Importance of Taking Risks Key Message of EDInnovateLive 2019

From the presidential debate stage to the family dinner table, education is widely held as one of the most important issues for the future.

On July 28-30, the University of San Diego hosted the inaugural event EDInnovateLive 2019, a conference dedicated to improving education through creative thinking and innovation. Local teachers, school administrators and internationally renowned innovators all came together for this three day event to share ideas and build new strategies in hopes of creating an educational system fit to face and embrace new technologies.

The conference featured keynote presentations from Sir Ken Robinson, an author and speaker known well for his TED Talk videos that have been viewed by an estimated 300 million people, and David Burgess, a New York Times best-selling author of Teach Like a Pirate. Interactive sessions and classroom style presentations from other educators and innovators were also featured.

Michele Beam ’16 (MEd) — a teacher from the Cajon Valley Union School District — shared her thoughts on the conference at the conclusion of its first day. “It has been awesome so far,” Beam said. “I loved getting to see Sir Ken Robinson speak this morning. This is a great place for us to connect and share our ideas.”

EDInnovateLive 2019 was put on by USD’s Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education. Irwin Jacobs — the center’s main benefactor and co-founder of Qualcomm — made an appearance at the event during a fireside chat. He shared stories of how he started Qualcomm through risk-taking and encouraged all in attendance to do the same in their own educational pursuits.

— Luke Garrett '20

Video by Luke Garrett