Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

A Story About Genomics & ‘Precision Medicine’

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genestoryWhat if you could get a free eBook* that would help you understand a lot more about a field that has already made a big impact on the human race, and is one that is accelerating toward a revolution in precision medicine? A woman uniquely suited to telling this story has already created the eBook prototype and needs your help in getting it to the point of launching.

You’ve heard about DNA, right? How about the term “genomics”? Of course you have since you’re living in 2015 and watch CSI, Sherlock and other shows where they use this field to catch murderers, rapists and those who shed their cells at crime scenes. It’s likely you’ve also read about almost-weekly major breakthroughs in medicine—especially those enabling precision medicine which target treatments at an individual’s unique genetic makeup—but probably thought like I have, “Sounds cool but I kinda, sorta don’t really get the whole genomics thing.”

If you help this woman get the story out, you will be able to “get it” with genomics in an entertaining way (plus I’m going to connect with an education technology leader in my local school district since it will be perfect for school kids).

lynnAn artist I’ve known for 25 years, Lynn Fellman, has done amazing work for the last decade on interpreting DNA in to various forms of media, including interactive multimedia back in the 1990s to print, textiles and more today.

She doesn’t toot her own horn enough (which I’m trying to get her to do more of) but she’s been on NPR Science Friday multiple times (and Ira Flatow is a huge, and supportive, fan); a Fulbright scholar within evolutionary genomic research at Ben-Gurion University; and has worked with genomic scientists at Baylor in Texas and at the University of Minnesota.

During a personal healthcare experience she became very frustrated at the lack of DNA knowledge out there and knew she was uniquely suited to do something about it…so she is.

In a few short months she’s built a prototype and just began this crowdfunding campaign to complete her illustrated, interactive eBook. It’s premise is a character looking for precision medicine for herself and for everyone. It is designed for a general audience and its focus is as a guide to understanding our genome.

She asked me for my opinion on her initial beta version of the eBook and I was so surprised and delighted that I encouraged her to move ahead and immediately. When she did I offered to help get the word out and that is why I’m writing this post.

Check it out and please support her so this eBook can get out in to the world. When you go to her crowdfunding page, scroll down and see the incredible gifts you can receive for the various funding levels.

Here is Lynn’s crowdfunding page for the eBook

Learn more about Lynn, her work, & Fellman Studio

*In order to fully deliver on the interactivity, she’s creating it in Apple’s iBook Author (which is the best possible way to deliver interactive eBooks, by the way) and the eBook will be available for free to anyone with a Macintosh computer, iPad, or iPhone.

Minnesota STEM Conference

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stem-featuredPre-Registration for STEM Conference Ends Today

The Minnesota STEM Network’s 5th Annual Conference is your opportunity to come together with a community of stakeholders of STEM education and workforce development. Together the community can create the opportunities which inspire passion, build knowledge, and showcase career opportunities about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 15th
TIME: 9:00 – 3:30
WHERE: Continuing Education and Conference Center at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus (Map)

REGISTER TODAY!

Pre-registration closes today for next Tuesday’s STEM Network Conference, sponsored by Boston Scientific, and Discovery Education.  Networking will begin at 9am and the conference program will take place from 10am to 3:30 pm.

The keynote presentation, “Closing the Achievement Gaps:  Why STEM? Why Now?” will be delivered by Cindy Moss, Director of Global STEM Initiatives, Discovery Education.  Cindy taught high school biology and chemistry for 20 years, winning numerous national awards including the Milken National Teaching Award. She then served as Director of STEM for nine years in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools where they won the Broad Award due to their growth in math and science scores while closing the achievement gap. Cindy was then honored as one of the 100 Women Leaders in STEM by U.S. News and World Report at the STEM Solutions conference.

The conference will also feature sessions on exemplary STEM teaching and learning and cross-sector collaborations; networking time; and a forum on current topics in STEM education and workforce development.

