TEDx — Above — How we learn: shots from TEDxPuraVidaED,...

Above — How we learn: shots from TEDxPuraVidaED, the event held in San Jose, CR dedicated to changing the face of Costa Rican education.

“Costa Rica has a long tradition of investing in education,” said TEDxPuraVidaED co-organizer Eleonora Badilla Saxe. “Education [is] highly appreciated by all sectors of our society.” It only seemed natural to dedicate a TEDx event to the subject.

“The new demands of the new generations and the new digital technology are placing huge demands on education. There is a general [interest in] how to bring innovation to education, but a lot of confusion on how to do it,” said Eleonora. “Sharing ideas about innovation in learning was very appealing in general.”

So, for a full day, interested Costa Ricans listened to ideas about how to do just that, and proposals for what it would take to get it done — from teachers, students, and education experts of all kinds.

And in the end, it all came down to the belief in the power of change. If there was anything orgranizer hoped attendees would take away from the event, said Eleonora, it was: “Innovation in education is possible and it is NOT doing better what we already do. It is thinking different.”