The world is full of so many questions and relatively few solutions. These past few weeks I have been working to answer (to the best of my ability) one of these stumping questions: why are teachers leaving the classroom? Particularly, I wanted to look at why teachers were leaving the classroom and finding positions in the Ed Tech industry. In this presentation I outline the importance of this question, what my research found, what these findings mean, and how you can play a part in helping teachers. It is important to note that only a very small population (6 people in total) completed this survey. While my findings hold meaning and align with other studies related to this topic, no conclusions should be drawn based on this data alone. In order to fully understand the roots of the teacher transition phenomenon and its possible solutions, a larger sample population would need to participate.
That being said, the results of this study still hold importance and led me to the creation of this flier. The flier is intended to inform communities and those unfamiliar with the teacher transition phenomenon of what is going on in this world and how they can help. This flier is free to use, adapt, distribute, remix, and build upon in any medium or format, and my hope is that you share it with your communities in any way you see fit! This could include sending it home with students, emailing to parents, posting it on facebook, or sharing/ retweeting on twitter.
0 Comments
This week I dove even further into the pressing question of “why are teachers leaving the classroom and pursuing EdTech?” to gain insight on the teacher shortage. Once I solidified my question/ problem, I worked on curating a survey to gather more information on this phenomenon. This survey went through multiple rounds of trial and error, altering each question’s format, wording, and place within the survey, before finally sending it out to participants. This survey was tweaked multiple times and probably still has room for improvement. The first round of iteration was done the day after the first draft was completed. Looking at the survey with fresh eyes allowed me to pick out grammatical errors, format issues, and wording mistakes. The second round was completed after a different set of eyes looked at my survey and spent the time taking it. This is where the most changes came in. This person was able to point out questions that were unclear, provide a realistic timeframe, and suggest ways the flow of the survey could be improved to optimize participation. This was the most beneficial step in my design process, as in most design processes. After receiving feedback from others who took the survey, I made key design decisions that were intended to maximize participation and encourage thoughtfulness throughout the survey. I took out a few questions that were unnecessary/ repetitive, clarified what other questions were asking about, and changed the entire format of some questions. This question was initially a free response, but after receiving different feedback about it, I decided it would be best suited as a matrix of responses. To see even more of this, feel free to take my survey! This week as I continued the process of narrowing down questions I had about my workplace to one ‘wicked problem’, I created a sketchnote video of my categorizing/ brainstorming process. Sketchnotes became increasingly popular when I was growing up, and I always wondered how these kinds of videos were made. What I didn’t realize is that many of the more popular sketchnote videos use apps and platforms such as Procreate, Notability, and Good Notes, and VideoScribe. Initially, I tried to use VideoScribe’s free trial to create my brainstorm video. After hours of frustration with the app’s lag and bugs, I realized that I had lost sight of the end goal and was more focused on completing the final video. I scrapped this entire video and went down a more straightforward path where I taped my thought process as I recorded my brainstorm on a whiteboard and physically moved my sticky notes around to different categories. This process, while not as visually stimulating as the VideoScribe product would have been, was significantly more effective in keeping track of my thought process through my brainstorming session. I was able to easily reflect on this video and narrow down my questions to 5 key inquiries, which will be used in my Wicked Problem Project. Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to take a nap? Are we there yet? These are a handful of life’s most important and pressing questions… from a child’s point of view. But what happens to these questions when children grow up? It seems that they suddenly disappear, or maybe we just get more comfortable with not asking questions and receiving answers. What are the most important and pressing questions in your life right now? And have you ever actually vocalized them? Have you ever thought about the questions that drive your life? This week while reading Berger’s (2014) A More Beautiful Question, I reflected on the ways in which I do and do not ask questions in my everyday life. I noticed that one of the most common questions, and one of the only questions I ask day to day is “what’s for dinner?”. I found that for many of my friends and family members in the professional setting, if unprompted, they will also go days without asking questions in their professional lives. Berger (2014) states that “frequently in various professional domains […] basic, fundamental questions can make people impatient and even uncomfortable” (14). I have seen this phenomenon in my professional life, as even while I work in one of the most encouraging and welcoming settings that I have ever been in, many of my coworkers still do not make the time to allow and welcome questions in the workplace. This in turn, conditions us to stop asking questions and waiting for answers. With the first two chapters of Berger’s A More Beautiful Question in mind, I participated in a “quickfire” activity. The results of this exercise are pictured below. In this exercise I set a timer for five minutes and let my mind freely ask questions about my professional setting- no constraints, expectations, or guidelines. It took my mindset a while to get into the flow of asking questions, and looking back on this experience I realize that I was experiencing many phenomena that Berger discussed. I had a hard time starting this quickfire of questions, as I wasn't sure what questions I was ‘supposed’ to have. I also didn’t think any of my questions were important enough, relevant enough, or inquisitive enough to be valid. Once I got out of this mindset and allowed myself to record any and all thoughts I had, the questions started coming to me easier. Something I noticed in this exercise was that my mind jumped to statements instead of questions. What I did with the last minute of my time left was exercise changing these statements into questions. It seems that I have an easier time making observations than asking questions, but many times these observations are really just questions hidden in a statement format… interesting!
