source: www.sesp.northwestern.edu
I recently skyped with author, speaker and innovator Jacqueline Edelberg for a discussion on education. I believe in the power of Social Media, and after reading How to Walk to School I tweeted to Jacqueline about how impressed I was with the book. She tweeted me back and thanked me for the support. Of course, then I asked if I could talk with her about her experiences in writing the book, and her new project. She obliged!
Right from the start I could tell how passionate Jacqueline was about education. Her energy and presence is strong! She is funny and personable. She made me feel as if I had known her for a long time. As we chatted about her experiences at Nettlhorst, she brought the book alive. She listened as I talked with her about how we are already implementing the tenets of the book. She reminded me that turning a school culture and climate is not easy, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot either.
We talked a lot about her new venture, Youtopia. Jacqueline started Youtopia as a way to take the work from Nettlehorst into the 21st century. She feels that she can impact more change, and in turn, allow students the opportunity to mark progress. In a nutshell, Youtopia is designed to use digital rewards to get students to go the extra mile. I found this concept very intriguing.
According to Jacqueline, Youtopia is, “An online engagement platform that provides instant access to plug-and-play gamification tools (points, badges, and leaderboards) to incentivize students to become more engaged in their school and their community.”
Want to learn more about the Walk To School? Check out this video about their process:
Tomorrow’s blog will be a guest post by Jacqueline about Youtopia. Until then, be sure to follow her on twitter.