Imagination In Action

Inspiring Kids-Dr. Jay Kayne's DC experience

2010-11-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

ImagineIt! Blog
Jay Kayne
November 4, 2010

In the movie “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella watches the young Archie “Moonlight” Graham take the field with Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other baseball immortals who have come to play on the field he has carved out of his Iowa cornfield. Terrance Mann, played by James Earl Jones, says to Kinsella, “Unbelievable.” Kinsella replies, “It’s more than that. It’s perfect.”

Though we all hope for those perfect moments, they unfortunately seem few and far between. But as I walked along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 24 I experienced one of those moments. It was the final day of the inaugural U.S. Science and Engineering Expo and the mall was filled with exhibits dedicated to the past accomplishments of American ingenuity and the possibilities which lie ahead. But it was not the exhibits that caught my attention. It was the thousands and thousands of young, enthusiastic learners who lined up to try on a space suit or crowded around a stage to watch an Albert Einstein impersonator implore, “Repeat after me. Relativity, relativity!”

I had arrived in D.C. several hours early for the screening of our film, “ImagineIt!2: The Power of Imagination” in the Baird Auditorium at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. My ImagineIt! partners Rudy Poe, the film’s director and it’s producer Richard Tavener had asked me to introduce the film and take questions after the screening. It is a seven hour drive from Oxford, Ohio to Washington, D.C. which gave me more than enough time to test several introductions and consider answers for anticipated questions from the audience. I thought I was prepared and decided to use the available time to enjoy this perfect Sunday afternoon (clear and 65 degrees) to walk the Mall and be a participant in the event rather than a presenter.

However, when I saw the ocean of future scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators, I realized I had missed the mark. The audiences at most screenings of our films are educators and other adults who constantly voice their concern that America and its young people are losing their creative edge. But this Sunday would be different. Standing off stage, I watched the auditorium fill up with the same young learners I’d seen on the Mall and their parents. I thought about Dr. George Land, whose research had documented how life and our education system had robbed so many of our young people of their innate creative talent.

I jettisoned my planned introduction, walked on the stage and began. “I’d like to ask the younger people here today a question. “How many times have your parents or your brothers and sisters said, ‘Do you think it is all about you?’” Every hand shot up. “And raise your hand if you feel guilty when they say that.” Again, the hands appeared. I continued, “Well, they’re wrong and you shouldn’t feel guilty. It is all about you! Your curiosity. Your dreams. How you will make the world a better place for all of us. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. So today I’d like to share with you a film to remind your parents and your teachers to let you be you and pursue your dreams.”

It is strange we sometimes do not fully appreciate why we do what we do. On this Sunday afternoon, I re-experienced what the ImagineIt! project is truly all about. Reminding our children we have faith in them and the future when they will be in charge, reminding parents they can either support or strangle their children’s pursuit of childhood passions and dreams and reminding educators to create environments such as one on the Mall this “perfect” day where their students cannot wait to learn how to achieve great things.

"Connecting Science and Engineering with Imagination & Creativity"

2010-10-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

The imagine it! Project presents documentary film imagine it!² The Power of Imagination at the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, DC.

The highly acclaimed film, imagine it!² The Power of Imagination, will be shown on Sunday, October 24th at 2:00 p.m. in the Baird Auditorium at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The film screening will be presented by Dr. Jay Kayne, Vice President, Educational Content Development, The imagine it! Project. A special 34-minute version of the film will be shown followed by Q&A with Dr. Kayne.

The film Imagine it!² illustrates the convergence of science, engineering and technology with imagination and creativity at this important moment in human history when a new generation must unleash creative thinking to solve global challenges.

The imagine it! Project is a 21st century public service media initiative, producing high quality long form factual programs, short "mini" documentaries, content hubs and audience-generated content. The project distributes content through new and traditional media primarily for teachers, students and parents.

The imagine it! Project channels the collective intelligence of a global community who recognize that imagination and creativity can change the world, science connected to art is a powerful force, local and global problems need to be addressed now and that one person can make a difference.

