At Thanksgiving Kate, my daughter a junior at Baylor University, bounded in the house full of energy as usual. After finding the dog and spending some quality time with clearly the most important being in the house, she unloaded her car bringing in her backpack last. As she placed her backpack on the kitchen table, she let me know she had work to do over the break. What I thought she meant was she had a lot of studying to do to prepare for finals. The work she was challenged with was none of that. She was enrolled in a poetry class and she needed to create something that reflected her work and learning over the semester. Over the weekend, I watched as she looked through her work. She experimented with different ways that she could share or present what she had written. The process made her uncomfortable and pushed her. With her permission, I share what she created below.
Kate inspired my #OneWord for 2018...CREATE. To create is to bring something new into existence. I often find myself learning something new and storing the knowledge and not actually creating something from it and sharing it with others. So in 2018 I am committed to creating and encouraging teachers to look for innovative ways that students can show their learning through creating original thoughts, writing, projects and presentations. I also think of creating as making learning visible. Simply beginning with the end in mind will change much of what instruction and student learning looks like along the way. If it's not going to be a test with a lock down browser that is used to assess the learning, I believe the experience in the classroom will look drastically different.
Technology now allows for the creation of multi-modal content easily. To take advantage of the resources that we have, we have to make an effort to teach digital literacy and how to use the tools that we have at our finger tips. Creating and making learning visible doesn't have to be a polished product either. Simply creating a video that explains a concept or sharing a draft at any point along the way is creating. The ability to share what is created along the learning journey with others and receive feedback is something that technology allows to happen seamlessly.
I want to thank Dr. Chloe Honum at Baylor University for pushing and inspiring my daughter to continue to learn, take chances, and create. I am so grateful that her time over Thanksgiving was spent creating something that is original and beautiful. This is just one of many examples of higher ed is challenging students in a far different way than rote lectures and exams.
Here is to learning and creating in 2018! #Create
Technology now allows for the creation of multi-modal content easily. To take advantage of the resources that we have, we have to make an effort to teach digital literacy and how to use the tools that we have at our finger tips. Creating and making learning visible doesn't have to be a polished product either. Simply creating a video that explains a concept or sharing a draft at any point along the way is creating. The ability to share what is created along the learning journey with others and receive feedback is something that technology allows to happen seamlessly.
I want to thank Dr. Chloe Honum at Baylor University for pushing and inspiring my daughter to continue to learn, take chances, and create. I am so grateful that her time over Thanksgiving was spent creating something that is original and beautiful. This is just one of many examples of higher ed is challenging students in a far different way than rote lectures and exams.
Here is to learning and creating in 2018! #Create
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