Blog - Minds Studio

Bridging the Third Digital Divide: Reflections from my AI Bootcamp Journey.

Last night at 4:45 AM I presented my capstone project and completed my first Maven Bootcamp, thanks to Learnest.

What key concepts did I learn?

As I have already talked about the first part of the bootcamp, I’ll focus on some of the most valuable concepts and principles I’m taking with me:

We are inevitably facing a new divide
Equitable access to AI matters and frameworks
The AI practitioner learning curve: From prompting to fine-tuning

1. The AI divide

The deeper I explore this tool, the more similarities I find with all the other waves we’ve gone through, particularly with the internet wave.

As described by Brookings, we are inevitably approaching a new iteration of the classic “digital divide”, that allows some people access exponential benefits in productivity, opportunities and progress, while the majority struggles to keep the pace and struggles to stay competitive. In a nutshell:

The first digital divide: The rich have technology, while the poor do not.

The second digital divide: The rich have technology and the skills to use it effectively, while the poor have technology but lack skills to use it effectively.

The third digital divide?: The rich have access to both technology and people to help them use it, while the poor have access to technology only.

In the Studio language, I’d say that the third digital divide is between those who have a learning AI community, and those who don’t.

2. Equitable Access to AI

Although all the economic and societal forces seem to be doomed to push us towards an -even more- polarised world with just a few benefiting from this powerful tool, I choose to keep a tiny light of cautious optimism for the human potential it brings. Here’s why I remain cautiously optimistic:

What does equitable access mean in an educational context?

Equal access to the BENEFITS of a product, service, resource, solutions that improves educational outcomes.

If we don’t do anything different, AI won’t level the playing field. As we are starting to see with the AI products and subscriptions, only those who can afford them will have access to the latest version to it. This will accentuate the differences between rich and poor. The same old story.

However, I’m happy to learn about frameworks such as Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw, 1989), whose core idea is that people are not defined by a single identity factor—like race, gender, class, sexuality, disability, or age—but rather by the combination of all these factors. These intersections can amplify privilege or disadvantage in complex ways.

How might different students experience the same AI tool differently based on their intersecting identities?

Also, it was very useful to learn about the Wheel of Power (Sylvia Duckworth, 2022) and the Matrix of Domination (Patricia Hill Collins, 1990), that explain how systems of oppression (racism, sexism, classism, ableism) operate at personal, cultural, and institutional levels simultaneously.

In AI edtech, this helps us understand how technologies can reinforce oppression at multiple levels (e.g., individual bias in AI recommendations → institutional power in determining who controls educational data and use).

The final concept of this module was about Design for Justice (Sasha Costanza-Chock, 2020), which provides actionable principles for equitable technology development by centering marginalized communities, prioritizing impact over intentions, and honoring existing knowledge systems.

Design for Justice is a Framework and a Practice that:

Analyzes how design distributes benefits and burdens between various groups of people
Focuses explicitly on the ways that design reproduces and/or challenges the matrix of domination
Ensures meaningful participation in design decisions and recognizes community-based, practices

3. The AI Practitioner learning curve

This was probably what I was looking for when I decided to take this bootcamp. What are the different “layers” that we need to learn when we aim to master AI? Here’s what I found:

1. Prompting: The first step is to learn how to prompt a Large Language Model (Such as the ones of ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity) properly. Developing this skill is crucial, and we’ll probably equate it at some point to learning “AI language” as if it was English or Portuguese.

2. RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation): This second step is about enhancing the Large Language Model with additional specific knowledge that will provide more context and personalisation to the LLM.

3. LLM Workflows: Once we know how to prompt and augment a Large Language Model, the next step in the learning curve is to concatenate Augmented LLMs to provide an accurate adaptive solution to a problem.

4. Fine-Tuning: The last layer we discussed at the bootcamp was about Fine-tuning, which means “rewiring” the LLM using more datapoints that were not available to the LLM before, or synthetic data that we’ve generated.

Each of those stages require a considerable amount of time and effort to achieve mastery, which brings me to my final point.

Tools change, principles remain

During my conversations with other Edtech practitioners, we agreed that the most difficult part is to remain principled and not to look for quick answers, fixes or solutions without critically evaluating the output of the tool.

In order to build sturdy and durable houses, you must learn certain principles. Mathematics, Physics, materials, etc. Learning principles is not easy, and it is not fast. It requires dedication and practice. Someone who has mastered the house-building principles will be able to build a small countryside house and a fancy tower in Manhattan. The tools change, the principles remain.

And this is my last reflection of this course: We can’t just learn to use the tool, because the tool will own you and you’ll depend on it. However, if you learn the principles, this tool will elevate you to a level you’ve never experienced.

The AI Learning Group at Minds Studio

As I said in my previous post, Minds Studio is not going to become an AI-first company -the same way it’s not “internet-first” either.

