The World’s First Co-learning space is Amazing!
And it’ll be in Brazil — a place for Education, Design, Innovation and Technology.
My name is Julio Fontes. I am the Creator of the concept of Colearning Spaces.
I had the privilege of growing up in a Culture of Learning.
It took moments of isolation, deep abstractions and focus for me to develop the autonomy and the freedom to experiment, create and imagine how things could be different.
This has become the best part of me. And throughout the years I’ve learned that I connect with people by ideas.
Back in the day, the (Brazilian) TV was a great motivation for all of this — thank you TV Cultura!
That’s the vision: to materialize this culture of learning into a physical spot.
I want to map all the World’s Colearning Spaces. So you can list your Space from all over the world for free.
Write about Education, Learning, Methodologies, Dynamics, Tools, Experiences in your Colearning, Space, School, Bootcamp, Coworking, me — and thousands of people — want to read about.
Colearning Space is a spot where you can feel fresh, up for making new friends, connecting your ideas and people that teach one another things for life, showing a world full of opportunities.
In contrast with trends such as plenty of MOOCs, virtual spaces of Learning and unfortunate distance between people, the Colearning is an unprecedented concept, based on the physical spot as a tool.
1. The place as a (powerful) tool
It’s not surprise Apple and Google are investing billions of dollars on new offices and entrepreneurs like Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) are investing on districts and cities.
The goal is optimization. To make the physical places as efficient and responsive as a software.
In a business perspective, more ‘collisions’ means more communication, faster decision process and more assertive energy, affecting people’s productivity and creativity by 60% plus. Thus, the proximity alone improves learning, collaboration and, therefore, innovation ($$$).
That’s what researchers and authors like Thomas J. Allen (MIT Professor and creator of the ‘Allen’s Curve’ — bellow) and Jennifer Magnolfi (Researcher of Programmable Habitats, the future of work, robotics, working with NASA, ISS and others) suggest in their works.
Colearning is a concept that goes beyond a roof surrounded by walls, beyond a group of people using wifi isolated on their seat and headphones.
It’s a new concept. Setting a place as a communication tool.
2. A new tool system — to a new space
The world has changed!
- You do not need to spend a lot of time and invest a little fortune to learn.
- You do not need to be in the Ivy League Colleges or Schools to get access to people and content.
- You do not need to be 4 years in those B*** lectures to get the part that you really want or need it.
- You do no need to use what you learned in to the “real world”.
- You do not need to depend on couple of teachers and theirs individual limitations as the ‘gatekeepers’ of your learning pathways.
- You do need the opportunity and to have choices.
- You do not need to be alone.
3. More content and opportunities to you
Having our own spot = more activities = more density = formats = more opportunities to you.
We have been working for approx. 4 years remotely, using +30 places for creating, organizing and producing our own courses, workshops, debates and activities. In this period we provided services for 1430 people per year, on average. But we can go much further!!!
Many others events, formats, programs, inclusion, diversity, instructors, topics, projects and much more.
We’ve never had our place: a spot that would feed the development, interaction, curiosity, empathy and ideas. In other words, all super powers that, as human beings, give us the ability to create amazing things.
Ok, but why us?
Because it’s been 6 years in a business based on the vision of Organizing Brazil Learning and create a New Global Educational System.
Because we exist to help during all your individual journey of learning, offering more opportunities, experiences and better choices.
Because we believe that the best way of complaining is to do something.
A brief timeline (from left to the right):
- 2011: Design Thinking Workshop with Ricardo Ruffo. One of the first workshops, bringing (at that time) a new methodology to an experimental contact with students.
- 2012: 5thº generation of collaborative content, giving and creating space to the people.
- 2014: The very first platform to help you to find all the Brazilian design, technology and entrepreneurship events, in just one place.
- 2016: The very first ‘Educational Production’ of workshops, courses and events. Hands on, experience and your journey as a priority.
- 2017: The very first platform that takes students to know the routine, challenges, professionals at design and technology real workplace — from designers, developers, teams and executives!
