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2023 MOBILES FOR EDUCATION ALLIANCE SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS AND RESOURCES Inspiring the next Generation of S.T.EM. Leaders Everywhere!

2023 mEducation Alliance Annual Symposium Official Webpage

THIS WAS THE FIRST EVER GLOBAL STEM EDUCATION EVENT!

Science, technology, engineering, and math (S.T.E.M.) education should be accessible to learners — wherever they are located and regardless of their socio-economic status. This year’s Symposium, our 13th annual, focused on how S.T.E.M. education is and can reach the next generation of learners in all settings – including space ships! This was the first global STEM education event bringing together stakeholders from developed and developing countries.

As with our prior Symposia, this year’s event gathered thought-leaders from both developed and developing countries to network and share experiences about appropriate and sustainable educational (tech and non-tech) S.T.E.M. interventions. The event featured an amazing line-up of global presenters highlighting impactful S.T.E.M. projects, particularly those found in and which can be replicated and/or scaled in low-resource, formal and informal educational settings at the primary/elementary and secondary/high school instructional levels.

Symposium Agenda
List of Presenters
Presentation Abstracts

2023 Event Tracks:

  • Art (Do not forget the A in S.T.E.A.M.)
  • Climate Education
  • Digital Literacy
  • EdTech S.T.E.M. Research
  • Edutainment Media
  • Emerging Technologies and their Impact
  • #InspirationSTEM is Girl Powered!
  • Making S.T.E.M. Accessible (equity, diversity, learners with disabilities, challenging educational environments)
  • Math Education
  • Peace Engineering
  • Science Education
  • The Global Science of S.T.E.M. Learning
  • S.T.E.M. Play (tech and non-tech interventions)
  • S.T.E.M. Empowered Educators
  • S.T.E.M. in Challenging Education Environments
  • S.T.E.M. Stories – Access to and Content Creation (Foundational Literacy and Numeracy)
  • Youth as Digital Champions and S.T.E.M.preneurs

Symposium Presentation Teasers

Click here for the Complete Playlist

SYMPOSIUM INTERVIEW SERIES

Click here for the Complete Playlist

PRESENTATIONS BY SUB-THEMES

DO NOT FORGET THE A IN S.T.E.A.M. (ART)

University of California, San Diego; Web Applications fo r the STEM of music; Victor Minces, Research Scientist
Muzology; Muzology: Harnessing the Power of Music to Transform Math Education; Rachel Carter, Vice President
George Mason University; SISTEMS: Supporting the Integration of STEM in Secondary education; Dr. Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, Professor and Director
mEducation Alliance; InspirationSTEM Girls - Future Firsts; Mary Effie Akinyi, Engagement Coordinator

#InspirationSTEM is Girl Powered!

Link Education International; Girls, science, technology, engineering and mathematics: A Social and Emotional Learning Approach to STEM in Ethiopia; Nicolo Di Marzo, Ethiopia Country Representative
EdTech Hub; Breaking Barriers, Empowering Success: Gender Equity in STEM for Flourishing Diversity; Sharanya Ramesh, HelpDesk Regional Lead
GIZ; Digital competencies for women and girls - #eSkills4Girls G20 initiative (2017-2022) - Lessons learnt; Vanessa Dreier, Policy Advisor for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

EDUTAINMENT MEDIA

The World Bank; Can Learning Go Viral? Using Educational Technology and Social Media in Tandem to Achieve Learning At Scale; Niyati Malhotra, Research Coordinator, Victor Orozco-Olvera, Senior Economist
eKitabu and Ubongo Learning; Using the Power of Storytelling to make STEM Content Accessible; Nadia Nibagwire, Project Manager (eKitabu); Anette Ngongi, User Research Manager (Ubongo Learning)
Peripheral Vision International; More Scale, Less Cost, Massive Fun: Promoting STEM Using Educational TV; Paul Falzone, Executive Director

