Pathfinders Institute
The Pathfinders Institutes is a signature professional development program for K-12 public school teachers in computer science and maker education that is hosted by the Foundation in collaboration with leading curriculum providers. It has been convened in-person, virtually during the pandemic and now offered year-round in a digital learning platform format. Come be a part of our growing community and experience the magic of Pathfinders here.
Past Pathfinders Institutes
Pathfinders Summer Institute 2024
The Pathfinders Summer Institute 2024 has successfully concluded with yet another record-breaking number of educators reached! Over 1,220 educators attended 19 virtual PDs from 16 of our trusted PD partners. This year, we offered a variety of topics from robotics to AI to accessible CS. In addition, educators were invited to attend four AI-focused webinar sessions, titled “AI Bits & Bytes” , led by experts from Infosys Ltd., Mark Cuban Foundation, and TeachAI. The recordings of these webinars are now available on-demand on the Pathfinders Online Institute.
Virtual Pathfinders Summer Institute 2023
The Foundation had a historic summer in 2023, welcoming the largest number of educators since program inception in 2018. We virtually welcomed 1,017 K-12 public school educators to 20 different PDs offered by 17 leading PD partners. Each educator participated in 40 hours of free, virtual, synchronous and asynchronous training, learning new knowledge to enhance their CS teaching in their classrooms. Educators were further supported with classroom supplies through a 2x match offer on DonorsChoose.org.
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to learn… to refresh myself, and you made that possible. Because you made that possible, I get to turn around and give that to my students.”- Jaime Barkley, Glencoe High School, Gadsen, AL.
Virtual Pathfinders Summer Institute 2022
The Foundation welcomed 570 educators at the virtual Pathfinders Summer Institute 2022, who received full scholarships to attend one of 14 virtual CS and Maker Education professional development courses offered on the Infosys Springboard/Pathfinders Online Institute from May – August 2022.
“The fact that I took these courses during the summer and plan on taking more courses through the (Pathfinders) Institute, shows my students that lifelong learning is important… it shows them the importance of education beyond the classroom.”- Kelly Parker, Pathfinders Institute alumnus
Pathfinders Summer Institute 2022 – USVI
The Infosys Foundation USA hosted the Pathfinders Summer Institute USVI in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands and the Georgia Institute of Technology - for over 60 educators from St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. They engaged in computer science and maker education curriculum from Chibitronics, BirdBrain and Micro:bit in a fun, hands-on, meaningful way. This program aimed to broaden access to digital skills while equally appreciating the unique aspects of the US Virgin Islands culture, an underrepresented group in the computer science and STEM fields. To read more, click here.
Pathfinders Summer Institute 2021
The Infosys Foundation USA hosted its fourth annual Pathfinders Summer Institute from July 18-23, 2021! This engaging virtual professional development experience brought together hundreds of K-12 public school teachers for a week of computer science and maker education.
K-12 public school teachers from 46 states, who teach across multiple disciplines, came together in our virtual classroom to build new skills to bring back to their students. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming Pathfinders Institutes and we hope to see you in our virtual classroom soon!
Pathfinders Winter Institute 2021
The Infosys Foundation USA hosted its second annual Pathfinders Winter Institute virtually, February 12-15, 2021. While it was not in-person due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was an engaging virtual professional development opportunity that engaged 279 K-12 public school computer science and maker educators from 46 states. Of the attendees, 175 teachers were completely new to computer science, and 206 were from Title 1 Schools! To gain insight about what an in-person Pathfinders Institute looks like, check out our video to the right that recaps the 2020 Pathfinders Winter Institute, which took place in Providence, RI and hosted 250 teachers from 40 states for a week of hands-on professional development in computer science and maker education.
Pathfinders Online Institute
The Pathfinders Online Institute is a dynamic online learning platform that is part of the wider Infosys Springboard initiative bringing high-quality computer science and maker ed content for K-12 students, teachers, and families. Creating an account gives free access to high-quality resources such as professional development, live webinars and instructional resources from a variety of leading content developers. In addition to providing asynchronous content, the Pathfinders Online Institute is designed to encourage community among the 15, 000+ (and growing) users of the digital learning platform.
