Making waves: ShapingEDU Community plans for a year of changemaking at the first Pente Pitch Challenge
Stephanie Jeanine King
— Feb 08, 2022
ShapingEDU is all about making sure that the voices of its Community are heard. That’s why educators, technologists, faculty and students from around the world are invited to dive in to determine ShapingEDU’s actionable outputs for this year at the first-ever Pente Pitch Challenge on February 22-23, 2022.
During the two-day, virtual event, five (hence, Pente) teams will work together synchronously and asynchronously to cultivate a project charter that aligns with one of ShapingEDU’s 5 Calls to Action. These new Calls to Action, a result of strategy sessions that took place at last year’s Unconference, are a reboot of the Community’s original 10 Actions. They include:
Design the dynamic “new now”
Humanize learning for students’ whole, authentic self
Foster Serious Play through immersive experiences & XR
Enable data-driven & evidence-based learning futures
Empower builders of digital fluency & digital inclusion
“This is a transformative time for the global ShapingEDU Community,” said Stephanie Pierotti, Director, ShapingEDU. “We’re welcoming our Community to play a more active role in determining what projects and outputs we will create in 2022. We cannot wait to strategize together to make change that will be shared with the Community and beyond!”
During the event, participants will factor in feedback from the Community into their project ideation, then roll up their sleeves during working sessions to create their project charters. “We hope participants will gain a sense of being part of a dynamic, results-oriented community of learning that knows how to have fun while working to produce positive results in the communities we serve,” said Paul Signorelli, Team Leader for Are We There Yet? Capturing the Evolving New Now in Learning. Fellow Action Team Leader Lisa Koster added, “We hope you will find common ground with other participants, make new friendships and be an active part of shaping the future of education.”
In addition to the collaboration within the Action Teams, participants will also receive support from ShapingEDU’s Expert Resources, who will serve as coaches and mentors on Day 2 of the event. They include:
Karina Branson, ConverSketch
Margaret Izard Oskoui & Cassidy Smith, Peacock Voices
Kiersten Hathcock, Shark Tank alum, author, owner of Mod Mom Furniture
Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D., ShapingEDU Groundbreaker & Serious Play Studio Designer
Stephanie Pierotti, ShapingEDU, Director
Their working sessions will be complemented by:
An introduction to ShapingEDU’s Serious Play Studio
For the first time ever, attendees will be able to participate in our first Serious Play Studio activities, in which they will develop skills for collaborative and creative brainstorming, practice playful and creative strategies to build resilience in unexpected situations/events, and explore creative and collaborative strategies. Serious Play Studio Designers include:
Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D., ShapingEDU Groundbreaker
Maddie Shellgren, Director of Online Engagement for the Online Learning Consortium; and
Laura Geringer, ShapingEDU Creative & Experience Strategist
“We’re excited to host the first official Serious Play Studio session at the Pente Pitch Challenge – a quick game to help you and your team tap into the fun and collaboration of the design process,” said Geringer. “In general, Serious Play Studio participants can expect purposeful (and fun) games and activities tailored to support their changemaking efforts. We’ll be growing the program over the coming months and years, and we hope you’ll join us for this exciting adventure!”
In addition to being an Expert Resource, Branson also will be on hand for the Serious Play Studio’s highly interactive activities. “Participants will see real-time graphic recording during their experience in the Serious Play Studio Pente Challenge,” said Branson. “The graphic will be available for participants to share and reflect on.” She explains that Action Team members will also have access to a shared Google Slide deck and Doc, where they’ll be co-creating during each session.
A keynote, Imagining Liberatory Futures, Together, from KnowledgeWorks.org’s Katherine Prince
A student panel discussion on opportunities for improvement and change in education.
ASU students will join attendees on February 23 to share their perspectives on education now and their hopes for the future. Student panelists include:
Faith Dalzell, Business (Public Service and Public Policy) and Educational Studies Learning Enterprise Fellow, ASU
Ivan Quintana, Public Service and Public Policy (Law & Policy), Criminal Justice & Criminology
Elizabeth Kaehr, Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Non Profit/Public/Organizational Management, ASU, MA, Social Work
The Pente Pitch Challenge will end with a presentation of each team’s project charters to the event’s judges, who will be designating funding to the project(s) of their choice. (Think Shark Tank style!) “With support from our event sponsors AWS and the University of Arizona, we look forward to providing funds that will specifically go toward creating events, courses, reports – tangible tools to support our Community as they continue to shape the future of learning,” said Pierotti. “The Pente Pitch Challenge is the kick-off to another amazing year of dreaming, doing and driving.”