There's a new conversation going on at www.imagineitproject.com. that calls on scientists and engineers, teachers and parents, business and government leaders and students of all ages to imagine the world a better place and to engage in making that happen.

Follow up to the Messy Roommates

2010-08-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

The President of Yale University, Rick Levin, welcomed incoming freshman this past weekend and in his speech he echoed the point I was trying to make in my blog post "Messy Roomates." Mr. Levin said, "If the friends you make here are exclusively those who come from backgrounds just like your own and went to high schools just like your own you will have forfeited half the value of a Yale education. Seek out friends with different histories and different interests; you will find that you learn the most from the people least like you."

This is important because right now we live in a time of seemingly uncontrollable change. Many of us want comfort from the things we know best, from the things that have "worked in the past." But, right now is not the time for the past or the familiar. Right now is the time to explore the new and invite the different. This is a time when the new and different creates opportunities to explore new creative ideas and to use our imaginations to envision what is possible, what might be next. It may only be a small step in the right direction but whether you're attending Yale as a freshman or you're entering a new career at middle age, it's important to seek out people with ideas different than yours. You never know what you'll learn from the people least like you.

Dr. J Kayne’s: Why Do We Teach?

2010-08-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

One of the pleasures of being involved in imagine it!, especially our interaction with STEM teachers, is watching educators realize how much they miss their childhood. For those of you old enough to remember “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” I asked the participants at our training for middle school teachers and administrators to get into Mr. Peabody’s “way back machine” to be transported back to when they were students in middle school. The purpose of this exercise was to have the teachers experience what an engaging learning environment, focused on seeing the world differently, would feel like.

We spent the morning doing exercises and projects the imagine it! team has developed for use in the classroom. At the end of each exercise we debriefed on the experience (just as we suggest teachers do with their students). There was some serious discussion, but mostly there was laughter and comments which started with the phrase “I never realized...” or “I was surprised...” or “I couldn’t believe...” We all love surprises. Mark Lacker, one of my colleagues at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, uses Cracker Jacks as a metaphor for getting someone’s attention. We never bought a box of Crackers Jacks just for the taste and certainly not for the nutritional value. We bought it for the SURPRISE inside. And we kept buying it again and again.

It is no different in the classroom. Students will be attentive and engaged if they want to make sure they do not miss the next surprise. And in the right environment, students will have the same reaction as the teachers at the Tyler training. And during their reflection, you can expect comments like, “I never realized how much I was missing” or “I had no idea that might be possible.” Call them “wow” or “aha” moments, creative insight or personal breakthroughs. Whatever you call them, my experience tells me these are the occasions that lead to students asking, “What more is out there?” “What more as I capable of?” And they look to their teachers to help them get there.

Isn’t that why we teach?

Dr. Jay Kayne, VP of Education for Imagine It!

Messy Roommates

2010-08-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

The weather is getting a little cooler now at night (at least it is here in the mountains) and I am reminded about the time I headed to Ohio State University in late August 1978 for my freshman year. I remember meeting my roommates for the first time. One was from Bogota, Colombia (and this was the late 70's if you know what I mean). The other from a very, very small rural town in northern Ohio. I am from the "big city" of Toronto. We had very little in common. By the end of our first day together my roommates and me had made quite a "mess." Looking back, my messy roommates and me learned a lot from each other. I've often thought about my roommates and only now have I come to fully understand how valuable it was that we had very little in common when we first met.

Maureen Dowd writes in today's NYTimes about "clones," that is she focuses on the recent trend of roommate matching programs that lets college students align themselves with other roommates who have similar, or near "perfect match," characteristics. At first this might sound like a great idea. Think back to your roommates, like mine, would they have emerged as your roommates from an online matching program? I think not. What's troubling about this online roommate matching trend is what's troubling about many things in our society today--think Birthers, the Tea Party, No Child Left Behind, Two-Party politics, Arizona's immigration law, gated communities, members-only clubs, etc., etc.--and what you get is a growing "crisis in creativity."

