Since the turn of the century, Americans have become accustomed to interfacing with digital technology. But that doesn’t mean we understand the technology any better.
The Facebook “fake news” scandal of the 2016 election showed the danger of having a society that doesn’t understand the apps and programs it depends on. If we don’t do a better job preparing today’s children to live in an interconnected world, Penn GSE’s Yasmin Kafai says, it will only get worse.
Kafai, a learning scientist who has designed tools and communities to promote coding, crafting, and creativity, believes we need to change how we think about teaching and learning, while making sure every child has a chance to develop these vital skills.
Recently, Kafai was a featured speaker at a Nobel Prize Dialogue conference on the future of learning. Held in Santiago, Chile, the conference brought together leading thinkers across disciplines from around the world.
In a Q&A for Penn GSE, Kafai sheds light on the digital divide, preparing teachers for digital learning, and what happens when we can’t trust algorithms.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
