Iona University is filled to the brim with valuable resources to help students and faculty excel in the academic space, one such location is the Hynes Institute located on the second floor of Spellman Hall. The institute is home to many lecture events and workshops such as the ones Professor Jennifer Economos took her students to throughout the semester. The institute is a great workspace for students and faculty alike to plan out class lectures, guest speakers and club meetings as it is a spacious welcoming environment with comfortable seating and a lot of tables. 

The two events attended by her Education 202 class were the “AI in Education” seminar with Rob Kissner, and the “Design Thinking” workshop each lecture offered unique insights into the future of education.

The AI in Education workshop had Kissner give a deep insight into AI and its potential role in the future of education and had students partake in various AI activities to familiarize themselves with the technology, as we need to know how to use AI to figure out ways to handle the abuse of AI. Understanding the ins and outs of technology paves the road for well-fortified solutions on how to combat using AI to cheat in school. 

The” Design Thinking” workshop saw students partake in a collaborative activity in which students would identify a problem they felt was important in the education world such as, social media, teacher favoritism or AI, and brainstorm potential solutions to those problems amongst their peers. The workshop allowed participants to better understand the problems they identified and the solutions which were written in a list of fifteen allowed for creative and effective solutions to be formed.  

The institute offers much more than just workspaces, as they also offer mentorship programs that allow students to network with a mentor in the entrepreneurial field to help students excel in their studies and understanding of the business world. The mentor network at the institute offers mentor-facilitated workshops, entrepreneur talks, business coaching and much more, making it a worthwhile inquiry for all those interested in the entrepreneur and business field.  

The Hynes Institute is the ideal place for students and faculty to expand their knowledge and create workshops and lectures that can help all those who attend, culminating in a valuable location on campus that can make learning fun. The institute fosters leadership and learning to benefit students in a unique and comfortable environment that professors should consider when planning out their semester on campus.