Learnovate's Inside Learning podcast featured X in a Box CEO and Co-founder Elyse Klaidman! Elyse was excited to be interviewed by award-winning workshop and keynote speaker, change consultant, and podcast host Aidan McCullen.
Aidan began the podcast by asking Elyse to speak about her early life. She talked about how her lifelong love of art and teaching started at a young age and shared an anecdote about the first time she combined these passions at the age of 11. She and her best friend offered a summer art class to young children in order to fund a trip to visit her friend’s grandparents.
Elyse shared her career path and described the many different work experiences that have led to where she is now. Going from a teaching assistant creating historical art exhibitions, to working in an art gallery and teaching “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, which lead to her meeting a “nerdy engineering guy” who turned out to be Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios (former president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios), and her 22 years at Pixar Animation Studios as a creative director and her pivotal role in forming Pixar University.
The podcast discussion touched on the growing demand for alternative education paths such as project-based virtual apprenticeships, the importance of storytelling in learning, and the innovative ways to make education more inclusive and impactful.
Elyse also highlighted the work she and Tony DeRose accomplished at Pixar. They collaborated on various projects including Pixar in a Box and the travelling exhibition called “The Science Behind Pixar” which is still travelling worldwide. Tony and Elyse met Brit Cruise while working on Pixar in a Box, the collaboration between Pixar Animation Studios and Khan Academy, which was sponsored by Disney, which led to the development of X in a Box and its flagship program, Story Xperiential. The emphasis was on the significance of integrating creative, project-based learning methods in today's educational systems to equip students for the ever changing landscape of the future.
The vision the X in a Box team has for the company is to fill the gap in education by providing experiential learning opportunities to people worldwide from various economic and cultural backgrounds, giving them a glimpse into animation, entrepreneurship, gaming, robotics, media, and more, and providing them with a community that will foster creativity, ingenuity and collaboration.
Tune in for insights on the future of education, creativity, and innovation:https://learnovate.podbean.com/e/exploring-experiential-learning-with-elyse-klaidman/
About Learnovate
Learnovate provides thought leadership to the world’s learning and development community on the innovative use of learning technology for maximum organization success now and in the future. Discover more about Learnovate: https://www.learnovatecentre.org/
About Aidan McCullen
Host Aidan McCullen, is an award-winning workshop and keynote speaker, change consultant, board director and lecturer at Trinity College Dublin. He is also the host and founder of the Global Innovation Show, which boasts Bill Gates as a listener and advocate and features on Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ and the only English-speaking show on Finland’s Business FM.
Connect with Aidan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanmccullen/