Category: November 2021

Riding the Wave: The New Rules of Innovation

Posted on by karinst8ler

I remember in middle school attending computer class in a computer lab. One of the programs I learned was an early Paint program, found here. I remember creating my own orange color and using it to make Hardee’s logo. It was a highly pixelated, low level of creation, but I made it myself and I was proud. I also spent a lot of time learning to type on computers in high school. The “same skills we’d always needed” were applied to computing. This was all prior to the internet. Computer classes were separate from classrooms, so learning about computers was about learning to use a computer… and nothing else. Computers were the innovation.

Hardee’s Logo

New rules and a different game

The rules for innovation have shifted. In his TED Talk Want to Innovate? Become a “now-ist,” Joi Ito states,  “In this completely unpredictable world, the survivors were working with a different set of principles. Bottom-up innovation that is Democratic, chaotic, and hard to control, and the traditional rules don’t work anymore.” (2014) No matter what the innovation is, it no longer happens in a vacuum. Ideas are tested, iterated, and improved upon without permission and before they are fully formed. Innovation is more like intentional play with a general idea. It is no longer the serious work with a clear path that it used to be. This rings true in the classroom as well. Our students are the innovators – they don’t need teachers to obtain access to information. They need a device and access to the internet.

What is the educator’s role then?

How might innovation look in education? In her TED Talk Blended Learning and The Future of Education, Monique Markoff challenges teachers and the educational system to provide one-to-one teacher-to-student personalized learning environments where computers are but a learning tool. In this environment, students are learning from computers, not about them. Learning about computers happens as a result of course, but it’s not the main focus. We need to stop compartmentalizing student learning and give students the chance to innovate! What if teachers gave students a compass to their learning instead of a map? This looks like students engaging in PBL and an individualized, self-paced curriculum in a blended learning environment. How might this allow students to be the pilots in their own learning journey?

Now is the time

Why are people still delivering content the same old way instead of empowering our students to use devices as learning tools? Like my HS computer class – I was learning how to type because of course, I would use a computer for data entry! That’s not even a necessity now! Not much has changed since then. While COVID pushed schools further than they had ever been, education still relies too heavily on sit-and-get, standardized learning. This is a big reason that I started grad school in the first place. I’m excited to ride the wave of change that COVID forced. Because of this, I get to experiment, innovate, and iterate using my plan for a Paperless Office. This is what innovation looks like. I get to be a part of the future… RIGHT NOW.

References

Ito, J., & TED. (2014, March). Want to innovate? Become a “now-ist”. TED Ideas Worth Spreading. https://www.ted.com/talks/joi_ito_want_to_innovate_become_a_now_ist?language=en

Markoff, M., & TEDxIthacaCollege. (2014, May 6). Blended Learning and the Future of Education. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb2d8E1dZjY

ePortfolio Ownership: Making Connections through Meaningful Reflection

Posted on by karinst8ler

I consider myself easy to talk to and I try to be open-minded to new ideas, even if they don’t integrate with what I know to be true. However, to really convince me, I need to know WHY I should try a new idea, procedure, or suggestion. According to Simon Sinek, that’s pretty normal. In his famous “Golden Circle” Ted Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action (Sinek & TEDx Puget Sound, 2009), Mr. Sinek says, “People don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it.” Brain science supports this theory. Everything that passes through our brains filters through our older, limbic brain which is responsible for feelings before the logic of our prefrontal lobe sets in. In other words, understanding “Why” and “How” to do a task is the basis for changing minds and influencing others.

Who owns the ePortfolio?

