.png){kind=logo}
Thai Innovation Gains Global Recognition! Thai Innovations "STEAM Design Process & Starfish Maker" Make Their Mark! Selected as One of the Top 100 Global Educational Innovations by HundrED
- Starfish Education
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Global Success for Thai Education: Starfish Education!
Starfish Education announces the monumental success of its innovation, "STEAM Design Process & Starfish Maker," which has been selected for the HundrED Global Collection, compiling 100 of the world’s leading educational innovations.
This achievement is not just a source of pride for Thailand, but also reinforces the tangible positive impact it is creating in unlocking the learning potential of Thai students and teachers. The innovation has been implemented in over 400 schools, positively affecting and creating learning spaces for skill development for more than 60,000 students nationwide. This has resulted in measurable transformation and serves as an inspiration for the international education community.
The Impact of "STEAM Design Process & Starfish Maker"
The innovation "STEAM Design Process & Starfish Maker" was praised by the HundrED expert committee as an innovation that can be adapted to solve educational challenges sustainably.
The real impact is the transformation of the learning model in participating schools across Thailand, from urban areas to remote regions. Specifically, it has successfully elevated 21st-Century skills such as Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Creativity.
Where learning was previously confined to textbooks and classrooms, this innovation has:
Transformed teachers into Facilitators.
Transformed students into Problem Solvers who can apply knowledge to create practical works that benefit real life and the community.
The recognition from HundrED, therefore, serves as proof of the power of the concept that "meaningful learning" does not depend on high budgets, but on the right process that emphasizes hands-on application (learning by doing).
Empowering Students with Future Skills
The STEAM Design Process has intellectually equipped students in over 400 schools across Thailand with future-ready skills through low-resource, hands-on Maker Education.
This innovation promotes:
Critical Thinking
Creativity
Problem-Solving
Innovation
Social and Emotional Learning
By doing so, it ensures accessibility and equity, providing meaningful learning opportunities for every child, regardless of their location.
The Founder's Perspective
Dr. Nanthaporn Janchalia Seributra. the innovator of the STEAM Design Process and the founder of Starfish Maker, stated:
“The STEAM Design Process offers learners the opportunity to develop essential future-ready skills anytime and anywhere, through hands-on learning guided systematically by teachers acting as facilitators. This process empowers learners to create innovations and solve problems relevant to their own context and community. Whether in a remote area or a major city, everyone can truly access meaningful and equitable learning opportunities.”
This innovation involves the seamless integration of a Makerspace learning environment with a Design Process, based on the principles of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) to connect cross-disciplinary knowledge. The learning process is divided into five key steps, emphasizing student ownership of their own learning:
Ask: Learners start by posing questions and identifying problems or needs rooted in real-life community contexts or personal interests.
Imagine: Brainstorming and freely exploring diverse solutions without limiting their scope of thought.
Plan: Systematically designing the solution method, preparing a work plan, and listing necessary materials and equipment.
Create: Hands-on practice to build a prototype or solution using available tools and materials, including the use of recycled materials or local resources in remote areas.
Reflect & Redesign: Testing the work, evaluating its pros and cons, and continuously using the feedback to refine and improve the solution until the best result is achieved. This step is key to developing Iterative Learning skills.
Starfish Education operates as a non-profit organization committed to promoting equity and elevating the quality of education in Thailand. It was founded on the fundamental belief that every component in the education system can create change.
The organization does not focus solely on student development but also emphasizes empowering "Teachers" to become leaders of change and establishing a flexible "Learning Ecosystem." Starfish Education's work encompasses curriculum development, teacher training, innovation research, and supporting the creation of Makerspaces in schools. This global success is therefore the result of systematic efforts in continuously creating and scaling up high-quality innovations.
Quote from HundrED CEO
“The innovations featured in the HundrED Global Collection 2026 are not only impactful and scalable, they also embody resilience, and adaptability,” explains Lasse Leponiemi, CEO of HundrED. Every year, HundrED selects 100 of the most impactful and scalable education innovations that are shaping the global education ecosystem.
This year’s Global Collection 2026 features 100 innovations from 52 different countries, reaching a total of 63 million children altogether. From our global call for innovations, we received 789 submissions, which were narrowed down to a shortlist of 149. These innovations were reviewed by 242 academy members, totalling 3360 reviews to select the final 100.
The HundrED Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland with the goal of finding and sharing high-quality educational innovations globally. The organization's flagship program is the HundrED Global Collection, an annual search to select the 100 best educational innovations from around the world. The term "shortlist" refers to the initial selection of innovations by the HundrED research team (for instance, from over 700 submissions, roughly 200-300 are shortlisted) before being sent to the global Academy Members for evaluation to select the final 100 innovations.
The Significance of the HundrED Global Collection
The objectives of the HundrED Global Collection are:
Elevating Global Education: To create a platform for teachers, innovators, and educational leaders to present their work publicly, inspiring others and providing models for adoption.
Innovation Diffusion: To focus on innovations that are "Impactful" and "Scalable." This means the innovations have been proven to work effectively and can be easily expanded or adapted to other contexts.
Network Building: To create opportunities for innovators to exchange knowledge with like-minded individuals from around the globe.
Selection Criteria
The selection process for the 100 educational innovations involves a comprehensive review: The 100 Educational Innovations selected each year are published in a report and on the website. The selection also reflects significant current trends in the global education landscape, such as Sustainability, Wellbeing, 21st Century Skills, Collaborative Learning, and Digital Tools.
Innovations must be evaluated by the global committee based on two main criteria:
Impact: The innovation must show evidence of having been implemented for at least one year and having a clear, positive impact on learners and/or the education community.
Scalability: The innovation must have the potential to be easily transferred or adapted to other contexts to allow for widespread adoption and expansion.
The Global Collection 2026 has been released! : https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17d1YGgA5M
HundrED Global Collection 2026 Report :
About The STEAM Design Process & Starfish Maker :
Website Starfish Education : https://www.starfishedu.org
Facebook Starfish Education : https://www.facebook.com/StarfishEdu
Facebook Starfish Labz : https://www.facebook.com/starfishlabz
Facebook Starfish Academy : https://www.facebook.com/StarfishAcademy2019
Facebook Starfish School : https://www.facebook.com/StarfishSchool
Comments