Innovation in Education: Building Capacity for Renewed Perspectives
Many teacher preparation programs approach education from a perspective that incoming educators are already familiar with. Even with college courses that teach modern pedagogical approaches, sixteen years of schooling have ordained many educators into teaching philosophies that reflect the practices of their former teachers. “New” teaching strategies are foreign and put us into a realm of perceived unknowns.
Ironically, some of these “new” and foreign teaching strategies – such as promoting movement for retention, incorporating mobile devices for academic gain, and taking risks for prosperity – tap into the very core of who we are as human beings. Movement, mobility, and risk-taking are three assets that are hard-wired into us and should be intuitive. We need to align our pedagogical philosophies with the whole-person paradigm of learning.
Easier said than done, I know. Given the constraints we’re operating within, what can we do to build our capacity for tapping into this whole-person paradigm?
- We can make straight row desks the exception by creating physical learning environments.
- We can chunk learning , promote activity, and alternate routines to maintain audience participation and active brains.
- We can incorporate immersive learning with standards-driven relevancy.
- We can make progress through trial and error and informed risk-taking.
- We can move beyond our content and gain perspective of the whole-person paradigm to promote further success.
Assuredly, the problems facing education won’t be fixed with a five-point bulleted list. However, we can be proactive by creating a new trail for others to follow.
Read MoreMobile Devices in Education: Innovate by Making Little Bets
“Discovery doesn’t happen in a vacuum, which is why doing things, however imperfectly at first, opens us up creatively.” – Peter Sims, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries
In the book Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries, author Peter Sims proposes that by making several “little bets” within our respective careers, we will eventually discover and develop ideas that are both achievable and affordable to implement in our workplace. Rather than outright rejecting typical organizational models of hierarchy, linear systems, and extreme efficiency, we can spend a little time to take small ideas and experiment with them to make big discoveries and change that are fitting.
In most classrooms, there’s a strong emphasis on teaching facts and minimizing errors. Problem solving is approached from the perspective of getting the right answer; after all, assessment scores determine teacher effectiveness and we have to play the game. The problem with this approach is that these elaborate and predetermined procedures stifle opportunities to experiment and generate new ideas to enhance and reform teaching and learning.
New teaching tools will come and go, but effective models of learning are as timeless as our ancestry. Learning doesn’t happen at predetermined times. Learning doesn’t happen at fixed locations; in fact, studies reveal that most learning happens in informal education environments. While we have an argument for reform, we still struggle with innovation. We’re afraid of “messing up.” Quite simply, we don’t have a lot of time to mess things up.
But, it’s better to fix problems than prevent errors. Over time, innovative practices are iterated and refined where they then become valuable assets to the classroom. For example, in my third year of teaching, I piloted a web-based RTI program in my class that I developed. It linked results from student assessment data to resources (videos, practice problems, notes, etc.) relevant to the standards attached to each problem. Students would then individually work on their specific areas of need; it was dynamic, accessible, and highly targeted.
In a nutshell, here’s what happened: students who were going to already do well did that much better, but there was no difference in the scores for students whose scores were already low. I didn’t adequately address the lack of the motivation from these students. With the next iteration, I tweaked the software and addressed classroom management factors to increase motivation. Assessment scores for this population improved the following year.
Here’s another example: at one point in time, the ballpoint pen was an unwelcomed tool in the classroom. Students had used pencils for so long; why use a pen? For one, they’d forget how to sharpen pencils; secondly, what would they do when they ran out of ink? It took people willing to make “little bets” for pens to become acceptable artifacts in the classroom.
How can you make these “little bets” to welcome innovation? Here are six fundamentals that the author proposes:
- Experiment: Make trial and error a regular part of your classroom practice.
- Play: When new ideas are emerging, you may too quickly judge it to be ineffective. Play quiets this inhibition and keeps good ideas flowing.
- Immerse: Look beyond the textbooks for ideas on new things. What’s going on in industry that you could bring to the classroom? Gather ideas from sources outside education.