The afternoon plenary session will feature informal discussions on Current Challenges in Advancing STEM Education and Workforce Development, via an open space technology format.  In this format, topics are proposed in advance by registered attendees. The forum offers multiple topics per round and two rounds of discussions.  Attendees engage in a discussion as long as interested, and then move to another discussion topic.

Examples include:  How can we stimulate more project-based learning through collaboration across sectors?  How can we encourage more volunteerism among STEM professionals?  How can parents be engaged most effectively in STEM events?

Pre-registration closes Thursday.  On-site registration will be open at the conference at a rate of $79.  Registration includes the conference, meals, and parking on a nearby surface lot.

Learn more about the STEM Network Conference here

Twin Cities Startup Weekend – Education

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startupweekendeduTwin Cities Startup Weekend EDU is a part of a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where teachers, students, developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups! Startup Weekend EDUs are Startup Weekends with a focus on only education.

If you are passionate about education and have an idea or want to lend your talents to a great idea, Twin Cities Startup Weekend EDU is for you. We’re looking for students, educators, designers, developers, business and school leaders to kickstart the next great startup.

The Details:
May 2nd @ 6 P.M.—May 4, 2014
Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota
(Hanson Hall—1925 4th St. South – Map)
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Minneapolis Public Schools STEM Expo

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mpls-schoolsAlways an incredibly worthwhile event, the STEM Expo Project Coordinators, Lisa Gray & Sara Etzel, reached out to Minnov8 regarding the upcoming expo.

Sara let us know that, “As of today there are approx. 2,400 Minneapolis Public School 6th grade students registered to attend the Expo in February…a 300% growth since our first STEM Expo back in 2011. As a district we are very excited to have our students make connections between their academics, career potential, and the STEM-related opportunities that abound around the metro.” Pretty impressive participation!

Rather than write everything up for you they were kind enough to provide us with the release below which will detail the event in total. Please consider participating in one of these three ways:

  1. Reserve exhibit space to promote STEM careers/activities related to my organization
  2. Become a formal STEM Expo sponsor and receive preferred exhibit location and publish your logo on marketing materials
  3. Donate a prize(s) for student participation raffle.

Here is the STEM Expo Registration with all of those three options and more items. If you have any questions, please contact Sara Etzel at 651-334-4529 or send her an email.

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stem3rd Annual Minneapolis Public Schools STEM Expo – February 12, 2014

Background Info: For the past two years Minneapolis Public Schools has co-hosted a STEM Expo for 3,000+ middle school students from across the district to promote the importance of academic achievement and the value of rigorous courses that highlight math and science.

When: Tuesday, February 12, 2014 – 8:00 to 4:00pm

Where: Minneapolis Convention Center – Exhibit Hall E (over 100,000 square feet of exhibit space!)

What: The 2014 STEM Expo is going to be a great day of STEM exploration for ALL 6th grade students from across the district. Students will dive deep into STEM-based careers and related extra-curricular activities in our schools and the community. The Expo will include hands-on, interactive STEM activities sponsored by local businesses, community partners, and post-secondary institutions to increase student interest in STEM-related careers opportunities across Minnesota. Plus, special guest appearances by local VIPs.

“Tools of the Trade” exhibits … will highlight the awesome equipment used by STEM professionals every day! STEM pathways represented will include: agriculture and agri-business, computer and information technology, manufacturing, engineering, bio-medical and healthcare, and environmental and life sciences. Business professionals and university students will display and provide short demonstrations related to their STEM-related careers, the realistic steps and obstacles in pursuing STEM-related careers, and all the amazing aspects of their jobs

Pathway community exhibits … The Twin Cities is the “high tech” capital of the Midwest and with that comes amazing local after-school and community STEM activities. Our STEM Pathway exhibits will highlight how STEM is present in the many co-curricular opportunities available to Minneapolis Public School students, including post-secondary college and career readiness options.

“Physics Force” Main Stage Performance … bowling balls, implosions, fire extinguishers, marshmallows and human rockets —they’re all part of a unique and fun University of Minnesota Tate Laboratory of Physics outreach program that aims to entertain and educate students of all ages about the laws of physics through a series of action-filled demonstrations related to air pressure, waves & sound, Bernoulli effect, projectile motion, collisions, and inertia.

