ISKME Announces New Interdisciplinary Learning Challenge

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - Feb. 25, 2015 - PRLog -- ISKME, a global education nonprofit, has announced a Learning Challenge to increase awareness of personal genomics among middle school and high school educators and inspire them to integrate personal genomics as a learning tool in their classrooms.

23andMe, Inc., the leading personal genetics company, is at the center of the challenge, as its support was announced this past December at Big Ideas Fest, an annual convening of educators, technologists, funders, and policy makers in education hosted by ISKME at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay.

“Personal genetics and genealogy tools,” said Lisa Petrides, founder and CEO of ISKME, “can be used to teach key concepts in biology, anthropology, geography, bioethics, and other subject areas. We’re excited by the opportunities this challenge offers to innovate learning in a wide array of subjects.”

“Genetics in the classroom plays a critical role in advancing discussions around the future of healthcare,” said Jill Hagenkord, MD, FCAP, chief medical officer of 23andMe. “We are fully committed to education through the 23andMe Academic Program and our support of the ISKME Learning Challenge provides another opportunity to further inform educators and students. We look forward to reviewing the creative ways in which our product can support genetics education.”

Educators are invited to submit proposals with instructional design plans for how they might use personal genomics to reimagine the way we study life science and social science in K-12 curriculum. Each proposal will be evaluated by a panel of educators and project partners based on its innovative, personal, cross-disciplinary, and engagement qualities. The selection committee will choose 10-15 of the proposals to receive a free 23andMe Personal Genome Service DNA test kit to support the implementation of the proposed instructional design plan.

The selected educators will also share their experience by authoring and distributing their genetics curriculum for others to leverage via OER Commons, a digital public library and platform for the discovery and use of open and freely available high-quality curriculum for K-12 and higher education. Proposals are due by March 20, 2015. In May, selected educators will author and share their curriculum on OER Commons. Genetics curriculum will also be featured by 23andMe.

For more information on how to apply to the ISKME 23andMe Learning Challenge, and for specific Challenge eligibility guidelines, please visit: http://iskme.org/our-ideas/announcing-iskme-23andme-learning-challenge-big-ideas-fest-2014. For more information about 23andMe, visit 23andMe.com.

About ISKME

The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (www.iskme.org), an independent non-profit research institute established in 2002, is a pioneer in knowledge sharing and educational innovation. Dedicated to the study, spread, and strategic use of knowledge management in education, ISKME helps schools, colleges, universities, and the organizations that support them expand their capacity to collect and share information, and create open knowledge-driven environments focused on learning and success. In assisting the K-20 education sector, ISKME also helps philanthropic organizations and government agencies examine and improve their own and their grantees’ processes for continuous improvement, evaluation, and learning.