Innov8: Human-Centered Design

“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology and the requirements for business success.”

~ Tim Brown, President and CEO, IDEO

During our team’s recent school visit to the Design39Campus, we were able to observe first-hand the success of their human-centered approach to learning (a design thinking pedagogy we also discussed recently on our podcast). Watching students thrive in this environment left us feeling inspired and more motivated than ever to help create empowering learning experiences for students.

This week’s top stories celebrate this collaborative, human-focused approach with everything from a new collection of social and emotional learning resources curated from school districts, to the launch of a cohort for teachers looking to transform education from the ground up.

#STEM Gems

1. Celebrating Tech With Purpose

https://twitter.com/DanielRabuzzi/status/856148658554888192

Congratulations to Mouse, one of the early leaders-by-example of the “Cause + Code” mindset.

It’s A #ProjectBased World

2. Remaking Learning

Can't wait for #RemakeDays? Read this preview from @PittsburghMag and watch our video: https://t.co/0dTDEAu65s

— Remake Learning (@remakelearning) April 30, 2017

We recently shared some insights from Gregg Behr about how Pittsburgh’s EdLeaders are innovating their education system for a project-based world.

Dollars & Deals

3. $190M to EverFi

Monster round: @EverFi raised $190m to teach life skills https://t.co/yBhO4fTaYn @TechCrunch #EduVC

— Tom Vander Ark (@tvanderark) April 27, 2017

4. GoFundMe Funds Teachers

NEWS: @THE_Journal #GoFundMe Raises $33.8 #Million for #K12 #Teachers and Drops Major #Donation to #Education https://t.co/Wi0byD7zbO

— American ED TV (@AmEDtv) May 2, 2017

If there’s one thing teachers need and deserve more of (aside from time), it funding. On that note, have you signed up for our Teachers are Superheroes Sweepstakes?

Planting a #SEAD

5. SEL Resource Center

Our SEL #DistrictResourceCenter is live! Implementation tools/resources curated from partner districts. https://t.co/1drJhWnzhB #SELinAction pic.twitter.com/vAXiSVUVvP

— CASEL (@caselorg) April 26, 2017

These resources should help educators and administrators with embedding SEL across their curriculum.

Digital Developments

6. Windows to Education

Microsoft unveils Windows 10 S, a more powerful competitor to Chrome OS #MicrosoftEDU https://t.co/n9OA5BMJ77 pic.twitter.com/hZr4SCiNx0

— TNW (@thenextweb) May 2, 2017

Deeper, Further, Faster #HigherEd

7. HigherEd Online

College Won't Always Be A Place:
Purdue University just bought Kaplan University, a pioneer in on-line education.#FutureOfWork #Technology

— Mark C. Crowley (@MarkCCrowley) May 1, 2017

We always love a big next step towards reinventing HigherEd.

#Teachers & #EdLeaders

8. Teacher’s Guild Fellowship

Drive innovation for and from your classroom—apply for the @TeachersGuild Fellowship Program: https://t.co/vGVDraoQIa (U.S. only)

— IDEO (@ideo) April 28, 2017

Have you heard? The future of professional development is collaborative professional development.

Have a news item you’d like us to consider for next Wednesday’s edition? Tweet us @Getting_Smart using #innov8 or to email [email protected] with “Innov8” in the subject line. For more ideas on what type of stories we run, check out the full Innov8 series on our blog.

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