- Define: Throughout the implementation process, use new insights that define problems and needs before solving them. You may figure out a solution to a problem that you weren’t initially trying to solve.
- Reorient: Be flexible and make necessary changes.
- Iterate: Repeat, refine, and keep testing
Follow this path of discovery before believing your ideas have no place in the classroom. Like the ballpoint pen, we need pioneers and advocates for new tools and models of learning.
For further reflection, check out the video below that captivates the essence of making “little bets.”
Read MoreKinect in Education Contest: What Will You Create?
With Kinect, classroom instruction can be adapted to promote classroom mobility and the overall well-being of our children, as opposed to conditioning students to unnecessary classroom routines. While the vision for such a classroom exists, roadblocks also exist. Primarily, these hindrances includes (1) relevant classroom software and (2) school technology infrastructure, such as the need to have Windows 7 to run the Kinect SDK and school reluctance to purchase Xbox’s for classrooms. Although the Kinect community can’t write school purchase orders for new technology, we can create relevant Kinect software that reveals the need.
Starting on September 9th and running through November 30th, KinectEDucation is hosting a competition to promote the advancement of education through game-based and active learning.
Two separate awards are being given:
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$500 for the most innovative and adaptable classroom software uploaded to the Kinect Apps for Education directory. “Adaptable” means that your software can be integrated in multiple content areas. For example, the Shapes Game that is included with the SDK could be adapted for math classrooms to “grab the factors of five”; for an English classroom, “grab all the conjugates.” The developments don’t have to be complex; in fact, the easier it is to execute, the better.
$500 for the “best” in-class video showcasing a Kinect classroom experience in the KinectEDucation Classroom Showcase. The “best” video reveals a classroom actively engaged in your content with Kinect and relevant software. Advanced video editing skills are not required or needed.
You may participate in both contests if you’d like. Additionally, winners will receive
Read MoreMobile Devices in Education: The Progression of Innovation
“Exploring the adjacent possible can be as simple as opening a door. But sometimes you need to move a wall.” – Steven Johnson
In Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
While the door leading to School Renewal exists, it remains as just a theory for many. While some have gained access, many are left knocking.
Innovating instruction in public education can be challenging. The “walls” that exist may block doors leading to innovation and a renewed framework for how we teach our children. Fortunately, I think we’re reaching a tipping point in education where we are exploring unparalleled “adjacent possibilities,” which will lead to exponential change years from now. The evolution of technology has provided us with new tools like Kinect and mobile devices which will be catalysts that open up brand-new doors for education reform. One outcome of inviting these innovative, accessible, and transformational technologies into our schools will be the removal of some of those hindrances that are blocking prized paths. If we can facilitate meaningful active learning experiences that demonstrate academic gain, this may lead to restructuring the framework, both physically and philosophically, of our schools.
For the right doors to open, we must continually reflect on the path we’re following.
Read MoreCSCOPE Conference: Linking Twitter to CSCOPE
What a great group of passionate educators! My presentation at the CSCOPE conference in San Antonio, TX was “Linking Twitter to CSCOPE.” During this session, we talked about the power of collaboration and how “a lot of people doing a little” can make a big difference. I used Wikipedia as an example to illustrate this point and cited a quote from Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus. If you’d like the actual presentation, please contact me (I’ve provided a link to the Google Docs spreadsheet below).
I then talked about how we can leverage the power of having a common curriculum across the state to exchange ideas in an organized manner. We started a “grassroots effort,” where we mapped content areas to Twitter hashtags. When a teacher or student needs help, they simply need to refer to the hashtag.
We started it, but it’s up to the community of Texas educators utilizing CSCOPE to finish it. The work we accomplished is in this Google Docs spreadsheet. I encouraged all administrators and educators to go back to their districts and have their teachers collaborate and contribute their proposed hashtags to the spreadsheet.
The focus in the meeting was primarily high school, but we need to do this for K-12. For those making edits, please don’t delete anyone else’s work; rather, make a side note giving additional thoughts should you have any.
Let’s have a common goal of completing this by or before August 20th. That will allow for completion in time before most students come back to school.
Great day surrounded by great people!
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