Educational innovator encourages Carson City to think outside the box

Speaking from a platform of practical experience, Milton Chen, Ph.D., knows what it takes to be cutting edge.

As executive director and senior fellow emeritus with the George Lucas Educational Foundation, producer of the award-winning Edutopia.org web site, Dr. Chen has been at the forefront of innovative K-12 learning for four decades.

Chen's foray into innovative education began in the 1970s when he joined the Sesame Street Workshop in New York.

Cutting edge at the time for using television as a tool for teaching children, Sesame Street has since become synonymous with fun learning.

"Kids were learning in fun ways using puppets, animation, and music," Chen said. "Anything can be taught if taught in a meaningful way."

For its time, Sesame Street was innovative in the way children were exposed to learning, Chen said, because it brought the classroom to the child.

That innovation didn't change the formula, he added, but rather the format for learning.

From their own living room television sets, children became introduced to fundamental learning concepts at earlier ages, and taught in ways that they found entertaining.

But the house that Big Bird built -- the same one that Elmo has updated -- was only the beginning for Dr. Chen, whose terminal degree is in communication.

Chen's success at the Sesame Workshop led to future successes with other educational programs, including the Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact, where he continued to ply the trade of innovative education.

"We're always on the edge of school-based learning," he addressed a crowd Wednesday night in the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall. "Learning is about more than just a test score, and that's what we are trying to get to."

Both Elmo and Mister Rogers would probably agree.

Chen is the recipient of awards bearing the names of these two popular public television icons, recognition that demonstrates his commitment to innovative learning and education.

For his work with Sesame Workshop, Chen was bestowed the Elmo Award, an honor named for the lovable, red, baby-talking Muppet character who is now the modern face of the Sesame Street franchise.

Chen also received the Fred Rogers Award from the Corporation for Pubic Broadcasting, named after the founder and host of the iconic "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which entertained audiences of children for decades.

He was the keynote speaker and guest Wednesday evening at an event entitled "Launching Innovative Thinking," sponsored by Adams Hub in Carson City.

To utilize learning innovations to their fullest potentials, Chen said K-12 educators should adopt a more whole child approach to learning, taking into account the seven different forms of human intelligence: verbal, logical-mathematical, visual, musical, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.

He also stressed the importance of co-teaching and co-learning, part of his six edges of innovation detailed in his best-selling book, "Education Nation, Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools."

"As a teacher, you need to become a lifelong learner," Chen said. "And you need to be able to pass on what you've learned."

The other five edges are thinking, curriculum and assessment, technology, time and space, and youth, Chen outlined to Wednesday night's audience.

Then there is the learning ecosystem, Chen explained, which is key to fostering innovation both through educational channels and in the community.

That ecosystem is an interconnected dynamic made up of the home, schools, churches, museums, national parks, colleges, businesses, and "maker spaces," such as libraries, art studios and galleries, and after school venues like the Boys and Girls Club, Chen said.

All of this is meant to make learning a more authentic experience for the student, Chen said, putting real life learning on equal footing with school-based learning.

"It's about creating a vibrant community outside of the schools," he said, "and blending formal learning with informal learning."

Chen envisions community innovation as opening up local connections to both content and people. He sees education as part of a greater paradigm that includes interpersonal networking, communication, and mentorships that enrich learning, too.

Innovation, whether in school or in the community, isn't about setting trends. It's about preparing for the future, Chen said.

"Every community is doing this," Chen said. "People see a new kind of community coming with new technology, new jobs, and new opportunities. It's drawing people with a passion for their communities."

Chen is particularly impressed with Carson City, because it demonstrates the qualities of a community that is poised to be at the forefront of innovation.

Citing its central location, its distinction as the state capital and central hub of state government, as well as a low cost of living to attract younger people, Chen said Carson City has an opportunity to lead the way in the state through innovation.

"It has all of the ingredients to do this," he said.

But you don't have to reinvent the wheel to be innovative, Chen said.

Innovation isn't so much about invention as it is coming up with better ways of doing things, he said.

"Innovation does it more effectively and more quickly," he said.

Case in point, Dr. Chen cited the introduction of the digital tablet -- namely the iPad -- in 2010 as a catalyst for speeding up the process of learning in young children.

"Kids can learn much earlier than they ever thought they could," he said, noting that through the use of digital media, children are learning fundamental concepts at earlier ages now than they ever have before.

Affectionately calling the Internet a "multimedia printing press," Dr. Chen said children today are able to learn to their full potentials by nurturing the intelligence of the whole child.

The Internet provides students with around-the-clock access to information and knowledge from home, and this is an innovation that gives learners an edge where they didn't have one before, Chen said.

"Learning any time, any where, you can learn any hour and any day," he said. "This is what helps level the playing field with respect to the summer learning gap."

Chen referred to extended summer breaks that tend to interrupt a child's learning flow, and have been especially problematic for mathematics.

But technological innovations like the Internet and smart devices make access to learning easier, faster, and more continuous, Chen said.

"We're learning the value of different modalities of teaching and learning," he said. "We've given them (children) an ocean of information that they can be sponges for."

Earlier Wednesday, Dr. Chen also spoke to students at Eagle Valley Middle School and Carson High School about becoming part of the new entrepreneurial network, encouraging youth to consider starting their own ventures.

He said he stressed with students the importance of making local connections with community partners and mentors as part of the learning process.

Dr. Chen said he was pleased to be back in Carson City for this event. He previously visited the state capital in 2011.

"We are pleased to have Dr. Chen once again visit our area," said Miya MacKenzie, chief professional officer for Adams Hub. "He is an inspiration."