How so? Creativity comes from mixing things up which creates a mess until something valuable emerges.

That's what happened to scores of college students, like me, who didn't use a roommate matching program. In my day when you arrived on campus, in a matter of minutes, you were tossed into a dorm room with two other guys who were absolutely nothing like you. It got messy fast. But over time we all learned to appreciate our quirks, uniqueness and varied backgrounds. The messier it got the more we learned about each other and ourselves. And that's the lesson about the crisis in creativity. The harder we try to find the "perfect match," whether that be in your college dorm room, in your community, in your church, in your high school, at the office or at home the less creative you become.

This Fall when you, or your son or daughter, arrive on campus be open to the opportunity to have messy roommates. You just might end up creating something very valuable.

Specialized Information Publishers Association Washington, DC June 6, '10

2010-08-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

While the primary audience for imagine it! has been the education community, we took the message to a different group in June when I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) annual meeting in Washington, DC. These are the people who write and distribute newsletters to keep businesses, non-profit organizations and others up to date on relevant developments in their respective fields.
It does not take a rocket scientist to know this industry has changed dramatically with the introduction of the internet and myriad electronic medium platforms. In preparation for the session, I talked with the program coordinator and the local host for the conference. They encouraged me be provocative. That was easy enough. All I needed to do was go on stage and say, “Are you people crazy? You are still trying to SELL information that is probably now available on the internet for FREE?” Provocative? YES! Helpful? NO!

The one thing I love about my involvement in the imagine it! project is our work gives me an opportunity to practice what we preach. I needed to be creative and I needed to draw on the same principles covered in our films and related materials. A recurring theme in imagine it! portfolio is the need to think counter-intuitively. Knowing that I did not have specific answers to the challenges SIPA members are facing on a daily basis, I picked a counter-intuitive approach to this opportunity. Instead of a traditional keynote speech, it became a keynote conversation. Contrary to what many keynote speakers do, instead of giving advice, I asked questions and challenged the association members to find the answers.

What I think resonated the most with the audience was suggesting they need to look outside their current sphere of knowledge and experience to find answers. I asked, “Do you think you are the only industry that has ever been affected by a technological sea-change or an economic downturn? Who else has already walked in your shoes? How did they respond? What can you learn from their successes and failures? How is what they did relevant to what you need to do?” The central message: When you think about the world of publishing like a publisher, you only come up with the solutions on would expect from every other publisher. When you start thinking about publishing like an engineer or doctor or even a fireman, then you will bring a new perspective to your industry.

As with many problems that need resolution, there are no magic bullets. There are however infinite opportunities and unforeseen possibilities. You just have to imagine it!
Dr. Jay Kayne, VP of Education with Imagine It! Project

Send kids to University or not?

2010-08-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

I just read the article by J. Altucher from the DailyFinance. Good article, thought provoking.
There is a lot of value in what this writer is saying. Mostly, I believe he's right in that, we as parents, in our society have become conditioned (robotic) to believe the ONLY thing for your kid is a college degree. He's not suggesting no degree, although that is ok too. He's saying do many other things first, then if it makes sense get the degree.
I believe the world traveler, to volunteer and start a business are all great ideas in combination...then think about the degree option.
It's just a matter of how you look at it, and what we value as "learning." Always from a book and an lecturer?

Interesting and thought provoking.
Either path a child takes, lets encourage imagination & creativity to solving the world challenges.

Back To The Future?

2010-06-09T07:51:00.001-07:00

Back to the Future was a clever title to an entertaining movie but it’s far from an effective approach to change education.

Stanley Fish writes in the New York Times today (June, 8, 2010) “Back to the Future” about his vision for education. Here’s how Fish concludes, “In short, get knowledgeable and well-trained teachers, equip them with a carefully calibrated curriculum and a syllabus filled with challenging texts and materials, and put them in a room with students who are told where they are going and how they are going to get there. Worked for me.”

