Day 3: Education Power Players Talk Engaging Students Through Innovative Learning

With the goal to close the achievement gap among African American students and get more young people of color involved in STEM and equipped for the workforce, the Women of Power Summit held a BE Smart panel titled, “21st Century Learning: Engaging Minds Through Innovative Learning,” that discussed the effectiveness of blended learning methods at home, school and work.

Hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and moderated by Suzanne Walsh who serves as the Deputy Director, Post Secondary Education for the foundation, leaders in the education field talked about the importance of integrating the four C’s into the education curriculum: creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.

[Related: WATCH LIVE, The Women of Power Summit]

With a leading panelist that included Nina Ugwuomo, Founder/CEO of Student Dream; Jhan Doughty Berry, Executive Director, Talent Development and Diversity for Educational Testing Service; Muriel A. Howard, Ph.D., President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities; and Jedidah Isler, Ph.D., the first African American woman to graduate from Yale with a Ph.D. in astrophysics, the ladies agreed that innovative learning is needed in helping students succeed not only in college, but in the workforce as well.

“We have to prepare students for jobs that don’t give you a grade, but a performance evaluation,” said Ugwuomo while elaborating on the need to push students technological skills to help equip them for life after school.

Check out insights from attendees of this session below:

Stay tuned for more updates from the 2015 Women of Power Summit and be sure to head to womenofpower.com/summit for the live stream.