Overview
The K12 Lab aims to obliterate opportunity gaps in elementary and secondary education by designing new, more equitable models and sharing design approaches with students + educators.
The Lab serves as a catalyst for creative confidence in K-12 education through:
Workshops, events, and resources for K-12 educators all over the world.
Experiments with new educational models.
Courses and other learning experiences for the Stanford community.
Learn more about each of these strands of our work below!
Workshops, events, and resources for K-12 educators
The K12 Lab designs professional development experiences that inspire educators and set them on a journey to creatively engage with their students, content, school, and community. Through experiences, resources, and tools, we are constantly developing ways to build the creative confidence of educators.
We teach teachers in the ways they are now being asked to teach – in immersive real-world projects and experiences where creative problem-solving matters most. Since doing beats talking about doing, we embrace jumping into new, invigorating experiences. Sure, there’s some initial discomfort, but the reward becomes clear as educators stretch beyond their comfort zone to pick up new skills and mindsets.
Design at your School
Bring the K12 Lab to your school or organization.
Get Rep!
Our award-winning magazine dedicated to cultivating equitable designers of emerging technology
Experiments in K-12 Education
Designers on our team and in the K12 Lab network bring creative mindsets and a bias-to-action to tackle big challenges, make new experiments happen, and share our learning with our communities to catalyze change.
Click here to read about design challenges we’ve recently tackled.
K12 Lab Experiments
Check out our active explorations of new approaches to challenges and opportunities in K-12 education.
Stanford courses
The K12 Lab offers full quarter courses and pop out experiences for the Stanford community to explore the potential of design in the sectors of elementary and secondary education.
Team Members
Susie Chang
Program Manager, Designing for Social Systems & K12 Lab Network
Laura McBain
K12 Lab Director of Community and Implementation
Ariam Mogos
Emerging Tech Lead
Louie Montoya
Designer in Residence, K12 Lab Network
Ariel Raz
Head of Learning Collaborations, K12 Lab Network
sam seidel
K12 Lab Director of Strategy + Research
Latest Updates
K12 Lab Opportunities
Read moreGet Answers
Can I connect with the K12 Lab?
Yes! We love connecting with educators, innovators and other individuals and groups interested in the education innovation space. Below are some ways to get in touch:
Subscribe to our mailing list: All of our offerings are announced in our monthly network email, as well as stories from the field.
Come to office hours: We hold office hours on Mondays weekly from 3:30-5:30. To reserve a spot please mail k12@dschool.stanford.edu with the subject title Office Hours.
Tour the d.school: We offer tours of the d.school for educators and students once a month. If you’d like to join an upcoming tour check the schedule here.
Connect on social media: The K12 Lab Network maintains an active Instagram account, Facebook page, and Twitter account. Check out #DTK12chat, a weekly Twitter chat on design thinking in K-12 education, held on Wednesdays from 6-7 PM PST.
What kinds of professional development does the K12 Lab Network offer?
School Retool is a professional development fellowship that helps school leaders redesign their school’s culture using small, scrappy experiments called “hacks.” Hacks may start small, but they’re built on research-based practices that lead to Deeper Learning, and can create the kind of big changes school leaders strive to create.
Discover Design Thinking workshops are 3-day deep-dives in the process. Educators have a chance to practice design thinking as well as determine how to bring this practice home to their local context.
Design Thinking Deep Dives are fee-based collaborations with schools, organizations, and districts to design a context-specific challenge frame. This experience can take place at the d.school or on location. To learn more email k12@dschool.stanford.edu with the title Deep Dive.
Can the K12 Lab come to my school or organization?
Since we operate as a part of Stanford and are located in the Bay Area, most of our offerings are clustered around the region, including San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Oakland. We do occasionally offer programs in other areas. If you’re interested in pursuing such an opportunity, to learn more email k12@dschool.stanford.edu.
How can I find other educators who are using DT in their work?
There are lots of educators doing great things with design thinking in their schools and organizations across the globe. To find other like-minded design thinkers, you can:
• Follow us on Twitter @k12lab, and join the #DTK12chat on Wednesdays from 6-7 PM PST
• Join our Facebook group of educators
• Sign up for our network email to see what’s happening in the world of #DTK12