The Big Ideas Fest is the starting point for a movement that supports innovation in education at a time when the need to accelerate high-quality learning is truly essential for our country and our future. The goal of this unique three-day meeting of experts, creative doers and thinkers is to spotlight, challenge and change the ways in which education can be made relevant to learning in the post-industrial world. Not just on the sidelines of society, or in the unique classrooms of the world, but placing learning at the front and center of all that we do.

Why call it a Fest?

Because this is a gathering where innovation is meant to be designed, shared, celebrated and rewarded! As educators, we know that learning often happens best when people leave behind their usual modes of problem-solving, as well as when a diverse group of stakeholders have opportunities to interact in different, yet meaningful ways. To reiterate, the Big Ideas Fest is not a conference of PowerPoint presentations and speeches, but an event where a broad group of stakeholders will be empowered to design and pursue solutions to some of the most challenging educational dilemmas we face today.

Learning can happen any time, any place. Today is not just any time, though.

There is a common assumption that learning is both at the core of education and at the center of all education experiences. Yet our once well-fitted industrial era education systems are fraying around the edges, and in some cases, have all but collapsed. Increasing numbers of children leave high school before graduation, adults look to re-tool in an Internet-based world, consultants are replaced by crowd sourcing, and global teams of freelancers solve pressing problems. Are our current education systems making education relevant to these changing times? How can we better forge the link between formal and informal education, for example, learning from the students who spend hours immersed in gaming yet spend no time on homework? Do all people who want to learn, no matter what their age, have access to high quality materials and resources? Do our systems adequately provide links from education to the workforce, in terms of accurately assessing and preparing us to live and work in the YouTube world? And what can we learn from other sectors that will enable us to make our education systems serve both learners and society as a whole?

Be inspired! Embrace success & failure! Ideate & collaborate to make change in education!

Certainly, the worldwide recession has jolted all of us to attention amidst a growing lack of confidence in our public and private institutions. Each day the vulnerability of our basic services becomes more apparent, particularly in the education sector. It is within this context that we are calling on a diverse set of doers, makers, and advocates who are eager to explore creative, bold, edgy ideas in order to explore, develop and implement the most standout approaches. Enter: Big Ideas Fest.