Our First Year

Dear Friends, In June, we officially launched the Stanford Transforming Learning Accelerator with a Spring Summit showcasing game-changing advancements in neurosciences, data, and technology. We were a year into the pandemic. Our researchers offered that right now, big, positive change is possible in learning if we dare to seize the opportunity. The Transforming Learning Accelerator enables Stanford to do just that. We are on the cusp of novel ways of teaching, instructional delivery, system design, and understandings that haven’t been available until now. The Accelerator is the first Stanford-wide push to connect researchers across disciplines to improve learning experiences for all and throughout the lifespan. Year one has been devoted to bringing diverse scholars together, developing new initiatives that go after the most urgent challenges and exciting opportunities, and building the infrastructure needed for sustainable change. To that end, we launched a faculty affiliate program to initiate new research partnerships; engaged graduate and undergraduate students in research and design; and funded 25 faculty grants to conduct research in learning differences, digital learning, early childhood development, and K-12. Additionally, we created a student digital design challenge which involved undergraduate and graduate students from Stanford, as well as other universities. These actions helped accomplish one of our main goals for the year: identify our campus community already deeply engaged in the learning sciences and bring them together. Convening community members and industry partners around our work was also a priority. One distinction the Accelerator makes from past efforts to improve learning is that partners must participate at the outset of the research and development process. As you’ll see in these pages, despite the pandemic we were able to host convenings, work with parents and schools, and initiate new online programming focused on building relationships and allowing for experiential learning experiences — two of the most essential components of high quality learning that were threatened when students went virtual.

In addition to the pandemic, 2020 was notable for a reckoning over racial injustice. This brought heightened awareness to the challenges facing learners and systems of education. But these situations also opened up new dialogues that recognize the urgency with which we must come up with equitable and widespread solutions. The Transforming Learning Accelerator brings the full force of a world class university to one of the most necessary and impactful facets of society. We know that everything from wealth to wellness is influenced by educational attainment. The Accelerator is audacious in its vision to more quickly deliver tested learning solutions to all. It employs a novel approach that addresses challenges facing learners distinctly and demands new collaborations across fields and industries that haven’t worked together before. But I don’t think we can tolerate any longer a society where people have less than full access to well-designed and researched learning opportunities. Helping create positive change is within our reach and our responsibility.

Daniel Schwartz I. James Quillen Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Education Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education Technology Academic Director, Transforming Learning Accelerator