Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host,
Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my students and
I bring you content that's informative, positive,
fun and uplifting. This podcast is created and
produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok. Hey, welcome back
to the show. I'll start off with this question.
What if the key to our children's future isn't
just teaching them STEM? but also helping them
understand and believe that they actually belong
in this world. We talk a lot about preparing
students for the jobs of tomorrow, but how much
of that preparation is psychological? How do
we build confidence, purpose, and a true sense
of identity in science and technology? Today,
we're jumping into the world of project -based
learning and exploring how hands -on experience
is transforming the classroom from a place of
theory into a launchpad for real -world careers.
And we have the perfect guest to guide us. We're
thrilled to welcome Dr. Jennifer Berry, the CEO
of Smart Lab, a program that is revolutionizing
how K -12 students engage with STEM, which stands
for Science. technology, engineering, and mathematics,
in case you were wondering. So stay with us as
we discuss the future of education and how to
empower the next generation of innovators. But
first, let's hear our quote of the day and get
some headline news. Our quote of the day comes
from Albert Einstein. He said, education is not
the learning of facts, but the training of the
mind to think. Einstein's point is that STEM
and learning isn't just about memorizing formulas
or facts. It's about developing problem solving
skills and ways of thinking that last a lifetime.
In STEM fields, knowledge evolves quickly, but
the ability to analyze, question and solve problems
will always be valuable. This means if you focus
on building critical thinking and long term skills,
you'll be prepared to adapt no matter how technology
or industries change. And that's our quote of
the day. Now on to some headline news. Thank
you for our quote of the day. Now here's some
headline news from around the world. Our first
headline comes from Germany. In Munich, researchers
at the Max Planck Institute have unveiled a new
AI -powered smart lab assistant that can autonomously
plan, conduct, and adjust chemicals experiments
in real time. Designed for high -level research
in materials, science, and pharmaceuticals, the
assistant uses machine learning to optimize lab
procedures and minimize trial and error. Early
tests showed the system completing multi -step
synthesis in half the time required by human
researchers, while also reducing resource waste
up to 40%. Experts say this represents a major
step toward fully autonomous scientific laboratories.
Our next headline comes from Kenya. At the University
of Nairobi, a partnership between the African
Center for Technology Studies and Smart Lab Africa
has launched a new program to integrate AI and
Internet of Things tools into environmental science
education. Students are using real -time data
from sensors in local wetlands to monitor pollution
and climate impact, all within a newly built
digital smart lab. The initiative aims to bring
the gap between academic learning and real -world
environmental challenges, empowering students
with the tools needed for data -driven sustainability
research. Our final headline comes from the United
States. In Boston, Massachusetts, MIT Jameel
World Education Lab has introduced a global fellowship
program to train educators in designing AI -enabled
smart learning environments. The program teaches
participants how to integrate adaptive learning
technologies, real -time feedback systems, and
AI tutors into classrooms and university labs.
More than 60 fellows from 22 countries have already
completed the program, applying their new skills
to modernize classroom and improve STEM outcomes
in both urban and rural settings. And that ends
our headline news for this episode. Thank you
for the quote in the headline news. We are excited
to welcome our guest, Dr. Jennifer Berry, CEO
of Smart Lab, based in the United States of America.
Before we dive into the specifics of Smart Lab,
our listeners would love to learn a little bit
more about the person behind the vision. So Proud,
why don't you kick off this first segment? Dr.
Berry, to start, can you tell us a bit about
your background and what first sparked your passion
for connecting education with technology and
real -world careers? Oh, thank you so much. First
of all, thank you for having me. I'm so honored
to be here on the podcast with you. I'll tell
you a little bit about my background, but very
brief, right? So first of all, I'm an educator.
I have my doctorate in education, but I also
have been in the education space for many, many
decades. Also, I'm a mom. And as a mom... I see
the world my daughter is stepping into, right?
She's a 10 -year -old and AI is happening. Rapid
change is happening. Big challenges are happening.
And what I want mostly for her and what I want
for every student is to walk into that future,
into her future and saying, I've got this and
I can leave here, right? And so that personal
lens is what drives me. My background has always
been at the intersection of education and innovation.