However, I’ve started a new Practice where those of us interested in master AI tools come together regularly to help each other integrate it with our own professional activities.

My Capstone Project

In order to make my capstone project relevant to the problems I’ve witnessed while running Communities of Practice, I decided to spend some time building a tool that helps students log their “aha! moments” and “paradigm shifts” in order to visualize their transformation over time. I’ve called “Significant Change Tracker”, as it uses a methodology called Significant Change on top of an LLM to make it conversational.

You can take a look and play with it here.

The first AI development at the Studio

As part of the strategic reflection of Minds Studio’s value proposition and positioning in this new era of AI, I’ve been taking the Responsible AI Bootcamp for Edtech practitioners.

In just a couple of weeks, I’ve built and published a tool that helps a literature teacher prepare culturally responsive lesson plans and assignments for any book, tailored to the age and country of origin of each student.

You can play with it here:

It’s still a very basic tool, created primarily to experiment with Dify– an Open Source Platform designed to simplify and accelerate the development of AI-powered applications.

Being a tinkerer

It’s definitely exciting to play with powerful new tools, but I remain firm in my conviction that technology alone will not change the world—technologists might make it a tiny bit better.

A concept that I learned in this course – thanks to Justin Reich’s paper – is that of being a Tinkerer. Quoting Justin “Tinkerers see schools and universities as complex systems that can be improved, but they believe improvements come from many years of incremental changes to existing institutions rather than from wholesale renewal.” This stands in contrast to the charismatic stance that ascribes tremendous power to new technologies to reinvent education.

Choose your favourite LLM -biases

Once you start digging deeper on how LLMs are built, and the potential sources of downstream harm, you realise it’s all a game of choosing priorities—and it’s a very tricky game to play.

Should a model be inclusive? Sure.
Should it be fair? Absolutely.
Should it respect privacy? No doubt.

The problem arises when one choice influences others. For instance, more privacy might mean lower data quality, especially if we want the LLM to be truly inclusive or to consider historical biases.

The entire process of building an LLM—from data collection to processing, model development, evaluation, postprocessing, and deployment—involves a staggering number of decisions. Balancing them is incredibly difficult.

Adding knowledge on top of an LLM

It’s been fascinating to explore the concept of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). Since LLMs are trained on broad- though massive- datasets, it’s often necessary to provide an additional layer of domain-specific knowledge to improve their performance on particular tasks.

For example, in the tool I mentioned earlier, I added documentation- “knowledge on top” of the LLM (ChatGPT)- about cultural differences and widely known K–12 books. This helps the model retrieve more accurate and relevant responses.

Are we going to be AI-first now?

No.

We are experimenting with AI, but the purpose of the Studio remains unchanged by any technological wave, no matter how big it is.

We remain focused on sparking human curiosity and bringing to life exciting, inspiring communities of learners who regularly practice something they want to learn.

I’ll continue to share learnings from this journey.

2024 at Minds Studio

The year that AI took the world by storm, we decided to double down on our human community and international expansion.

The 1 minute summary

I’m proud to share that Minds Studio is now working with a network of over 50 professionals in more than 20 countries to build communities of practice for some of the leading and most fearless educational institutions and businesses in Europe, the UK, the US, and Asia.

Over the past year, we’ve focused on expanding the Minds Network to more than 10 new countries. The network’s current distribution is approximately 25% North America, 25% Europe, 20% UK, 12% Asia, 10% Africa, and 8% Latin America. We’ve also developed a new Community of Practice framework -which we’ve decided to open source at the Minds Hub-, and have been using it to serve our growing customer base in Spain, England, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, and the USA.

I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to UNIR 🇪🇸, Minerva University 🇺🇸, The London Interdisciplinary School 🇬🇧, Villanueva University 🇪🇸, The Earth Foundation 🇨🇭, Purpose in Motion 🇭🇰, Beyond Education 🇫🇷, and Leemons 🇪🇸 for their continued trust in us throughout 2024. More than 50% of Minds Studio’s clients this year were returning clients, and 40% have trusted us for over a year. Without you, we couldn’t do what we love.

Through our research, design, and implementation of communities of practice and learning models, I estimate that over 10,000 learners benefited from Minds Studio’s efforts in the last 12 months. In 2025, we’ll continue to deepen our contributions through our regular practices, sparking curiosity in learners around the world.

We look forward to welcoming organizations and institutions ready to move beyond fear-based education systems into ecosystems that cultivate curiosity and creativity.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

Alvaro Sanmartin Cid

Minds Studio Founder

5 Years, +1000 days & 40 notebooks at Minds Studio

It feels as though it were just last night when, seated alone with my thoughts at a Balinese table, I decided I was going to start this company.