Reflecting on this exercise, Berger’s first two chapters, and all that I came to know about my lack of question-asking, I decided to do this quickfire exercise centered around asking questions about my own life. Being already in the question-asking mindset and with some practice under my belt, the questions flowed much easier. I found that I was better about turning statements into questions and allowing myself to question my world with no restrictions. Due to personal privacy and safety, I have decided not to include the image of my results. This personal quickfire taught me a lot about where my mind was in the moment, what I need more of and less of in my life, and some of my personal goals. I would highly recommend this activity for anyone looking for a ‘mind dump’. Similar to my personal quickfire, my professional quickfire revealed a lot of my, almost unconscious, thoughts/questions that I have been conditioned to suppress. Even though questioning my workplace felt uncomfortable, exercising this ability to question opened my mind to new ideas and allowed me more freedom in thought that I didn’t know was possible. References: Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York, NY One of the greatest challenges my colleagues have vocalized is overcoming states of depression, sprouting from daily isolation. Putting your best effort forward while not feeling 100% can be challenging, and struggling to complete daily tasks at full capacity can put both your work and job in danger. A suggestion for treating depression outlined by Kendrick et. al (2022)’s Management of Depression in Adults’ study, is guided self-help. This is one of the most basic forms of help for adults with mild depression. The tool, Headspace for Work, is a quick and easy mindfulness app aimed to help employees stay present and mindful throughout their workday. By incorporating this application into a workspace, employees who are battling depression will have the opportunity to practice self-help and mindfulness within their workday, and all other employees can work to maintain or strengthen their mental health. Other benefits of this app include a strengthened mental health through short and consistent practice, a better work-life balance by taking time for yourself throughout the workday, and a greater sense of calm and composure- all with the help of short 'courses' or 'podcasts'. As outlined in Bender&Farvolden (2008), being healthy mentally is key for work-life balance and the execution of work at full capacity. A 2015 study proved a direct correlation between severity of depression and productivity (Asami et al. 2015). Headspace for Work can boost productivity while preventing or minimizing the impacts of depression. For more information about Headspace for Work, watch the video below. Sources:
Asami, Y., Goren, A., & Okumura, Y. (2015). Work Productivity Loss With Depression, Diagnosed and Undiagnosed, Among Workers in an Internet-Based Survey Conducted in Japan. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57(1), 105–110. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48500661 Bender, A., & Farvolden, P. (2008). Depression and the workplace: a progress report. Current psychiatry reports, 10(1), 73-79. Kendrick, T., Pilling, S., Mavranezouli, I., Megnin-Viggars, O., Ruane, C., Eadon, H., & Kapur, N. (2022). Management of depression in adults: summary of updated NICE guidance. bmj, 378. Well, I have made it to the end of the summer and the end of my second course on my journey to obtaining my Master’s degree. CEP 811 has truly been a fun experience and believe it or not, I actually enjoyed this “summer school”. I certainly kept myself busy the last few months between work, school, seeing friends and family, and working on my goals!