STEM EMPOWERED EDUCATORS

Learning Equality and UNHCR; From Manual to Semi-Automated: Enhancing Access to Curriculum-Aligned Resources with Machine Learning; Jamie Alexandre, Cofounder and Executive Director (Learning Equality); Kent Awiti, OiC Connected Education Team Lead (UNHCR)
PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder; STEM Teachers as Leaders: Advancing Active Learning in STEM through the PhET Fellowship for Africa and Latin America; Rebecca Vieyra, Director of Global Initiatives
Mwabu; The N50 project in Zambia: Using technology and teacher motivation to improve STEM educational outcomes in low resource settings; Helen Radford, Head of Product
World Education; Empowering STEM Teachers through Digital Learning Solutions in Egypt; Willem Van de Waal, Senior Technical Advisor
World Education; The Math is Easy: Free is Better!; Jeff Goumas; Senior Technical Advisor

STEM PLAY

Tintash; STEM exposure through tinkering in an online world; Jazib Zahir, COO (virtual)
Quest Alliance, STEM Solutions: A perspective from the margins ( Ideathon and Hackathon as process to harness creativity and STEM mindset of children from vulnerable communities); Dr. Deepika Singh, Director - Learning Experience
Maxim Nyansa Foundation, Integrated Learning Transformation Program for African Students; Stanley Kwakye Dankyira, CEO and Co-Founder
Education Development Center, Centre for Children and Technology; Integrating Learning Through Play with Technology and Formal Education; Megan Silander, Research Scientist; Hanna Girma Wedajo, Senior Research Associate
George Mason University; Different Approaches to Designing Tech and Non-Tech STEM Games for Low Resource Classrooms James Casey Director, Virginia Serious Game Institute
Catlili Games; Gameschooling: STEM Board Games in the Classrooms; Catherine Croft, PhD., Co-founder & CEO
Wilfrid Laurier University; Back to Basics: Developing EscapeIF for Low Resource Classrooms; Scott Nicholson, Professor
Brooklyn Strategist; Brain Basis of Information Seeking and Abstract Reasoning in Game Design; Jon Freeman, Ph.D., Owner

DIGITAL LITERACY

Educational Initiatives (Ei); Promoting Computer Science and Mathematics Education among Girl Children in Tribal Residential Schools in Telangana, India; Paul Flowerman,Mindspark Evangelist/Educational Initiatives and Thomas Berry, Senior Manager Amazon Future Engineer, Amazon
Digify Africa; Chatbot Education for Reaching Low-income Users at Scale; Gavin Weale, CEO
Geeks Without Frontiers; N50 Tribes, STEM and Digital Literacy: Improving Educational Impact in Indigenous Communities, Kimberly Pete, Director of Community Engagement
Profuturo Foundation; Profuturo’s School of Computational Thinking and Artificial Intelligence; Milada Tonarelli Gonçalves, Global Head of Product and Innovation
George Mason University; Fostering Student Computational Thinking with Self-Regulated Learning; Erin Peters-Burton, Donna R. and David E. Sterling Endowed Professor in Science Education
mEducation Alliance; mEducation Alliance and Alison Learning's Free Digital Literacy Course for Young Leaders; Peter Joyce, EdD, Senior Digital Scaling Specialist
World Education; Saint Lucia ConnectED Youth-Led Participatory Action Research; Royston Emmanuel, Chief of Party; Gilda Marcion, Education Manager
Vijana Amani Pamoja; Sphero Football; Enouce Ndeche, Founder and Director
VVOB - education for development; Supporting Coding among Rwandan Adolescents & Teachers through the Curriculum & Clubs Heading (SCRATC2H) for Rwanda 2050; Esther Goldschmidt, Global Strategic Advisor for Partnerships
Save the Children and Accenture Development Partnerships; Innovative Partnerships for STEM Education Julie Perdue, Youth Advisor Skills to Succeed (Save the Children); Natalie Co, Managing Director (Accenture Development Partnerships); Qian Zhang, Skills to Succeed Program Manager (Save the Children China); Massimo Merlino, Program Development Expert (Save the Children Italy); Emanuele Micheli, President (School of Robotics)

LITERACY

Batazia; Breaking Language and Cognitive Barriers to STEM Education in Africa: A Pathway to Transforming Learning on The Continent; Ndipabonga Atanga, Chief Technical Officer; Barbara Gwanmesia, CEO
Worldreader; How Worldreader supports children reading S.T.E.M content anywhere using BookSmart; Deborah Backus, Chief Design Officer
Imagine Worldwide; STEMpowering Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Malawi and Beyond; Joe Wolfe, Co-founder and CEO

