Thinkery was thrilled to participate in SXSW EDU 2024. Sharing the stage alongside some of our incredible friends and partners, we had the opportunity to be a part of TWO incredible sessions centered on our work to inspire and equip the next generation of confident, creative thinkers!
Keep reading to learn more about the conversations that took place! Full audio recordings of both panels are now available online. Click the links below to listen.
Creativity is the Durable Skill AI Can’t Replace
Thank you to our incredible panelists Annette Tielle, Ed.D., Harold Hughes, & Jonelle Bradshaw de Hernandez, PhD.
AI and the role that it plays in education was a big topic at SXSW EDU this year. Our cross-industry panel explored the role that we can all play in nurturing children’s innate creativity so that they thrive today and in the future.
Creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking are the pathways for children to thrive in a world that is dynamically changing around them. We need children to stay curious, creative, and adaptable. These are skills that AI cannot replace.
Diverse perspectives and educational expertise must feed our large language models and evolving AI tools to make equitable progress in education. It is important to implement AI as a tool into education systems in all communities so children can let their creativity thrive and grow. If used properly, it can revolutionize education. It will take partnerships and collaboration with leaders of the ever-changing workforce and innovative new learning models and environments to create improved educational experiences needed to prepare students to thrive.
Partnering to C.R.E.A.T.E. a Pipeline of Local STEM Talent
Thank you to our incredible panelists Dena De La Paz, Katherine Prath, and Mario Zambrano.
The C.R.E.A.T.E. program is a collaboration between Thinkery, NI, and Boys and Girls Clubs of the Austin Area (BGCAA). It has been designed to inspire and prepare a diverse pipeline of future engineers through after-school engineering education, youth development programming, and family engagement. The program provides hands-on, interactive engineering design experiences for underrepresented youth throughout Austin, and fosters interest in engineering and science for a whole new generation of young learners.
Our panel represented each leg of the partnership, Thinkery, NI, and BGCAA. Throughout the session they took a deep dive on the approach toward collaborative philanthropy where trusted relationships are built between impactful corporate and non-profit community partners in STEM, ways in which we can create a more diverse workforce with homegrown talent, and the role that joyful STEAM-learning experiences play in helping underrepresented young learners to see themselves as creative problem solvers.
At the end of the session, they also shared some of their learnings that the audience could take back to their own organizations. These included:
- Community listening: Talk to the communities that you aim to serve to see what their needs and wants are.
- Time: Be mindful of time and slow down. It doesn’t have to take three hours to teach a piece of STEM curriculum. It could take 5 minutes at night. It’s find that time here and there.
- Collaboration: Identify your unique strengths and then find who you can collaborate with in your community that has a different unique strength and compliments yours. From there, outline a program vision and look for corporate philanthropic partners whose giving is aligned with your mission and vision, and start the conversation.