Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit about STEM opportunities in Uzbekistan - my hope is that it prompts some of you to consider how your own STEM work might be able to connect this international effort.   I'm currently working with the US Embassy in Tashkent to develop ideas for post-pandemic next steps, looking at how best to help support a growing cohort of Uzbek teachers and schools that are resource-poor, but enthusiasm-rich.   I would love to engage in conversations with anyone around these specific questions I'm pondering right now:

1 - can we develop an Uzbek STEM virtual Professional Learning Community, allowing the STEM early adaptors located all over the country to connect and collaborate with each other.   Has anyone successfully created this sort of model - perhaps linked with a set of live workshops or webinars?  

2 - with very few computers or wi-fi connections at home or school, cell phones are really the tool for Uzbek teachers to be part of any virtual professional development.  This really limits their ability to actively engage in videoconferencing on platforms like Zoom or Google Meet - and so most of my virtual connections have tended to be fairly passive presentations with a little chat question / answer at the end.   Does anyone have experience and suggestions to make virtual learning more engaging with these limitations? 

3 - as part of the project I created an online course of short videos covering the basics of NGSS in Russian and English using the Teachable platform . . . you can find it at stem4learning.teachable.com     if it's useful to anyone please share and utilize it, and would truly love any feedback as well.  My wondering is how best to leverage a passive, asynchronous resource like this into more active learning and application?

Great work bringing STEM learning to schools in Uzbekistan. I was wondering whether there are local frameworks/standards for STEM that you can leverage and how NGSS connects with them? 

Uzbekistan looks amazing!  Thanks for sharing your project.  One thing I've been thinking about a lot is culturally appropriate events and eductation for different audiences.  Did you find yourself creating science resources tailored around Uzbek culture and if so, what was that process like?  And ya, equitable access to technology is a huge issue.  I know of one program that would only spend, maybe 5 minutes setting up an activity online and then the rest of the time would be for the kids running around outside doing the project.  And then coming back together briefly to "chat" about what they found and how that differed from location to location.  Maybe an approach like that could work - where you're just providing a framework for the activity?

Cheers, Dan

I love that idea of a short intro - followed by an activity - and then some wrapup at the end.   Definitely an idea to explore especially as I develop more solid relationships with the teachers so that there is a basis for this sort of virtual co-teaching.   I really never explored science through the context of Uzbek culture - mostly because I really was just getting to know that culture and history myself over the past year.  But as I learn about the amazing history of early science exploration in the 15th century (for instance astronomer Ulugh Beg) - there really could be some amazing cultural integrations of this history.   What I did find was that I really had to learn their public school culture - with a strict national curriculum, almost total focus on facts based assessments and minimal resources - most of the pedagogy that I use in my daily teaching such as formative assessment, project based learning and a 5 E's approach to science was totally new and in many ways too big of a jump for teachers to be able to wrap their minds around how it might work.   My theme was "baby steps" - and doing lots of listening :-)

I love that idea of a short intro - followed by an activity - and then some wrapup at the end.   Definitely an idea to explore especially as I develop more solid relationships with the teachers so that there is a basis for this sort of virtual co-teaching.   I really never explored science through the context of Uzbek culture - mostly because I really was just getting to know that culture and history myself over the past year.  But as I learn about the amazing history of early science exploration in the 15th century (for instance astronomer Ulugh Beg) - there really could be some amazing cultural integrations of this history.   What I did find was that I really had to learn their public school culture - with a strict national curriculum, almost total focus on facts based assessments and minimal resources - most of the pedagogy that I use in my daily teaching such as formative assessment, project based learning and a 5 E's approach to science was totally new and in many ways too big of a jump for teachers to be able to wrap their minds around how it might work.   My theme was "baby steps" - and doing lots of listening :-)

Great video and intro to the amazing work happening in Uzbekistan Allan! It is interesting seeing the far reaches of this new vision for K-12 Science Education reaching all over the globe. We (www.ngssphenomena.com) were lucky enough to be invited to do PD in Amman, Jordan a couple summers ago and it was a fantastic experience!  