There was no Business Model Canvas, no product, no clients, no actual Business Plan built. It was just me, stumbling alone in an inner search to find something valuable I could dedicate the next few years of my life to. I settled on an idea I’ve always cared about: helping people find the spark that only good teachers and good learning design have ignited for centuries. The spark that starts the fire of becoming a real, unstoppable learner. It’s now been over 5 years since that moment.

Minds Studio’s vision, the fuel that keeps me and the people around this company going through the ups and downs, has always been inner curiosity. Five years later, many things have played out very differently from what I originally envisioned, but that energy remains. I still feel slightly emotional when magic happens. And it happens more and more often.

Why is curiosity so important to me? Having reflected long enough on my own learning experience, I believe curiosity is the secret ingredient that enables the learning reaction to happen. It is the curiosity about what we don’t know, what we can’t understand, what brings us closer to discovering new angles of reality that end up changing our minds and rewiring our brains. It is curiosity about people who are different from us, what brings us closer, what helps us grow. One question, one answer at a time.

The obstacle doesn’t lie in cultivating curiosity – it’s an innate trait within all of us – but rather in preserving it. I believe instilling curiosity, particularly in our children, is what is going to help us solve most of our most pressing challenges as human beings. I dedicate as much time as I possibly can to address this challenge.

A 10-year mission and the 5-year check-in

I’ve allocated myself a decade to establish Minds Studio’s community and develop a sustainable business model. I’m aware that this approach may contradict conventional wisdom from Business Schools, Lean Startup methodologies, or the “Move fast and break things” mantra I once embraced, but it aligns with what I currently feel is necessary.

Committing a minimum of 10 years of my life to construct something I deeply cherish instills a sense of liberation and security within me. The company isn’t solely about seizing a money-making opportunity; rather, it serves as the platform to foster a community grounded in ideals and values. In a world fixated on speed, I find solace in a slower, more deliberate approach. Whether growth occurs swiftly or gradually, I nurture it akin to a gardener tending to growing plants. I cannot rush the process. This mindset enables me to dedicate my utmost effort to those who engage my services and the professionals within the Minds Network that I collaborate with.

This sustained and nurturing endeavor has yielded initial results, which I’d like to share with the world through a concise set of graphs, while safeguarding sensitive information. Here’s where I stand, represented by five simple and direct Key Performance Indicators, after five years of diligent work:

Total Projects executed: 30, distributed as follows

Countries where we have clients: 9, distributed as follows

Total Yearly Revenue follows this progression thus far

Total Minds Studio Members payouts follows this progression thus far

Total Minds Studio Network Members follows this progression thus far

The story I don’t like to tell

After two previous attempts with co-founders, I embarked on this project with my own savings, minimal investment, and no business partners. I transitioned from earning six figures to paying myself the minimum salary for a few months. I relinquished the fancy office, the perks, the Thursday drinks, and the health insurance. Along the way, I lost friends and partners I never thought I would. It has undeniably been brutal and mentally exhausting, to a degree that I struggle to articulate with words. Particularly in 2020, due to COVID, and during the summer of 2022 when I lost 70% of the Studio clients and nearly everything I had earned until then in one month, all while being personally devastated. I genuinely believed “that’s it” at that point. Somehow, it wasn’t. Don’t ask me why.

I took several months off work due to burnout or depression — or perhaps both; I don’t really know. There were times when I didn’t have a clue where to go or what to do. I lacked the motivation to wake up in the morning and face work. I had to reach out to my closest friends for help and question every single belief I held about myself. At some point, I lost faith in humanity and in life’s meaning. I found myself in places I never thought I’d visit, and I don’t know how I held it together. If you’re seeking for answers here, you’ll need to look elsewhere. I’m still here because I couldn’t find anything else to do with my life that would spare me that much pain while remaining true to myself.

Since starting the company, I take one week every year to reflect without technology or connection to the world. During one of these weeks, I realized that I was seeking results too prematurely, and I resolved to evaluate whether Minds Studio is succeeding — or not — as a sustainable business after 10 years of dedication. It’s a significant gamble, I know. In the meantime, I continue to support communities of learners with the expertise and learning science I’ve accumulated over the past 15 years, striving to offer something of value to them.

One thing I can say with pride is that after 5 years, I spend most of my time with people I like and deeply care about. I may have fallen short in terms of making the most money, growing the fastest, and changing the world, though.

My most valuable finding so far

One of the primary discoveries during this period of experimentation has been a personal paradigm shift resulting from my observations while collaborating with groups of learners. Previously, I had always approached the learning journey from an individual standpoint—focused on passing exams, obtaining degrees, and so forth. However, I have now witnessed and experienced the transformative power of learning within a strong community of learners.

Consequently, I now believe that acquiring new skills and knowledge is more attainable when I engage with individuals who share a common interest in the same challenge, rather than attempting it alone. Whether it’s mastering linear algebra, perfecting swing dancing, summiting a mountain, learning a new language, or grasping accounting principles, there’s something about participating in and belonging to a community of learners that evokes a sense of magic, propelling continual growth and progress. Passing tests and obtaining certifications become integrated into the journey rather than being the ultimate goal. This shift fundamentally alters one’s perspective. Suddenly, a transition happens from being a mere student to becoming a true learner, from competition to cooperation, from “me” to “us.”

