It's About Empowering Students
My future study comes to down to answering this question: how do I realize the possibilities of technology to creatively combine the lessons of maker education and design thinking to empower students to solve problems that will make our world a more just, equitable place?
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Two experiences have helped me articulate this guiding question. Maker education, its underlying learning theories, and the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework have challenged me to redefine teaching with technology, a process that has improved my creativity. Design thinking has me wondering how to empower students to solve the problems they encounter in their lives. Whatever the answers to my question, I must work to understand the history of technology and maintain a vigilant skepticism because though I believe in technology’s potential for good, technology is not neutral.
I’m progressing on my first goal, which is to incorporate the lessons of maker education in order to push my creativity in the classroom. Of all the paths I could explore in my future study, I want to continue on this one because I’ve seen how students respond positively when challenged to build models.
The act of creating a model offers students a chance to transform complex abstractions into concrete representations, a process that results in difficult concepts becoming more understandable (Henriksen, Terry, & Mishra, 2015). Making models revitalizes the role of joy and creativity in learning while simultaneously providing students and teachers alike essential feedback on how well a student comprehends abstract ideas. I want to learn other ways to bring maker education into my classroom.
Of course I’m not the only person thinking about maker education. I follow Aaron Maurer, one of the guests on the webinar I hosted, on Twitter. Another helpful resource is Maker Ed. I plan to use Aaron and Maker Ed to better understand how individual educators as well as organizations bring maker education and its emphasis on teacher and student creativity into classrooms and other learning environments.
My students created models of the mind and then organized different feelings, memories, and urges within their models.
A maker ethos, one that celebrates innovation, prototypes, frequent mistakes, and reflecting on mistakes to learn, is at the heart of design thinking. I’m interested in design thinking in the classroom as a way to systematize and scale a proven process for solving problems. Students, in my experience, want to address local, national, and international problems. They are passionate. They are energized. Despite their engagement and excitement, they often find it difficult to move from idea to action. (Though, clearly, this isn’t true for all students.) Design thinking promises defined steps students can follow and adapt to tackle issues that are important to them.
Organizations like Creative Reaction Lab and Design for America provide examples and ideas on how I might work with students to provide guidance, ultimately handing over the keys to see where they drive.
Whatever they’re driving in my metaphor, it will more than likely be equipped with “smart” technology. But what is this technology, and at what cost are we asking - and sometimes forcing - students to use it? An unforeseen consequence of my studies has been my deepening skepticism of technology thanks to critics like Audrey Watters, Chris Gilliard, and Benjamin Doxtdator. They have opened my eyes to the history of technology and the corrosive stories we tell about technology, particularly technology and education. They have raised questions about technology and its troubles, including surveillance, algorithms and structural inequalities, and the ongoing harm caused by neoliberalism.
So what am I to do? One solution is to engage with the work of Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stommel and the scholarship they and other academics are doing as part of Hybrid Pedagogy. Drawing upon this scholarship, and adding to it myself, will encourage me to maintain my skepticism while keeping a steady focus on innovative ways for my students to leverage technology to build their knowledge and share their ideas.
As I look to my future studies, whether they are centered on maker education, design thinking, or the intersection of technology and equity, I see a common focus: empowering students. Our problems are too wicked to solve alone. And so, I won’t. Instead, I will make, I will teach, and I will learn. I will listen. I am listening. Let’s get to work.
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References
Henriksen, D., Terry, C.A., and Mishra, P. (2015). Modeling as a trans-disciplinary formative skill and practice. Tech Trends, 59.2, 4-9.