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACT

Carnegie Mellon University; picoCTF: hacking the barriers to cybersecurity education; Megan Kearns, Program Director, picoCTF; Dr. Assane Gueye, Associate Teaching Professor, Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Co-Director: CyLab-Africa / Upanzi Network
360Ed; Impact in the Wild: Exponential Ed Impact in most challenging communities; Hla Hla Win, CEO & Co-founder; Yan Min Aung, Chief Product Officer & Co-founder
Brookings; Emerging use cases, opportunities and risks related to AI use in education; Michael Trucano, Visiting Fellow, Center for Universal Education

MAKING STEM ACCESSIBLE

World Learning Algeria; Creating Inclusive STEAM Classrooms in Algeria using Universal Design for Learning (UDL); Dr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, STEAM Discovery Center Director and Founding Member; Achraf Meguellati, Senior STEAM Education Specialist
Rochester Institute of Technology; Making STEM Accessible Through Storybooks; Christopher Kurz, Professor; Patrick Graham, Chair of the Master of Science in Secondary Education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Stephen Jacobs, Director, Open@RIT
Benetech; Leveraging Technology for Inclusive STEM Learning; Ayan Kishore, CEO; Lisa Wadors, Vice President - Programs
Team4Tech and Kenya Connect; Empowering Global Learners: Maker Spaces for Inclusive S.T.E.M. Education; Julie Clugage, Co-founder & Executive Director (Team4Tech); Patrick Munguti, Director of Education and IT (Kenya Connect)
ideas42; Battling Rising Gender Gaps in Education: Using Behavioral Science to Encourage Ugandan Caregivers to Send Girls to School Post-Pandemic; Carolina Better, Associate Managing Director; Katherine Flaschen, Senior Behavioral Designer
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP); Math and Science Learning Loss Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal; Caroline Jacoby, MPH, Senior Program Officer
Digital Promise and Blue Butterfly; Improving Access to Interactive, Mother-Tongue Digital Science Content for Early Grade Learners in Rural Haiti; April Williamson, Haiti Project Director (Digital Promise); Suzanne Cole, Co-Executive Director, Operations (Blue Butterfly)
Punto Crea - Vitruvian Consulting de Guatemala; STEAM: An investment for the lives of youth in rural areas of Guatemala; Ismael Pecher, Program Coordinator; Luis Quino, National Director of Vitruvian
World Learning and Instituto Guatemalteco Americano; Teacher Training at the Core of STEM Education; Dr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, STEAM Discovery Center Director and Founding Member

CLIMATE EDUCATION

Creative Commons; Have a minute to save the environment? CC licenses and the Open Climate Campaign; Shanna Hollich, Learning and Training Manager
National Institute of Education; Facilitating student inventiveness and inquiry: case examples from STEM; Kenneth Y T Lim, Senior Research Scientist
Chemonics International; Centering Youth in Green Workforce Development: An Action Guide; Katherine Centore, Senior Practice Specialist - GESI
Take Action Global; Climate education for all: Inclusive and accessible practices for taking action globally; Jennifer Williams, Executive Director
Blue Swallow Farm Foundation, Center for Research and Instruction in the Natural World; Lessons Learned with the GaiaXus Probe: Environmental Stewardship, STEM Career Motivation, and Student Well-Being; Suzanne Hiller, Executive Director
GaiaXus; Affordable, accurate water quality sensors for STEM Education; Dietrich Ruehlmann, CEO

GLOBAL SCIENCE OF STEM LEARNING

Imagine Worldwide; RCT Evidence and Continuous Improvement of an EdTech Intervention; Karen Levesque, Head of Research
University of Nottingham; The influence of pedagogical features and implementation on the success of mobile technologies for foundational math interventions with out-of-school children; Nicola Pitchford, Professor
EdTech Hub;Using iterative research to test EdTech hypotheses for marginalized numeracy learners; Daniel Plaut, Innovation Learning Lead