It’s the phrase “Worked for me” that doesn’t work for me. What worked for Mr. Fish 55 years ago, when he was in high school, has little relevance to what, how and from whom students learn today. But Fish is right about one thing, it is about the future.

In Dr. George Land’s little-known yet influential manuscript titled “Forward to Basics” his central theme is "that traditional knowledge and skills taught in today’s educational institutions bear little relevance to effective living outside school walls.” What worked 5 years ago or 50 years ago in education may have been effective then but certainly not now. Today’s world presents us with a very different situation, and the world of tomorrow will be different yet again. There is no going “back to basics” or going “back to the future” to relive the past. That may have worked well for a Hollywood movie but is nothing more than a fantasy for educational reform.

Richard's thoughts on Complaining....

2010-05-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

I'm always skeptical of people who complain about a problem but do nothing about it. One of the planks in the imagine it! project platform is that we must do something to help teachers be better teachers. We're excited to launch the first of a series of teacher development workshops throughout the summer in partnership with Project Lead The Way (the leading engineering curriculum provider in the US). We spent the last year creating the teacher workshop based on the content from our second film imagine it! 2 The Power of Imagination. The one thing we believe is missing in STEM education is the connecting between science, technology engineering and math (STEM) with creativity and imagination. With the help of Intel and a dozen top teachers our own Dr. Jay Kayne developed a robust, interactive and entertaining 1/2 day workshop. We unveiled the workshop two weeks ago in Chicago to overwhleming positive response. And on June 26th we begin to roll out the teacher-focused workshop at the University of South Carolina. From there we have a series of workshops slated all summer. The goal is to give teachers new, interactive tools to use to get students excited about STEM in particular and about learning in general.

Is there HOPE for our teachers?

2010-05-05T08:08:00.001-07:00

While much as been said about failing schools, underperforming teachers and students' lack of interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in the US, I am taking this opportunity to share positive news about teachers who that are making a difference in STEM. This past Saturday morning, I had the priveledge of speaking with a group of 60+ teachers at the Project Lead The Way "Master Teacher Conference." Project Lead The Way is one of the leading providers of engineering-specific curricula in the USA.

Project Lead The Way (PLTW), as the name implies, is leading the way to the solution for inspiring students by training teachers in all things STEM. The PLTW program is rigourous, detailed and effective. Their master teachers are motivated, smart and creative. We're proud to have been invited to partner with PLTW to add the imagine it! Project to their already very successful program.

PLTW along with their highly trained and motivated teachers recognize how important it is to connect STEM education with imagination and creativity. And that's where we, the imagine it! project team come in. Along with our director of education Dr. Jay Kayne, we presented a complete multimedia tool set based on imagine it! to help teachers win the battle for the imagination of their students. With highly skilled teachers and PLTW curriculum there is great hope for the future scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to see today's challenges are opportunities to make the world a better place.

"Failure is just success deferred."

2010-04-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

We're taking the imagine it! project to the Project Lead The Way annual Master Teacher Training program in Chicago, May 1st. This is a huge opportunity for us to introduce the power of our message and the imagine it! project learning tools to the top engineering teachers in the country. There's keen interest from teachers to inspire students throug creative thinking, instead of mundane test-taking. By adding the imagine it! project to Project Lead The Way curriculum teachers have an effective tool set to connect engineering with creativity and imagination. Why is it important to connect STEM with creativity and imagination? Because imagination is the basis of scientific discovery and creativity is the process of making something (ie engineering) that doesn't exist right now. It's that connection between science/engineering with imagination and creativity that is NOT in schools today. We're hopeful that imagine it! can contribute to helping make that connection for teachers and students. We believe that imagination and creative thinking is the only hope for a positive future. Imagination and creativity were the source for every single development that has moved humanity forward and they are the only source for solving global challenges we face today.