Right. And I've seen the differences when students
move beyond just memory answers, but to actually
building, creating and solving. And what we call
at Smart Lab, aha moments. So when students are
in one of our Smart Labs and they have these
aha moments, and if you have multiple aha moments,
which are these sudden realizations that you
get something, right? You've mastered that rigorous
challenge. You failed at something enough that
all of a sudden you have that aha of like, oh,
I know how to figure that out. I know how to
actually achieve that goal. That's when... a
student, an individual realizes they belong and
their ideas matter. So I really believe that
my career, my history of education and innovation
and that intersection and being a mom who cares
about the future of my daughter and all students
that are surrounded, like yourselves who are
graduating and like others that are graduating,
I'm really excited about being a part of that.
And that is really... really how I see my background
and where my passion is for connecting education
with technology and real world careers. I love
that connection of personal. I need my kid to
be able to navigate the way through the world
that is presented to them. What about Smart Lab
specifically inspired you to join us? Yeah, I
appreciate that question greatly because I've
spent my whole career in various education fields.
Everything from and professional development,
to after school programs for low income youth
across the United States, to supplemental tutoring,
reading and writing. for students to really help
them and math to really help them progress in
their career. I was also in the special education
space. And when I found Smart Lab, that was really
where it all connected for me. Smart Lab is the
full package. It's not just equipment and curriculum.
It's an entire ecosystem designed to build. what
we call STEM identity, right? So Smart Lab is
more than just stuff that we sell. It's actually
where we are striving to get students to gain
their STEM identity. My STEM identity is that
they can feel like they belong. they can master
rigorous challenges and their ideas make an impact.
So many times people think of STEM as like, oh,
you're going to go into the STEM fields. You're
going to go into to be a scientist. You're going
to be a technologist. You're going to be an engineer
or a mathematician. But we actually believe that
it's beyond that, right? It's beyond going into
those fields. It's about knowing that you belong
with any STEM application that is in basically
every industry. Every industry uses STEM applications.
And so when you feel like you belong with STEM
applications and in that same industry, you really
can believe that you master rigorous challenges
and your ideas make an impact. And that's very
exciting for me. And that's really what inspired
me to join because it was beyond just the stuff
we sold and really about the impact for students
and the lives and the world that we're trying
to create. I totally love that. So for our listeners
who might be hearing about it for the first time,
so can you please explain in simple terms what
is Smart Lab and what does it do? Yeah, so I'll
give you how we define the Smart Lab approach
to start, and then I'll talk a little bit about
our ecosystem. So we at Smart Lab focus on an
integrated ecosystem that builds aha moments
and sparks STEM identity in learners. So again,
our why is that students are getting the STEM
identity, that they can belong, their ideas make
an impact, and they can master rigorous challenges.
Then you say, okay, well, how do you do that?
That's great, but how do you do that? And what
we believe is this integrated ecosystem is key.
And that integrated ecosystem is comprised of
an environment for the students to explore in
a hands -on, career -based, student -driven learning
environment. There's curriculum that's curated
for the students so that they can fail forward,
right? There's certified facilitators where the
certified facilitators really understand how
to ensure that there's productive struggle so
that they're not giving the students the answers
or leading them to the answer, but that they
are inspiring those students to make mistakes
and to come up with their own solutions. And
then lastly, there's this support and partnership,
right? So we've got a whole team that supports
the ecosystem, but also that we're bringing the
community into the ecosystem so that the community
is really invested in ensuring these students
are also getting their STEM identity. So yes,
we sell stuff. And we sell a STEM learning environment.
But more importantly, we are inspired by this
integrated ecosystem where this integrated ecosystem
can actually catapult the STEM identity for learners.
And every project that the students do are solving
real world problems and connecting learning to
actual career pathways. What would you say makes
the smart lab experience the most different from
what students might find in a regular science
class or traditional computer lab? Oh, great
question. In my experience, in the years that
I've been in education, in a traditional classroom,
students are often following a script, right?
Step one, step two, step three. In Smart Lab,
they're designing their own solutions. They're
collaborating with peers. They're iterating until
it works. Failure isn't the end. It's part of
the process. So that shift of instead of just
like memorizing or rote memorization or tests,
it's really about. In tests, you want to, and
your students, you want to actually succeed.
You want to get the A. You want to get the highest
score. But in Smart Lab, actually failure isn't
the end. It's actually part of the process. This
shift builds confidence, resilience, and creativity.
It's not about memorizing the answers. It's about
learning how to think, to solve, and to innovate.