This discovery has profoundly influenced the trajectory I envisioned for this project. I aspire to architect those “magical experiences” that I have personally encountered. Hence, it’s now prominently featured as the focal point on the Minds Studio homepage, and it underscores my desire for this company to be recognized for constructing “Inspiring learning communities that make learning feel like magic.”

Technology as a tool, not an end in itself

Technology will serve as a crucial component of facilitating that “magical learning” experience. Having graduated from engineering school in 2009, I’ve spent 15 years navigating the intersection of education and technology, experiencing numerous waves of excitement along the way.

The initial wave I personally witnessed was the advent of “mobile apps” following the release of the iPhone. Subsequently, there was the rise of MOOCs, Web3, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and more. Over time, I’ve come to realize that while technologies may emerge and fade, as a practitioner, the significance lies not in the technology itself, but rather in what it empowers us to accomplish. Technology cannot—and should not—dictate the course of action; it is humans who set the direction.

Viewing various technologies as tools, similarly to physical implements, and mastering their usage by understanding their fundamental principles proves immensely beneficial. However, mastering them requires substantial effort. Otherwise, I believe our current “techno-driven” society can become indulgent and distracting rather than genuinely helpful, leading individuals to feel lost amidst the incessant noise.

Not AI, just a good old routine

Each workday, I sit before a notepad and pose a simple question to myself: “What did I accomplish yesterday, and what tasks lie ahead for today?”. I’ve repeated this routine over 1000 times now. Some days yield only a few words, while others result in more elaborate entries. This ritual provides structure and purpose to my day. It’s a habit that proves invaluable, particularly during challenging moments. The inertia of habit has propelled my progress. I urge any learner to establish such a routine and adhere to it. It’s something that AI cannot assist with.

The harsh reality is that there are no shortcuts. It’s not easy, and often, it’s not enjoyable. I’ve endured many silent days, many solitary days devoid of the excitement and camaraderie found in an office environment. I’ve questioned the point and relevance of my efforts numerous times.

The answer has always been simply: “I care about this work.” This internal conviction has remained a foundational principle throughout my professional journey, and I’m still committed to it.

The path ahead

Having weathered a pandemic, experienced setbacks, and navigated through unexpected challenges over the past 5 years, I’m cautious about envisioning the next 5 years. We may face financial struggles and close doors this year, or we may still be thriving in 20 years. Only time will tell.

Nevertheless, I’m inclined to make my intentions public and allow the universe to conspire in their realization:

I aim for Minds Studio to emerge as a go-to brand for constructing learner-led communities grounded in the science of learning research. If I were to quantify it, I envision serving over 100 clients across 30 countries by the 10th year.
I aspire for the internal Minds Studio community to evolve into a space where educators, learning experience designers, and technologists congregate and support one another, particularly during challenging times. I aim for the Minds Network community to surpass 1,000 members.
I hope for Minds Studio to develop at least one new learning product and establish one hybrid school that evokes a sense of magic and fills us with pride.
I strive for Minds Studio to identify a clear market fit and secure robust financing from its community (ensuring a runway of more than 5 years) by the 10th year. I target achieving $2.5M in Annual Recurring Revenue by year 10.
I envision more than 50% of the studio’s projects dedicated to learners currently excluded or at risk of exclusion in society.

To the next 5 years 🥂,

Álvaro Sanmartín Cid

Celebrating Minds Studio’s 4th Anniversary

While the third year the Studio enjoyed the momentum and energy of the EdTech industry, the fourth brought the turbulence and the headwinds. This is an overdue review of how we adjusted to the changes in the environment during the last few months, including the new products and initiatives, as well as the updated planning for 2023:

What we worked on during 2022

Last year, challenges appeared on many fronts, so it was a time to go back to the core of what the Studio stands for. Building inspiring learning experiences has always been at the heart of why Minds Studio exists, so I decided to revisit the company’s purpose, and make it public. We put in place a new strategy to make it clearer what we do to build inspiring learning communities, and specified the key pillars that exist at the base of what we are building: meaningful learning, community driven, sustainable tech and equality at the core.

In line with that, I decided to invite a few professionals aligned with the Studio’s purpose to join the Minds Studio Network. This is an online space for learning designers, experience designers, architects, engineers, teachers, creatives, tech makers who are not satisfied with the current status quo. I envisioned this network as a “digital EdTech talent village” for those of us who are curious to learn new skills and strive for improvement. Here we share resources, knowledge, research, business opportunities, and generally we help each other grow while enjoying the journey together. If that sounds like you, reach out through the form you’ll find here.

