Stimulating Innovation And Creativity In Education: Sharing Of Practises Across The Atlantic

Opening of the Conference
09.00-09.05 Welcome, Mr Jose Miguel, Director of TKNIKA
09.05-09.25 Ms. Isabel Celaá. Minister of Education of the Basque Government
09.25-09.30 Setting the theme, Keith Bird and Lars Møller Bentsen.

Development of the conference
09.30-10.00 Keynote, Hans F van der Aalst
Fontys University for Professional Education, Netherlands
“The double-helix of ideas and skills: the DNA of innovation”

10.00-10.30. Keynote speaker, Koldo Saratxaga
Association of companies K2K Exciting, Basque Region
“Learning or Education? Is it clear what and what for?”

10.30-11.00. Panel discussion – Moderator Keith Bird, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

11.00-11.20. Refreshment Break

11.20-11.50. Keynote speaker, Stuart Rosenfeld
Regional Technology Strategies, NC, USA
“Teaching creativity, promoting innovation”

11.50-12.20. Keynote Speaker, Dr Stephan Szuppa
European Institute of Innovation & Technology, ICT Labs German Node, Germany
“From Top Innovations to focus setting in Education – new competences in Smart Energy Systems”

Samuel Triguero, TKNIKA, Basque Region
“A model of Innovation for Technical Colleges and educational institutions”

12.20-13.00. Panel discussion – Moderator Keith Bird, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

13.00-14.30. Lunch

14.30-16.30. Parallel workshops on college practices in innovation and creativity

Workshop A: Stimulating creative skills in college programs

Moderator: Jonathan Deutsch, Kingsborough Community College, NY, US

14.30-15.45. Examples from Denmark, USA and Scotland
- Alice Petersen, Lillebaelt Academy of Professional Higher Education, Denmark
“48 hours – a model for stimulating creative skills and innovation through college-company partnerships”

- Anna Szabados, Salt Lake Community College, UT, USA
“Bigger and Better Ideas. Techniques of Creative Problem-solving”

- Linda McTavish, Anniesland College, Scotland, “Culture in the City, Culture in the College”

15.45-16.30. Panel Discussion

Workshop B: “Culture in the City, Culture in the College” Innovations in education and institutional practises

Moderator: Lars Møller Bentsen

14.30-15.45. Examples from Basque Region, USA and Germany

- JoAnn Hawkins, Howard Community College, MD, USA
“Promoting innovation at Howard College”

- Rebecca A Nickoli, Ivy Tech Community College, IN, USA
“How can innovation and creativity be scaled for greater impact?”

- Martin Stöckmann and Wilfrid Lammers, Siemens Professional Education, Germany
“Education for the smart grid”

15.45-16.30. Panel Discussion

16.30 Adjourn

Download the issue here.

On January 14th members heard from Julian Alssid, executive director of the Workforce Strategy Center on opportunities to improve employment outcomes using the Career Pathways program. Click here to download the PowerPoint show.

The February webinar focused on funding opportunities available from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program.  Dr. Gerhard Salinger described the program:

The ATE program promotes improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school level and the educators who prepare them, focusing on technicians for high-technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. The program, in its 18th year, focuses on two-year colleges and expects two-year colleges to have a leadership role in all projects.

Dr. Salinger’s presentation is available here. Click here for more information on the NSF program. Download the grant solicitation here.

You can download a copy of the newsletter here.

Plan to join us in lovely San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain for the May 1-4, 2011 TA3 meeting on innovation and creativity. The event is co-sponsored by TA3 and the Tknika Centre for Innovation in Basque supported by the Basque Department of Education. Events on May 1-2 are open to all and the May 3-4 sessions are for TA3 members and their guests.

Generating new jobs, new industries, and new competitive advantages in existing industries is high on the agenda of governments around the world.  They recognize that creativity, innovation, and talent are integral to each and that success will require not only a more highly educated and skilled work force but that thinks differently, that is highly creative.  This TA3 conference will focus on developing that creative and innovative labor force.  More specifically, it will highlight ways that education and training institutions can nurture creativity among their students and within their institutions to produce a workforce with the talent to innovate, and how that creativity and innovation can be enhanced by collaborative networks and alliances involving colleges, companies, research and technology centres that complement one another and share knowledge and practices.

Please go to the Tknika website to register and to find information on travel and accommodations, the symposium and the Basque region.

The theme for our next meeting will be “Supporting Sustainable Communities Opportunities and Challenges for Community Colleges”  In Asheville, North Carolina on April 26 and 27 join experts and practitioners from the U.S. and Europe to highlight expanded roles for colleges in educating students, businesses, and communities about and for economic opportunities in renewable energy, conservation, ecotourism, and local sustainable agriculture and manufacturing. Registration information and the prospective agenda can be found at www.ta3online.org/2010meeting/.