PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE Convent & Stuart Hall is excited to embrace the new possibilities open to our students. As we explore these new opportunities, we are preparing to guide students to develop the skills they need to handle technology appropriately. As social media has cemented its place in everyday life, so too have the unintended consequences of ubiquitous, untethered social engagement. As we encourage students to immerse themselves in the world of technology and the new opportunities technology affords, we are also determined to support our students as they devise strategies for overcoming new challenges posed by the world. As a school, we seek to enhance not only cognitive strengths but also critically important social and emotional skills. We see technology as a tool that can help with both.
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In June 2017, President Ann Marie Krejcarek met with the founders of Atlas, an artificial intelligence platform designed to foster collaborative cognitive behavioral practices and help individuals develop a frame for mental wellness. Impacted by statistical reports of anxiety and depression in colleges and high schools, Atlas founders Michael Dworsky, Justin Lai and Max Savage decided to use their backgrounds in artificial intelligence and symbolic systems to combine technology and research-proven practices that leverage mental wellness with the social access of app-based technology. In order to partner with Atlas to design and activate a wellness element of the collaborative cognitive behavioral therapy suite of the app’s interface, the school applied for a $100,000 challenge grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation. In December 2017, the grant was awarded and quickly matched. This opportunity provides a synergetic forum for co-creating with students, faculty, health professionals and Atlas programmers to develop this promising new approach.
THINK TANK This past fall, an ad-hoc Technology and Innovation Committee of the Board of Trustees was formed to think forward on how the Information/Digital Age might provide and demand new teaching and learning practices and how to best equip students to safely explore new technology and become creators of information. The committee includes Convent & Stuart Hall Trustees Sameer Gandhi and Roger Wu, parents
John Villasenor, Michael Wolfe and Ted Ullyot, and administrators President Ann Marie Krejcarek, Head of Convent High School Rachel Simpson, and Director of Educational Innovation and Information Services Howard Levin. As each member has different expertise in the worlds of technology, innovation and education, the group will provide invaluable insight into the question of how we may prepare students to use technology in thoughtful, healthy and creative ways throughout their lives. In their work, the committee will consider how innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality and massive sources and aggregates of data may reshape education. The committee also considers topics related to information privacy with regards to identity, reputation, currency and safety. What tools and skills can we provide our students so they are able to mindfully navigate and thrive in a digital world?
The examination of new digital frontiers opens up enormous possibilities within education. In order to form leaders who are positive forces in the world, we must give students the chance to explore. The partnership with Atlas will help build critical social and emotional skills in our students, and the Technology and Innovation Committee’s insight into the digital world will help chart a course for our students to navigate. These initial steps illustrate how we frame our approach to education for today and tomorrow.
“A Brief History of NSF and the Internet.” NSF, 13 Aug. 2003, www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103050, accessed 16 April 2018.
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