Joshua Dahn is the Executive Director and founder of Astra Nova School in Los Angeles, California. He is a co-founder of Synthesis, a company that brings students together from around the world to learn through complex games.

“Six years ago, Elon Musk asked me to start an experimental school with him at SpaceX. The goal was to develop students who are enthralled by complexity and solving for the unknown.”

Joshua co-founded Ad Astra School, the predecessor to Astra Nova, with Elon Musk in 2014. Joshua met Elon while teaching his children at Mirman School for highly gifted children in Los Angeles. Ad Astra School was located on the campus of SpaceX for Elon’s children and some Space X employee’s children.

The curriculum at Ad Astra was not that of a typical school. Students learned about artificial intelligence and how to deliver "essentially a TED talk". To encourage entrepreneurship Ad Astra also had its own unit of currency called the "Astra," which the children were able to trade with each other. Joshua explains that "One of the things they do is three times a year there’s a marketplace called the Bazaar and at the Bazaar the kids have their own companies essentially."

Joshua will be delivering the keynote talk at the Edufuturists Awards 2021 on 2nd July. At the online event, where educators from around the UK are celebrated for their innovative approach to education, Joshua will explain the vision behind Astra Nova and how the future of education must adapt to meet the needs of our changing world.

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