Name: Can Open Technology and AI Power a Global STEAM Educator Network for Under-Resourced Communities?
Start: 2026-10-09T16:15:00-0400
End: 2026-10-09T16:30:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.

Can Open Technology and AI Power a Global STEAM Educator Network for Under-Resourced Communities?

Friday October 9, 2026 4:15pm - 4:30pm EDT

Video

ID: 33850

A teacher in rural India working on a low-bandwidth mobile phone, with limited infrastructure, multilingual needs, large class sizes, and complex pedagogical demands to navigate, integrating STEAM smoothly and effectively is a real challenge. And she is not alone. What does it take to build an open STEAM educator network that can not only survive, but truly thrive in under-resourced communities around the world?We have powerful examples to learn from. Fab Labs have built a globally distributed community of practice around making and STEAM, establishing thousands of centers across hundreds of countries and democratizing access to digital fabrication tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters. On the other hand, India’s Atal Tinkering Mission has set up thousands of open learning makerspaces in schools, where children learn to tinker, experiment, and solve real-world problems through structured programs. Both initiatives have demonstrated impact on students’ STEAM learning, innovation, and entrepreneurial skills.Yet common challenges persist: sustaining these spaces, building strong support networks, developing skills to operate and maintain equipment, ensuring access to resources at both individual and institutional levels, managing operational logistics, and integrating pedagogy into the curriculum. As a result, these models remain difficult to replicate or scale in under-resourced contexts where resources are scarce, teacher capacity is limited, and infrastructure is unreliable.Can open technology and AI change that equation?This session presents both the wins and challenges from existing networks and how these learnings are being used to build a proof of concept: ZubHub for Educators. ZubHub is an open-source, facilitation-first platform designed for under-resourced contexts: a community-driven tool for teaching creative, STEAM, and activity-based learning. It aspires to support an open STEAM educator network that can be scaled and sustained.ZubHub features low-cost activity alternatives, making hands-on learning possible even with limited resources. Its multilingual design includes AI-assisted translation for diverse language contexts. An AI-assisted content creation feature helps educators document and structure activities for reuse and sharing. A dedicated facilitation mode allows educators to enter a “teaching mode,” with built-in time tracking and community note-taking. Engagement tracking across sessions and resources helps surface widely used activities, encouraging adoption and inspiring more educators to facilitate them.Through this session, we’ll invite participants to reflect on how they would actively use ZubHub as educators for facilitating sessions, creating and adapting content, and engaging with communities. How might it fit into day-to-day teaching practice? How could its design support building open STEAM networks in local, regional, or global contexts? What would they change or adapt?Participants will leave with concrete ideas and practical starting points for using and shaping tools like ZubHub to build open, scalable, and sustainable STEAM educator networks.

Speakers

Srishti Sethi

Co-founder, Unstructured Studio

Srishti Sethi has worked in open education for over a decade through the design, development, and advocacy of open-source educational tools. She is co-founder of Unstructured Studio, a not-for-profit working with children and educators in rural India and other under-resourced contexts... Read More →

Friday October 9, 2026 4:15pm - 4:30pm EDT
Video

Lightning Talk (View Anytime)

Speaker Modality Online
Track Exploring Emergent Technologies and the Future of Openness

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OEGlobal 2026

Srishti Sethi

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OEGlobal 2026

Srishti Sethi

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