My last project for CEP 811 was compiling one picture from every day of this course. Presented with this challenge a short 7 weeks ago seemed daunting, but with some help I actually managed to succeed! I used the app “Be Real” to help remind me to capture one picture every day, and a perk was that a lot of my friends used it as well so I got to see what everyone else was doing too! It turned out to be a really fun experience, and looking back on this compilation I can see that I am truly a creature of habit. I learned a lot about myself and my intersectionality from this video of clips of my life. I feel that although this video doesn’t share a lot about my life, it shows some key parts of my identity. I think this slideshow sums up my summer pretty well, and I hope you enjoy! This week I was challenged to take a look at the space in which I learn from a critical point of view. This was a challenging task for me, as my learning space is not always consistent. When I think about my learning space, what immediately comes to mind is me, a desk, a chair, and my computer. Being a remote student taking classes in between my 40-hour work week, oftentimes I find myself learning in whatever space I am in when free time comes my way. One space that has remained consistent for me though is a study room at my public library. This is a space that I have found myself to be the most productive in, and most Sundays I am found here preparing for the week. While it is far from ideal, it is secluded and quiet and is a consistent space for my learning. With that being said, I took some time this week to look at it critically (not that there is much to look at). After learning more about what makes an innovative and productive learning space, I realized while this space works for me, there is so much more potential for success in redesigning the room. Even though I do not have any right to make changes to this space, applying what I learned about innovative design to this room gave me inspiration and motivation for when I am able to create an office or learning space of my own. The first change that I made was removing the chairs and fixed-height desks and replacing that area with adjustable standing desks. Being able to have the freedom of movement promotes active learning and “fidgeting”. The current chairs in this space are swivel chairs, and I find myself constantly moving back and forth or fidgeting. One of the first suggestions in The Third Teacher+’s “79 Ways You Can Use Design To Transform Teaching and Learning” (2010) list under ‘Bodies in Motion’ was making peace with fidgeting. While I am limited in movement currently, a standing desk provides the opportunity for more active learning. The second change I made was the addition of carpeted floors and warmly painted walls. While I didn’t think this would have an impact on my learning, a study showed that “color, choice, complexity, flexibility, connection, and light- had a significant effect on learning” (Barrett et al. 2013). This study showed that more natural light and warmer colors proved to enhance learning of older students. While there is no way to change the amount of natural light in the space, I added a warm desk lamp to provide warmer lighting instead of the harsh overhead light currently in the space. The last change that I made to this space was the addition of artwork to one of the walls. The Barrett et al. (2013) study also showed that too much artwork can be overstimulating and even distract from learning, but the right amount of decor can be inviting to learners. I enjoyed working to redesign this area even though it is unrealistic in terms of the power I hold over this communal space, so I decided to design a perfect future space for learning and working! I am going to be moving in the near future and one of my goals when apartment hunting is to find a place that has room for an office/learning space. With this in mind and thinking about what I now know about the impact that design has on learning, I came up with a hypothetical ideal learning space. This space includes elements of warm color, flexibility in movement, natural light, and an overall welcoming space to create. References: Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on on pupils' learning. Building and Environment, 59, 678-689. The Third Teacher (2010). 79 Ways You Can Use Design To Transform Teaching and Learning. https://d2l.msu.edu/content/enforced/1470983-US22-CEP-811-733-222510684-EL-14-204/Unit%206%20-%20Innovative%20Learning%20Spaces/79%20Ways%20You%20Can%20Use%20Design%20To%20Transform%20Teaching%20and%20Learning.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=5t2pNRAgX0x4fXxK8B7s2ryqF&ou=1470983 For the past few weeks I have been working on making a fun and innovative learning plan for a few of my coworkers. When thinking about what I wanted to teach these adult learners I had to think about what would be beneficial for them to learn. Because we all work with large sets of data and it is vital that we are paying attention to all details, I decided that I wanted precision and accuracy to be a learning goal of this lesson. Through using the MakeyMakey tool kit and application, my learners are going to replicate an image of their choice. This lesson is intended to not only teach them accuracy and precision skills, but also introduce them to a new technology and way of learning. If you want to read my lesson plan you can find it here. In order to make this lesson the best it could be, I received feedback from multiple peers (as shown above) and my instructor of CEP 811. Most of the feedback I was given proved to be very helpful and introduced me to multiple viewpoints that I had not considered before. I learned a lot from reading comments about my lesson from an individual with a UDL viewpoint. I discussed UDL in my previous blog post but looking at my own lesson with a UDL perspective this week was interesting (it’s funny how some things are much easier said than done sometimes). One suggestion that was given to me was to allow the learners to choose their own image to recreate. I had to ponder this for a while, as I had my lesson set up around the assumption that I would be providing all learners with images to recreate. After a lot of internal debate and thinking about how this would impact the lesson, I decided to implement this suggestion. What I found was that by allowing learners to take this control over their learning experience, I could foster more engagement and excitement for the activity.
