About
I am an Educator and non-profit Executive Director from Slovakia. I have co-founded and currently lead a non-profit organization that helps teachers make STEAM subjects both more enjoyable and effective by focusing on real-world applications and problem-solving skills. I am also passionate about Project Based Learning (PBL) and am trying to implement it in the formal curriculums of primary and secondary schools. With the help of my team, we provide teachers with innovative teaching resources, hands-on activities, and professional development opportunities. I also run conferences and meetups for the Python community in Slovakia and strive to create synergies between the developer community and the teacher community.
My impact:
- 2000+ teachers trained in physical computing (BBC micro:bit) since 2018
- 1000+ schools implemented physical computing into their curriculums since 2018
- 150+ teachers, pedagogy students and mentors will undergo rigorous PBL training in 2024
Experience
Projects I lead (Lead Educator & Executive Director):
- Project Based Learning (PBL Academy) teacher development (since 2024)
- STEAM Academy for high school students (since 2024)
- BBC micro:bit & STEAM teacher development (since 2018)
- PyCon Slovakia conferences (since 2016)
Involvement in preparation of pedagogy students:
- University course: Educational Robotics and Art (collaboration with Comenius University) (external consultant 2024)
- University course: Innovative teaching methods for pedagogy students (collaboration with Comenius University) (lecturer since 2024)
Participation in projects:
- Educational project ENTER (ambassador and curriculum designer since 2020)
- Design of Slovakia's national IT curriculum @ NIVAM (team member 2021 - 2023)
- RoboCoop @ FabLab CVTI Bratislava (physical computing lecturer 2018 - 2021)
- Teachers' Digital Competencies Program @ Junior Achievement Slovakia (curriculum designer and lecturer since 2020)
- Mini Tech MBA (Python lecturer 2020)
- DASATO Academy mentoring program (mentor of high school students since 2018)
Qualifications and education:
- Aspen Young Leaders Program (Aspen Instute Central Europe) (2024)
- PBL Coaching certification by Buck Institute for Education (2024)
- PBL 101 certification by Buck Institute for Education (2023)
- Microsoft Global Training Partner Program - Minecraft Education Edition (2018)
- Nexteria Leadership Academy (2017 - 2020)
Awards:
- IT Gala - IT Person of the Year - 2nd place (2023)
- Forbes 30 under 30 (2021)
- Nexteria Award for Change (2018)
Research:
- Cápay, Martin & Kvaššayová, Nika & Bellayová, Magdaléna & Mansell, Marek & Petrík, Štefan. (2022). Programmable Hardware BBC Micro:Bit as a Tool for Developing Teacher Competencies. 1496-1501. 10.1109/EDUCON52537.2022.9766487.
- Kvaššayová, Nika & Mansell, Marek & Cápay, Martin & Bellayová, Magdaléna. (2021). The BBC micro:bit in Slovakia. 359-365. 10.1109/IDT52577.2021.9497573.
- Klimo, Mikulas & Kvaššayová, Nika & Kvassay, Miroslav & Mansell, Marek & Kleinova, Bibiana. (2021). 3D Printed Face Shield as a Help for Nursing Homes During COVID-19 Pandemic. 353-358. 10.1109/IDT52577.2021.9497533.
- Mansell, Marek & Kvaššayová, Nika & Cápay, Martin & Bellayová, Magdaléna. (2021). BBC micro:bit ako súčasť projektu ENTER (BBC micro:bit as a Part of ENTER Project). Conference: DidInfo 2021.
- Klimeková, Eva & Mansell, Marek & Miková, Karolína & Veselovská, Michaela. (2019). Case study on physical computing with NodeMCU on summer school. In Robotics in Education: Methods and Applications for Teaching and Learning (pp. 65-70). Springer International Publishing.
Talks
Sometimes I give talks about the topics I care about. Here are a few short ones.
Contact
Email:
marek.mansell@gmail.com