Hi Allan, I'm going to echo one of the previous posters: Wow! It is so great that our Dept. of State is supporting this kind of outreach--true diplomacy, in my opinion, that you don't hear about often. Also, it is great that the NGSS has relevance and significance beyond the US. I'm also interested in another post (from Daniel above) about culturally appropriate education and your comments about incorporating Uzbek culture into lessons (or asking teachers to bring that into new STEM curricula). Looking at the few images of local architecture, clearly STEM has been a major force in their culture. However, I'm thinking that the challenge of new content is not as difficult as the challenge of a shift to an approach to teaching, perhaps more student- and problem-centered. You mentioned that the government is devoting a tremendous resources to improve education. Have you seen evidence of a willingness among teachers or teacher leaders for shifts in practice as well? 

Nathan - the enthusiasm of UZB teachers to embrace the thinking behind NGSS, the desire to see students engage in deep, valuable thinking is truly contagious and it is what is my main motivation to continue the work and try to find others who would enjoy it as well.  The challenges are huge - I often compare it to someone who eats a great dish of food and truly wants to learn how to make it . . . .but lacks all but the simplest tools, supplies and knowledge to begin  - but there is no lack of desire to empower a new generation of Uzbek scientists and engineers! I feel like perhaps I taught them how to cook oatmeal . . . but at least it's a first step :-) 

For any that might be interested - these are the links that I post at the closing of the video - sites to visit or people that you can contact for more information about supporting STEM work in Uzbekistan:

Fulbright Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program (they just selected 2 more American specialists to Uzbekistan in June, with more to follow in 2022) -   FulbrightDAST@IREX.org or Fulbright DAST

English Language Specialist Program (currently has 3 TESOL specialists working in UZB and recruiting more) - specialist@elprograms.org or ELS State Department

Presidential Schools of Uzbekistan - best contact is a good friend Rychard Paszkowski who is the International Principal at the Khiva School, great educator, diplomat and source of information in a somewhat challenging bureaucracy -  rychard.paszkowski@gmail.com

My contact info - Allan Miller, Shelburne Vermont.  stem4learning@gmail.com

Hello Allan. Your work is a testimony to the ingenuity that is happening in Uzbekistan. What an amazing project. I am impressed with the breadth of your program and the creative ways that you've integrated the 5 E's approach to science.

Thanks for such positive feedback David - and congratulations on the honor of being an Einstein Fellow.  Back in 2007 I was a Fellow with the NSF Office of International Science and Education - such a great experience that really opened the door to work like I am currently doing with Uzbekistan.   Hope it has been a great year!

Agree! Great culture, great people, and yes a great opportunity to enhance STEM learning education in Uzbekistan. Allan, I like the part of your video where I can see teachers getting together to train for STEM leaning education. From my own experience, this is a great way to do (PD) professional development for teachers and to learn from one another. After gatthering additional STEM teaching strategies from the PD, it is priceless to see those teachers bringing STEM education to their classroom to teach students about Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and plus English as perhasps second or third language to your students. Congratulations on your amazing project!

Thank you for the kind feedback Israel - and so agree that giving teachers authentic, rich STEM experiences is the key especially when often the UZB teachers don't have any experience beyond the basic drill  / fact based approach that is so embedded in the curriculum and their experiences.   I find the real challenge is helping them find the windows of opportunity to begin to play with these ideas in their own classrooms . . . many walked away from our time excited and ready to implement, only to find that they didn't know where to start - that's the thinking I want to explore as I ponder version 2.0.   Would love to hear ideas if anyone has helped teachers take baby steps within the context of a rigid curriculum framework to try some 5E's, NGSS type of STEM pedagogy shifts - ideas?  

Alan - Fantastic work as you are making such a big impact in education, workforce development and the economic and social well-being of a nation.  I also appreciate the previous comments and questions here regarding NGSS and 21st century skills and that your program values both.   

Fabulous to get this perspective on STEM in Uzbekistan. Thank you! What is the Internet infrastructure like in Uzbekistan. Do students have access to computing devices and wifi? Do they utilize ed tech solutions? 

Public education in Uzbekistan is pretty much a technology desert except for the brand new Presidential Schools - but they only serve about 1% of the nations youth.   All I could count in a school was perhaps a small hdmi video monitor - no wifi, no computer labs and even the teachers live on their cellphones as the base of any connections we do together.  There is a desire - but reminds me of my first classrooms in village Alaska back in 1985 truly.   I was able to have decent broadband in my apartment that at least allowed me to access / prepare my workshops in a way I was used to - but the actual presentations were always stand-alone and I never used any tech at all.   Sort of fun to go "old school" as it brought back elements of my pedagogy I had neglected over the past decade that I'm finding actually help me here . . . . nice to be a little less tech-dependent at times.    Thx for your feedback and question.