Because as people say, like we make mistakes
and it teaches us to. So I think that's a really
good like lessons to learn to. And since you
mentioned about the connection to real world
applications, how exactly does a smart lab help
students prepare for actual careers that are
in high demand right now? Yeah. So careers today.
Right. And careers that haven't even been invented
yet. Whether it's AI, clean energy, healthcare,
advanced manufacturing, arts and entertainment,
you can name a ton of different industries and
a ton of different careers. All of these careers,
especially now with the AI -powered world we
live in, require people who can adapt. people
that can learn quickly and people that can solve
complex problems. Because gone are the days where
you actually needed to know how to code, where
you need to know how to do basic applications,
because AI can actually do those things for you.
So the reality is what Smart Lab gives the students
to do, the ability to do, is to think above the
task and to really... Think about how do I adapt?
How do I learn quickly? How do I solve complex
problems? Right. A smart lab gives students practice
and those kind of skills. Of course, they're
coding, they're building prototypes or analyzing
data. They're learning to work in teams just
like they'll do in the workforce. But we're not
just preparing them for the job. We're preparing
them to lead in an AI powered, rapidly changing,
rapidly changing world, because there's a difference
between knowing how to code something and how
to lead in an environment where. To make that
a little more concrete for us, could you share
an example of a hands -on project that students
might work on in a smart lab? Yeah, so this is,
you know, this is going to sound very... small
potatoes. But this is what I think is really
exciting. So we've got this curriculum that is
small potatoes. I see you mouthing that. This
is a piece of curriculum that we're really proud
of because it starts actually with five -year
-olds. So this actually starts with kindergarten
students. So we teach kindergarten. We go K through
12, but we teach kindergartens. We call it Harvest
Holler. And what these kindergartners are learning
is how to code at five years old, four and five
years old. They're learning how to code. But
they're learning how to code at the most simplest
level, right? So they're putting down these tiles.
It means stop. Green means go. Yellow means pause.
Like an arrow this way means turn right, turn
left. And they're laying them down and learning
like, oh, if I put these in this order, this
is how the car will move. Right. But we go beyond
that for even kindergartners. So we say to them,
hey, there's an industry where you might need
to code a self -driving car. and create that
self and ensure that that self -driving car gets
from point A to point B. Okay, let's go even
beyond that. You're five years old. We want to
talk about what it means to go from a farm to
table, right? Get the food from a farm and get
it to a farmer's market. Get it to a grocery
store. Get it in the hands of consumers, right?
So now you've got this five -year -old going,
oh, I thought food just was in my refrigerator.
I didn't know it actually came from a farm and
that somebody had to drive something from the
farm to the... the store, right? Now you're getting
the student to think differently about the reason
why they're learning to code, right? So they're
learning to code, but they're learning to code
for a point, for a purpose. So they're thinking,
oh, I need to code, but I'm learning how to code,
but I'm learning how to code to actually get
food from the farm. to the store, to a farmer's
market, to a home. And there's this really great
thing right now, which is a self -driving car.
So I have the ability to code that self -driving
car and to lead and manage maybe a team that
is coding a self -driving car to get from point
A to point B. So they're building connections
even at five years old. And they're building
connections to real world careers, even at five
years old, which to me is really the difference
between how to do something and connecting it
to their future, right? And then of course, over
time, when we go to first grade, second grade,
third grade, all the way up to senior in high
school, we're scaffolding that, right? You go
from just coding on the floor to now you're building
a robot that has sensors. And now you're building
a robot that can think on its own with AI applications.
So it scaffolds as they grow and as they age.
But we're really proud of really making sure
that everything we design has real world connections
to it. And we're giving those students those
aha moments beyond I know how to do something,
but also I know how to do something. And it's
applicable in this real world and potentially
even a future career for me. Wow. Thank you very
much. That's a powerful example. It's incredible
to think about how a single project can build
not just knowledge, but genuine confidence and
purpose. We're going to pause there for a quick
break. When we come back, we'll dive into the
challenges facing STEM education and look forward
to the future of learning. So stay with us. We'll
be right back after this short PSA announcement.
As we talk about the future of education, it's
worth asking, how do our kids really learn best?
