No Such Thing

Dr. Chris Emdin (he/him)Dr. Christopher Emdin is the Maxine Greene Chair for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Professor of Science Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also the  Director of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship At the STEAM DREAM and Ideal Lab.Sam Seidel (he/him)Sam Seidel has taught in a variety of settings, from first grade to community college, and directed youth programs for young people affected by incarceration. He now works with several networks of innovative schools, speaks nationally about education issues, and writes for the Husslington Post and other publications.About From White FolksA timely companion to the New York Times bestseller For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all TooProgressive white educators on the challenges and reimaginings of anti-racist education, cultural responsiveness, and sustained liberatory learning practicesDesigned for educators by educators, From White Folks Who Teach in the Hood is the white teachers’ guide to effective multicultural, anti-racist pedagogy.Over 20 educators are featured in this book, representing different types of schools, different geographies, different durations of experience in the classroom, and different depths of experience in interrogating their whiteness. Throughout the text, nationally renowned educators and coeditors Dr. Christopher Emdin and sam seidel offer feedback and perspective on how to incorporate the practices and wrestle with the ideas outlined by the contributors. Links:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739166/from-white-folks-who-teach-in-the-hood-by-christopher-emdin/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/237679/for-white-folks-who-teach-in-the-hood-and-the-rest-of-yall-too-by-christopher-emdin/9780807028025/

Dan White believes that good gameplay and good learning are complementary rather than oppositional forces. An alumnus of Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Dan earned an M.S. in Education Technology under seminal learning game scholars Drs. Kurt Squire and James Paul Gee. Prior to founding Filament, Dan worked as a teacher, an instructional designer, and a game developer. Dan’s passions include learning games, sustainability, mindfulness, and modernizing institutional education.Founded in 2005, Filament Games is a full-service digital studio that specializes in learning game development on a for-hire basis. We’ve completed over 400 projects since our founding and have worked with some of the biggest names in education – folks like Amazon, Scholastic, Smithsonian, Oculus, National Geographic, PBS, Television Ontario (TVO), McGraw-Hill, and even the US Department of Education.Links:https://www.filamentgames.com/https://www.filamentgames.com/blog/more-excellent-edtech-stem-and-game-based-learning-podcasts/https://www.filamentgames.com/blog/the-power-of-educational-games-with-dan-white-podcast/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UNSPJEXAkchttps://www.thepocketlab.com/podcast/dan-whitehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Emjt3fNpYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRaNqXxNr9Y&ab_channel=RoboCo

Mike Flanagan is the CEO of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC), a growing group of high schools creating a digital high school transcript that opens up opportunity for each and every student — from all backgrounds, locations, and types of schools — to have their unique strengths, abilities, interests, and histories fostered, understood, and celebrated.Mike oversaw the design and development of Mastery Transcript software products, connecting with members and advisors to manage the MTC product roadmap till May, 2021. He is an experienced education technology executive, most recently having served as CEO of the Services Division at the National Association of Independent Schools, where he led a complete redesign and relaunch of their School and Student Services financial aid platforms.Links:https://mastery.org/mtc-team/https://growbeyondgrades.org/blog/episode-48-flanaganhttps://x.com/mkflanaganjrhttps://archive.org/details/per_christian-science-monitor_1932-02-13_24_67/page/n9/mode/2up?q=%22mastery+learning%22

Shai Reshef is the President of University of the People (UoPeople). Reshef has over 25 years of experience in the international education market. Reshef has been widely recognized for his work with UoPeople, including being awarded the 2023 Yidan Prize for Educational Development, referred to as the Nobel Prize for Education; an honorary doctorate from the Open University, named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business; awarded an Ashoka fellowship; joined UN-GAID as a High-level Adviser; granted an RSA Fellowship; selected by The Huffington Post as the Ultimate Game Changer in Education; nominated as one of Wired Magazine’s 50 People Changing the World; and selected as a Top Global Thinker by Foreign Policy Magazine.UoPeople is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American, accredited, online university. Dedicated to opening access to higher education globally, UoPeople helps high school graduates overcome financial, geographic, political, and personal constraints keeping them from college studies. UNESCO estimates that by the year 2025, there will be nearly 100 million young people unable to find seats in traditional universities. UoPeople believes that access to higher education is a basic right which promotes world peace and global economic development; and it is committed to providing those young people a quality higher education – tuition-free.Links:https://www.uopeople.edu/about/leadership-team/shai-reshef/https://www.ted.com/talks/shai_reshef_an_ultra_low_cost_college_degree?language=enhttps://www.unesco.org/en/higher-education

About Layla (From Yolanda Stewart)The importance of having a space for young women of color to inquire about sexuality and mental health is often a challenge – and nearly non-existent in some cases. For Tiffany Lloyd, this is among the reasons for creating the online big sister “Layla’s Got You.”The multigenerational chatbot is a space for women of color who are seeking answers to personal questions and focuses on the premise of being a community made for women, by women. Layla embodies the essence of a trusted and knowledgeable friend. Since its inception six years ago, Laya’s Got You has expanded to an on- and offline sisterhood, offering a wealth of knowledge on Black women’s concerns, and organizes efforts to support issues Black women care about. Yet, the organization acknowledges it has a long way to go in order to continue making strides in young Black women’s lives.Links:https://www.laylasgotyou.com/https://allynfoundation.org/staff/tiffany-lloyd/https://giffordfoundation.org/laylas-got-you/https://centralcurrent.org/laylas-got-you-the-online-chatbot-big-sister-friend-for-young-women-of-color/Layla’s Got You: Developing a tailored contraception chatbot for Black and Hispanic young women - Erika Bonnevie, Tiffany D Lloyd, Sarah D Rosenberg, Kara Williams, Jaclyn Goldbarg, Joe Smyser, 2021 (sagepub.com)ERIC - EJ1297431 - "Layla's Got You": Developing a Tailored Contraception Chatbot for Black and Hispanic Young Women, Health Education Journal, 2021-JunSyracuse residents decide together how to spend $150K to fight lead poisoning (centralcurrent.org)