One suggestion that I actually did not implement was the suggestion of posting the learning goals for my learners throughout this activity. Because I am dealing with adult learners, I felt as thought they did not need a constant reminder of what I was specifically looking for and this could actually hinder their experience. What I did include in my lesson though was letting the learners know what I was hoping to get out of this lesson before they begin working with the kit. While I don’t think it’s important to have a constant reminder as adult learners, I think it would help to give them some guidance and purpose knowing what I was making them do this for. I made a lot of these decisions based on not only my peers’ and teacher’s suggestions, but also based on some of the research I found through MSU Libraries. Surprisingly, there is not a whole lot of research on adult learning, specifically as it relates to technology, but I did find a few guiding points of research. When considering the ‘why’ of adding UDL aspects to my lesson, I found that“learning environments designed based on UDL acknowledge the uniqueness of each learner so that all learners have opportunities to maximize their strengths” (CAST 2018). This was an important aspect when it came to revising my lesson, as I wanted to make sure each learner was able to get the most out of it. I also dove into some research done surrounding adult learning theory, technology, and intersectionality. What I found was that PAL, or the psychology of adult learning, has developed over the past decade to include “intersectional inclusion, decolonisation of knowledges, and learner-centered and learner directed approaches” as well as “creativity and collaboration skills in adult and lifelong learning practice” (Uflewskai et. al 2021), something that has not been included before. All of these aspects have played a critical role in crafting an engaging, equitable, and productive learning experience. References: CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org Uflewska, A., Lido, C. M., & Dey, S. (2021). Innovative, interactive and individualised (i3) teaching and learning practice in higher and lifelong education. Widening Participation & Lifelong Learning, 23(2), 55–69. https://doi-org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.5456/WPLL.23.2.55 This week I took some time to look at UDL, or Universal Design for Learning. While I have looked at UDL in many of my previous courses, it wasn't until this week that I actually understood the importance of it. With this new realization, though, I had a lot of questions and realizations that I wanted to share.
Let me start by explaining what UDL actually is. According to cast.org, a website outlining all things UDL, it is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn” (CAST 2022). Basically, it’s how to be a good teacher. Sounds perfect, right? Teachers just have to understand UDL, implement it, and then all students would be able to learn! Not exactly. See, UDL has different components- representation, action and expression, and engagement. When each of these components is provided in multiple ways to suit learners needs, that is when UDL actually works. The problem here is that teachers must first understand how students learn and then adjust/ cater their lessons to these needs, while keeping in mind what the overall learning goal is. This is where the grunt work comes in. Now that you have a basic understanding of UDL, I want to discuss some realizations that I came to this week. The first being “why does UDL suddenly disappear in post-secondary and even secondary education?”. This was brought to my attention when exploring the website udloncampus.org. This website has this video posted on the homepage. It describes what UDL is in higher education, but what stuck out to me the most was the very first five seconds where a woman states “when students come to postsecondary they are incredibly diverse” (UDL in Higher Education 2015). This got me thinking about everything I have been taught about UDL, where I have been taught to implement it, and how I have seen it implemented. The conclusion that I came to was I have been taught to implement it with little kids, and I have only seen it implemented with little kids. But why? The answer to that question is because it gets increasingly harder to differentiate your teaching when you are dealing with an “incredibly diverse” group of students. It takes practice, hard work, and dedication, but it delivers results. When I think back on my education, I remember having fun in my elementary and even middle school classrooms. I recall learning in a million different