In terms of business, I am glad to say that, after a challenging year, Minds Studio grew its YOY revenue 21% vs the year before, and we increased the number of clients from 7 to 10, being 50% recurrent, long term partnerships. We are currently working with companies in the UK ??, the US ??, France ??, Spain ??, Kenya ??, Singapore ?? and China ??.

Profitability decreased last year though, due to sudden changes in our clients’ businesses and general uncertainty in the market, but I am proud to say Minds Studio has managed to stay profitable since its birth in 2019.

These are some of the highlights of the last year’s work:

Research projects

We worked on 3 different research projects during 2022:

UNIR, part of the PROEDUCA Group, is a pioneering project in higher education. Born as a Spanish Online University, it counts now with +50,000 students from +90 Countries and presence in the United States, Spain, México, Perú, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala.

As part of the project Universidad 2023 – Starting Up Universities, we have identified and provided an in-depth analysis of 6 projects challenging the status-quo in higher education.

Learn More

Portal Schools is an intentionally diverse community committed to offering students engaging, relevant and personalized learning experiences, while reimagining the traditional model of high school and providing key elements for lifelong success.

As part of Portals’ career connected learning, we have designed a challenge for their students called “Cool schools”. The goal is to identify the elements of what makes a great school “cool” for their students. As part of this research, Portal’s students will start using design thinking and entrepreneurship tools to develop and present solutions, documenting their journeys along the way.

Learn More

MasterD is the leading vocational education provider in Spain and Portugal, providing over 280 courses to more than 50,000 learners annually. MasterD is part of the KKR Group from 2020.

At Minds Studio, we worked with the MasterD and KKR leadership teams on designing and implementing a market research to explore different EdTech business options on their international expansion.

Learn More

Learning Communities – for children

In the last year, we have worked with the following companies to help them build inspiring and engaging learning communities:

Kubrio is an alternative school combining 18+ weekly live clubs, 3+ weekly live bootcamps, and 50+ on-demand nano courses, designed to help your children find their superpowers, and get them ready to become future makers and creators.

Kubrio went through a major transformation in 2022. Its learning model, brand and team went through changes, and we were glad to contribute towards building their InspirEd by Kubrio initiative.

Learn More

Doyobi helps kids master English language skills by applying listening, reading, writing, speaking and critical thinking in the context of quests focused on different forms of literacies. Students learn 21st century skills while taking part in different adventures in the metaverse.

Minds Studio helped doyobi design and build the first version of Sharpening Minds, a parent community formed to explore and discuss how we can equip our kids for a digital future. Some of the topics discussed here are: positive screen time, online communication, gaming platforms, as well as general topics such as web3 and A.I. and how they impact our children’s education.

Learn More

Learning Communities – for teens

Purpose in Motion (PIM) empowers young people with the education, resources, and networks to become mission-driven leaders and effective changemakers.

The Seeds For The Future – Tech 4 Good program consists of an 8-day intensive program that helps university students ideate and structure tech-based solutions to local social problems. At the end of the year, students participate at a global competition to choose the projects with more potential.

At the Studio, we have evaluated and provided feedback and mentoring tech-based projects from Mozambique, Armenia, Albania, Zambia, Cyprus, Singapore, Colombia, Bahrain, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay… and helped them iterate their prototypes towards their annual competition.

Learn More

Minerva University, a not-for-profit liberal arts university, offering a reinvented undergraduate and graduate experience for bright and motivated students from over 80 countries. Minerva’s undergraduate offering combines an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on developing and applying transferable skills; the highest academic standards; an accomplished faculty versed in the science of learning; a global, urban residential experience that traverses seven countries; and an online active learning environment, that together, result in deep and long-lasting learning.

At Minds Studio, we have been working on designing an immersive learning experience in London, in collaboration with four different partners. Over the last few years, we have also contributed towards the creation of a global university partners network.

Learn More

Professional Learning Communities

Software Engineers

Andela specialises in helping the highly-skilled, global technology talent community in emerging markets, to connect with hundreds of leading companies around the world. Andela’s mission is to connect brilliance with opportunity.

At Minds Studio, we have been working to develop new EdTech user research, products and services for their growing +100,000 software engineer community irrespective of race, gender, and geography.

Learn More

Data Scientists

Bitfount is a platform for distributed data science. They power deep data collaborations without data sharing, using a secure distributed environment.

At Minds Studio, we helped them design and start building a community of data scientists, custodians and researchers using sensitive data who come together to learn how to unlock its full value.

Learn More

Aesthetes

Aesthetic Intelligence Labs offers a host of services for corporate clients and individuals to help them harness the power of their senses, refine their taste levels, and apply them to building brands that stand out, careers that thrive, and businesses that last.

Aesthetic Businesses that don’t just sell goods or services that meet the needs of their customers; but they create experiences, memories and connections that last.

