Head of Learning Collaborations | K12 Lab | Stanford d.school

Ariel Raz designs learning experiences that inspire educators to engage in creative work.  He currently works as Head of Learning Collaborations at Stanford University’s d.school and holds the title of lecturer at the School of Engineering. In the past he wore a number of hats in the realm of education, from college tutor to Teach for America classroom teacher to school founder at KIPP Bloom, a middle school in the Chicago Southside. Ariel holds a BA in Film & Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and an MA in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford University.

Two days before launching a falafel truck with his best friend, Ariel hastily chose to join Teach for America and left his life in the Bay Area for adventures in the Bayou State.  With dreams of working in the food industry put on pause, he turned his attention to teaching math to a rambunctious crew of middle schoolers in St. Bernard Parish. They taught him Zydeco dance moves and how to eat crawfish; he taught them fractions and algebra using a game or two.

The Bayou adventure led Ariel to Chicago, where he helped open a charter school in the South Side. Equipped with more chromebooks and iPads than hands to carry them, Ariel was curious to come up with ways to get the most out of the latest and greatest technological tools. That led him to the Stanford School of Education, where he studied Learning, Design & Technology. While there he developed a project called iCanGo, a story building tool for parents of children who are on the Autism spectrum.

Through an internship with the K12 Lab Network, Ariel’s was inspired to explore the intersection of design thinking in K12 education. As a Head of Learning Collaborations for the K12 wing in the Stanford d.school, he now spends countless hours dreaming up ways to inspire new teachers.