Schools around the country are integrating the teaching of problem solving and entrepreneurial thinking into STEM instruction in some very creative and relevant ways. Many of them are also simultaneously figuring out how to encourage more girls and students of color to pursue studies in STEM areas, showing the kids how their participation could lead to lucrative careers down the road. We’ll take a look at what those approaches look like in action (or should look like) for elementary and secondary students; how curriculum and instructional priorities are changing to make this happen; why such changes are so important at this moment in time; and what senior executives from top U.S. companies think are the most important problem-solving skills today’s students need to learn.
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Agenda
2:00pm ET
Welcome and Introduction
Education Week writers offer key takeaways from their recent reporting on how to teach STEM problem solving to all K-12 students.
2:20pm ET
Industry Perspective: Eureka! A Quick Intro to Invention Education
Content provided by Grant Funder Lemelson
Is the next great inventor in your classroom? Discover how Invention Education enhances learning, opens possibilities, and prepares students for the economy of the future.
By 2025, there will be an estimated 3.5 million STEM jobs. As many as 2 million of those jobs could go unfilled.* Learn how to build the core competencies that drive innovation with Invention Education:
Calling all makers and inventive minds!
*National Association of Manufacturing and Deloitte
Is the next great inventor in your classroom? Discover how Invention Education enhances learning, opens possibilities, and prepares students for the economy of the future.
By 2025, there will be an estimated 3.5 million STEM jobs. As many as 2 million of those jobs could go unfilled.* Learn how to build the core competencies that drive innovation with Invention Education:
- Creativity
- Resourcefulness
- Agility to experiment and iterate
Calling all makers and inventive minds!
*National Association of Manufacturing and Deloitte
David Coronado
Senior Program Officer,
The Lemelson Foundation
2:30pm ET
Panel Discussion: Top U.S. Companies: What Schools Could Do Better
Workers inherently know that problem-solving skills are critical for their success on the job. But rapid advances in technology, shifting economic challenges, and evolving knowledge about how people learn are adding new ideas and perspectives about where and how problem-solving skills are or should be acquired. Yet an exclusive survey by the EdWeek Research Center found that 83 percent of teachers, principals, and district leaders said that the curriculum in their districts needs to do a better job matching the development of skills that employers say they need in younger workers. Join us for a frank discussion with senior executives from major U.S. companies about what schools should do to help students become better thinkers and workers, especially in STEM-related fields.
Kevin Bushweller
Executive Editor,
Assistant Managing Editor, Technology and Learning Environments
Kevin Bushweller is an assistant managing editor for Education Week who oversees coverage of educational technology, learning environments, and the weekly EdWeek Tech Leader, a news service for ed-tech leaders in K-12 education. He is also the executive project editor of Technology Counts, Education Week’s annual report about the state of educational technology in U.S. schools. Formerly the executive editor of EdWeek Market Brief, he now also serves as director of editorial/business collaboration for Education Week.
Victor Reinoso
Global Director,
Amazon Philanthropic Education Initiatives
Vaishali Sabhahit
Director,
Global Head of University Talent at Adobe
3:15pm ET
Industry Perspective: Desmos Classroom Activities to Explore the Joy and Beauty of Mathematics
Content provided by Amplify
NCTM’s Catalyzing Change (2018) calls for students to experience the joy, wonder, and beauty of mathematics as part of its movement to reimagine mathematics education. Desmos, as a tool for math instruction, has the power to display this beauty through a variety of animations, digital manipulatives, and connected ideas. In this session, we'll explore how Desmos Classroom can make visual patterns come to life, connect mathematical representations, and deliver meaningful learning experiences that value student input.
NCTM’s Catalyzing Change (2018) calls for students to experience the joy, wonder, and beauty of mathematics as part of its movement to reimagine mathematics education. Desmos, as a tool for math instruction, has the power to display this beauty through a variety of animations, digital manipulatives, and connected ideas. In this session, we'll explore how Desmos Classroom can make visual patterns come to life, connect mathematical representations, and deliver meaningful learning experiences that value student input.
Kurt Salisbury
Head of Curriculum,
Desmos Classroom
3:25pm ET
Building STEM Problem Solving Skills From Kindergarten to High School: Here’s What It Looks Like
Schools around the country are integrating the teaching of problem solving and entrepreneurial thinking into STEM instruction in some very creative and relevant ways for students of all ages. Many schools are also simultaneously figuring out how to encourage more girls and students of color to pursue studies in STEM areas, showing the kids how their participation could lead to lucrative careers down the road. Based on extensive reporting by Education Week writers and exclusive data from the EdWeek Research Center, Assistant Editor Alyson Klein showcases what these efforts look like at the classroom level and how other schools can replicate them.
Alyson Klein
Assistant Editor, Education Week
Alyson Klein is a veteran education writer who has covered K-12 schools for more than a dozen years. She covers the latest developments in educational technology, including topics such personalized learning, data privacy, digital curricula, cybersecurity, and teacher professional development. She is also the lead writer for Technology Counts, Education Week’s annual report about the state of educational technology.
3:55pm ET
Industry Perspective: Teaching Innovation: The Foundation for All STEM Learning
Content provided by Inventionland Education
Discover how teaching the process of innovation and invention underpins your entire STEM program, while informing and fostering the creative mindset.
Tomorrow's careers and employers require the essential skills of creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, grit and original thinking.
The results are simply amazing.
Discover how teaching the process of innovation and invention underpins your entire STEM program, while informing and fostering the creative mindset.
Tomorrow's careers and employers require the essential skills of creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, grit and original thinking.
- Explore how Inventionland’s 9-step method works to develop these skills with industry-based learning.
- Learn how your students can apply STEM principles in a realistic setting by leveraging their own ideas into inventions, innovations, and actual products.
- Connect your students directly to engineers, scientists, technologists, marketers, and other STEM-trained specialists during the course.
The results are simply amazing.
Nathan Field
Executive Director,
Inventionland Education
4:05pm ET
Interactive Session: Why Kids Dread Math and What To Do About It
Assistant Editor Alyson Klein will lead a discussion about why kids say math is boring in school but fascinating in the real world. This session will cover how to bridge that divide and bring real-world problem solving into math classrooms.
Alyson Klein
Assistant Editor, Education Week
Alyson Klein is a veteran education writer who has covered K-12 schools for more than a dozen years. She covers the latest developments in educational technology, including topics such personalized learning, data privacy, digital curricula, cybersecurity, and teacher professional development. She is also the lead writer for Technology Counts, Education Week’s annual report about the state of educational technology.
4:20pm ET
Closing Thoughts
