Greg Pardo knew he was ready for a change when he saw a job posting for a Verizon Innovative Learning STEAM Specialist in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He’d worked for 23 years at the same level in a nearby school system — as a computer science teacher, a STEM interventionist and other roles — yet was unable to work his way into administration.
“Always trying to move up, but never quite making it,” says Pardo. “It was frustrating.”
In the three years since he took that role as a STEAM Specialist at McKinley Community School in New Brunswick, he’s advanced to Supervisor of Instructional Technology for the New Brunswick School System. What helped him move up so quickly? Decades of tech education experience, natural people skills and professional training from Verizon Innovative Learning.
Pardo loves science and engineering even though he didn’t grow up in a particularly tech-savvy home. “We had one TV in my house,” he recalls with a smile. “The channel knob broke off at one point and my father fixed a vise grip to the knob. We had no remote. I was the remote.”
His grandfather, however, was intrigued by cutting edge technology, and bought a personal computer when it was still a novelty. Pardo loved programming it and playing video games. Those early lessons in coding grew into a lifelong fascination with the way machines, robots and computers work.
Today’s kids grow up in a different world. Corded telephones and cassette players have been replaced by hand-held computers. Most students have instant access to knowledge and can create otherworldly illustrations with a few screen taps. The traditional, teacher-centric classroom doesn’t click with this new generation of self-taught learners.
“They want to create their own knowledge. They want to create their information. They want to create their own learning,” says Pardo.
During his years as a STEM educator, Pardo began experimenting with student-led classrooms. Verizon Innovative Learning’s professional development sessions helped supercharge that skillset.
“Working with Verizon Innovative Learning improved my confidence as an administrator, giving me the tools really to understand how we utilize technology in a classroom setting,” says Pardo.
In the Verizon program, students complete lessons that foster problem-solving abilities. “Students are working together and the teacher is a guide on the side,” explains Pardo. “That allows the kids to collaborate, communicate, be creative and think critically. That interaction happens more organically when lessons are project-based or problem-based.”
Discussions about technology regularly extend into real-world applications. An architectural build stirs up interest in the engineering required to keep a bridge structurally secure. A virtual reality tour of Egyptian pyramids offers students — many who rarely leave New Brunswick — a chance to travel halfway around the world. Programming a rolling robot develops into questions about a career building lunar rovers.
Now, in his role as District Supervisor of Instructional Technology, Pardo shares wisdom about student-centered learning with educators throughout the New Brunswick school system, often suggesting changes in classroom methodology.
“So many of our teachers are teaching the way they were taught,” says Pardo, referring to the traditional “chalk and talk” classroom style that has been the standard for centuries. “They have a hard time letting go of that. My role has been to come in and have them release the reins a little bit.” That shift encourages the student to get more involved and increases student engagement.
Anthony Mwangi, New Brunswick Middle School Robotics teacher and Verizon Innovative Learning Lab Mentor, says Pardo has changed the way he teaches. “Mr. Pardo encourages teachers not to give students the answers, but help them work to find the solutions themselves,” says Mwangi.
Developing students’ science and engineering education isn’t always about introducing more technology in classwork, notes Pardo. The educators must utilize the most impactful elements, “supporting the students in their learning and pushing them to meet their fullest potential.”
Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.