Tech Interactive

The Tech Academies of Innovation will develop a STEM educator ecosystem that grows and sustains engineering education excellence in Silicon Valley's most underserved school districts. It will offer a comprehensive train-the-trainer program created by teachers for teachers to build a professional learning community for teaching innovation. The Bay Area is not producing enough talent with the necessary skills to fill the large volume of replacement jobs opening in the community in high tech. Effective STEM education is currently unevenly distributed and is especially lacking among underserved communities. Professional development for educators is critical to improving STEM education; however, funding for professional learning in California has been significantly reduced. Program participants will develop an understanding of the engineering design process, instructional methods for teaching the process, and techniques for building an instructional environment that fosters critical innovator mindsets aligned with 21st-century skills.