Workshops
Workshops are designed for a deeper level of exploration in smaller group settings. This structure and format enable participants to engage in a more immersive, in-depth process of exploration and learning, putting their ideas and creativity into play.
Workshops have a limited number of participants to maximize your experience. Select each workshop as an add-on during registration. The price of each workshop is listed below each description.
Designing a Learning Community: Creating Places for Active Learning on a Budget
Tuesday, November 2, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Credit: 3 LU/HSW)
Learning Objectives
- Discover how to structure a design process to engage user voices at all levels of a client organization in a collaborative design process.
- Learn how to coach educational leaders in using the design of the learning environment as a leadership tool to respond to changing educational needs.
- Understand methods to leverage limited resources in the redesign of existing spaces for active learning to be efficient with building materials, time, and other resources.
- Learn how to create and document a facilities vision based on user needs and research on effective pedagogy.
Speakers:
- Ron Bogle, Hon AIA, President and CEO, National Design Alliance; Team Leader, Reimagine America’s Schools
- Emily Czarnecki, NCIDQ, Senior Associate / Senior Interior Designer, JCJ Architecture
- Joshua Lee, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Track Co-chair MS AECM, Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture
- Kerry Leonard, AIA, Director of Architecture, Reimagine America’s Schools
- Sarah Weissman Dirsa, AIA, LEED AP, BD+C, SEED, Principal, KG+D Architects
Reimagine America’s Schools partnered with Remake Learning and 16 organizations and agencies in western Pennsylvania in the design of a variety of STEM, STEAM, Maker, and other active learning environments. Each organization received a $50,000 grant from local foundations to cover all construction costs. Pittsburgh area architects provided pro-bono services to implement design concepts created during a 2-day Reimagine America’s School’s charrette workshop with a national design team, Pittsburgh architects, and the 16 grantees. Projects demonstrate practical changes that can be achieved on a limited budget. Also underscored is the importance of the connection between educators and designers in creating spaces for today’s learners, design as a leadership tool, and how school and out-of-school-time organizations can create a learning community. Design team members, local designers, Reimagine America’s Schools, and Remake Learning will share their experiences, project stories, and challenges, to help architects and educators apply lessons learned in their own communities.
The price for this Workshop is $75; Preregistration is required and is open to all registrants.
The Learning Ecosystem of the Future
Tuesday, November 2, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Credit: 3 LU)
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the mega trends and the potential impact on learning.
- Gain insights that help all present co-create the future learning ecosystem.
- Acquire working knowledge and insight regarding the importance of using an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens when considering the 21st learning needs of all students.
- Understand the critical role of health and wellness for student success now and in the future.
Speakers:
- Aimee Eckmann, FAIA, ALEP, LEED AP, Pre-K-12 Practice Leader, Perkins&Will
- Erika Eitland, MPH, Sc.D, Human Experience (Hx) Lab, Perkins&Will
- Andy Hatton, Ed.D, Associate Superintendent for Learning & Leadership for Upper Arlington Schools
- David Houle, Futurist, Thinker, Speaker, and Author
- Kaleb Rashad, Director of Creative Leadership, High Tech High Graduate School of Education
- Tara Sparks, Chief Academic Officer, Lindbergh Schools, St. Louis, MO
- Steve Turckes, FAIA, ALEP, LEED AP, Global Pre-K-12 Practice Leader, Perkins&Will
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, 1970
As we look into the future, this quote from 50 years past is insightful. It perhaps portents a great “unlearning” of how we do school that jettisons all current real or perceived roadblocks such as: inequities around funding and race and opportunity, mandates, testing regimes, etc. And it requires us, without restrictions, to answer several fundamental questions about preparing our youth to be not only healthy, productive citizens of the world, but empathetic, innovative, and creative problem-solvers. Take part in a discussion of how might we elevate consciousness in public education through equity to empower every child to flourish in a world that is more connected and disruptive than ever.
The price for this Workshop is $75; Preregistration is required and is open to all registrants.
Blurring the Lines 2.0: Agency, Personalization, and Lifelong Learning in the Future
Wednesday, November 3, 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Learning Objectives:
- Ideate the impacts of AI/technology on the future.
- Work to define the collective role of community in a new paradigm.
- Consider equity and justice for learners in the future.
- Consider how the workforce will evolve to infuse academic opportunities.
Presenters:
- Anton Blewett, Education Planner, DLR Group
- Jason Lembke, RA, ALEP, Senior K-12 Education Leader, DLR Group
- Taryn Kinney, AIA, LEED AP, K-12 Education Leader, DLR Group
- Timothy Shimp, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Yorkville District 115
The impetus for change is expanding into many facets of our lives. In 2015, DLR Group authored a provocation that proposed a radical integration of education into the fabric of our communities and businesses, founded on the principles of personalized and lifelong learning. This provocation was predicated on the access of every learner to a network of peers and experts in support of their goals. Today, the current trajectory of education is being altered by events both within and outside of our control. Will our reactions to these events be passive or pro-active? In this session, we’ll explore what education can be in the distant future, leveraging key concepts of student agency and personalization. Join us on for this deep dive session into the possibilities of what ‘might be’ when we leverage disruptive optimism to reimagine learning for the benefit of all.
The price for this Workshop is $25; Preregistration is required and is open to all full conference registrants.
Well, Now What? The Next Paradigm Shift in K-12
Thursday, November 4, 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Learning Objectives:
- Traverse 2,500 years of those who have molded systems of Learning, and systems of education.
- Explore how users, experience, and environment are newly affected by the last year of disruption.
- Author a vision, in small cohort design teams, on where we might go from here.
- Become a change influencer in your local community.
Presenter:
- Jonathan Matta, National Education Leader, KI
In this active, collaborative workshop, we will reflect back, capture the now, and then facilitate the creation of a new vision on what happens next inside the world of K-12 education. While we know that the pandemic has created environmental shifts to the current practices found within today’s learning environments, we also know that the simplicity of growing humans over 2,500 years of formalized education systems isn’t new. Together, we will discuss how users, their experience, and their environment, have perhaps opened up to new possibilities, and as a collective group, we will design new visions for what will be the next paradigm shift in K-12.
The price for this Workshop is $25; Preregistration is required and is open to all full conference registrants.