May 23 – May 31, 2020
Education and Innovation.
It is a very special time in the world of education, where, increasingly, leading schools are capturing the essence of educational innovation and developing cutting-edge pedagogies that other schools can learn from. Technology companies are pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation, at a breathtaking pace, with the convergence of social networks, big data and artificial intelligence promising to truly revolutionize the way we live and learn.
Both worlds, education and technology, are no longer isolated and there are mutually beneficial exchanges to be had, especially when it comes to the ethical implications of technology developments and how they can truly make a positive impact on learning.
Our Silicon Valley Education Innovation Tour includes tours of some of the leading schools in the area, as well as visits to the most innovative technology companies, featuring personal interviews with leaders and researchers from these companies, in what truly constitutes an immersion into the future of education.
Education Technology Summit.
We are also pleased to host the first Education Technology Summit, which will feature presentations from education experts as well as industry leaders on topics that are at the intersection between technological innovation and the school of the future. The Summit will be an opportunity to exchange perspectives, views, ideas and strategies for how technology can successfully impact education in Latin America. Every one of our participants will be given the opportunity to present on their vision and experiences regarding education technology, and will also collaborate with industry experts in formulating conceptual ideas for future projects.
The Trip.
The one-week trip, that each participant arrive in San Francisco on Saturday, May 23. Airfare is not included so as to provide maximum flexibility for each person to utilize frequent flyer miles and/or manage their dates accordingly. The first day is dedicated to sightseeing and the group convenes for dinner.
Sunday is also dedicated to tourist excursions around the San Francisco area, and learning activities start early on Monday, May 25.
Costs include accommodation, visits, and transportation from the moment each participant arrives at the airport. We will be staying at a hotel between San Francisco and San Jose, close to both the technology hub of Silicon Valley as well as the vibrant life of San Francisco, one of the most beautiful and culturally diverse cities in the US.
A typical day comprises an early morning wake up, breakfast, and one or more visits to schools and technology companies, capped off, in the afternoon, by some sightseeing options and a group dinner at some attractive venue.
Experienced facilitators from The Learnerspace will be guiding the trip and providing educational background and complete information on all the schools visited, as well as facilitating group discussions, analyses and study sessions on lessons learned during the trip.
The Learning Community.
The proposed experience far transcends the trip, in that we will be fostering and implementing online and face-to-face interactions to develop a true community of learners, creating links that will proceed the trip and will later allow participants to remain connected and exchange projects, ideas, and learning in general.
We will be hosting an online platform, to be exclusively accessed by participants, where we will not only post all resources, materials, photographs, tourist and technical information, but will also serve as a forum for participants to engage in thoughtful dialogue regarding the learning experience itself.
Prior to the trip, there will be two Zoom meetings, during which the group will be learning more about the visits, the summit, and begin a process of shared learning to build up the learning community. After the trip, we will be hosting several live Zoom interactions, to debrief on lessons learned as well as continue linking the learning community.
Visits
The following is a list of some of the schools and technology firms, which, schedule allowing, we will visit during the trip:
Pacific Rim International School
La Scuola International School
San Francisco University High School
Universities to be visited include Stanford, Berkeley, Singularity and Santa Clara.
Technology companies that we will visit and interact with at the Educational Technology Summit include:
Apple / Google / YouTube / LinkedIn / Twitter / Uber / Netflix / HP / Pinterest / Dropbox / Intel / eBay / PayPal / Airbnb / Amazon / Nvidia / Salesforce / Lyft
Closer to the date, we will be polling participants as to their preference regarding technology firms to be visited.
Formal activities conclude with dinner on Saturday, May 30, and each participant will then proceed with their own travel arrangements as from Sunday, May 31.
And as one of the fun activities, all particpants will have the opportunity to drive a Tesla model!
Post Trip Interactions
Learning activities do not conclude with the trip itself. After the trip, as previously mentioned, we will be hosting Zoom sessions and also facilitating discussions and continuing the learning community interactions through the online platform, which will remain for exclusive access to participants, containing only photographs and all the learning materials from both technology firms in schools, as well as providing a space for subsequent development of the learning community.
Costs
Total cost per participant is of usd 3,440. Includes:
- Accomodation / double room at the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Francisco Waterfront starting on . Participants can choose who to share with. Options for single room also available at an extra cost.
- Breakfast
- Transport to all visits and group activities.
- Visits to schools and technology companies.
- Registration and participation at the Education Technology Summit.
- Learning materials, group interactions, pre and post trip Zoom meetings, access to online platform.
- Experienced facilitators to coordinate all trip logistics issues as well as educational contents and guidance during visits.
References
- The Learnerspace thelearnerspace.org
- Silicon Valley Go Tours siliconvalleygo.com
- D4 Reality d4reality.com
To register and for further information please contact us at SVtour@thelearnerspace.org