It Takes Collaboration and Innovation to "Score"

To me, education is a lot like a team sport; the players, with their individual skill sets and advantages, must work together to "score." Take science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, for example, where the goals are fairly well agreed upon; to increase the number of students -- especially girls -- that enter into STEM fields, shift the negative perceptions and train teachers to become better informed and more enthusiastic advocates of STEM education. Nonprofits, educators, researchers and companies must combine assets and play together to enact positive change.

Motorola recently convened a conference to bring together some of the most innovative key players in the STEM arena to address just that -- how do we work best as a team to reach our collective goals of improving STEM education in the U.S. At the second annual Innovation Generation Network Conference, we shared best practices and learned from one another how to make a positive and cohesive impact. Our discussions yielded three themes:

1. Communication: We need to do a better job of communicating each organization's specific contributions to STEM -- from educators and nonprofits to companies and researchers -- to see where there are opportunities for alignment and gaps still left to be filled. More so, we need to speak the same language. As John Hosteny, director, Corporation for National and Community Service put it, "Nonprofits need to think with a business mindset; those that cannot speak to impact and return on investment for a corporate partner simply do not get the investment."

To read the full, original article click on this link: Eileen Sweeney: It Takes Collaboration and Innovation to "Score"

Author: Eileen Sweeney