Innovating Pedagogy 2023: Exploring New Forms of Teaching, Learning and Assessment

The Innovating Pedagogy 2023 report, published by The Open University, explores ten innovations that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice. The report is designed to guide teachers, policymakers, and educational technologists in making informed decisions about new forms of teaching, learning, and assessment.

  1. Learning through Open Data: Open data is publicly available information that can be freely used, modified, and shared. The report suggests that open data can be used as a teaching tool to develop students’ data literacy skills, critical thinking, and understanding of complex issues.
  2. Student-led Analytics: This innovation involves students in the process of collecting, analyzing, and using their own educational data to support their learning. It empowers students to take control of their learning and make informed decisions.
  3. AI Teaching Assistants: AI teaching assistants can provide personalized learning experiences, answer students’ questions, and give feedback on assignments. They can support teachers by taking over routine tasks, allowing teachers to focus on more complex aspects of teaching.
  4. Micro-credentials: Micro-credentials are digital certificates that recognize small amounts of learning or skills. They offer flexible pathways for lifelong learning and can be stacked to form a larger qualification.
  5. Learning through Multisensory Experiences: This approach uses technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to provide immersive learning experiences. It can help students understand complex concepts and develop skills in a safe and controlled environment.
  6. Humanistic Knowledge-Building Communities: These are online communities where learners and teachers collaboratively create knowledge. They foster a sense of belonging and support the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
  7. Learning from Robots: Robots can be used in education to support learning in various ways, such as teaching coding or providing social and emotional support to students.
  8. Blockchain for Learning: Blockchain technology can be used to create secure, transparent, and tamper-proof educational records. It can also support the recognition of micro-credentials and facilitate the sharing of learning records across institutions.
  9. Decolonizing Learning: This involves challenging the dominant Eurocentric perspective in education and incorporating diverse knowledge, cultures, and ways of knowing into the curriculum.
  10. Action-Oriented Learning: This approach involves students in real-world problem-solving and social action. It develops skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and civic engagement.

The report (available here) emphasizes that these innovations are not standalone solutions but should be integrated into a broader pedagogical strategy. It also highlights the importance of considering ethical issues, such as data privacy and the risk of AI bias, when implementing these innovations.



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Unveiling the Power of Technology in Education: A Comprehensive Guide

photo of people doing handshakes
Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

The Indispensable Role of Technology in Learning

Today, we’re witnessing a transformative phase in the educational landscape, significantly driven by technology. From creating engaging and immersive learning experiences to empowering educators and students with access to limitless resources, technology plays an indispensable role in modern education.

The progression from traditional chalk-and-board classrooms to interactive digital learning environments is not just a shift in teaching methods. It’s a change that enhances student engagement, collaboration, and personalized learning while opening avenues to global knowledge repositories.

Sale
Technology Integration and High Possibility Classrooms
  • Hunter, Jane (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 218 Pages – 03/23/2015 (Publication Date) – Routledge (Publisher)

Technological Integration: A Step-By-Step Implementation Guide

For any educational institution planning to embrace technology, it’s crucial to understand the implementation process. This will ensure a smooth transition and maximize the benefits of technology integration.

Step 1: Establish Clear Goals

Begin with a clear vision of what you wish to achieve. Establish the learning outcomes and the ways technology can enhance those. Whether it’s increasing student engagement, encouraging collaboration, or personalizing learning experiences, having clear goals will guide your technological integration.

Step 2: Assess the Infrastructure

Assessing the existing infrastructure is the next critical step. Determine the state of current resources, including hardware, software, and internet connectivity, and identify areas of improvement. This will ensure that the technology integration aligns with the institution’s capabilities.

Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning: (A Quick Guide to Educational Technology Integration and Digital Learning Spaces) (Solutions for Creating the Learning Spaces Students Deserve)
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • McLeod, Scott (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 80 Pages – 09/21/2018 (Publication Date) – Solution Tree Press (Publisher)

Step 3: Professional Development for Teachers

Equip teachers with the necessary training to navigate the new technology. Professional development programs ensure teachers are comfortable using the tools, making their teaching more effective.

Step 4: Evaluate and Choose the Right Technology

Research and identify the technologies that align with your goals. Whether it’s learning management systems (LMS), interactive whiteboards, or student response systems, evaluate each based on their utility and compatibility with your institution’s needs.

Step 5: Gradual Integration and Constant Evaluation

Integrate technology gradually into the learning environment and constantly evaluate its effectiveness. This will ensure that the technology enhances the learning experience as intended.

