Nikki Navta

Nikki was the CEO of Zulama, an educational technology company in Pittsburgh. Zulama was recently acquired by EMC School, and her new position is VP K12 Computer Science.
She and her instructional designers at Zulama worked with faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center to develop a program that brings cost-effective yet high-tech computer science education into middle and high schools through video game design. Zulama combines Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math with the Arts (STEAM) to give students both the skills and creativity they need to thrive in the new global digital workplace.
Before starting Zulama, Nikki had been developing educational materials for the major textbook publishers for over 20 years.
The inspiration for Zulama came from observing how her two teenage sons were obsessed with Minecraft and other games. Navta became fascinated with game-based learning and realized that both making and playing games are engaging, motivating, and scientifically-proven ways to learn.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]