Category Archives: Innovator Toolkit

Friday presentations!

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In this post, Jason Rosenblum shares one option you might consider for your final presentation on Friday.

As this is a short week, I wanted to share a few tips for the presentations on Friday. Because of the size of the group, we’d like to ask that everyone keep their presentations short. And, because we want to make this experience fun, I propose the following very fast presentation format.

I’m borrowing a presentation format called “pechakucha” that was first piloted in Japan in 2003 (http://www.pechakucha.org/). Continue reading →

Final Presentation and Report, Due Friday, May 30

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On the final day of the Innovation Institute the following elements are due from each fellow (or team of fellows for those team-teaching).

I. Project Presentation (8 minutes)

The presentation should cover the following information:

  1. Brief description of course
  2. Brief description of pedagogical experiment
    • What is the approach, e.g., inquiry-guided learning?
    • What will you do: describe x assignment or project
    • How will this improve student learning
    • How will you test it?
    • What will be biggest challenge of this experiment?
    • What is your status? What have you accomplished? What work remains before you teach this course?
  3. What other approach or experiment have you heard about this week that you would like to try next?

II. Written Report

After your presentation please share a written report covering the same elements as your presentation as a post on this blog.  (This could be the text of your presentation.) This post is due by Monday, June 2.

Prep for Day 5: Innovation Learning Network

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In preparation for Day 5, Friday, May 23rd:

  1. Install the Diigo Browser for the iPad
  2. Read one of the Suggested Readings on creating a Personal Learning Network.
  3. Consider the following questions:
    • Who is in your learning  network?
    • Who do you turn to for professional development?
    • Why is this person/resource in your network?
    • Why do you spend time following/reading this person?
    • How do you contribute to your network?

 

Minimizing risk taking

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I have been thinking about our topic of yesterday. Obviously the key to success, and the way to avoid bad evaluations, is to enable the students to see that they will do better if they join the journey. We listened to terrible stats about how little our students are willing to read and I think that may transfer into how much they wish to be ‘spoon-fed’ material. I think that this makes them resistant to our innovations.  So a couple of thoughts on which I would really welcome your ideas: Continue reading →

Day 1

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Thanks for a thought provoking morning. I am sorry that my “voice” doesn’t seem to work but I can hear all of you very well.

I just wanted to share my thoughts about risk having tried innovation before. I think the students may respond better to small innovations rather than wholesale change in the way they learn.  After my husband obtained his Masters in Education I was inspired to try to teach a class using  one of the ‘cutting-edge’ strategies that he had learned and we had discussed at length.  There is no doubt in my mind that the students achieved excellent higher level learning but I received the worst student evaluations of my career. Students don’t like change and I am certainly hoping to learn ways of helping them to be more accepting of it in the classroom.

Day 1: Innovation, Risk-taking and Experimentation

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Agenda for Monday, May 19:  We get started bright and early on Monday.  Breakfast is on your own, but we will be brewing plenty of coffee.

  • Location:  Library, room 141 (one of the new “global digital classrooms”)
  • 9-10:45am:  Overview of institute and introductions to fellows’ projects
  • 10:45-11:30am:  Individual planning
  • 11:30-12:30pm:  Lunch
  • 12:30-2pm:   Innovators’ Tool Kit: Risk-taking, experimentation, and managing student expectations

Educational Approaches

Innovation Institute CFP