Startup Weekend EDU

Coding, Making, and the Arts: Essential Tools for Students

February 27, 2013 | 11:26 AM | By Tina Barseghian

Some of the most important subject areas and activities we want students to learn are the very ones that are left out of many schools: the arts, computer programming, and learning to making things by hand.

We know that arts integration can open all kinds of opportunities for learning and fostering creativity. We’re learning why computer science is an essential skill for every student to thrive in the digital world. And we’re understanding how allowing kids to get their hands on do-it-yourself projects shows them the value of designing, creating, and the process of making.

Until such time that schools provide these essential skills to all students, certain individuals and organizations are stepping in to fill the void. We met a few of these changemakers who are bringing these essential tools to students recently at the Big Ideas Fest in Half Moon Bay. Here are their stories. Perhaps their work and influence will make progress towards bringing these skills from outside the school system to where it belongs.

SMARTHISTORY: Making High Art Accessible

Steven Zucker and Beth Harris, the creators of Smarthistory, a huge collection of videos that take you inside the most important museums in the world, talk about how their explanations of significant art work make otherwise abstract or hard-to-understand concepts more accessible to students.

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FILED UNDER: Learning Methods, Teaching With Tech, Black Girls Code, Caine's Arcade, DIY, maker movement, programming, SmartHistory, Startup Weekend EDU

Closing the Gap Between Educators and Entrepreneurs

January 17, 2013 | 9:35 AM | By Frank Catalano

Getty

There appears to be no shortage of new businesses looking to apply technology to education. An entire ecosystem has emerged in recent years to develop and promote the latest product or service for the classroom or district. But a major hurdle remains: the divide between what entrepreneurs build and educators need.

The ecosystem stimulating the “edupreneurial” activity ranges from startup instigators (Startup Weekend EDU) and startup showcases (LAUNCHedu, SIIA Innovation Incubator), to startup incubators (Y Combinator, Imagine K12) and startup investors.

But in many cases, enthusiastic edupreneurs are propelled from this starting ramp to run full speed, like Wile E. Coyote, into an oversized anvil — actual teachers. It doesn’t matter how good the concept, how cool the technology, or how pressing the need. There can be a fundamental disconnect between passion and reality.

“Solutions have to be easy to implement. They have to make the teacher feel inspired, rather than stupid.”

And that can keep good ideas out of the classroom.

To dissect the disconnect, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest recently brought together a group of insiders: traditional education company executive Randy Reina, senior vice president of digital product development at McGraw-Hill Education’s Center for Digital Innovation; a not-so-recently-startup edtech company CEO Jessie Woolley-Wilson, who’s chair and president of DreamBox Learning; and teacher/entrepreneur Lindsey Own, a Seattle-area middle school science and health teacher and co-organizer of Startup Weekend Seattle EDU.

A handful of key themes emerged, casting light not just on what entrepreneurs need to know, but on issues parents and educators should expect as ed-tech startups get more attention. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Teaching With Tech, entrepreneurship, MIT, Startup Weekend EDU

Hacker and Teacher: The Perfect Match

October 24, 2011 | 10:49 AM | By Audrey Watters

Startup Weekend EDU San Francisco

Last weekend, at the Washington, DC Startup Weekend EDU, it was clear that teachers are starting to play a more important role in these intense entrepreneur-fests.

For those unfamiliar with Startup Weekend, here’s the general idea: entrepreneurs have 54 hours — from Friday night until Sunday afternoon — to pitch an idea, assemble a team, and build and demo a product. The pitch is judged on a number of factors, including whether it’s been vetted by the community, the strength of the business model, and, of course, whether the actual product works.

The good news for the education community is that the Startup Weekend enterprise has recently made the commitment to hold events specifically addressing education issues.

But what can you build in 54 hours, you might wonder? Turns out, a whole lot.

How do you bridge the cultural divides between entrepreneurs and educators, between hackers and high school teachers?

Since 2007, when the idea of these weekend-long events started, thousands of startups have been created, and least one-third of those are still working on their idea months after their individual Startup Weekend.

But the move to create a series of Startup Weekends focused solely on education comes with its own set of challenges. Chief among these: how do you make sure to include educators? After all, if the goal is to help launch new education startups or to foster education innovation, how can those who are integral to the process — those with the most extensive “domain Continue reading →