Crowd-Based Innovation for Educators
InnovateK12 Newsletter: December 10, 2018
The Back End of Innovation
a note from Eric Schneider, InnovateK12 CEO

At this point in the school year, InnovateK12 districts are moving from the engaging and aspirational “front end” of innovation into the somewhat less-glamorous yet extremely important “back end” of innovation. This is where we move from the web portal environment where ideas were submitted, socialized, and voted, into the Idea Workshop phase where we build lean prototypes and go in search of the data that tells us that an idea might be working. Here at InnovateK12, we want to encourage you to lean on the network of districts engaged in this work. It may be helpful to remember the words of one of our most famous innovators, Thomas Edison:
Opportunity is missed by most people because it
is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Innovation Cohort Updates
Waconia Public Schools, MN
starts their innovation event, "Explore Wild Ideas", with ideation on Monday, 12/10. Good luck, Waconia!
Mason City Schools, OH
launched their very first student innovation event in November! Their voting phase runs from 12/5 until 12/23. Rock it!
InnovateK12 Strategic Partnerships
Strategic Partnerships

The InnovateK12 team enjoys great relationships with a wide range of organizations helping to drive innovation in the K-12 space. As we move into our third year, we are interested in formalizing these relationships through strategic partnerships that allow for co-branding and co-promotion. In these partnerships, the emphasis is to share the good news about our friends and to look for ways to build connections across innovative, progressive educational organizations. Over the coming months, our hope is to populate the “Strategic Partners” tab on our website and start to formalize this network of innovative companies in a way that will benefit our member districts. Let us know if you are interested in joining this important new network!
InnovateK12 Webinar Series

In this webinar, Eric Schneider, InnovateK12 Founder and CEO, discusses the transition from the engaging "front end" of innovation to the less-glamorous but critical "back end" and the importance of communication during this transition in order to maintain engagement of staff. Check out our webinar playlist here!

#TIES18 A Walk Through Innovation Event
How do you show the process of crowd-based innovation? 
At the last cohort meeting, a few of us met to discuss our upcoming session at the TIES Conference in Minneapolis. We have a great opportunity to talk with conference participants about our experience in the InnovateK12 cohort and running innovation events in our districts this fall. There are so many things we could talk about but we decided that it would be best if we were able to SHOW participants how crowd-based innovation works by walking them through the entire process in 6 steps.

Check out our walk through innovation event at the TIES conference on Monday, December 10, 2018 1:55pm - 2:45pm!
Station 1: Event Communication
Come discover how to creatively engage your staff and get them excited for your crowd-based innovation event by using a variety of media to kick off your event!

Station 2: Submit Idea
Here, participants can see what it’s like to submit an idea online using the crowd-based software. Just a few simple questions and your idea is ready to submit!

Station 3: Comment on Ideas
This station is an opportunity for participants to view and comment on ideas. There is so much power in these conversations!

Station 4: Vote on Ideas
Make your voice here and discover the magic of crowd-based innovation by casting a few votes in our sandbox site that has been populated with the top ideas from cohort districts! 

Station 5: Results
The crowd has spoken! What will the top results be in YOUR district? Come view the real results of cohort districts. Which idea had the most votes? Comments? Views? 

Station 6: Design Thinking 101 and Case Studies
What happens to top ideas in each district? Come learn how to take top ideas through design thinking (empathy) to ideation and prototyping. Learn through case studies as examples of the evolution of an idea.
Let’s Connect in Los Angeles at AASA!
Eric will be presenting at AASA with Dr. Bill Daggett from the International Center for Leadership in Education on the morning of ThuFeb14. Dr. Daggett is a big fan of the InnovateK12 model and his Successful Practices Network has written about this approach in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators in this case study .

If you plan to be in Los Angeles for the annual AASA conference, please plan to join us and share your story too!
2019 K12 Innovation Summit Call for Proposals!
On July 15 and 16, InnovateK12 districts will gather for the second annual K12 Innovation Summit in Mpls/St.Paul. If you and your team are interested in leading a session at the 2019 event, the window for proposals will open on January 1st and will close on the 31st. Over the coming days and weeks, please connect with your colleagues and consider submitting a proposal. You have a great story to tell, and this is the place to tell it! We are looking forward to the chance to hear from our newest members as well as our most experienced, sharing lessons learned and new discoveries about crowd-based innovation, human-centered design, and lean prototypes.

Watch the InnovateK12.org website for more details.
2018-2019 Innovation Events