Bold Ideas@Synapse Speaker Series

Dr. Mary Helen is well known for her groundbreaking research on the intersection of emotions, self-awareness, and social interactions with learning and personal growth. Jim and Mary had a lively conversation, ranging from how emotions affect all learning to SEL can encourage critical thinking and many other skills. Jim also asked for her take on a question he's asked often, how can a school be focused on human connections and development as well as be “academic.” 

A revisit to the conversation on AI with CTO of Meta, Boz. Jim and Boz engaged in a lively conversation about the benefits and challenges of new emerging technologies such as ChatGPT, and how the future of AI could improve or challenge our existence as humans. As Boz reminded everyone, “we don’t cease to be human, but we have to rethink things.”

Cristina and Jim speak on gender diversity and how, rather than being a social construct, gender is "a process that happens over time." Cristina, an expert in gender diverse kids and parent coach who regularly hosts gender education workshops and has also authored a book to be published next year, shared this quote to best define the word "gender" — "Gender is nature through nurture in culture." [Dr. Erica Anderson UCSF Gender Clinic] 

Brooke, the vice president of Research to Practice at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has spent much of her career researching the whole child social-emotional learning approach to education and development. She stressed the importance of building confidence in children and making sure they have strong role models. As parents and educators, some of the best ways to nurture a child’s social-emotional development are by “supporting a child’s ability to be self-aware, curious and have a sense of purpose in life.”

As CTO of Meta and a leading voice and visionary on all things AR/VR/AI, Boz and Jim discuss and debate how machine learning and new immersive technologies are set to change the face of education. An impressive thinker and spirited conversationalist, Boz’s views and ideas are bound to be enlightening and entertaining.