In general, the business, nonprofit, and education sectors rarely have opportunities to cross paths and work together, understand each other’s needs and strengths, and know when and how to help each other, notes Kathe Crowley Conn.
It’s a problem because while Madison is home to a sizeable startup community and population of entrepreneurs, the number of students introduced to, interested in, and pursuing training or degrees in the tech sector continues to decline.
That’s why Crowley Conn, the CEO of WeThinkBig (WTB), a Madison-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving educational experiences through educational innovation, decided to bring a Startup Weekend for Education (SWEDU) event to Madison July 22–24 at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery Building.
The idea actually began in 2012, when Becky Splitt, cofounder of StudyBlue and a WTB board member, saw some SWEDU ideas in practice at an ISTE conference in San Diego and thought it was an interesting concept. After Crowley Conn joined WTB, the two flew to Seattle to attend a full SWEDU weekend and explore the program further.
Crowley Conn says she was intrigued by the idea and the energy and changes she saw when educators worked side-by-side with entrepreneurs, developers, and other creative types to address educational needs, and she decided to bring it to Madison to explore what might be possible when two sectors — education and business — worked together.
“The SWEDU model was an example of where the two sectors could come together to share insights, knowledge, and skills under a common purpose and results-oriented experience,” Crowley Conn explains. “Madison was chosen as a host site due to the quality of its educational sector and startup community.”
SWEDU is powered by 4.0 Schools, which offers a platform for educators, technologists, and entrepreneurs to create bold solutions for problems in schools across the nation. This will be the first SWEDU event held in the state of Wisconsin. Previous SWEDU events have been held in major cities in the United States such as Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Kansas City, and Washington D.C., and around the world.
“We approached 4.0 Schools to bring SWEDU to Madison after talking with educators about their challenges and needs, and recognizing the potential power of the tremendous education and business talent in the region,” Crowley Conn says.
During the immersive, 54-hour event people of all skill sets — developers, educators, software/user experience (UX) designers, and digital marketers — and experience levels can apply their skills to help turn a promising concept into a prototype that can make a difference for participating students and teachers. Over the course of the weekend, brand-new concepts and solutions will be created and pitched to attendees. Participants will then form teams to test those concepts and build prototypes, with guidance from expert coaches in education and all areas of business.
The weekend will close with a final team competition to determine the most promising concepts, plans, and prototypes. Judges will select winners to be awarded free SXSWedu passes, courtesy of the NBCUniversal Open Possibilities Challenge, free tickets to Forward Fest, annual membership at 100 State, a chance to use a 3-D printer to create a prototype, free legal and marketing services by local firms, and other prizes.
According to Crowley Conn, each one of these prizes has been chosen to either introduce aspiring entrepreneurs to local resources or provide them the professional services they need to refine and take their ideas to the next step.
“SWEDU’s mission is to spur communities to brainstorm and prototype ways to improve education,” Crowley Conn notes. “âIt presents a great opportunity to highlight and âexplore solutions to problems in education while leading and fostering entrepreneurship. Local tech and education professionals often start and âbuild lasting relationships as a result of these experiences.”
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Achieving access
In the ed tech world, Crowley Conn says, access is the primary obstacle standing between a great idea and actually bringing a product to the marketplace.
“Educators know firsthand what needs exist in education, what challenges teachers and students face every day that get in the way of students learning to their full potential,” she notes. “The tech community knows how to build technology solutions. One needs the other, though the two seldom meet, much less have an opportunity to collaborate around solving a pressing problem in education. Once they do, the next challenge for startups is finding the know-how and funding required to build a business. Knowing who and how to get the attention of an experienced entrepreneur and investor is the next challenge. Madison’s SWEDU will include access to local experts from the tech, legal, and business community as mentors and coaches. Participants in SWEDU do all of the above in the course of a single weekend.”
Expert coaches from local businesses and organizations include senior professionals from: Filament Games, Field Day Lab.Org, Noble Applications, StudyBlue, Michael Best & Friedrich, UW Law & Entrepreneur Clinic, Cooperative Education Services Agencies 1 & 3, UW Extension, Department of Public Instruction, EatStreet, UW-D2P, Wisconsin Center for Educational Products & Services, and C. Blohm & Associates.
These leaders will mentor the competing teams on the educational, financial, marketing, and legal facets of product development.
Sponsors of the event include: Gold sponsors — NBC Universal, 4.0 Schools, Great Lakes Higher Education Casualty Corp., WeThinkBig, UW Extension, 100 State, C. Blohm & Associates, and Madison College. Silver sponsors — Wisconsin Center for Education Products & Services, WiscNet, 4490 Ventures, Galin Education, Google, CUNA Mutual Foundation, and SOPHIA Learning.
Tickets for the inaugural SWEDU event in Madison are still available at www.madisonswedu2016.splashthat.com.
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