STEM Passport … Students will have their “STEM passport” stamped as they participate and engage in meaningful conversations with exhibitors. Completion of the passport and survey will qualify students to win donated prizes.

Past Exhibitors & sponsors have included:
3M Travelling Wizards, AchieveMpls* – WBL, Advance IT Minnesota, BDPA Twin Cities, Bell Museum – Exploradome, Bitwixt Software Systems, Boston Scientific*, Cargill*, CenturyLink*, CFANS – U of MN, Children’s Hospital, Community Renewal Through Innovative Building – CRIB. Dakota County Technical College*, Dunwoody College, FIRST Robotics, Haldeman – Holme, Herobotics- Henry High School, High Tech Kids, Inver Hills Community College, KidWind Project, MCTC, Microsoft, Minneapolis Convention Center*, Minneapolis Public Schools*, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota High Tech Association*, Mobile Apps, Morning Earth.org, ACE Mentoring, MPLS – JATC Electrical, MPLS – JATC Floorcoverers, Normandale Community College, Omnitool, PCL Construction*, PQI, Rêve Academy, Science

Tedx Comes South of the River

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IMAG0230Lakeville saw it’s first Tedx on Monday night…and Lakeville was impressed. Ok, not all of Lakeville saw it, but about 150-200 of its residents did. In case you’re not familiar with Tedx, it’s the local, independently organized version of the popular Ted Talks that have been popularly educating audiences, and YouTubers, on everything from driverless cars and neuro-science to global warming and conservation through using only one paper towel to dry your hands.

Tedx Lakeville was spearheaded not by some local brain trust, board or politician, but by a senior at Lakeville South High School (I know, right!). Dylan Adelman is by no means the embodiment of a stereo-typical high school senior guy. He shows very few signs of ‘senioritis,’ waiting for high school to end so he can celebrate the “Summer of Dylan.” Instead he decided Ted, and its series of short presentations, needed to come to Lakeville and he made it happen. The result was “The Next 100 Years: The Future of Politics, Education and Technology.”

So how did it go? In a word…fantastic. Ok, the placement of a tweet wall to the left of the stage was troubling. If you know me at all, you know I despise the tweet wall during speaking events. It’s distracting, a source of pointless tweets and a trolls playground. Not to mention it’s just plain rude to ask a speaker to present only to enable an insane distraction to their topic and presentation…(Oops, I’m ranting). I’m happy to say, after a few Taco Bell tweets, cooler heads prevailed and the tweet wall was turned off. (Well played, all.)

Topics included presentations from local business leaders. politicians, educators and students. They presented on subjects including, Redefining Failure, The Digital Self, Quality Candidates and Education and more. I was particularly taken with the Discovery Learning presentation by U of M Junior, Anthony Fleck in the first half of the show. However, the second half is where Tedx Lakeville took off.

I was most impressed with the last two presentations of the evening. Betsy Grawe, a teacher in Lakeville, presented “Going Off Script”. It was a great combination of the perception vs. reality of the thinking of that group known as millenials. It included results of a poll of Lakeville millenials compared to national numbers. But more importantly it conveyed the message for them to not follow the script for life that has been presented to them.

Finally, Matt Little, Lakeville’s 28 year-old Mayor presented an incredibly well prepared look at solving our current political gridlock in “Beyond Bipartisanship.” His desire to for each political party to take a more pragmatic view to serve the constituency rather than their own party was very interesting and indicated to me that the mayorship will not be the only stop on his public service journey.

All in all Tedx’s trip south-of-the-river was well put together. It lacked only in preparation and focus by some of the presenters that lead to some disjointed and unnecessarily long presentations. The topics were sound and the execution of the event itself was incredibly well done. Mr. Adelman was a standout as he deftly transitioned from presenter to presenter. This guy is a rock solid speaker and, with the help of his team and advisors, delivered a rock solid event. (If no one has said it to him yet, “This will look great on a resume.)