STEM Education

WeRobotics Inc.; STEM Sheroes Program: Creating sustainable and inclusive STEM opportunities through the global Flyings Labs network; Renee Welch, Executive Administrator US Entity
NextGenU.org; STEM Teacher/student Education for Primary Schools (STEPS): a globally free educational opportunity; Marcy Hessling O'Neil, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, MSU, Co-Founder, Three Sisters Foundation, 501c3
​Qualcomm, Inc.; Using Wireless Technology for STEM learning globally; Hiram Lopez-Landin, Manager, Government Affairs
LabXchange/Harvard University; Empowering Teachers and Students Through Flexibility: Remixing Digital Content in the Classroom; Jenny Frank, Head of Educator Programming
Practical Education Network; Getting Hands-on for STEM Education with Local Materials in Africa; Heather Beem, CEO and Founder. Sangay Freeman, Director of STEM Education, MoE Liberia.
Conrad Foundation; Purpose Driven Education; Vyomika Gandhi, Head, Alumni Leadership Council
Hilo Intermediate School; Envelopes of Science Awesomeness: Professional Development Impacting Elementary Teachers and Students in Rural Areas; Dr. Pascale Creek Pinner, NGSS Curriculum & Professional Development Expert
Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, UNESCO; Key Findings and Recommendations of the 2023 GEM Report on Technology and Education, with a focus on STEM Education; Priyadarshani Joshi, Senior Research Officer at GEM Report, UNESCO
Jacobs; Jacobs’ Collectively initiative: Putting our staff as volunteers on the front lines with students; Kurt Maldovan, Global Director, Digital Delivery Solutions
War Child and Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, University of Notre Dame; Evaluation of Can’t Wait to Learn in Uganda: A randomized controlled trial; Nikhit D’Sa, Assistant Professor and Senior Associate Director of Research (University of Notre Dame)

STEM EDUCATION

mEducation Alliance; Active learning in STEM through evidence-based pedagogies, resources, and micro projector technology: A scalable solution for classrooms in Africa; Anthony Bloome, Executive Director; Rebecca Vieyra, Director, Global Initiatives, PhET Interactive Simulations
Information Equity Initiative; How to Urgently and Inexpensively Deliver STEM Curated Digital Content to Schools that Lack Access to Broadband; Erik Langner, CEO
World Bank; STEM in a Digital Age: Leveraging Technology to Enhance STEM Education in SubSaharan Africa; Alice Amegah, Consultant; Christiane Voufo, Consultant
CEMASTEA; CEMASTEA'S 360° Approach to STEM Education; Joseph Kennedy Karanja Thuo, National Trainer; Dr. Pius Mutisya, Chairperson - Board of Directors CEMASTEA
ADEA; The Status of STEM Education in Africa: Basic learning level; Mary Sichangi Wakhayam, Head, Partnerships and Linkages (ADEA ICQN-MSE is housed at CEMASTEA) (virtual)
US Department of Education, 10 STEM Innovations to Know About out of the US Department of Education's SBIR Program, Edward Metz, SBIR Program Manager
US Department of Education, Patti Curtis, Senior STEM Advisor/STEM Next Fellow, Office of the Deputy Secretary

MATH EDUCATION

Reflective Learning; Bridging the Gap: Taking the Fight to Learning Loss; Eugene Pelteret, Co-founder and COO
talkSTEM; Designing Learning Extensions to Math Walks to Maximize Learning Outcomes for All Children; Benjamin Feinstein, Program Director
Learning Equality; Achieving FLN Competencies through Tech-Enabled, Project Based Learning in Low-Internet Contexts; Laura Danforth, Head of Global Community Engagement
EIDU; Using Technology to Transform Education in Resource Limited Settings. Nina Bolte, Chief Learning Officer
onebillion; Developing effective EdTech for marginalized children to acquire foundational numeracy: insights from Malawi’s nationwide BEFIT programme; Nat Dinham, Partnerships Lead
University of Nottingham; Using mobile technologies to support the acquisition of basic mathematics with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities; Nicola Pitchford, Professor
FUNDAPROMAT; FUNDAPROMAT: Spreading the Joy of Mathematics; Jeanette Shakalli, Executive Director
The Global Math Circle; Math circles provide deep understanding of mathematics to all; Tifin Calcagni, Education Director
Youcubed at Stanford University; Mathematical Mindsets as Key to Futures in STEM; Jack Dieckmann, Director of Research, youcubed
Youth Impact; ConnectEd: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Phone-Based Tutoring Programming to Support Basic Learning Competencies; Colin Crossley, Program Manager (ConnectEd)
Darsel; Darsel: Scaling math learning through WhatsApp chatbot; Abdulhamid Haidar, Founder & CEO
mEducation Alliance: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Dissemination Platform for Math Games in Households in Rwanda; Anthony Bloome, Executive Director (mEducation Alliance); Paul Falzone, Executive Director (Peripheral Vision International); and Scott Nicholson, Professor (Wilfrid Laurier University-virtual)

