In 2022, our network celebrated its 15th anniversary with the Big Remake Bash, renewed commitments totaling up to $100 million, and even recognition by President Biden.
We catalyzed nine new projects through the Moonshots grant program and received more than 50 applications for round two. Grantees will be announced in January 2023.
Network members returned to the national and global stage, with conference presentations at SXSWEdu, ASU+GSV, Bali Fab Fest, and more.
Working Groups continued to blaze ahead on the challenging work of coordinating collaborative regional responses to important topics. The Personalized Learning Working Group developed a shared framework for Personalized Learning in the region. CSforPGH awarded mini-grants to ten new projects that will broaden access to computer science learning at home.
School districts in the network rural communities made a splash. TIME Magazine chose Seneca Valley’s Ehrman Crest Elementary/Middle School as one of the best inventions of 2022. The Food Desert Farmstand project at Butler Area’s Broad Street Elementary was spotlighted by People Magazine and Scholastic Kids Press.
Remake Learning Days returned, featuring 1,270 events hosted in schools, libraries, universities, child care centers, and more from Florida to Wisconsin, San Diego to DC. Here at home, the launch event discoverED engaged more than 10,000 students across Pennsylvania. Now in its 7th year, the festival caught the eye of EdWeek and EdPost.
We also released three publications last year. Common Ground explored how in-school and out-of-school educators can work together to develop impactful programs and build new ways of supporting one another. The Pittsburgh Principles shared the ideas that have helped shape the learning ecosystem in Pittsburgh. Better Together looked inside the connections and mindsets that have powered the ecosystem’s first fifteen years.
As 2023 begins, we have set our sights on four priorities for the year:
1. Expanding Catalytic Grant Funding
Catalytic grants intended to encourage new ideas have been a mainstay of Remake Learning’s network stewardship since the beginning. Each era of the network’s evolution has used catalytic grants to spur creative thinking, innovative doing, and healthy risk taking.
In 2023, the timing couldn’t be better to double down on this strategy and expand the number and diversity of funding opportunities available to Remake Learning network members. As the year unfolds, you can expect additional rounds of Moonshot Grants, a playful new grant program, and catalytic opportunities emerging from each of our working groups.
2. Maximizing Working Group Impact
On the subject of working groups, there’s a lot to look forward to in 2023.
The Maker Learning Collaborative will release a report on the state of maker learning in the Pittsburgh region, inspired by the national State of Maker Learning Today.
The Personalized Learning Working Group will leverage its recently developed Framework for Personalized Learning in Southwestern Pennsylvania to advance personalized learning practices and opportunities in the region.
CSforPGH will launch a special initiative focused on inclusion in the computer science field. Also, keep an eye out for an upcoming playbook documenting how teachers, informal educators, counselors, and more can use low-cost tools and no-cost learning resources to create simple lesson plans to introduce computer science to students.
PGHSTEAM, the Pittsburgh Regional STEM Learning Ecosystem, will be energized with new leadership.
We will also explore the possibility of establishing groups focused on the renewed interest in civics education and the ways learning intermediaries can support engaging, relevant, and equitable learning.
3. Establishing an Advocacy Role
The statewide expansion of Remake Learning Days in our home state of Pennsylvania has brought Remake Learning to the attention of policymakers interested in scaling such learning experiences across the Commonwealth. As leaders look to Remake Learning, it is time for us to advocate for a more engaging, relevant, and equitable future for learning.
Building on growing interest and participation in Remake Learning Days in Pennsylvania, we will work with state legislators to expand opportunities for learning.
4. Solidifying the Network’s National and International Presence
With 15 years of practical experience remaking learning under our belt, we have a lot to share with our peers working on similar initiatives in communities around the world. So in 2023, we’ll be hitting the road and spreading the good word.
Look for us at SXSWedu, ASU+GSV, ISTE, and other conferences across the U.S.
Internationally, we’ll continue to develop strategic partnerships with communities in the UK, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere to pool our collective experience and resources in support of large-scale, long-term ecosystemic transformation of learning.
And perhaps most exciting: Remake Learning Days will go global in 2023 with events across America, in the UK, New Zealand, and Uruguay.
We have our work cut out for us. We’ll share more details about all these opportunities and more as the year unfolds. We hope you’ll join us on this next leg of the journey to remake learning, because, after all, we work better when we work together.