BackpackX is a new educational initiative from Women Rise which uses short film VR animations to create immersive experiences. BackpackX is designed to educate children (aged 8-14) from marginalised communities where the educational systems are broken or non-existent and focuses on important topics of their time such as gender equality, climate change, refugee crisis, financial independence, emerging technologies and more. Using the power of art and innovative technology, BackpackX will provide immersive experiences and educational content that inspires children while learning. Through this experience we will also introduce young children to the exciting new worlds of Metaverse and Web3. BackpackX launched in Oct  2023.Maliha Abidi is a Pakistani-American multidisciplinary artist and author living between London and Los Angeles. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, she migrated to California, United States at the age of 14. As a South Asian immigrant, her experiences play a huge role in her work. Her art focuses on advocating for social justice including women’s rights, girls’ education and mental health. Using bright and bold colors, Maliha hopes to get people interested in complex issues that impact our societies. “Come for the art, stay for the cause.”She is also the founder and creator of Women Rise NFT. A Web 3.0 initiative with the focus on women’s rights and girls’ education through using art as a tool for advocacy. Maliha’s work includes illustrations, animations, NFT art and illustrated books.Links:https://www.malihaabidi.com/https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebekahbastian/2022/02/20/seven-nft-projects-that-are-applying-an-equity-lens-to-their-work/?sh=5255857330b4https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/virtual-reality-better-video-evoking-fear-spurring-climate-action/https://www.womenrise.art/

Stakeholders in a nascent program in NYC talk about their roles building formal pathways from high school programs to careers in the growing video game economy. Marc joins the gathering to celebrate one of partners' latest achievements in Harlem, a youth-driven exhibition that celebrates the role of video games in the lives of young people, challenging negative tropes about being an enemy to positive growth and development. Special thanks to Harlem School For The Arts, host and without whose support the exhibit would not be possible.Video Games: The Great Connector, explores how young people leverage video games in this pursuit, emphasizing less what games do to youth than what youth do with games. Special thanks to hosts of the event and exhibition, Harlem School of The Arts, without whose support the exhibit would not be possible.Gaming Pathways was founded by a city initiative from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment as a new way for high school students in Harlem, Northern Manhattan, and the South Bronx to get training, degrees, and eventually jobs in digital games. Gaming Pathways is guided by an Educational Advisory Board, which includes many of NYC's leading AAA and indie games companies. Guests:Nick MartinezSylvia Aguinaga at MimogamesNick FortugnoPhil Courtney & Meredith Summs at Urban ArtsBarry JosephSpecial thanks:Stan AltmanKaren MurrayNYC office of Media and Entertainment Commissioner Pat Swinney KaufmanHarlem School of The ArtsLinks:https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/gamingpathwayshttps://hgs-ny.org/https://animogames.org/https://urbanarts.org/

Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, Ph.D., is a scientist turned designer with a knack for creating transformative learning experiences. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Stanford's School of Medicine, and is a former member of the Research in Education & Design Lab (REDlab) from Stanford’s School of Education. She is the co-founder and co-Director of the University Innovation Fellows, a program of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), which empowers students to be co-designers of their education in collaboration with faculty and leaders at their schools. Leticia was the founding Deputy Director of the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), an NSF-funded initiative that operated from 2011 to 2016 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering education across the United States. Leticia works with educators from hundreds of schools and across disciplines in transforming their teaching practices by applying design abilities and pedagogical levers through the Teaching and Learning Studio program of the d.school. In addition, she works with corporate, non-profit and education leaders in the US and abroad in exploring how design can embolden leadership and drive responsible innovation. Leticia teaches Advanced Reflective Practice and Capstone Project to graduate students from Stanford’s Design Impact MS program, and uses emerging technologies to empower learners to be self-directed, action-oriented, and reflective shapers of the future. She was born in Uruguay, grew up in Colombia, and lives in San Francisco with her husband. About Experiments in ReflectionWhile we often think of reflection as a way to consider what is or was, it can also be a powerful tool for imagining and shaping what could be. Drawing on the science, art, and practice of reflection, this book guides you through hands-on experiments that help you make meaning out of your experiences and support your goals and values.Educator and scientist Leticia Britos Cavagnaro sets up each experiment with a hypothesis, a method, and guidance for gauging your results. You’ll build concrete skills, learn how to shift your mindsets, and strengthen your ability to reflect with purpose.Experiments in Reflection helps you tune in to your environment, train your intuition, and shape the future. Links:https://dschool.stanford.edu/book-collections/experiments-in-reflectionhttps://youtu.be/Z_0qIELl49Y?si=wsZEeSqWomLfmO4Hhttps://medium.com/stanford-d-school/human-ai-collaboration-establishing-rules-of-engagement-e12658854890https://medium.com/stanford-d-school/reflecting-with-ai-a-tool-to-develop-human-intelligence-88cec86babfhttps://riffbot.ai/demo/