Minds Studio has been working since 2021 with its leadership team to provide guidance and support in the creation of a learning community supported by the appropriate tech tools. In 2022, we have completely automated the onboarding and offboarding customer flows into a new modern learning tech stack.

Learn More

EdTech Garage is the network for early-stage European EdTech startups. A non-profit to help startup builders in the idea stage & founders in pre-seed/seed stage get a support network to scale faster.

Minds Studio is working with EdTech Garage on both strategic and operational levels, supporting the design and implementation of existing and new initiatives to serve the community of European EdTech founders.

Learn More

Plans for 2023

We are currently on track to beat any previous forecast, despite the difficult economic situation that is threatening many markets we operate in. This year is going to be about strengthening at different levels. In particular:

We want to strengthen the learning communities we are building to create an inclusive and diverse society, instead of increasing inequality by only providing high quality education to those who are already privileged.
We are going to grow the network of talented and reliable partners to +100 people. We want to build the future of education together, understanding that it is not a zero sum game, but a collaborative endeavor that will raise the tide for all of us.
We want to strengthen the range and scope of projects geographically (Currently in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia ).
We want to continue increasing the amount of collaborations in terms of research, publishing our findings regularly and through multiple channels.

I look forward to continuing the journey surrounded by curious minds.

Alvaro

Founder @Minds Studio

Exploring what makes schools cool with a community of students @Portalschools

“My school is cool” is something we would love to hear from every kid. We are currently far from that, and at Minds Studio we have decided to dig deeper into the elements and dynamics of schools that motivate students the most.

The goal of this research project is to showcase the best practices we can find in the industry -according to the students- so we can understand a bit better what the students of the current teenage generation are excited to learn.

Why Portal Schools

Portals Schools is an intentionally diverse community committed to offering students engaging, relevant and personalized learning experiences, while reimagining the traditional model of high school and providing key elements for lifelong success.

Their educational model emphasizes the concurrent attainment of a high school diploma and a college degree within a real world learning environment. Portal’s campuses are shared with partnering corporations, giving students the opportunity to dive into exciting, hands-on internships, and obtain a diverse range of invaluable learning experiences. Their first campus is housed at Belkin International, in Los Angeles.

Portals Microschools

Portals microschools, which house no more than 60 students per campus, are places where student voices are heard and each individual is valued. Students have ample opportunities to develop their passions and purpose within our community and in the world at large through personalized learning pathways that support them academically, socially and emotionally.

Learn More about Portals

Career connected learning

Career Connected Learning prepares students for their next steps in life and career by combining professional exploration and experience across sectors with personal self-awareness and discovery. It is integrated across the Portal learning experience, from work with professional partners to studio and individual work to advisory and portfolio.

Portal places students in an authentic work environment, providing them regular chances to engage with various roles and departments in the real world workforce. Each student’s career experience is personalized to their interests and career goals. Students have the opportunity to wear many hats and “fail forward,” so that they make more informed decisions about where to dive deep, and what their next steps should be.

The partnership with Minds Studio

Portals is partnering with 12 companies to practice complex problem solving & gain insight on professional practice. At Minds Studio, we have designed a challenge for their students so they start using design thinking and entrepreneurship tools to develop and present solutions, documenting their journeys along the way.

The project brief

Context: Education is universally agreed as one of the most important investments a society can make in its own success. Yet, innovation in the both US education sector and globally is woefully behind many other sectors. There are a number of reasons for this, from outdated ideas, bureaucracy and bad policy to credentialing, talent and socioeconomic disparity.

According to many experts, here are just a few ways education can improve: first, by empowering students to have more agency in their education and design schools around their needs; second, by sharing best practices and ideas from these schools and students; and third, by helping students do more real world learning in collaboration with companies and communities. To that end, Minds Studio “researches, designs and implements learning experiences in collaboration with fearless companies”

Problem: The lack of awareness of existing great schools, and lack of understanding about what great schools can be, hinder innovation efforts. This is true for all stakeholders, but students especially, who are far too often removed from the school design process itself.

Why: Too many schools are bad, boring, or both. But they don’t have to be. Nor does academic rigor or reputation correspond with student happiness and engagement. This means that very few schools are actually cool; and way too many students are unhappy and underserved. Most people have such a narrow conception of school (often based on their own experience and that of close friends) that we cannot think bigger, nevermind try or build new options.

Minds Studio is addressing this problem by developing new products, school models, and collaborations to redefine schools as learning communities. Portal students are a part of this movement and have the potential to make an impact.

Challenge: It’s clear we need more Cool Schools. It’s a massive, generational challenge. One of the key needs is to get students more involved in the process. That starts with understanding what students want and need and which schools are actually delivering. Students will undertake an R&D project to identify precisely that.

