Growth Series
There is growing demand for learning that provides the skills needed to thrive in today’s rapidly changing world.
Join the inspired network of innovative educators credentialed through Idea51’s Growth Series to empower learning connected to the real-world.
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Become certified to coach Living in Beta, One Stone’s innovative wayfinding program, that empowers students to explore their passions, drive their learning, and develop tools to live with purpose.
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Uncover new ideas, disrupt for good, and learn and practice critical 21st century skills. Engage your learners in real-world problem solving by implementing a human-centered design program at your organization.
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To thrive in the real-world, students must learn in the real-world. Connect learning to communities to create meaningful opportunities for your students to grow in critical 21st century skills.
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Our growth-based learning tools empower you to assess and validate a wide-range of hard-to-measure 21st-century skills. For organizations implementing the Growth Framework — including the BLOB (Bold Learning Objectives), Growth Transcript, and/or SmartCoach — we offer this series on growth-based assessment in practice.
With Idea51, your growth is:
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Credential-Based
Micro-credentials offered in wayfinding mentorship, student-driven learning, human-centered design, growth-based assessment, and community-based learning.
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Customizable
All Growth Series can be customized for specific audiences.
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Accessible
Hybrid online workshops, including asynchronous readings, online learning modules, and synchronous virtual meetings.
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Community-Bolstered
Growth Series participants are invited to join the Growth Network, a virtual community of educators and leaders working to connect learning and the real world.
Wayfinding Mentorship Program
Grow in: student-driven learning; purpose-driven learning
Students are disengaged and not growing the skills they need to thrive in our rapidly changing world. One Stone’s innovative wayfinding program, Living in Beta, empowers students to explore their passions, drive their learning, and develop tools to live with purpose. Inspired by the term “beta testing,” used to describe the process of improving a product through continuous iteration, Living in Beta inspires students to embrace opportunities to test new ideas, learn from experience, and find ownership and meaning in their learning. As a cohort, we will engage in rich reflective discussions, learn by doing, and share stories of transformation as we embark on a journey to become inspirational guides in our students’ learning journey.
The Level I and Level II Wayfinding Mentorship series prepare you to facilitate the Living in Beta program with students at your organization.
The program utilizes a blended approach, combining asynchronous, on-line learning with bi-weekly virtual meetings.
Upon successful completion of each program, participants receive a certificate in wayfinding mentorship and a curriculum playbook for implementation of the corresponding Living in Beta student activities.
The Living in Beta program was piloted with 200+ students across the U.S. in Spring 2021. See the pilot results here, published in Getting Smart.
What People Are Saying
“This program completely reframed my idea of 'student-driven learning,' and reignited a fire in me. I feel I have a ton of tangible strategies to use right away in implementing this work and pushing it forward at my school.”
— Julia Carey, Studio Mentor, Avenues: The World School
“This Wayfinding Mentorship Program stands out as the best professional development series I have ever experienced. It has challenged me to examine myself as an individual, as a mentor, and as a leader. The design, pace, materials, cohort, and high expectations for interaction with the material and each other made it very enriching. It feels like the timing was also perfect for me, as I was kind of wandering around in the dark trying to figure out some of the very things that the training aimed to clarify, highlight, and nurture. This will be with me for a long time.”
— Susan Haws, Founder, Insight Colearning Center
“The Level 1 Wayfinding Mentorship Program was an incredibly beneficial program. Through the classes and modules I'm equipped with the knowledge to lead programming that I've been dreaming of… I felt like I found my tribe as it relates to student education.”
— Julius Cave, Founder, Provision Education Services
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Level I: Student-driven Learning
The Level I Mentorship program prepares you to mentor the first stage of the Living in Beta program, Exploration. Through exploration, students identify their passions, find ways to connect them to relevant learning and growth opportunities, and test them through real-world experiences.
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Level II: Learning & Living with Purpose
The Level II Mentorship program prepares you to mentor students through the Discovery and Purpose stages of Living in Beta, where students identify their values, empowering them to live and learn with intention. Level I Mentorship certification is a prerequisite for participating in the Level II program.
Wayfinding Mentorship Certification Program
Wayfinding Level I
March 2025: Wednesday 4pm PT/7pm ET
February 26 (Kick-Off) | March 5 | March 12 | March 19 | March 26
* Registration for March 2025 session closes on February 24
April 2025: Wednesdays 4pm PT/7pm ET
April 16 (Kick-Off) | April 23 | April 30 | May 7 | May 14
* Registration for April 2025 session closes on April 14
June 2025: Wednesdays 9am PT/12pm ET
May 28 (Kick-Off) | June 4 | June 11 | June 18 | June 25
* Registration for June 2025 session closes on May 26
August 2025: Tuesdays 4pm PT/7pm ET
July 29 (Kick-Off) | August 5 | August 12 | August 19 | August 26
* Registration for August 2025 session closes on July 27
Wayfinding Level II
August 2025: Wednesdays 4pm PT/7pm ET
July 30 (Kick-Off) | August 6 | August 13 | August 20 | August 27
* Registration for August 2025 session closes on July 28
Human-Centered Design
This course equips educators, community leaders, and designers interested in tackling complex human-centered challenges with the tools and mindsets needed to maximize the success of their teams.
What is Human-Centered Design?
A creative problem solving and innovation discovery process that is rooted in – and driven by – empathy.
Developed at Stanford University’s d.school, human centered design, also known as design thinking, upends traditional design approaches by centering the voices and experiences of end-users, making them co-creators of the opportunities and solutions generated through the process. Using human-centered design, we can uncover new ideas that allow us to disrupt for good — improving the status quo for lasting change.
Human-Centered Design for Coaches
Dates for summer 2025 to be published in April
Community-Based Learning
Grow in: place-based education; experiential service; social entrepreneurship
To thrive in the real-world, students must learn in the real-world. Connect learning to communities to create meaningful opportunities for your students to grow in critical 21st century skills.
Explore tools and strategies for expanding your learning ecosystem, including community-based asset-mapping, impact analysis, experiential service, and social entrepreneurship.
Create relevant opportunities for real-world learning, including work experiences, internships, job shadows, and earning industry-recognized credentials.
Dates for the Fall 2025 session will be announced shortly.
Growth-Based Assessment in Practice
Grow in: competency-based learning and assessment
Our growth-based learning tools empower you to assess and validate a wide-range of hard-to-measure 21st-century skills. For organizations implementing the Growth Framework – including the BLOB (Bold Learning Objectives), Growth Transcript, and/or SmartCoach – we offer this series on growth-based assessment in practice.