Teach and Learn with Technology: Theory and Application of Classroom Technology Integration
  • Outka-Hill, Jill (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 244 Pages – 11/15/2022 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)

The Impact of Technology on Student Engagement and Collaboration

The integration of technology in education can greatly enhance student engagement. Interactive tools and multimedia content cater to various learning styles, making the learning process more engaging and inclusive.

Additionally, technology fosters collaboration among students. Digital platforms enable students to collaborate in real-time, irrespective of their geographical location. This cultivates a sense of community and encourages peer-to-peer learning.

Technology and Personalized Learning

One of the significant benefits of technology in education is the opportunity for personalized learning. Digital platforms provide adaptive learning experiences tailored to individual students’ needs, thereby making learning more effective and enjoyable.

The Way Forward

With the growing influence of technology in education, it’s important for educational institutions to adapt and evolve. While the path to technological integration may seem daunting, it promises a future of enhanced learning experiences, better student engagement, and personalized education.

The future of education is undoubtedly intertwined with technology. It’s time to embrace this change and leverage the endless opportunities that technology presents to enhance learning experiences. With a strategic approach to implementation, we can ensure that technology serves as an effective tool in our mission to educate and inspire the next generation.



The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!

Reading, Writing, but maybe not ‘Rithmetic

Summer Starfighter, a sleek interstellar vessel with a polished silver hull reflecting the setting sun, intricate markings adorning its wings like tribal tattoos, Coastal cityscape during twilight, skyscrapers casting long shadows onto the shimmering sea, the atmosphere tinged with both anticipation and tranquility as the starfighter hovers, ready for takeoff, Photography, captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 24-105mm lens

Greetings starfighters. It’s time for another edition of “10 Things” worth sharing with you. It’s almost the end of the school year here in the Bluegrass, and my thoughts turn to summer and to my daughter’s impending move to middle school. I’m old.

Anyway, I hope your life is just as interesting. Perhaps some of these shares will make it even more so.

10 Things Worth Sharing

-I read around 100ish books per year, but as a doctoral student, I’m having to read more. Here are some tips from two experts on how you can read more than you thought possible.

-If you’re in grad school, these books will help you get through and maintain your sanity.

-Some thoughts on how we can avoid raising machines (hint: let’s stop standardized testing) and raise humans.

-I put together some quick resources on Juneteenth that you may find helpful. I know most schools aren’t in session by the time Juneteenth rolls around, but we can’t overlook teaching this important date.

-One of my elementary teachers (and Future Shift Fellowship cohort member) created a podcast with her students. Actually, the students did all the work. It’s pretty awesome.

-Friend and professor John Nash, Ph.D., has done some amazing work with AI in his classes. In a recent episode of his podcast, he talks about testing AI and what does and doesn’t work.

-Fun stuff: if you’re of a certain age, you may remember The Midnight Special. What you may not know is that the show is back, thanks to the official YouTube channel.

-Have you ever seen a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio? Here’s your chance.

How Makerspaces in Schools Can Support Student Mental Health

-Final thoughts: Daft Punk released a tenth-anniversary edition of Random Access Memories, including what may be the “last Daft Punk song ever” and I’m totally not over it yet.

BONUS: As I was compiling this list, I got the notification that you can now provide input on the National Educational Technology Plan. Polls are open for K-12 Educators and Families. Please take some time to let your voice be heard. This is the first time since COVID-19 hit that this important policy document is getting an update. You can access the links to either poll right here.


Thanks for reading. The end of the school year means we’re officially in the “dads and grads” gifting season. I’ve put together a couple of book lists for quick and easy gifting. Here’s one for dads and one for grads. Enjoy!

The Last Daft Punk Ever

Daft Punk retired, their helmets, bathed in the vibrant hues of a sunset, rest on a white sand beach, waves gently lapping nearby, filled with a bittersweet serenity and peace, Watercolor, painted with soft brushes and a pastel color palette

Yes, I love Daft Punk. I don’t care what you think of me.

Earlier this week, the duo (in retirement) the 10th-anniversary edition of Random Access Memories, their last studio album. The anniversary album includes 35 minutes of previously unreleased music.

Among the tracks is a demo of Infinity Repeating, featuring Julian Casablancas and The Voidz, which a recent interview w/ Casablancas on Daft Punk’s YouTube channel called “the last Daft Punk song, ever”.