We know that students can lose interest in science
and math when they don't see how it connects
to their lives. The facts and figures feel distant,
and their curiosity fades. But what if we turned
learning into an adventure? That's the core idea
behind project -based learning. Instead of just
memorizing a formula, students use it to build
a model rocket. Instead of reading about ecosystems,
they design and build a small terrarium to sustain
life. The hands -on approach teaches collaboration,
resilience, and creative problem solving. It
transforms the classroom into a workshop for
innovation, showing students that they have the
power to solve the real -world challenges of
tomorrow. You can be a champion for this kind
of learning. Ask your local schools about their
STEM programs, volunteer for a science fair,
or simply ask a young person in your life about
a project they're excited about. Your support
and curiosity can help build the next generation
of thinkers, creators, and leaders. And we are
back with our second part. Welcome back. We're
here with Dr. Jennifer Berry of Smart Lab discussing
how we can better prepare students for the careers
of tomorrow. Before the break, we talked about
what a Smart Lab is and the power of hands -on
projects. Now, let's zoom out a bit and look
at the bigger picture. Josiah will start us off
with this segment. Dr. Berry, from your perspective,
what is the single biggest challenge that teachers
and schools face when trying to implement effective
STEM education today? Thank you for that really
insightful question. You know, I think the biggest
challenge today in the education space is often
capacity. Teachers are stretched really thin.
Resources are limited. The pace of change in
technology is happening at lightning speed, and
it can be overwhelming. Schools really desperately
want to prepare students for the future, but
it can be almost impossible to keep up right
now, right? And that's why having a partner like
Smart Lab matters, right? We make turnkey and
sustainable ecosystems, right? So that teachers
can focus on guiding the students rather than
trying to keep up with the technology, right?
Because teachers and educators will say, desperately
want to guide students, to help them get their
own aha moments, to help them learn and connect
it to real worlds. And yet they're themselves
trying to Google in the background, trying to
learn about the new STEM applications, to try
to figure out how fast and how they can use AI
in their classrooms or not in their classroom.
Can we use it? Can we not use it? Can students
use it? Can they not use it, right? This fast
changing environment can be overwhelming. And
so we try to take... that part out of it and
instead give the educator the ability to guide
the students rather than worried about if they're
keeping up with the technology. So like with
that challenge in mind, how do you measure the
success or impact of a program like Smart Lab?
Like is it just test scores or are you looking
at other indicators like students' confidence
and engagement in class? Yeah, so we absolutely
look beyond test scores, right? For us, success
looks like a student saying, I didn't think I
could do that, but now I know I can, right? Now
that's hard to measure. I didn't think I could
do that, but now I know I can. But you can because
you can talk to the students before they start
in a STEM learning environment and ask them,
how confident are you at being able to master
rigorous challenges? How do you see your own
STEM identity? Do you feel like you belong? dealing
with STEM applications as it applies to real
world careers, right? Then you can measure them
along the way in that smart lab journey or in
any kind of STEM education journey and say, do
you feel differently now? Now that you've had
exposure, now that you've practiced, now that
you've failed forward, you failed and then you've
succeeded, you've had multiple aha moments. Do
you now feel like you are different in the way
you think? Do you think you couldn't do this
and now you can? So you can measure that through
surveys and through asking students their own
perspective on how they started and how they're
now finished. Right. Or their journey throughout
the process. So it is about engagement and collaboration
and perseverance and the ability to connect their
learning to real world challenges. Right. So,
of course, schools need to track academic outcomes.
That's necessary. They have to track academic
outcomes. But the deeper measure is whether students
walk away with STEM identity and that's the mindset
that they belong and they can thrive in a future
that demands innovation. I like the before and
after. Shifting to creativity, some people might
see technology as very rigid, but what role do
you see it playing in unlocking a student's creativity?
Unlocking a student's creativity is like music
to my ears, right? Technology is actually a canvas,
right? It's the paintbrush, not the painting.
When students use tech as a tool to explore their
ideas, whether it's coding a game, designing
an app, building a drone, producing a film, doing
a podcast, it unlocks creativity. You all sitting
in this podcast scenario are learning skills,
but also your brain is opened up to creative
aspects beyond this room that you're sitting
in. It shifts from just consuming technology.
to creating with technology. And that's where
I believe the magic happens, right? We at Smart
Lab think about STEM applications is just the
means to the end. Using STEM applications to
connect to career connections and to connect
to industries. If you think about it, all industries
use STEM applications. Every industry, right?
From collecting data, analyzing data. right?
Maybe interviewing and communicating with others
outside of just texting or using social media,
right? Those are skills. Those are STEM skills.
