Remake Learning Days got a shout-out in January in a World Economic Forum white paper on the future of education and work.

The latest phase of My Brother’s Keeper in Pittsburgh included a series of community conversations between young African American and Latino men and the providers of programs designed to serve them. We caught up with Dr. Jamil Bey, who facilitated the conversations.

Some scholars talk about “anywhere, anytime learning,” the idea that education should—and often does—happen organically outside traditional institutions like schools.

The digital age brings a seemingly endless number of options for today’s learners. But it’s also easy to get lost. Enter learning pathways.

Since 1983, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has served as a national platform for forward-thinking perspectives on family and community engagement and anywhere, anytime learning strategies. HFRP synthesizes research, conducts national and community forums, and documents promising practices that connect families, schools, libraries and museums, afterschool, and early childhood and community programs.

It isn’t Pittsburgh’s first conversion into a living campus, but it is the largest. After a trial run last summer, and armed with a new grant from the MacArthur Foundation, the Sprout Fund tweaked and expanded Cities of Learning to ready the initiative for 2015.

The mobility of technology makes for ideal learning tools. Maker materials can be wheeled into libraries, cafes, churches, parks, and any number of accessible community spaces.

In October 2011 the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh opened MAKESHOP — an exhibit space where kids and adults can tinker with tools, physical materials, and the latest in digital media. As one of the country’s first museum-based makerspaces, MAKESHOP has become a national model for museums around the country. Rebecca Grabman has been at MAKESHOP since the beginning, rising in the ranks from summer intern to manager. Grabman grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and has a master’s degree in entertainment technology from Carnegie Mellon.

Pittsburgh area high school students came together at the University of Pittsburgh to address world water crises and spread awareness. Without a formal structure, creativity thrived and students took ownership of their campaigns.

On any typical day in the MAKESHOP at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, kids and families are woodworking, tinkering with circuits, and crafting cardboard swords and shields. But nestled in the corner of the bustling workshop is the trusty stalwart of the space: the four-harness floor loom. Rebecca Grabman, MAKESHOP manager, said the loom is […]

Today's parents are more worried than ever before about playground injuries and stranger abductions. But experts say these fears may be unfounded and can rob kids of needed opportunities to take risks and to grow.

Most of that out-of-school learning goes undocumented. So how can we track which skills kids pick up when they’re away from the classroom? And once they’ve mastered those skills, how can we get better at helping kids build on them? Educators and students will explore these questions and more on November 21 at the Pittsburgh Learning Pathways Summit. They will gather with librarians, artists, and researchers to explore innovative concepts, like digital badges and connected learning pathways, as a continued step in connecting in- and out-of-school learning.

We talk a lot about learning networks and pathways on this blog. But we often get the question, “What does a network actually look like? Is it a concrete thing or just an abstract idea?” As we approach the Pittsburgh Learning Pathways Summit on November 21, we thought it might be a good time to answer that question, and describe what we mean by Learning Pathways.

How the arts, along with STEM subjects, make the mind “fertile for future learning.”

Schools are working hard to engage students in computer programming and engineering, but resources are tight. And some kids lack access to high-tech tools at home. Can afterschool programs help bridge the gap?

The Maker Education Initiative is coming to Pittsburgh this summer. And along with 3D technology, robots, and rideables, these techie mentors aim to give kids more than just great summer memories.

In New York City all eyes are on Mayor Bill de Blasio, who’s working to expand afterschool programming for all the city’s middle schoolers. Here’s why afterschool matters.

As the sizes and prices of 3D printers shrink, students—and their teachers—are discovering new and creative ways to put them to work.

Bill Strickland may not be familiar with the term “21st Century skills,” but he’s been helping kids build them and a whole lot more for years at his urban arts centers. The centers began in Pittsburgh in 1968 and are being replicated across the country. Strickland says the model teaches kids “how to have confidence that the problems they’re encountering are solvable.”

When kids learn how to create media, not just consume it, a world of opportunities opens up for them to share what matters in their lives.

Kids gain much more than just business sense when they work alongside local entrepreneurs.

This holiday season, spark a lifelong love of STEM learning with gifts that give the kids in your lives a chance to tinker: a visit to the MAKESHOP, a roll of duct tape, a mini circuitry kit, and much more.

It’s not just schools that are responsible for preparing young people for the future. In Chicago, a successful summer experiment is going year-round, connecting kids to the city’s rich cultural resources and opportunities for learning outside as well as inside the classroom.

In Pittsburgh’s East End, building a new generation of technology entrepreneurs.