Monday, December 26, 2016

EdTech, Education and Business


EdTech Meets Education and Business @ NY EdTech Week


On Tuesday, December 20, 2016, I had the opportunity to attend  NY EdTech Week. Thank you IZONE, Startedaccelerator and NY EdTech Week team for the ticket! Such a wonderful and encouraging day for educators, Ed tech creators and investors. The education and tech business community are building partnerships to improve teaching and impact student learning regardless of their social and economic background.

This collaborative initiative reminded me about the books I read for my history class at Hunter College on how innovative individuals, investors and government at the local and national level worked together in the first half of the 1800s in the United States and as a result led to a massive economic growth, boom in the Arts&Culture and improved the quality of life for some sectors of the American population. It also reminded me of that vibrant atmosphere full of thinking, knowledge and culture when I worked in the film industry and networked with film festival directors, filmmakers and producers in film festivals such as The World FF (CANADA) and Berlin FF (Germany).

NY EdTech Week featured speakers who are now making a difference in education driven by the belief that our students can succeed in school and acquire the knowledge and skills they now need to secure a decent life for themselves, their families and community at large.  It feels so good to know that such people exist and be inspired by their wisdom and actions.

Hear what educators, business men/women, reformers and artists had to say!



Carmen Farina, NYC Schools Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education 



                      Jim Shelton, Head of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Education Division 





                          David Kirkland, Associate Professor at NYU Steinhardt 
                             & Alex Rappaport, Co-Founder, CEO of Flocabulary 




              Ike Ramos, Educator and District Sales Manager & Artists of Flocabulary



                                                      Larry Berger, CEO Amplify




              AQ&A Session with Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform
              Jim Shelton, Head of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Education Division 
                                                              & others