After studying engineering in Germany, Maria Luisa Serrano became interested in educational technologies (or «EdTech») and completed her studies with a Master's degree in AIRE « Learning sciences » (Learning Sciences) to Learning Planet Institute. It was at this point that she joined the HOME student club, whose mission is to share and exchange what students have learned at the Learning Planet Institute in developing countries. Meet.
Maria Luisa Serrano arrives happily at the Learning Planet Institute on this late May afternoon. She's delighted to be back in the school that welcomed her four years ago. «This place is really great, it brings back good memories».», she smiles.
Maria Luisa was born in Quito, Ecuador. She went to German school there and is preparing to study engineering. «My father is an engineer, and in South America, you have to study something «serious» if you want to find job opportunities.».
The young woman flies to Germany to study mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt. «I still had a bit of a culture shock coming from Ecuador. I thought people were very serious. South Americans were cooler and thought a lot about partying!« she says.
After graduating, Maria Luisa worked for Festo Didactic, an EdTech company that uses - among other things - bionic robots for learning. «These are mechanical solutions that allow us to learn from nature. The idea behind Festo is really to find solutions inspired by nature.»
At the time, Maria Luisa's role was that of coordinator: she worked to improve educational technical solutions in the various countries for which she was responsible. «I worked mainly for the South American market. I was in contact with the Ministries of Education and Industry. We were looking for new development opportunities, new suppliers, new partners to develop our learning robots. It was a job that looked to the future, to transform education.» And this made all the more sense to Maria Luisa as South America had more shortcomings in this area than European countries like Germany or France.
It was during this first experience that I discovered that technology and education could have intersections, and I wanted to dig deeper into the subject.
After a highly technical career, Maria Luisa was keen to develop her teaching skills. On the Internet, she searched for a course combining education and technology, and came across the Learning Planet Institute. «I wanted to learn more, have better knowledge of social sciences, macroeconomics... I needed to broaden my skill set.» She therefore joins the Master 2 « Learning sciences ».
Maria Luisa's arrival in Paris goes smoothly. «I admit I was a little apprehensive. I thought it was an expensive, snobbish city, where people are always complaining. Maria Luisa is finally enjoying life in Paris: « I was often at vernissages, exhibitions and the cinema. I really appreciated third places like Les Grands Voisins, which combine meetings, social innovation and cultural events... It's dynamic and there are many communities. It wasn't what I expected, and I really appreciated everything Paris had to offer.
Maria Luisa also makes the most of her studies at the Learning Planet Institute, forging strong bonds with the people she meets there. «In my opinion, the most interesting part is the people».» she said, her eyes sparkling. «All the people came from different countries, had diverse backgrounds and were very open-minded. It was a pleasure.»
Together with her fellow students, she has carried out a number of projects, one of which made a particularly strong impression on her in Mumbai, India: the S.T.E.A.M School, a Franco-Indian program created by the Learning Planet Institute and Maker's Asylum. «We took part in the S.T.E.A.M School with my friends from the Learning Planet Institute. The idea was for us, young people from all over the world, to develop solutions that meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.»
Over a three-week period, Maria Luisa and her classmates developed solutions to meet the needs of their customers. sustainable development goal no. 4, access to quality education for all. «We wanted to design a solution that could be used anywhere - especially in the slums of India. Initially, we built a prototype in the shape of a learning cube. We tested it in the slums, but the results weren't very convincing. So we got back to work, with the help of teachers and mentors, and made another prototype.».
Maria Luisa's team then created a game board that can be placed on the floor and on which children can move to learn maths. «This time we went back to the slums and the game worked well with 6-8 year olds.» At the end of their stay, Maria Luisa and her team were able to present the prototype to experts from various universities and UNESCO. «This experience in Mumbai was really incredible. Of course, the Indian slums were a completely different world, but for me, coming from Latin America, it wasn't too hard. We learned a lot in just a few weeks: from design thinking to prototyping and presentation!.
