but that also teach the fundamentals of STEM. We were so impressed with last year’s Challenge and are excited and proud to continue to support the pedagogy and experience of the Challenge.
CB: What are your thoughts on equity of access to opportunities for innovation and invention?
AW: Our mission at AT&T is to help provide access to quality learning experiences, particularly for underrepresented and under-resourced kids, and to meaningfully connect all young people to the learning revolution. We’re doing all we can to make sure they’re graduating from school ready to take on the jobs of the future –more and more that means they need STEM skills. We work with excellent groups all across the country including the Imagination Foundation, Black Girls Who Code, Girls Who Code, Teach for America and others focused on getting learners the skills they need. Imagination Foundation’s engagement with young people, regardless of their background or location, is what attracted us to the group in the first place.
TTB: At about 10 years old, we lose a lot of girls who are interested in science and math, mostly due to peer pressure. We have come so far in terms of role models for them to look up to, but there are still not enough and those who do exist tend to be located in major cities. Online communities help with information — but we still have to navigate those online resources. Mentors, in person and online, can help to introduce new ideas, things that are outside the kids’ everyday experience. We also need to pay more attention to student interests and think: What would motivate them to learn something new about their interests? For example, there are a lot of cases of girls working with fashion in interest spaces, but they haven’t been taught about coding/ electronics. So, what about fashion tech design (http://utopia-blu.net/news/ )? I see those designs and it blows my mind. But to create those, kids have to learn some coding, which connects the interest to the skill. That way, you’ve introduced something complementary in a different way and used the kids’ interests to motivate them to learn something new.
I also think we need to not assume that girls always want to be in all girl groups, give them choice.
CB: What advice do you have for our Chapter Leaders as they begin the Inventor’s Challenge with their kids?
TTB: If you can, get the kids’ parents on board as well, they will get it and sell it for you. Parents can be very positive influences on the success of your project! Also, keep your “making” experiences open. Let the kids just be free in a space to invent and create. If your school won’t allow for this kind of open time, compromise by holding a regular “Open Making Time” for a specific portion of the day/week. And don’t grade or test the work done in your “makerspace time.” The need to “get it right” for a grade suppresses the natural experimentation kids are born with. Instead, remind them there is no right answer, if something doesn’t work, troubleshoot and try again.
AW: What stood out to me about last year’s Challenge were the high caliber solutions from participants of such a young age! Kids recognized problems and came up with solutions to these problems. They said “here’s my idea,” and then were able to articulate and film that idea to put it out there. It was very exciting and inspiring. Kids are natural inventors and we support them and understand that those experiences are important. I advise Chapter Leaders to support their kids in articulating and freely expressing their vision. Make sure the Challenge is an authentic experience for kids. What they create needs to be a true representation of their idea to the world.
For more information on the Imagination Foundation’s Inventor’s Challenge, check out last year’s video entries at the following link: 2016 Inventor’s Challenge Videos. Also, visit www.inventorschallenge.org.