In Dr. H’s article Who Owns the ePortfolio, “Even though the students are doing the work, more often than not they do not own the ideas and are not making meaningful connections, they are simply completing assignments and giving the instructor what they want.” (Harapnuik, 2021) The idea of ownership is an important tenant of constructivist learning theory. Ownership personalizes learning and provides students with a “Why.” Therefore, it is important to provide students with just enough structure to make the learning intentional, while providing choices within the learning context to create an authentic learning experience.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Lead by example:

My own ePortfolio is proving to be an amazing learning experience. I am especially proud of my blog posts. I document all of my discussion posts as blog posts first. They model how my thinking has changed through the ADL program. For example, my first idea for my project on training administrative assistants is outlined in Passionately Pursuing Nonconsumption: Disruptive Innovation as a Catalyst for Change. After meeting with Dr. H about my project, I sat in my cognitive dissonance for a bit. My post called Winds of Change recounts how I processed the information to form a more broad, big-picture plan for my innovation project. My Innovation Plan is the product of my reflection. Even my reflection on choosing WordPress over Wix in the article I Love You, I Hate You: The Story of WordPress shows how I’m forming meaningful connections.

Why is Ownership Important?

“Environments are not passive wrappings but active processes.” (Watters & Bright, 2015)

The question of ownership comes back to the purpose of technology. Are we using technology to teach the same way we’ve always taught? Or are we riding the wave of technology to create meaningful educational change personalized to each student? When we follow constructivist theory and create choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning experiences, we can use the new environment to empower students rather than apply the same ineffective methods in a different context.

“The real IT revolution in teaching and learning won’t happen until each student builds a personal cyberinfrastructure that is as thoughtfully, rigorously, and expressively composed as an excellent essay/ingenious experiment.” (Watters & Bright, 2015)

References

Harapnuik, D. (2021, August). Who Owns the ePortfolio. It’s About Learning. http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6050%20

Sinek, S., & TEDx Puget Sound. (2009, September). How Great Leaders Inspire Action. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

Watters, A., & Bright. (2015, July 15). The Web We Need To Give Students. Bright The Mag. https://medium.com/bright/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713

As much as things change, they stay the same.

Posted on by karinst8ler
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

I have changed teaching jobs several times. I started with 8th-grade physics and chemistry. Then, I switched to 6th-grade science for one year. Next, I taught 5th-grade social studies, science, and math for a few years. Most recently, I taught a 6th-8th grade STEM elective course that I got to design! Despite my love of change, my growth has been slow. Over the past 16 years, I improved my ability to plan, manage a classroom, and analyze student data. While I’ve grown a lot, I’ve only really grown within the limits of the system. 

Why is change so slow?

“People who like this stuff like this stuff.” To me, that means that this imperfect system meets the needs of enough people – particularly people with a certain level of power and privilege – that it hasn’t quite reached the tipping point yet. YET. Apple provides the perfect example of keeping customers due to a commitment to a lifestyle over function. According to Seth’s Blog, Androids can be configured to do whatever you want, while iPhones are limited in what they can accomplish without Google, Word, or another Apple user or proprietary item. The problem with Android is that you have to configure it to do what you want. That doesn’t supply quite the same simplicity, efficiency, and integration as an iPhone. However, the options in an Android provide it open to be able to explore, grow, and continue as a more innovative counterpart to Apple.

As an aside, Seth’s Blog was written in 2014. An updated argument comparing Apple and Android gives a more recent POV regarding which is better: iPhone vs. Android: Which is better for you? Regardless of your preference, Android’s customization and innovation continue to ring true.

Why does this matter?

The argument from Seth’s blog isn’t really about Apple and Android. It’s really about making drastic changes to our current education system. Regarding the people who “like this stuff,” it’s working in their favor. According to Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares (Published 2016), “Sixth graders in the richest schools are four grade levels ahead of children in the poorest district.” It’s no secret that school is working fine just as it is for the most financially well-off in the U.S. So why would those same people want to change it? 

Like Android to Apple, areas of nonconsumption exist, grow, and – in due time – will change the face of education. 

How can we change?

How can we create intentional change? In People who like this stuff…like this stuff, Dr. Harapnuik suggests a pathway to change.

