From an Unlikely CA Zipcode, A Digital Nest Emerges

Jacob Martinez is a social entrepreneur, tech educator, keynote speaker and cutting-edge community collaborator. Martinez believes technology has the potential to break down socioeconomic barriers and unlock economic growth for youth and their communities. As the founder and executive director of Digital NEST (Nurturing Entrepreneurial Skills with Technology), Martinez turned a vision into reality by creating a modern, collaborative workspace for local youth to receive high-tech training.The opening of the first Digital NEST in 2014 garnered national attention as a model for bridging the digital divide experienced by youth living in low-income, rural communities. Today the NEST continues to expand, with more than 1200 members at two regional centers; its main location in Watsonville, CA and since April 2017, a Digital NEST pilot in Salinas, CA.Martinez’s inspiration for Digital NEST is built on more than a dozen years of experience and research in teaching tech as a way to overcome economic disparities and achieve equity for Latinos and girls. His early work focused on promoting careers in STEM for youth through an award winning after-school program teaching middle-school girls to create computer games. The program serves hundreds of students in 15 Santa Cruz County schools.Martinez has presented his work and research to the National Science Foundation, to technology companies Google, Mozilla, and Infosys; to the Computer Science Collaborative Project, the University of California, and the National Girls Collaborative Project. Martinez spoke in 2015 at the first White House Tech Meetup and was named by TechCrunch as one of 2014’s Top 10 Men in the Country Supporting Women in Technology.Martinez has been widely recognized for his work as a community leader developing innovative approaches to solving social problems across diverse populations. Martinez founded the Santa Cruz County Ag-tech Meetup, co-founded the Watsonville Film festival, is a Community Advisor for Opportunity Fund and hosts a podcast focused on the intersection of agriculture and technology.He is a frequent speaker at technology and educational conferences and symposia, and has been honored by business, community, and educational institutions for his innovation and leadership. He was named the 2015 Santa Cruz County Entrepreneur of the Year, has provided thought leadership on the impact of tech and underserved student populations, and also received a recommendation letter from former United States Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta.Martinez graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and received his Master’s in Instructional Science and Technology from California State University, Monterey Bay.Links from this episode:Digital Nest: https://digitalnest.org/Jacob Martinez: https://digitalnest.org/oldsite/?page_id=2847Better Schools Won't Fix America, Nick Hanauer, Atlantic Monthly: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

The show is about learning with technology, the realities and exciting potential.Enjoying the show? Please take a moment to rate us, and leave a review wherever you've accessed the podcast. Find our listener survey at facebook.com/nosuchthingpodcast drop a like on the page while you're there.The music in this podcast was produced by Leroy Tindy, a guest in episode zero. You can find him on SoundCloud at AirTindi Beats.The podcast is produced by Marc Lesser. Marc is a specialist in the fields of digital learning and youth development with broad experience designing programming and learning environments in local and national contexts. Marc recently served as Youth Studies Practitioner Fellow at City University of New York, and leads a team of researchers and technologists for NAF (National Academy Foundation).Marc is the co-founder of Emoti-Con NYC, New York's biggest youth digital media and technology festival, and in 2012 was named a National School Boards Association “20-to-Watch” among national leaders in education and technology. Connect with Marc on BlueSky @malesser, or LinkedIn.What's with the ice cream truck in the logo? In the 80's, Richard E. Clark at University of Southern California set off a pretty epic debate based on his statement that "media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in nutrition." * So, the ice cream truck, it's a nod to Richard Clark, who frequently rings in my ear when I'm tempted to take things at face value. "Is it the method, or the medium?" I wonder.The title, No Such Thing, has a few meanings. Mostly, it emphasizes the importance of hard questions as we develop and document the narrative of "education" in the US. For Richard E. Clark, the question is whether there's such a thing as learning from new technologies. For others, it might be whether there's a panacea for the challenges we face in this field. Whatever your question, I hope that it reminds you to keep asking--yourself, your learners, others--what's working and how so.* Clark, R. E. (1983) Reconsidering Research on Learning From Media. Review of Educational Research 53(4) 445-459. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.