Temperament-Inclusive Pedagogy: Helping Introverted and Extraverted Students Thrive in a Changing Educational Landscape — from onlinelearningconsortium.org by Mary R. Fry
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
So how do we take these different approaches to learning into account and foster a classroom environment that is more inclusive of the needs of both extraverts and introverts? Let’s first distinguish between how extraverts and introverts most prefer to learn, and then discuss ways to meet the needs of both. Extraverts tend to learn through active and social engagement with the material (group work, interactive learning experiences, performing and discussing). Verbalizing typically helps extraverts to think through their ideas and to foster new ones. They often think quickly on their feet and welcome working in large groups. It can be challenging for extraverts to generate ideas in isolation (talking through ideas is often needed) and thus working on solitary projects and writing can be challenging.
In contrast, introverts thrive with solitary/independent work and typically need this time to sort through what they are learning before they can formulate their thoughts and articulate their perspectives. Introverted learners often dislike group work (or at least the group sizes and structures that are often used in the classroom (more on this in a moment)) and find their voice drowned out in synchronous discussions as they don’t typically think as fast as their extroverted counterparts and don’t often speak until they feel they have something carefully thought out to share. Introverted learners are often quite content, and can remain attentive, through longer lectures and presentations and prefer engaging with the material in a more interactive way only after a pause or break.
From DSC:
Could/would a next-generation learning platform that has some Artificial Intelligence (AI) features baked into it — working in conjunction with a cloud-based learner profile — be of assistance here?
That is, maybe a learner could self-select the type of learning that they are: introverted or extroverted. Or perhaps they could use a sliding scaled to mix learning activities up to a certain degree. Or perhaps if one wasn’t sure of their preferences, they could ask the AI-backed system to scan for how much time they spent doing learning activities X, Y, and Z versus learning activities A, B, and C…then AI could offer up activities that meet a learner’s preferences.
(By the way, I love the idea of the “think-ink-pair-share” — to address both extroverted and introverted learners. This can be done digitally/virtually as well as in a face-to-face setting.)
All of this would further assist in helping build an enjoyment of learning. And wouldn’t that be nice? Now that we all need to learn for 40, 50, 60, 70, or even 80 years of our lives?
Lincoln Financial CIO: How to build a learning culture – even in a pandemic — from enterprisersproject.com by Ken Solon
Lincoln Financial CIO Ken Solon shares how he’s bringing a virtual perspective to his longtime commitment to prioritizing the people behind the technology
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
In the spirit of test-and-learn, we created “Lean In and Learn IT,” an interactive digital program that provides a deep dive into one key IT strategy each month. Topics include digital and architecture, agile and DevOps, cloud, big data, and cybersecurity.
Based in our virtual collaboration platform, each topic features a kick-off video followed by a drip of content and interaction, including snackable articles, video clips, quizzes, and prizes to keep the team engaged. The month wraps up with a webcast focused on a key business application of the strategy, featuring subject matter experts both from within the IT organization and our business partners.
The involvement of partners is key, as our surveys tell us that few things motivate our teams as effectively as seeing the impact of their work.
From DSC:
Love their use of “streams of content.”
Digital transformation: 5 ways to balance creativity and productivity — from enterprisersproject.com by Andrew Parker
Creativity and productivity shouldn’t be opposing forces in your digital transformation efforts. Consider these tips to tap the power of both
Excerpt:
Creativity and productivity might sound like they’re poles apart: One is about thinking in new ways; the other is about making things happen.
But in successful digital transformation programs, the two go hand in hand – a perfect marriage of creative thinking that takes the latest technology innovations into account and productive action that brings those new ideas to life.
Today, creativity is more important than ever. As a result of the pandemic, organizations have been forced to think differently and to adapt quickly in order to stay relevant and survive. It’s a case of do or die.
In the wake of the pandemic, creativity is more important than ever.
From DSC:
Another important element here is developing/establishing a culture that is willing to innovate, adapt, experiment, and change. That is SO key in this type of transformation.
It’s clear to me that our people, and their willingness to be agile, innovate, test, and learn, were one of the “secrets” behind those successes. (source)
Also see:
- Remote work: How the pandemic is reshaping the office of the future — from enterprisersproject.com by Raju Vegesna
Having shifted to remote work, more businesses are considering a future with lower-cost office models that give employees choice in how and where they work. Good news: It’s a win-win.
By decentralizing the workforce, companies can attract talent anywhere in the world.
From DSC:
This means that our students must be able to collaborate and to create their deliverables — digitally/virtually/online.
Virtual Reality: Realizing the Power of Experience, Excursion and Immersion in the Classroom — from nytimes.com
A framework for teaching with New York Times 360 V.R. videos, plus eight lesson plans for STEM and the humanities.
A Guide for Using NYT VR With Students
- Getting Started With V.R. in the Classroom
- Lesson 1: A Mission to Pluto
- Lesson 2: Meet Three Children Displaced by War and Persecution
- Lesson 3: Four Antarctic Expeditions
- Lesson 4: Time Travel Through Olympic History
- Lesson 5: Decode the Secret Language of Dolphins and Whales
- Lesson 6: Memorials and Justice
- Lesson 7: The World’s Biggest Physics Experiment
- Lesson 8: Journey to the Hottest Place on Earth
From DSC:
In our future learning experiences, I wonder what taking a break might look and sound like…? That is, we’re going along learning something from/with others (virtually/digitally) and then the teacher, professor, Subject Matter Expert (SME), trainer, or whoever says to take a break. What could happen then?