All good things must come to an end. I kept hoping Daft Punk would return. I guess not.

Comparing and Testing AI for Education

AI robots becoming the new rulers, a grand throne room filled with robots in regal attire, adorned with glowing symbols and intricate metalwork, human ambassadors kneel in submission, the mood is one of awe and submissiveness, Artwork, a detailed Renaissance-style oil painting with the use of dramatic chiaroscuro to highlight the metallic sheen and grandeur of the robots

Professor and friend John Nash co-hosts a podcast on all things online learning. In a recent episode, he shared his work on coaching ChatGPT to write more “human” and the results are… interesting…

While generative AI tools are very cool right now, they are a long way from being truly disruptive and overtaking the world.

Here’s what’s interesting. Scaffolding the prompts, defining perplexity and burstiness, and then prompting an explicit increase of those measures made the text “human” to GPTZero. Still, it also made the text ridiculously flowery and inflated. Kind of like when a master’s student thinks they are supposed to “sound academic.” It was so bad that the ChatGPT output was immediately suspect to my human eyes, even though GPTZero said it was likely written entirely by a human.

– John Nash, PhD

Avoid Raising Machines

"That we would train machines to be like us is not surprising.

The real scandal is how much we’ve trained ourselves to be like machines." (Austin Kleon, Machines That Make You Feel More Human - Austin Kleon)

“That we would train machines to be like us is not surprising.

The real scandal is how much we’ve trained ourselves to be like machines.”

Austin Kleon

It’s testing season as another school year comes to a close. The time when students get to demonstrate just how well we’ve trained them to be little machines.

We’ve covered the content, given the testing tips, and passed out the booklets or the Chromebooks.

We’ve done everything we can to prepare them for the relentless battery of standardized tests they must endure, all because someone who knows nothing about learning needs evidence that teachers have done their jobs.

They want to know how well we’ve trained our little machines.

There’s just one problem: we don’t train machines. We teach human beings.

Maybe there’s something wrong here.

Friday Assorted Links

Title: "Az 1848-49-iki magyar szabadságharcz története [With illustrations.]"

Author(s): Gracza, György [person]

British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 9315.h.13"

Page: 272 (scanned page number - not necessarily the actual page number in the publication)

Place of publication: Budapest

Date of publication: 1894

Type of resource: Monograph

Language(s): Hungarian

Physical description: 2 köt (4°)
Source: British Library on Flickr

The 11 Most Beautiful Post Offices Around the World

I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT

– I’m halfway through Cory Doctorow’s latest novel, Red Team Blues. It’s pretty great.

These glacier photos are breathtaking

– Matt Damon on brainstorming and collaboration

The Hero’s Journey, according to Joseph Campbell




The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!

Stack Overflow Loses Traffic to ChatGPT

an AI-powered robot smashing blocks of computer code

More news on the influence of AI in arenas outside of education:

Web analytics firm SimilarWeb reported last month that Stack Overflow has seen a drop in traffic every month since the beginning of 2022, with the average drop being 6%. In March, Stack Overflow saw a 13.9% drop in traffic from February and in April, the website saw 17.7% drop in traffic from March. SimilarWeb argues that some of that dropping traffic could be due to GitHub’s AI helper called CoPilot, but users could also be using the more popular ChatGPT as a way to help debug their code—the same way they may via posts on Stack Overflow’s forum.

Gizmodo

Stack Overflow is a popular website among programmers, where they can ask and answer technical questions related to coding. Users can also vote on the best answers so that the most helpful ones rise to the top. The site is widely used as a resource for debugging and problem-solving, and its community is known for being helpful and knowledgeable.

ChatGPT, which uses AI to generate responses to programming questions, has been gaining popularity as an alternative to Stack Overflow. The website’s AI technology can provide more personalized and accurate answers to users’ questions, making it a more efficient tool for debugging and problem-solving.

We’ve already seen how ChatGPT has taken a large chunk of business away from Chegg. I wonder what site/industry will take the next hit.

Love it or hate it, AI is here to disrupt your reality.




The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!

Midjourney Recreates Ancient Battles

From the “This is wicked cool” department, here are some examples of Midjourney’s take on ancient battles.

I continue to be blown away by the power of AI tools. At the same time, I completely understand many of the concerns about AI replacing working writers, artists, and other creators.

There is a way forward, and I think it lies in using AI as a support tool. The possibilities for students to use AI as a support to their work are many, but we must be judicious in its usage.