The deliverable

This deliverable will be published on the MS website and other potential partners’ publications, and shopped to Minds Studio’s list of clients to build a global project with the students’ insights at heart. It will consist of:

A review the top 10 schools shortlisted by the Minds Studio Network according to 5 different criteria set in advance by the students & Minds Studio.
A set of recommendations to each of the schools shortlisted, after interviewing different stakeholders of the shortlisted schools. What are the highs and lows of these cool schools? What is the student experience like?

The timeframe

This project kickstarted on the 10th of January, and it will run for 4 weeks. If you are interested in participating do not hesitate to reach out to Minds Studio.

Growing the European EdTech Startups community with EdTech Garage

At Minds Studio we welcome EdTech Garage to the family of companies building the future of education and technology. This is a very special project for us because it aims to grow the EdTech ecosystem as a whole instead of just one product.

What is EdTech Garage?

EdTech Garage is a non-profit helping startup builders in the idea stage & founders in pre-seed/seed stage within K12, higher education, corporate education and lifelong learning.

What does EdTech Garage offer?

Mainly, a community of +100 early stage founders who are going through similar situations, in different parts of Europe. Some of the activities that are currently taking place at the EdTech garage are:

?? Member Community & Network

Introductions to other EdTech startups in Europe with the goal of learning and growing together.

? Founders Matchmaking

Access to other EdTech companies’ founders and pitch decks, curated by the EdTech Garage team.

? Meetups across Europe

Regular in-person and online events on a wide range of topics relevant to EdTech founders.

??‍? Resources & Founder Tracks

Curated resources on funding, internationalization and a directory of the incubators, accelerators, VCs, newsletters, etc.

How is Minds Studio going to be helping EdTech Garage?

In summary, we have been part of the EdTech Garage community for some time, and we believe we can enhance and empower it working together. We will be working on:

?‍?‍?‍? Growing the EdTech Garage family providing relevant content

??‍? Design new learning activities and events to bring people together

? Build strategic alliances with other EdTech networks and Partners

How can people join the network?

It is quite easy. Just visit the EdTech Garage website and fill out the application. This is a paid -but affordable- founders community, but if you want to try it out with a discounted fee, please fill out the your contact details below and we will be in touch with a membership discount 😉

Building learning communities with low time preference

It is Black Friday, and I believe that is the perfect day to share my understanding of the concept “of “low time preference”, and how this principle can be used while building a community…or anything else, really.

What is time preference?

In economics, time preference is the current relative valuation placed on receiving a good or some cash at an earlier date compared with receiving it at a later date^*1. In other words, it measures how patient you are to get results out of your efforts or your money.

A practical example: Jim and Bob go out for a drink but Jim has no money so Bob lends Jim $10. The next day Jim visits Bob and says, “Bob, you can have $10 now, or I will give you $15 when I get paid at the end of the month.” Bob’s time preference will change depending on his trust in Jim, whether he needs the money now, or if he thinks he can wait; or if he’d prefer to have $15 at the end of the month rather than $10 now.

Black Friday is peak high preference. Every business and individual is trying to maximise returns of their investments today. When the macroeconomic environment is unstable, the amount of high preference decisions increases. Everyone is trying to sell as much as possible and get profits, fast.

What is low time preference?

Low time preference, instead, is about building for the long run independently of the current circumstances. Instead of maximising the return of the investment today, it is about maximising the value generated in the future.

Yes, that is hard.

We can find examples of low time preference projects in all trades. One of my favourite low time preference projects is the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona. Construction started in 1882 led by Antonio Gaudí, and is still unfinished (!). “My client is not in a hurry.” he said about a project that he probably knew he would not see finished in his lifetime. This construction currently attracts 5 million visitors, generating 17M € in revenue annually.

The roof of the *Sagrada Familia* seen from the inside.

Every day we face high time vs low time preference choices. Fast food or home cooked meals? Social media or reading a book? Going for a drink or going for a run? Your physical and mental health will be affected by each of those micro-decisions. Like it or not.

Not only our personal life is affected by high vs low time preference. At work, it is up to you to build long term relationships or quick transactional deals. We can build for an economy of hire fast and fire faster, or we can invest in growing something strong together. We can take strategic decisions looking at this quarter’s results, or at the company’s mission. It is always the same principle at play. Simon Sinek calls it The Infinite Game:

Low time preference education

Education doesn’t escape the high time preference vs low time preference principle. Studying the last day for an exam, trying to pass without thinking about absorbing knowledge or skills, is a high time preference decision.

However, when we look at it in depth, any valuable skill builds up on a low time preference process. You didn’t learn to read – a skill you practise every day- with a “0 to hero” course. It takes time. It requires a sustained effort. It meant you had to focus on a specific task repeatedly, many days, without noticing much progress each time. Low time preference at its best.

As a product, I believe education is one of the lowest time preference options you can choose in life. In buying a car, the benefits are perceived instantly. However, in purchasing a “second language course”, the benefits will be only felt after sustained effort, whenever we need to use that language in the future.

