MAT Single Subject Coordinator Acacia Warren leads ISTE workshop on PBL and STEAM

Dr. Acacia Warren, single subject coordinator for the School’s MAT Program, presented at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Virtual Conference on November 29, 2020.

​The title of her presentation was “Anchored in Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice: PBL [Project Based Learning] and STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math] for Everyone.”
 
Warren designed her interactive workshop to answer three basic questions:

1. Why do equity, inclusion, and social justice matter in the context of teaching and learning?
2. What defines a modern educational experience?
3. What do we want students to be like when they become adults?

 
In presenting, Warren modeled innovative ways that educators can transform pedagogical spaces to teach about equity, inclusion, and social justice. Participants were able to access sample interdisciplinary units, PBL/STEAM resources, and templates from her PBL curriculum during the workshop.

​“ISTE 2020 was the absolute best educational technology conference that I have ever attended. I was honored to connect with educators from all over the United States and around the world,” Warren said. “The insights, resources, keynote speakers, games, exhibits, workshops, research, and creation labs were beyond impressive. It is hard to fathom nearly 13,000 people online at the same time – and it worked! I would encourage all educators, tech savvy or not, to attend this amazing conference.” 
 
A former K-12 teacher, coordinator, and administrator, Warren has presented her research on PBL and STEAM at multiple local and national conferences. Warren is the author of two books: Project-Based Learning Across the Disciplines: Plan, Manage, and Assess Through +1 Pedagogy (Corwin) and Cognitive Upgrade: An Educator’s Guide for Shaping Success (Amazon). Warren said she takes pride in resourcing educators with tools that elicit success in schools.
 
ISTE is an international organization committed to “empowering educators and leaders to harness technology to accelerate innovation in teaching and learning.” Membership includes educators from 50 states and 94 foreign countries. Click here for more information about the various workshops held at the weeklong 2020 virtual conference.