Last week was a wonderful week for education in the city of Austin. TeacherGraph had the privilege of attending two events, Think Tank: Innovations in Education and the first Austin Ed-Tech Meetup.
For many readers, it’s easy to see the ed tech news of multimillion dollar investments, politics and acquisitions. It was refreshing to attend these events, filter out the tech noise, and tune into the core issues educators are currently facing.
Think Tank: Innovations in Education at TASA 2013
The Think Tank was an engaging three hour discussion with Suzi Sosa as a fantastic moderator and a panel of passionate influencers in the education community. The conversation was productive with a discussion that ranged in topics from having student voices to the problems of standardized assessments. Each member of the panel had a mutual understanding of what needed to be done. In fact, many of them had similar philosophies to improving the education system. If there was any discrepancy, it came from finding ways to implement these changes given the number of complexities plaguing the schools.
Highlights
Suzi mentioned that there’s tension between innovation and compliance. She goes on to state that innovation is by nature unpredictable; sometimes there will be failure. Following the statement, the question was prompted: how do schools account for the cost of failure (which can be significantly high in education) and the potential for improvements?
Several of members of panel agreed that there’s one solution: building relationships that develop trust in the teachers and administrators to make the right decisions. According to the panel, we need courageous teachers and school administrators to take risks in the form of innovation. The solutions to problems in education are already being implemented in different areas of the nation.
Takeaway
If there’s one thing to take away from this Think Tank, it’s that these inspiring conversations need to happen more often at the school, district, and state level. By engaging and listening to the voice of change, schools, districts, and communities can learn how to reproduce and scale what’s working for other schools implementing innovation in education.
Austin Ed-Tech Meetup
Topics of discussion
STEM Education, Video Language Tutoring, “Porn” in Education
Highlights
Although still in its infancy, there was already a unique vibe developing. Set at the Capital Factory, the size of the group was not discouragingly small or overwhelmingly large. The environment was intimate enough to have valuable, collaborative conversations.
Takeaway
As a hub for educators, entrepreneurs, ed-tech evangelists, and tech-savvy folks, the meetup was an awesome opportunity to meet local, dedicated individuals in a similar space. Needless to say, we’re proud to see Austin, TX growing its own ed-tech community. We’re excited to see how this meetup develops over next few months.
Innovation in Education thru Conversation
These two events serve as great examples that good conversations spark powerful thoughts and ideas that can lead to inspiration, focus, and innovation. The idea for our app stemmed from conversations just like these with passionate parents and educators. However, if not for these types of discussions, we would be missing out on the unique voices and perspectives that have helped shape our product and vision. For TeacherGraph, we understand the power of parent – teacher communication. By opening up the line for valuable conversations, there’s an opportunity for the exchange of ideas, feedback, and call-to-actions to help students achieve success.
Last Takeaway
Keep the conversations brewing. Who knows, it may lead to fruition – perhaps, innovation.