I can’t wait for the next edition of Tedx Lakeville.

Walden U’s Doctor of I.T.

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WaldenUWalden University is offering a new online Doctor of Information Technology (D.I.T.) program which is, “…designed to enhance students’ technical expertise while developing the leadership skills they need to guide their organization in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

According to their press release here on Minnov8, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment in the computer and information systems management field is expected to grow 18% by 2020. The D.I.T. program prepares students for senior-level positions in industry and academia, such as chief information officer, chief technology officer, IS manager, IT strategist, and higher education faculty and administrator positions.

With the accelerating growth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) from leading universities — coupled with the growing demand for information technology and systems professionals — this new program from the 40 year old Walden University holds the promise for higher credentialing in I.T. but also for them as an institution to provide a degree like this one.

Again, read the full press release here on Minnov8.

 

Internet of Things Academy

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world-plugged-inIn collaboration with Sony U.K. and the Forum for the Future‘s project FutureScapes, London-based consultancy Superflux Ltd. has created an Internet of Things Academy (IoTA: Phase 1 and Phase 2). IoTA is “An open, educational internet-of-things platform to encourage creativity, collaboration and technological literacy.”

It’s a bold approach to connect with, and nurture, the makers and builders of tomorrow.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock and have little knowledge of what’s happening right now with the Internet of Things (IoT)—and how the U.K. and all of Europe are far beyond the U.S. in knowledge of machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT—then hold on to your hat: The predicted explosion of internet-connected devices is about to transform our world and the economies within it. To suggest you should learn everything you can about IoT NOW and figure out how you can participate—along with helping to drive awareness and encourage teaching and mentoring of our next generation—is an understatement. This IoTA is a phenomenal step on the road to doing just that for the next round of makers and doers.

mckinsey-may2013The global consultancy, McKinsey & Company, released a report in May entitled, “Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy” that is receiving ALOT of buzz since they, “…estimate that, together, applications of the 12 technologies discussed in the report could have a potential economic impact between $14 trillion and $33 trillion a year in 2025.”

That’s a pretty big swing and McKinsey does state that their report is “neither predictive nor comprehensive” but after reading it you will begin to understand why Cisco, IBM, HP, Siemens, Sony, Philips and just about every other technology company you can think of is all over IoT like-a-bad-suit. You can download PDFs of either the executive summary (PDF) or the full report (PDF) and see for yourself.

WarningWhy is this Internet of Things Academy moving forward in the U.K. and not here in the U.S.? Why isn’t the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) spearheading something like this IoTA—which promises to get people involved in this new technology marketplace nearly immediately—instead of MHTA’s current focus on a longer-term Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) set of initiatives that might have a payoff a decade or so down the road?

It’s all about awareness. With SmartThings, Digi (and their Etherios company) and Spark Devices here in Minnesota, our state has the opportunity to be one of THE primary hubs for IoT if we embrace it, drive awareness, and teach it. If we wait until a cashier at Office Depot knows about IoT (and this month’s cover story in Wired magazine on the Programmable World is helping to put IoT on everyone’s radar screen) it will be too late and Minnesota will, once again, be an also-ran in the biggest market opportunity since the internet itself went commercial in the mid-1990s.

Here is a video done for Superflux’s Phase 2 of the IoTA for your viewing pleasure:

SOPHIA and Bill Nye “The Science Guy” Launch Operation College Success

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sophia-logoSOPHIA.org, the “social education platform that empowers students to learn in their own way, helps teachers to innovate and puts college students on a path to a lower-cost degree” just announced that they have partnered with Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” to address the issue of college readiness and affordability with free resources and low-cost online courses for college credit.

From their press release: “It’s startling to think that two-thirds of high school students don’t have the academic skills they need to succeed in college and with the added cost of remediation, which collectively costs student billions, the goal of earning a college degree becomes that much harder to attain financially,” said Allison Gage, President of SOPHIA. “With Operation College Success, students now have more free resources at their fingertips that can help them get prepared. In addition, we also offer affordable college courses in several high-demand general education subjects that will start them on the path to a degree.”