And those STEM skills are in every single industry
that there is. So I think that students, again,
should see technology as the paintbrush, not
the painting. And when they use that to explore
their ideas, you know, anything is possible.
Looking ahead, so what excites you with the most
about the future of learning and education over
the next decades? Yeah, so the next decade and
beyond, what I'm excited about in the education
space is that students are in the driving seat.
It's not about the educators. It's not about
the parents. It's not about the government and
whoever's dictating what the government decides
for students, but that students get to be in
the driver's seat. Right. We talked about AI
a lot in this podcast. Right. And for example,
that's changing everything. Right. Students who
learn to have AI serve them, not the other way
around, will be the leaders of the future. Right.
Many people are scared. Many adults are scared
of AI. Students are not. Students are not scared
of it. Right. Because they are learning how AI
can serve them. And they're going to be the leaders.
And that really excites me. Those are going to
be the leaders of the future. I'm thrilled. to
imagine classrooms where creativity, problem
solving, and human connection are amplified by
technology, not diminished by it. Speaking of
the future, what is the biggest and most immediate
goal for Smart Lab right now? What are you and
your team focused on? Yeah, our focus is to scale,
but with integrity. We're working to bring as
many Smart Labs to more communities. but making
sure that we're delivering it with high quality.
We are not just curriculum. We are not just furniture
or pools or... or stem applications we really
are an integrated ecosystem where a student can
thrive so our immediate goal is to make sure
we are creating and curating life -changing experiences
for students this means continually focusing
on refining our curriculum ensuring we have the
most current updated tools and equipment to make
sure we're training the educators that are going
to be serving these students and and creating
a community where they too the educators can
learn and grow and they can fail and they can
have their own aha moments because sometimes
when educators think they know it all that's
where we fail students so when educators feel
like they're learning they're growing they're
making mistakes they're going oh that didn't
work how am i going to come to the next day with
my students and have and listen to the students
and maybe have the students solve the problem
rather than me think i'm the expert that's where
we really are focusing our attention as an organization
we want to make sure that no matter what the
zip code or the country that a student lives
in, that they have a chance to see themselves
as future ready. So this has been an incredibly
insightful conversation. So for our final question,
we would like to shift some gears and make it
a personal one. So if you could go back in time,
what is one piece of advice you would give to
your younger self? My younger self, I would tell
myself to trust the process and don't be afraid
to fail. It's really hard, especially when you're
young and you have all kinds of expectations
with grades for sport, you know, being the best
athlete or being the best musician or having
the highest grades in order to get into the highest
level of the university of your choice or career
of your choice. I would I look back and think
I would want to tell myself, don't be afraid
to fail. Because failure actually leads to growth,
right? Some of my best lessons and some of the
best opportunities came from moments that weren't
planned, right? I didn't plan the journey. I
actually fell into it or change got in my face
or a hardship was put in my way, an obstacle
was dropped in front of me where I had a plan
and then this obstacle dropped. Some of my best
moments, some of my best opportunities came from
those challenges, right? tell myself, keep showing
up, right? Keep learning. I am an old lady in
comparison to most of these people listening
to this call right now. And yet I love to learn.
Every day I learn from young people. I learn
from my seniors. I learn from the people who
have been here before. I really learn from different
cultures. I open myself up to people that are
different and don't look like me, that don't
think like me, that don't pray like me, that
don't eat like me, that don't do any of the things
that like me because that's where I get my biggest
learnings, right? Keep believing in your ability
to make an impact. Your path can unfold if you
don't owe the script. And there you have it.
That's the perfect note to end on. Thank you
so much for sharing your passion and your expertise
with us today, Dr. Berry. It's been truly inspiring
and encouraging. So if you're listening out there,
go check out smartlablearning .com to find out
for yourself. And that's all the time we have
for today. My biggest takeaway from our conversation
with Dr. Berry is that the future of education
isn't just about what our students learn, but
how they learn it. It's about moving beyond facts
and formulas to build a true STEM identity, giving
students the confidence to believe that they
belong and that they can solve the problems of
tomorrow. A huge thank you to our guest, Dr.
Jennifer Berry again, for sharing her passion
and expertise with us. You can learn more about
the great work her team is doing at smartlablearning
.com. Most of all, thank you for listening. If
you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever
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would not be possible without the hard work and
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And we're signing off until next time. We are
Students Incorporated because your voice matters.