- 2020: Find Design, Technology, Business and Innovation Videos, Books, Schools, Teachers, Events, Companies, Courses, Colleges, Articles, Podcasts. https://coletividad.org
Until right now (dec/2017)
115 courses and face-to-face activities, 32 facilitators, 8451 participants, 90 visits, 5126 users, 60 companies involved, 6 states, 1 million unique views and 2500 events were mapped.
How the Colearning is going to work
Let’s imagine a concert hall where each day there’s a new performance with a new artist and a new genre, and where you could always enjoy them, meet new people and get to know new songs (better than Spotify’s algorithm, huh?)
The ‘concert hall’ is the Colearning.
Each day, 6 days per week, 12 hours per day, there’s a big set of activities, new courses, themes, professors/facilitators, content aligned with what you expect, various audiences, but with specific goals in common.
- You, facilitator/professor, can use our amazing spot and its infrastructure to host a workshop or course, being free to do it whatever you’d like.
- You, community, facilitator/professor, can focus on the content and offer your activity our spot, and the organization, services, sales, contents, communication and production will be our responsibility.
- You, adventure-seeker, student or professional will be able to come along with any activity, chat, connect with others, grab a cup of coffee and have fun discovering new things…
- You, service provider, will be able to offer to +9680 people-year services of photography, video, catering, marketing, design, development…
An amazing spot and affordable infrastructure with all the support needed — from strategy, experience and production to sales — so your event, course or activity will be a success.
Exclusively designed for proximity, interaction face to face, a constant flow of ideas and Education of Innovation in Brazil.
Our first spot will be in São Paulo (SP — Brazil), but the activities will be streamed online all over!
Subscribe on the list to get the news about the project: https://julioh.typeform.com/to/vzAUeZ
20 special features of our Colearning
8 ways of reducing the distance between cities, communities, academies and industry.
- Colearning is about real innovation through public participation and the creation of a common understanding about Design, Technology and entrepreneurship. Our spot will be integrated with the neighborhood (local community), offering the courses to and with the small business and people of the region. Ex.: The image below simulates if the spot would be in São Paulo Downtown, so we could include Government (Local, State and Federal) Entities, participants and Business in a dialogue, activities and innovation processes, prototyping solutions, IoT, App Development, etc… searching for better solutions — Much more than a spot and a “people aggregator”, but as a communication tool — acting as a bridge between government entities, business companies, students and entrepreneurs.
2. Our relationship with University will give us the chance to include even more Faculty members in our debates, researches, marathons, mentoring and courses.
3. To create a true environment of an (open) university campus, there will be a student republic for the innovation areas, so since the first semester of College will be in contact with professionals, others professors, students, companies…
4. Every company and office subscribed at the Visitei platform will have an exclusive access to the colearning activities, an open invitation for their workers to become facilitators and to access to new talents, students, professionals teachers and projects.
5. In the last year we’ve been making an inclusive work of young people in vulnerability, with the (NGO) RECODE support. With the Colearning we will expand this initiative, creating specific programs and training to create even more opportunities for them.
6. Our courses and workshops have been approaching real world problems and life situations. We believe that by doing this we generate value x2, to people and the society. The proposal is to expand this and take these subjects forward, beyond the courses and workshops, acting as a place of incubation and acceleration of ideas to companies and to the city.
7. Students starting at 13 years old. A new way to give opportunities to the young generations to see new technologies, possibilities and receive mentoring at a young age.
8. Communities that make a great job, like Training Center, Garoa Hacker Club, LHC de Campinas, PyLadies, Front UX, HTML SP, Maria Lab, Reprograma, Programaria, can use it for Meetup at no charge.
Now imagine all this together, at the same time, everyday. That’s the spot! With the Practice, Innovation, Learning, Dialogue, Talent, Tolerance and Diversity Culture.
Look and Feel
For you to imagine
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What’s going to happen in that Colearning Space?
- Workshops e Courses (yours, ours and from partners);
- Design and Technology Chalanges;
- Lectures and Events;
- Mentoring and Study Groups;
- Hackathons and Bootcamps;
- Open Debates;
- Design and Tech Meetups;
- Open Pitches Nights;
- Acceleration and Incubation of your projects and ideas.