  1. Start with Why. 
  2. Identify and enlist key influencers.
  3. Install an effective execution strategy.
  4. Enlist and empower self-differentiated leaders.

Like Dr. H says, “This is not an easy process but we owe it to our children and to the young men and women who are going to our universities and colleges with dreams of building a better world.”


Now is my opportunity to apply these concepts to my new role supporting Instructional Technology. In my post Winds of Change, I talk about how I’m moving the scope of my proposal from a small scope in which I’m the locus of control, to a wider scope that will require a team of district leaders to enact. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. The part of my brain that wants things to stay the same says, “What if I can’t do this? What if they don’t listen?” This is bigger than me and my comfort with the status quo though. And, I’m enough to make it happen.

References

Godin, S. (2014, September 16). People who like this stuff… Seth’s Blog. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://seths.blog/2014/09/people-who-like-this-stuff/

Harapnuik, D. (2014, September 16). People who like this stuff… like this stuff. It’s About Learning. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=5198

Palmer, J. (2021, November 4). iPhone vs. Android: Which is better for you? Tom’s Guide. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/iphone-vs-android

Rich, M., Cox, A., Bloch, M., & The New York Times. (2016, April 29). Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/29/upshot/money-race-and-success-how-your-school-district-compares.html

Show and Tell Grows Up

Posted on by karinst8ler
Photo by Barrett Ward on Unsplash

In my current job, I struggle with showing a “product” of my knowledge work. I end my day with a marked-out checklist, but not always much else. For example, I may research a help ticket for hours, but the only person who really knows that is me. Should I use my calendar, my daily checklist, or my solved help tickets as a reflection of my output? All of these paint an imperfect picture of my day-to-day accomplishments.

In Why Use an ePortfolio, I read several sources on the use of ePortfolios. Not only are they a fantastic way to show learning as a process. They are also a great way to capture thought work. They do this by 1) creating a context for learning, and 2) allowing for reflection and making the reflection visible to be tended to again and again.

Creating Context 

The beauty of an ePortfolio is how effortlessly it can create a context for a learner through significant learning environments. In A New Culture of Learning – Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM, I was intrigued by the 2014 video’s question on the meaning of expertise. Students’ view of teachers is different than when I was a child. The experts in my childhood were teachers and encyclopedias. Today’s students, however, are inundated with information and must create meaning from a multitude of sources. To them, teachers are not the experts. Teachers can harness this information overload, however, by providing students with context around it all. To do this, teachers should engage passion and imagination and provide opportunities for, “challenging creativity in the face of obstacles.” The ePortfolio captures learning in a significant learning environment through reflection.

Making Meaningful Connections

Reflection is the search for connections. As Dewey said, “We learn not from the experience, but from the reflection on the experience.” This occurs because of the cycle between practice and metacognition. This cycle includes Reflection → Planning → Action → Observing, back to Reflection. Humans create stories from our observations. We can continue to test and refine these stories, thereby deepening our learning. As Donald Schön said, “When we get into the habit of recording our stories, we can look at them again, attending to the meanings we have built into them and attending, as well, to our strategies of narrative description.” (Why Reflect? – Reflection4Learning)

ePortfolios for Thought Work

The product of the ePortfolio is a great way to show the process of learning. Without an ePortfolio, it’s easy to focus on output and miss out on the hours of valuable knowledge work. You miss out on the heart and soul of the creation. Because of this, my goal is to add more of my work to my ePortfolio. I will then reflect on my processes through a blog. I won’t use this for proof alone. It will also be a record of my own learning in my career as well as a way to return to my work for continued reflection.

References

Harapnuik, D. (2021, 5). Why Use an ePortfolio. It’s About Learning. http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6063

Reflection4Learning, Barrett, H., & Richter, J. (n.d.). Why Reflect? Reflection4Learning. Retrieved 11 2, 2021, from https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect

TEDxUFM & Thomas, D. (n.d.). A New Culture of Learning [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved 11 2, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U