Big Ideas Fest 2010 Participant
"This was an education conference that actually applied what we know about how people learn, offering an abundance of different learning opportunities for different types of learners."
Big Ideas Fest 2010 Participant
"It was by far the most dynamic, engaging, and action-oriented conference I have ever attended."
Big Ideas Fest 2010 Participant
"[Big Ideas Fest was useful to my work because] I have plenty of ideas for my work, but not many opportunities to make collaborative plans with people outside of my immediate organization which I need to be more effective in my field."
Big Ideas Fest 2010 Participant
"The [Action Collab] process implemented during the conference is something that could be applied in our local context to get educators thinking afresh about their problems. Engagement is difficult as educators are generally in a bit of a rut and this distinctly different and collaborative approach is likely to help shake things up enough to get them focused on a problem rather than their problems."
Action Collabs
ISKME’s Action Collabs are dynamic workshops that use the design-thinking framework to innovate new ideas with actionable next steps. Collaboration and ideation happen in four steps: research, design, prototype, and scale and spread. Throughout the experience, participants engage in improv activities (the improvisational method of achieving cooperation) to accelerate meaningful collaboration that results in tangible action plans.
Action Collabs access groups' collective brainpower by focusing creativity and structuring brainstorming in a unique method that leads to new thinking and solutions. An Action Collab can focus on detailed projects such as lesson and curriculum creation or on larger systems thinking applied to school and districts.
Action Collabs are an innovative way to:
• Tackle a familiar challenge from a new angle.
• Spark strategic thinking around a new initiative.
• Discover partnerships waiting to happen.
ISKME offers a range of Action Collab workshops that vary in audience, length, and focus:
• Intensive Action Collab: Focus on a group's specific Design Challenge (2 days)
• Basic Action Collab: Focused on a group's specific Design Challenge (1/2 - 1 day)
• Process Action Collab: Learn the standard framework of the Action Collab process (1/2 day)
• Team Building Action Collab: Learn new tools for collaboration and field-building (1/2 day)
• Action Collab Module: Inserted into a larger event and focused on a group's specific Design Challenge or the standard framework of the Action Collab process (1/2 day - 1 day)
• Action Collab Facilitator Training: Training certifies Action Collab Facilitators (2 days)
• Action Collab for Kids: Focused on a group of younger learners' Design Challenge (1 day)
To bring a customized Action Collab to your organization, please contact info@oercommons.org.
ISKME Action Collab Clients:
Bay Area Society for Organizational Learning
Lumina Foundation's College Productivity Initiative
MDC hosts Developmental Education Initiative
National League of Cities hosts Communities Learning in Partnership
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation hosts OER 2011: The Impact of Open on Teaching and Learning
Allison McGree
"I am extremely impressed by ISKME, as it seems to have started to fill in the underlying question of what to do next. I'm feeling the urge to move forward past all of the problems and hopefully move toward some sort of solution."
Constance Moore
"As a result of attending Big Ideas Fest, I changed the way I teach. I used to start class by writing "Today's Goals" on the board but after hearing Dr. Mitra speak and then talking with him at dinner, I decided to start class with "Today's Question". This is helping me to think more closely about what I want my students to get smarter about and helps me build skills in the art of asking questions."
Big Ideas Fest Participant
"[Big Ideas Fest] was a very interesting and awe-inspiring conference. Many of my personal limits were stretched (in a good way) regarding how I think (or thought) I work best to solve problems."
Big Ideas Fest Participant
"[I had an] unbelievable, mind-numbing, breathtaking experience in all levels of the Fest."
Big Ideas Fest Participant
"The Big Ideas Fest stimulated me to take a fresh look at the entire field of education; to set aside my long-standing assumptions and question my old paradigms."