SEED20 AND SHARING

Friends-

First, the BIG news! If you haven’t already heard, Digi-Bridge will be taking the stage on April 11 at SEED20’s OnStage event. I’ll have exactly three minutes to convince the audience (snag your ticket here!) that the Digi-Bus is the solution for addressing the digital divide here in Charlotte. Nine other finalists will join me, sharing their bold and unconventional ideas aimed at making Charlotte great. At the end of the night, prizes totaling $60,000 will be awarded to the best ideas.

I hope to see all of our supporters at SEED20 OnStage, not only because I’m eager to share details about the Digi-Bus, but also because audience vote plays a major role in determining who takes prize money home.

Once realized, the Digi-Bus will be Charlotte’s own connected field-trip on wheels, providing access and opportunity to students and families throughout Charlotte. Our #STEAMSaturdays curriculum will travel and we will be able to have a greater impact, using less financial resources. About two years ago, I drafted a grant proposal for this project and though we weren’t recipients of the award, I’ve continued to follow the mobile learning movement.

From the STEM Mobile Learning Lab to Estella’s Brilliant Bus, this is not a new concept, but after last Thursday evening, I’m thinking a bit more deeply about the role mobile learning can, and maybe should, play in education.

Last Thursday, I listened to April Rinne talk about the sharing economy. Yes, you can think Airbnb and Uber, but I’d like to push you to think a bit further. How can this idea of sharing help Charlotte proactively tackle some of the educational issues we are faced with today? Can we as a community share educational resources, not just to level the playing field, but also in an effort to save dollars? Being a former educator who always held at least one part-time job while teaching, I have my own opinions as to where savings should go, but I’ll save that for another time.

The Digi-Bus can help us ensure that access is granted to all students AND it can also help us begin thinking about how the sharing economy–the idea that we can share products and services–might be a new road worth traveling in education.

Thanks for reading and for indulging me as I made a corny transportation reference just before the close of this post.

Have a great week. I hope to see you on the 11th!

DJ

P.S.- I’ll be on Good Day Charlotte this Wednesday (03/30) from 7AM-9AM on Time Warner Cable: Channel 8 or Direct TV, Dish, U-verse: Channel 46. If you have cable, tune-in… if you don’t, share with your neighbor.