Director R.Poe's experience at the local, LA TED conference

2010-03-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

I had the wonderful opportunity speak on behalf of the imagine it! project at the TEDx Conejo event on Saturday. The theme of the day was “What’s the big idea” and apparently everyone wanted to know as the Sherr Auditorium in the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, California was completely full. I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the day as I have never been to a TED event but by the end of the day I was thoroughly impressed and inspired. One of the producers of the event, Don Levy opened the day by stating that the purpose of the event was to raise awareness of all the creative thinking and doing of people right here in our local community. By the end of the day I realized that there really is a wealth of talent out there and it’s not just those on the national stage doing amazing and important work. The thing that surprised me most was how many of the speakers made a connection to spirituality through their creative work. In retrospect it really shouldn’t have been a surprise as it was quite obvious that while the “big ideas” that were discussed were born in these people’s brains, they were speaking from the heart. If you come across a TEDx event in your area, I would highly recommend it. For more info on the event please visit http://www.tedxconejo.com/www.tedxconejo.com/Welcome.html

Imagine What the World Might Become...

2010-03-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

The global challenges of our world call for a new generation to create the breakthroughs in science, innovations in the arts, and transformations of world cultures that will be recognized as history-making 50+ years from now. What we ask of the new generation is to “imagine what the world might become."
As our good friend Dr. George Land says, "The fuel behind the revolution that built civilization was a belief in the power of imagination to cause things to happen. Imagination and creative thinking are important, especially now because we are living in a time when one age of humanity is dying and the new age is not yet born." This is a time in human history that calls leaders to empower the incalculable assets of human creativity. By leaders we mean parents, teachers, business and government leaders and ultimately the leaders-to-be from the youth generation. We ask you to imagine what the world might become. Tell us what you imagine...

Thoughts from our Director-Imagineit!

2010-03-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

In basic terms, through this film we help support the creative evolution of individuals. Unleashing the creative spirit within each of us will happen only when we recognize the natural creativity that lies within everything and everyone.
We believe its important to teach people, especially young people, to not merely think creatively but to live creatively.
Its the connection between science AND art that attracts people, especially young people, to STEM education. We call this principal "'the power of And.'"

Thank you for your thoughts and conversations,
Rudy Poe

Teaching The Teachers of Our Children

2010-03-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of punches thrown lately in the fight on education reform. Unfortunately too many of them have landed on teachers. In President Obama's recent education reform speech he focused on improving how we teach teachers. Thankfully. The speech suggests there is hope that aspiring teachers may get what they need to excel in the classroom once they graduate. This is not to suggest that teachers don't carry some blame for the overall low performance of American students. A few of them do. But many of them do not. If we change how and what we teach teachers they in turn will be better prepared to teach our children.

That's one reason why the imagine it! project specifically and deliberately choose to focus our time, talent and resources on the people to teach our children--teachers and parents. By doing so we not only help create better teachers but better teachers make for better students. So we applaud the President, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, for focusing attention on making better teachers and not continuing to fight against teachers rather to join the fight for teachers. Now, let's talk about teaching parents too.

Richard Tavener
Producer
The Imagine it! Project

Thoughts from our Producer

2010-03-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

Exciting news from the imagine it! project team. Today, NSTA announced that Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell will be part of the first-ever Science Matters National Town Hall Meeting on Science Education on Friday, March 19, at the Millennium Hall in the Loews Hotel. At the National Town Hall—which is being cosponsored by NSTA and Intel—science educators, school administrators, and other invited guests will engage with Gov. Rendell and other panel members about the state of science education and key initiatives that are helping teachers to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. Portions of the film Imagine it!²: The Power of Imagination, a powerful documentary about connecting imagination and creativity with science and engineering in education, will be used throughout the event.

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Following the town hall meeting on Friday afternoon, Intel and Science Matters will host a screening of the film Imagine it!² for conference attendees. Discussion during the film and after will center on the importance of the ideas presented in the film and how teachers can use Imagine it! in the classroom." Here's a link to NSTA http://www.nsta.org/.

