I had the opportunity to sit down with Max Greenwald, CEO and Co-Founder of IgniteSTEM to discuss his involvement in altering the methods of traditional educational models. Max, who is currently a student at Princeton University, developed IgniteSTEM because he felt the educational model he grew up in did not teach students in the “right way.”
Max sees a new 21st Century communal learning model that allows students to push ideas off one another while collaborating and augmenting their learning with trusted mentorships. It’s a learning by “doing” that emulates the “hackethon” design thinking process based on the overall principals of project-based learning. Students get to focus on skill development, not just content alone, to optimize their learning for future success.
IgniteSTEM and Max Greenwald are creating forums of discussion to empower educators to disrupt STEM teaching environments with creative teamwork approaches to learning. It’s a noble pursuit that helps prepare students for a drastically changing global landscape.
About Max Greenwald
Max Greenwald is an Associate Product Manager Intern at Google and a college student majoring in Computer Science & Public Policy at Princeton University. Max is founder and CEO of IgniteSTEM, which allows thought leaders to easily organize hackathons to make the classroom of the future a reality. IgniteSTEM empowers educators and provides ideas to disrupt STEM learning environments with education technology and project-based learning.
Follow IgniteSTEM and Max on Twitter. For more information about IgniteSTEM, please email co-directors ozhang@princeton.edu and mdijkgraaf@princeton.edu.
Further Reading:
Princeton Entrepreneurship Council - IgniteSTEM Brings Hands-On Learning to High Schools
Forbes - How To Prepare For A Hackathon
Additional Reading:
How districts look for education funding
Recognizing the importance of global sustainability for schools and businesses
The lack of funding effect on special ed services
About Rod Berger, PsyD.
Dr. Rod Berger is President and CEO of MindRocket Media Group. Berger is a global education media personality and strategic influencer featured in The Huffington Post, Scholastic, AmericanEdTV, edCircuit, EdTechReview India and Forbes.
Audiences have enjoyed education interviews with the likes of Sir Ken Robinson, Arne Duncan, Randi Weingarten, Sal Khan along with leading edtech investors, award-winning educators, and state and federal education leaders. Berger’s latest project boasts a collaboration with AmericanEdTV and CBS’s Jack Ford.
Follow Dr. Rod Berger on Twitter