ways, acting, creating, reading, exploring, and even taking notes. But at these times of my life I learned so much. Then high school hit and suddenly I was going through the motions of learning every single day. I sat down at my individual desk, took notes for an hour, took an exam or quiz every once in a while, and left the classroom when the bell rang. All day, every day. And how much do I remember learning from high school? Not a lot. And the same held true with my college courses. There was no differentiation, no excitement or engagement. Because it is hard for teachers of higher education to differentiate their teaching, and so much easier to just spit out information and hope students learn it. Not only is it hard for teachers to differentiate when they are faced with such diverse learners, but it is also tremendously less acceptable for older learners to learn through making and creating. This is something else that I explored this week- who is ‘allowed’ to create/ make and who is not? We all know that playing is such an important part of learning… but only for children, right? Once you are in higher education, you’re not allowed to play or create, as society tells us. With these societal expectations, students in higher education will never be exposed to an entire learning experience, and teachers of higher education will never provide this type of learning experience. So why is UDL so much more important in elementary education than higher education? If you ask me, it’s not. References: https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl#.XFBpZi2ZOL9 http://udloncampus.cast.org/home#.XFBobC2ZOL8 Chrissie Butler (June 6, 2013). “UDL graphic frame for quick planning”. [Image]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/36224492@N06/8972765059/in/photolist-eETLrR-pshCp3-2mB3zim-2iusb4E-bS98He-Tha6aE-ewqj88-Pikmw6-2gwnzFc-HZPwd3-C6MTME-eoFQUF-cFgcid-eoFQvB-hRh5g-bTZ4Ex-2jn8M1W-2dUpTU-exyV1J-bDJLqM-Wm8fEf-hRgYz-8JM9vh-8Cu2xB-baZVmk-228h2av-5bXTLj-2kCcy8G-b9jmZ6-qXViC8-cFg9XU-cFgaa5-8JJ6NM-hRgWk-8JJ6Ai-2n85LF1-2n832tX-exvHZn-2n82Be7-8JM9hJ-ij5Etq-hRgTW-2dUrBJ-ij58kV-PJ2omd-2n84idm-2n84idX-2dUkzS-2dPw8t-2dPBrp UDL On Campus (2015, October). “UDL in Higher Education”. [Video]. Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_MCvjkd8Jc This week I took a deep look at all of my socials- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even Pinterest. What I found was quite interesting. After learning about participatory culture and the “filter bubble” as described by Eli Pariser (2011), I decided it was time to take a good look at what information I am and am not being shown on social media. I have always been aware of the idea of a filter bubble, but never knew that it had a name. One way that I have acknowledged the filter bubble in my socials is through what I see on TikTok. It is very clear that the algorithms of TikTok show me exactly what I want to see and filter out anything that they believe I would not enjoy or agree with. This has been a widely acknowledged phenomenon, as I have heard my friends talk about what “kind” of TikTok they are “on” (for example- I am almost always on ‘dog TikTok’). This was the first week that I took a look at this phenomenon with more knowledge and a critical eye. I ended up following a few more people on TikTok to see if this would impact the algorithm- and it did! I specifically followed “msbunnyteacher” after watching a video of hers where she discusses a different point of view on EdTech than I have. After I followed her, more videos with views like hers started appearing in my feed. This was very shocking to me and makes me think, if making this one small change had that much of an impact on what I now see… what else am I missing??
Resources: Blogtrepeneur. (2016, July 26). Social Media Marketing Mix. [Image]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/143601516@N03/28208489145/in/photolist-JYFT48-gSX5nH-6FkPYG-gSXMFT-8o2UHN-2izMmhY-gSX5fD-SDENZU-rh1USg-gSX4v3-gSX4qd-7arjcX-HRv9gc-aFy3bt-8w6RQm-8FSH1y-K4c1J7-dvUxYM-6wzM1U-8tftq9-wto671-99BVQZ-754QPy-6MgfTM-6wvviD-9Dgi47-deoZtb-6hxAb9-aNzXB8-2mhZFz1-gSX5ZL-4sgaEK-ddApjK-rgUoy3-yJnGVW-y56zPB-gSXPdR-gSX5Zq-S7w8UL-dPQbk9-gSX5TU-e1yRKg-xqYsBK-e1HpQq-6sydbF-5XNfPs-5dqihW-gSX6xi-gSX6Dv-gSX67u. Msbunnyteacher. (2022) [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@msbunnyteacher/video/7095115613613362475?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1. TED. (2011, February). Beware online "filter bubbles" | Eli Pariser. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles/transcript |
Welcome!Sit back, relax, and enjoy (or don't, up to you)! Archives
August 2023
Categories |