The Bill Nye connection will certainly help with awareness and marketing. This offering will also help prospective students defray preparatory course costs at their chosen institution of higher learning since they are always expensive. With soaring student debt (see  Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream by the economist Joseph Stiglitz) the timing of this offering is perfect.

WordPress Launches Classroom Sites

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Educators have another option for classroom sites and blogs, “WordPress is an elegant solution for education professionals looking to create a website for their class, and today we’re excited to announce the launch of WordPress.com Classrooms. Whether you need a group blog for your high school history project, or to keep your 3rd grade students’ parents up to date about the next field trip, you’ll find the solution here at WordPress.com.”

There really isn’t any excuse anymore for districts, schools and classroom teachers to not embrace online publishing!

Though the WordPress offering looks like a solid initiative, not everyone is happy about the launch or think it’s worthy. James Farmer, the founder & CEO of Edublogs (1.6 million+ teacher/classroom blogs) wrote a pretty scathing post (Why WordPress.com for education (and portfolios, restaurants & musicians) is a big fat fail) about WordPress’ offering calling it, “…shallow, insincere, cynical, lacking in focus and flimsy” and that’s just for starters! It’s quite a rant and uncalled for in my opinion.

While I also view WordPress.com’s various vertical initiatives as middle-of-the-road and not feature rich, there’s something to be said for legitimizing various verticals: it makes the category more viable and investors sit up and take notice. Going after the education space is being driven by those who should know best about viable verticals for WordPress, Automattic (WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg’s company that manages the open source WordPress software, runs WordPress.com along with many other initiatives & technologies). That alone is good news in my book.

kidblog-logoThe other good news? Minnesota has a fabulous solution, accelerating nationwide, right here in our own backyard: Kidblog. The Kidblog team is quite passionate about their mission too, “Kidblog is built by teachers, for teachers, so students can get the most out of the writing process. Our mission is to empower teachers to embrace the benefits of the coming digital revolution in education. As students become creators – not just consumers – of information, we recognize the crucial role of teachers as discussion moderators and content curators in the classroom. With Kidblog, teachers monitor and control all activity within their classroom blogging community.”

Bottom line? Having WordPress.com enter the education is great news for schools and sharpens the competitive differentiators of Kidblog and Edublogs. If you’re in education, or know someone who is, give them a heads-up that this is available and that they have options with Kidblog and Edublogs too.

SOPHIA Partners With ‘New Classrooms’

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sophia-logoSOPHIA.org, the online education platform offering a unique Many Ways to Learn™ learning model with more than 28,000 free academic multimedia tutorials taught by a multitude of teachers, has partnered with New Classrooms – a nonprofit organization that gives students a targeted, individualized learning experience based on their unique learning needs – to provide a free resource for students focused on middle school math concepts.

As you are undoubtedly well aware, visibility of learning organizations disrupting education is growing rapidly. It is my belief that this increased awareness is only helping SOPHIA: Khan Academy is on everyone’s radar screen in K12 education (Bill Gates famously said Sal Khan is his favorite teacher); Lynda.com just raised $103M from Accel Partners; Coursera boasts 200 courses and 1.3M students; and the open courseware initiative is growing quickly in both participating colleges and universities along with the number of courses being offered.

This morning The Verge posted, “Forty public universities will offer free online courses with full credit starting this spring” and saying in part:

Forty public universities, including Arizona State, Cleveland State, and the University of Arkansas, are planning to offer free online courses that carry full credit in an effort to entice potential students to sign up for a full degree program. The new initiative, know as MOOC2Degree (MOOC stands for massive open online course), is being run in a partnership between the universities and Academic Partnerships, a commercial company that helps universities move their courses online. 

Again, this only validates SOPHIA’s approach since they already offer college credit through Capella University.

For more read the press release here.