Low time preference at the Studio

At Minds Studio, I am determined to build a low time preference business with people who are aligned to this principle. This means we would like to invest in long lasting relationships with our clients and employees, build sustainable business models, and long lasting learning experiences.

When building a learning community, the temptation is to cut corners. Using money to artificially provide an illusion of engagement, “magical results” and hoping that big promises will generate an “explosion” of growth. On the contrary, the low time preference approach of growing a strong base of appreciated members who trust each other to grow together is generally seen as “not fast enough”. We work with businesses and individuals who understand that building for the long term means to grow slower but stronger.

If any of these principles resonate with you, please do not hesitate to leave your contact details here so we can have a -low time preference- chat about the community you are building.

^*1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_preference

Holon IQ Global Community – Future of Education and Workforce

HolonIQ is a global impact intelligence platform for innovative education technology companies. Started in 2018, the company has developed a brilliant tool to analyse and generate insights from a vast array of impact market data.

At Minds Studio we had the opportunity to review the platform in depth and our minds were blown away. We have suggested it to some of our clients for the analysis of business opportunities and potential partnerships or expansions.

One of the Holon IQ maps published on their website

This Australian company has also created relevant industry insights using their own technology. Some examples of it are the “Global Learning Landscape“, “Edtech Unicorns“, “Education in 2030“and other regional charts displaying the most promising Ed-tech companies in the industry.

But HolonIQ is not just willing to provide an outstanding technology, it is also heavily investing in building a strong global community. The company is hosting 12 in-person events (New York, Bengaluru, Berlin, Cairo, Jakarta, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Paris, Singapore and Stockholm) and 3 virtual summits (Africa, East Asia and Middle East) about the future of Education -recently adding Climate Tech and Healthcare-.

HolonIQ’s Future of Education and Workforce track

At Minds Studio, we are excited to be joining the “Future of education and workforce” track, happening in London, on the 16th of November, 2022. If you are interested in joining us, you can find more information here. This is the summit brief:

“Imagining a world where everyone of earth has equal access to the future.

Education, training and the world of work have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of digital will be core to the future of learning – from early childhood, K12, higher education through to workforce upskilling.

We are seeing full spectrum innovation from digital content, online learning, advanced technology from AI to robotics and, web3 to the metaverse into language learning, tutoring, assessment, up-skilling and beyond.

Capital for innovation is flowing into the sector as traditional education systems urgently seek digital solutions right across the learner lifecycle and new models, approaches and solutions emerge to build new competitive landscapes.”

If you are attending the London summit and you’d like to connect with us, please use the following form:

Purpose In Motion – Tech4good learning community focused on investigating and solving social problems

Minds Studio has been collaborating during the last 2 years with Purpose in Motion, an organisation based in Hong Kong and with wide reach in China. This organisation empowers young people with education, resources, and networks to become mission-driven leaders and effective changemakers.

PIM’s vision to build a sustainable and equitable future where everyone can unlock their full potential and discover joy in their social purpose resonates with us, and we decided to step up and help their team with their Tech4Good challenge.

The program consists of an 8-day intensive program that helps university students ideate and structure tech-based solutions to local social problems. At the Studio, we have evaluated and provided feedback to projects from Mozambique, Armenia, Albania, Zambia, Cyprus, Singapore, Colombia, Bahrain, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay… and we felt welcome in the truly global community that PIM has built during the last few years.

The Purpose In Motion learning community

If you are interested in helping STEM university students build their own startup projects to address social and environmental problems, PIM is continuously looking for mentors and judges to continue running their global program. You can check all the information HERE. The results of the PIM initiatives speak by themselves:

Results of PIM’s programs according to their website

But the Tech4Good program is not the only one at PIM. These are some other examples of the kind of partners they are working with to build socially responsible learning communities:

Goalkeepers is an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that brings together emerging and established leaders from around the world to accelerate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2019, PIM conducted a call for proposals and evaluated various projects from Goalkeepers across China, aimed at enhancing communication and advocacy of SDGs, while empowering young people to catalyze action and collaboration. Selected projects will be awarded funding totaling 1 million RMB.

Yenching Academy is a Master’s program in China studies with an emphasis on interdisciplinary, designed to draw upon diverse viewpoints to explore issues related to contemporary Chinese society and culture. With a mission to cultivate mission-driven leaders, PIM’s Impact Lab at Yenching Academy matches Yenching Scholars in teams with non-profits and social enterprises. Working closely with local entrepreneurs as mentors, scholars explore local issues, and learn about effective social impact before deciding how to make the greatest impact with funding and/or pro-bono support.

You can find more initiatives and case-studies HERE. We were impressed in the last couple years by the PIM’s team and organisation, and we would like to continue supporting their growth and reach. Thank you for trusting Minds Studio in your journey!