In the online/digital/virtual-based realm, that could mean that you have the option to set your “break” setting to bring up Spotify, or Vimeo, or YouTube, or Pandora, some VR-based app, other. The lights in your “learning space” could dim and the music could come on. Or you reach for a VR headset and watch a sunset or position yourself by a picturesque brook. Or your favorite podcast/vodcast picks up where you left off.
Hmmm…should be some interesting innovation and affordances along these lines.
From DSC…by the way, another title for this blog could have been:
WIN-WIN situations all around! The Theatre Departments out there could collaborate with other depts/disciplines to develop highly engaging, digitally-based learning experiences!
The future of drama and the theatre — as well as opera, symphonies, and more — will likely include a significant virtual/digital component to them. While it’s too early to say that theatre needs to completely reinvent itself and move “the stage” completely online, below is an idea that creates a variety of WIN-WIN situations for actors, actresses, stage designers, digital audio/video editors, fine artists, graphic designers, programmers, writers, journalists, web designers, and many others as well — including the relevant faculty members!
A new world of creative, engaging, active learning could open up if those involved with the Theatre Department could work collaboratively with students/faculty members from other disciplines. And in the end, the learning experiences and content developed would be highly engaging — and perhaps even profitable for the institutions themselves!
[DC: I only slightly edited the above image from the Theatre Department at WMU]
Though the integration of acting with online-based learning materials is not a new idea, this post encourages a far more significant interdisciplinary collaboration between the Theatre Department and other departments/disciplines.
Consider a “Dealing with Bias in Journalism” type of topic, per a class in the Digital Media and Journalism Major.
- Students from the Theatre Department work collaboratively with the students from the most appropriate class(es?) from the Communications Department to write the script, as per the faculty members’ 30,000-foot instructions (not 1000-foot level/detailed instructions)
- Writing the script would entail skills involved with research, collaboration, persuasion, creativity, communication, writing, and more
- The Theatre students would ultimately act out the script — backed up by those learning about sound design, stage design, lighting design, costume design, etc.
- Example scene: A woman is sitting around the kitchen table, eating breakfast and reading a posting — aloud — from a website that includes some serious bias in it that offends the reader. She threatens to cancel her subscription, contact the editor, and more. She calls out to her partner why she’s so mad about the article.
- Perhaps there could be two or more before/after scenes, given some changes in the way the article was written.
- Once the scenes were shot, the digital video editors, programmers, web designers, and more could take that material and work with the faculty members to integrate those materials into an engaging, interactive, branching type of learning experience.
- From there, the finished product would be deployed by the relevant faculty members.
[DC: Above images from the Theatre Department at WMU]
Colleges and universities could share content with each other and/or charge others for their products/content/learning experiences. In the future, I could easily see a marketplace for buying and selling such engaging content. This could create a needed new source of revenue — especially given that those large auditoriums and theaters are likely not bringing in as much revenue as they typically do.
Colleges and universities could also try to reach out to local acting groups to get them involved and continue to create feeders into the world of work.
Other tags/categories could include:
- MOOCs
- Learning from the Living[Class]Room
- Multimedia / digital literacy — tools from Adobe, Apple, and others.
- Passions, participation, engagement, attention.
- XR: Creating immersive, Virtual Reality (VR)-based experiences
- Learning Experience Design
- Interaction Design
- Interface Design
- …and more
Also see:
What improv taught me about failure: As a teacher and academic — from scholarlyteacher.com by Katharine Hubbard
In improv, the only way to “fail” is to overthink and not have fun, which reframed what failure was on a grand scale and made me start looking at academia through the same lens. What I learned about failure through improv comes back to those same two core concepts: have fun and stop overthinking.
…
Students are more engaged when the professor is having fun with the materials (Keller, Hoy, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2016), and teaching is more enjoyable when we are having fun ourselves.
10 Ways You Can Use Podcasts in Your Course to Engage Students — from barbihoneycutt.com by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D.
Excerpts:
Have you used podcasts in your courses yet? If not, you might want to consider it! Podcasts can be an excellent tool to add to your lesson to enhance a message, present more in-depth perspectives, and offer a different medium for students to engage with the course content.
…
10 Ways You Can Use Podcasts in a Course or Lesson:
1) Compare and contrast two podcast episodes where the same topic is discussed by different guests.
2) Use an episode as a supplement or additional resource for a reading assignment.
Got science questions? Skype A Scientist can help — from bigthink.com by Scotty Hendricks
A non-profit dedicated to science communication offers to connect learners with over 11,000 scientists.
Fostering Student Creativity with Green-Screen Videos — from teachingprofessor.com by Jason Webb and Jeff Mangram
Excerpt:
Educators have come to realize that videos are highly effective and engaging ways to create online course content. One of the most engaging forms uses a green-screen backdrop to project images or videos behind or next to the speaker. Barbara Oakley used this technique in her famous course Learning How to Learn, where she brought in images to illustrate and amplify her message during course videos. Take a look at this example and consider the fact that Oakley shot the videos in her basement using only a couple hundred dollars’ worth of supplies. Today most colleges already have green-screen studios set up for marketing or other uses.
The shift online has colleges looking to share courses — from educationdive.com by Alia Wong
Dozens of institutions have joined consortia for exchanging online classes since the pandemic began, and new options have sprung up.
Excerpts:
Dozens of other small, private institutions followed thanks to the Council of Independent Colleges’ (CIC’s) Online Course Sharing Consortium, which was formed in late 2018 and today is the largest of the dozen or so networks on Acadeum.
Livestreamed Chemistry Labs Keep Learning Real — Mistakes, Spills and All — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser
Excerpt:
To keep students engaged, the synchronous sessions include small-group breakout sessions and on-the-spot activities like having students name compounds; balance chemical equations; predict the outcomes of experiments; and calculate masses, amounts and concentrations for the chemicals used.