PEACE ENGINEERING

University of Colorado; Global Engagement for a Small Planet; Bernard Amadei, Professor of Civil Engineering
George Mason University; Peace Engineering Equipping Students to Use Peace Technology and Apply Trans-disciplinary Skills to Support Peace; Keil Eggers, PhD Candidate and Peace Engineering Lab Manager
Drexel University; Applying a Peacebuilding Lens to Engineering Education; Dr. Mira Olson, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

YOUTH STEMpreneurs

TeachOSM; Every Student a Mapper: Introducing OpenStreetMap for Education; Steven Johnson, Organizer
International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX); Promoting US and Ghanaian Youth STEM Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Global Mindedness through a Binational STEM Program; Amaris Mohammed, Senior Program Officer; Sarah Bever, Senior Technical Advisor

SCIENCE EDUCATION

Smithsonian Science Education Center; From School to Career: Using STEM Activities to Inspire the Next Generation; Shellie Pick, Special Projects Coordinator; Katherine Fancher, Program Specialist
onebillion and Ubongo Learning; Play and inclusion: designing accessible, joyful and impactful content for all children to learn foundational skills; Nat Dinham, Partnerships Lead (onebillion); Cliodhna Ryan, Director of Education and Research (Ubongo Learning)

STEM in Challenging Education Environments

BRAC; BRAC’s Boat Schools: Teaching Math and Science through Experiential Learning in Hard-to Reach Areas; Safi Rahman Khan, Director of Education, Skills Development and Migration Programme
Airbel Impact Lab, Research and Innovation, International Rescue Committee; aprendIA: Personalized Education for Last-Mile Learners; Atish Gonsalves, Global Education Research & Innovation Lead; Sheila Burkhardt, Digital Strategist
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Designing STEM content in Connected Education with and for Refugee Communities; Frankie Randle, Connected Higher Education Specialist (UNHCR); Baha Mohamed, Student, InZone (virtual); Stephen Kent Awiti, Connected Education Lead (UNHCR); Alexis Lefranc, Education Officer, (UNHCR Comité español, ProFuturo partnership); Albane Coeurquetin, Education Manager Instant Network Programme (Vodafone Foundation, virtual).
Learning Upgrade; Refugee Led Mobile Learning Circles Drive Rapid Growth

Alliance Member Day at the World Bank

ALLIANCE Member day Presentations

mEducation Alliance: Strengthening the Education Ecosystem to Bring Wondrous Learning!; Anthony Bloome, Executive Director
How do we support governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to accelerate foundational learning? Stakeholder insights and strategies from Malawi’s national EdTech program; Joshua Valeta, MoE, Malawi; Joe Wolfe, Co-founder & C.E.O. Imagine Worldwide
Status of STEM Education: Increasing access to quality STEM Education in Liberia; Sangay M. Freeman, Director/STEM Education K-12th; MoE, Liberia; Heather Beem; Founder, Practical Education Network
The World Bank; Leveraging STEM for the Sustainable Economic Transformation of Sub Saharan Africa; Alice Amegah, Consultant; Christiane Wendy Voufo, Consultant; Grace Oiza Amoka, Consultant; Souleymane Diabate, Consultant; Una McCarthy-Fakhry, Consultant
Warchild, Can't Wait to Learn; UNESCO GEM Report; UNHCR; Scaling STEM programmes in humanitarian settings; Jaspal Channa, Neenaz Ichaporia, Stephen Kent Awiti
Tech-Enabled Disability Inclusive Education (TEDDIE): Empowering All Learners, Transforming Education
GEM Report; Technology in education: A tool on whose terms?; Priya Joshi, Senior Research Officer
The World Bank Group; EdTech at the Education Global Practice; Robert Hawkins, Senior Education Specialist
A roundtable discussion: What Would Catalysts to Advance Global STEM Education Look Like?; Anthony Bloome, Executive Director, mEducation Alliance; Rebecca Vieyra Director of Global Initiatives PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder

2023 Symposium Sponsors

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