Today, Maria Luisa applies this technique of design thinking learned in Mumbai in his new job at Festo.
Her experiences inspire her to pass on her knowledge. At the Learning Planet Institute, she was also part of the HOME student club. With three other student facilitators : Albin Salazar, Nefeli Paparisteidi, Nidhi Patel, and a Rwandan colleague, Yves Ininahazwe, They set up digital education workshops in fablabs in Kigali, Rwanda.
«Albin managed the automation part of the technology with Arduino, Yves managed all the digital technology, Nidhi was the “game design”, and I taught the “human-centred design” and “design thinking“. ». À University of Kigali, HOME club students work with the digital tech K-LAB of Kigali, with FabLab Rwanda and with GIZ digital center to run their workshops and courses with students for two weeks.
Our mission was to share and exchange what we had learned at the Learning Planet Institute in developing countries, and in Rwanda in particular, so that it could be of use. With relatively frugal technologies, and the Sustainable Development Goals as our backbone.
The program is going well, even if the workshop organizers are having to revise their initial expectations: «We were taking some knowledge for granted, when it wasn't the case at all, and some people didn't really know the difference between all the technological solutions. So we had to readjust the content of our programs - it wasn't easy, but it was a great learning experience for us!. The methods, on the other hand, prove fruitful, and Maria Luisa and her club colleagues explain to students how to create a web page, build a small robot with Arduino, or even an art installation.
The second year, during Covid, members of the HOME club run the online workshops. «It was a lot more work to do it all on the Internet, but it worked. We invited speakers from UNESCO, professionals from various sectors and alumni from different countries».
Today, the club HOME has become an association, and the same project will take place in Senegal this year. For Maria Luisa, her two experiences with the University of Kigali have been very rewarding:
It's a great satisfaction to be able to share our technical skills, to see people who have no experience at all in the field manage to use digital tools, develop applications, learn how to build prototypes, contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and be proud of it! And I tell myself that this will be useful to them», she enthuses. «All we need now is to scale up these programs so that they can be applied to as many people as possible, and for that we need the support of universities and institutions.
After completing her Master's at the Learning Planet Institute, Maria Luisa worked in EdTech and then e-learning startups in Paris. She moved to Spain and is now in charge of innovation projects at the Festo Digital Hub in Barcelona. «I really enjoy what I do. I work on education, gamifying processes rather than products. On a day-to-day basis, I'm the incubator coordinator, gathering new ideas. I test these innovations and design them as a minimum viable product (Minimum Viable Product, MVP). My experience with the S.T.E.A.M School and HOME at the Learning Planet Institute have been decisive. »
It was there that I learned techniques such as the design thinking, which I use every day in my work.
One thing's for sure: Maria Luisa's passion for innovation and the advancement of education is not over.
ABOUT S.T.E.A.M SCHOOL
The S.T.E.A.M School was a Franco-Indian program born of the collaboration between the Learning Planet Institute and an Indian markerspace: Maker's Asylum. It brought together 100 Indian and French students from different backgrounds in markerspaces. A makerspace is a third-party digital fabrication workshop, an evolution of the hackerspace, open to the public.
ABOUT EDTECH
Visit educational technologies (EdTech in English, for Educational technology) refers to all new technologies that facilitate teaching and learning.1. These are educational technologies that enable new content to be learned in a fun, stimulating and innovative way. The term EdTech, was born from the contraction of ’education« and »technology«.
Source : Wikipedia
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Find out more about the AIRE Master «Learning Sciences»
Discover other portraits of our community members
Learn more about the HOME association
Find out more about the AIRE Master «Learning Sciences»
This publication is part of the UNESCO Chair in Learning Sciences«, established between UNESCO and Université Paris Cité, in partnership with the Learning Planet Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
A portrait by Marie Ollivier
Thanks to Maria Luisa Serrano for answering our questions!