This NSTA Town Hall and screening event is a big breakthrough for us at the imagine it! Project as we have the opportunity to share the film with a most important audience--teachers.

Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell to Participate in National Town Hall Meeting on Science Education @ NSTA Annual Conference

2010-03-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

"NSTA is pleased to announce that Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell will be part of the first-ever Science Matters National Town Hall Meeting on Science Education on Friday, March 19, at the Millennium Hall in the Loews Hotel.Portions of the film Imagine IT: The Power of Imagination, a powerful documentary about connecting imagination and creativity with science and engineering in education, will be used throughout the event. Following the town hall meeting on Friday afternoon, Intel and Science Matters will host a screening of the film Imagine IT for conference attendees. Discussion during the film and after will center on the importance of the ideas presented in the film and how teachers can use Imagine It in the classroom."

This will an exciting event for those who are of interest!

Will be blogging on the 21st with the outcome!

AAAS Conference & Imagine it!

2010-02-22T11:08:00.001-08:00

Imagine it!2 was screened at the AAAS Convention yesterday. The room was full and the after screening dialog was lively and engaging. Ann Merchant, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Communications of the National Academies introduced the film and the after screening panel consisted of the film's director Rudy Poe and imagine it! partner, Jim Martone along with Judy Scotchmoor, executive director of COPUS (aka Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science, Sue Pritchard, science teacher at Washington Middle School in Los Angeles and former President of the California Science Teachers Association, and Dr. George Land, author of Breakthrough and Beyond: Mastering The Future Today, and the namesake of the Land World Class Innovator Award. The film's theme of connecting imagination and creativity with science resonated with the audience and drove the after screening conversation which not only included comments from the panel but equally from the audience as well. The importance of teachers playing a key role in the development of divergent thinking was discussed as was the importance of the parent's role in fostering a new generation of creative and innovative students. Upcoming screenings are planned for NSTA in March and at Pepperdine in May.

Imagine it takes headliner at the TCEA Conference

2010-02-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA), the largest state organization devoted to technology education held its annual conference on the week of Feb 9th. During the conference, influential blogger, Michael Gorman, wrote a blog about the power of the Imagine it project (www.imagineitproject.com), "Take the time to view this amazing site, incorporate it into the classroom, and integrate it in educational professional development. Imagine it! will allow educators to creavitely infuse those 21st Century Skills and give students, teachers and administrators, the opportunity to imagine it!" TCEA's 5-day convention is the largest technoloy education conference in the nation. Thank you Mr. Gorman.
We believe we made a film that is positive, inspiring and extremely important for our next generation.

Imagine it! & Teachers

2010-02-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

“Every time I see imagine it!², I am inspired to become a better teacher.”

–Diana Herrington, Science Teacher, Clovis High School, Clovis, CA

TEACHERS

Inspire Students to Use Their Imaginations to Solve Global Challenges

To help, we offer you media resources- including feature films, interview clips, video shorts, creativity challenges and an online collabortive media console for you to quickly and easily customize media for your teaching plans and classroom activities. A wide variety of our educational media and tools are ready to go now and more are coming soon.

Students Learn 21st Century Skills

The Imagine it! Project empowers students to develop their own ideas and focus on the process of discovery, giving them opportunities to learn new things in new ways. Students learn 21st century skills: information & media literacy, communications skills, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and curiosity, interpersonal and collaborative skills, self-direction, social responsibility.

We invite all feedback after viewing our film!

Imagination in Action!

2010-02-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Imagine it!² The Power of Imagination is a documentary film project that connects science and engineering with imagination and creativity for teachers to inspire the next generation of innovators.
Imagine it!² The Power of Imagination is a unique and powerful media tool created to help teachers create a forum for students to discuss the importance of science, engineering and innovation to solve global challenges. In the film there is a chorus of experts joining the movement to improve education by integrating creative thinking and imagination with science, technology, engineering and math. (www.imagineitproject.com).