Remake Learning began in Pittsburgh 10 years ago to help adults understand how the digital age has changed education and how to best prepare kids for the future.
Council co-chair Gregg Behr said that idea has gained traction among education leaders across the country, and now the network is planning to roll out its signature festival in five other cities, the first national expansion of its work.
“(Other city leaders) have come to respect and value what we’ve been able to do with Remake Learning Days, and they want to do it on their own,” he said. “And it was that sort of demand where they said, ‘Could you package this in a way that would be instructive and helpful to our communities so we can try and do what Pittsburgh has done?'”
The Pittsburgh group is now made up of more than 500 regional schools and organizations, which has included WESA. This year, the cohort will host its third festival, Remake Learning Days, highlighting innovative learning opportunities in the region. Past events have featured open houses at schools, museums, libraries and tech startups--all to make those resources more easily accessible to parents and caregivers.
Behr said the national rollout is a response to demand from other cities hoping to replicate the network’s impact. Remake Learning made available an open-source, festival toolkit, but also plans to give special assistance to the five yet-to-be-announced locales. Delegates from each selected city are expected to attend Pittsburgh’s festival in May. Remake Learning staff will then help those cities plan for a May 2019 launch.
The rollout was originally announced at the STEM Ecosystems National Community of Practice and U.S. News STEM Solutions joint conference in Washington D.C.
