Taking a Risk: Using Technology to
Foster Collaboration, Encourage
Creativity, and Engage Students
Dr. Laura McLaughlin Taddei
Dr. Meghan E. Radosh
Dr. Cathy M. Littlefield
E-Learning Conference, Drexel University
March 25, 2015
Learning Outcomes
• Discuss current techniques used to improve student
learning
• Identify sources and resources to promote innovation
and creativity to improve student learning
• Plan ways to integrate new technology or innovative
techniques to improve student learning
At the end of the session, we will
have:
• Shared ideas and resources
• Plans for ways to integrate innovation and creativity to
improve student learning
• Identified support needed to accomplish plan
We will be posting pictures and resources to Twitter and
Instagram during our presentation.
Please feel free to add your own and be sure to include the
following hashtags: #DrexelELearning #TakingARisk
Today’s Dialogue:
Four Themes of Today’s Presentation:
○ Active Learning
○ Community Building
○ Collaboration
○ Risk Taking
Active Learning
Active Learning Strategies
A
Strategies such as "group work, problem solving, idea
generation, innovations, designing and face-to-face
communication" can foster innovation and creativity.
Enterprise School (2011). An Entrepreneurial development
framework for higher education institutions.
http://www.jadeportugal.org/an-entrepreneurial-development-frameworkfor-institutions-of-higher-education.html
“there is a need to develop entrepreneurial innovation
knowledge within higher education institutions to
ensure the maintenance of a competitive edge”
(Enterprise School, 2011)
Innovation is the “process by which knowledge is
transformed into new or significantly modified products
and/or services that establish …competitive edge”
(Enterprise School, 2011)
Considerations for Building a Curricular
Framework:
○ Course design
○ Don’t be afraid to try new things
○ Encourage group work and communication
○ Build in problem solving activities
○ Foster face-to-face communication
○ Allow for idea generation
Active Learning Applications
PollEverywhere.com
Google Drive
VoiceThread.com
Google Hangout
Padlet.com
Skype
ApprenNet.com
WikiSpaces.com
Classpager.com
Prezi.com
Community Building
and Collaboration
Create Communities of Learners
• How can we or how do we create collaborative
communities of learners?
“When faculty talk with colleagues about teaching strategies
and challenges, it helps to create an atmosphere in which it
feels safe to try new methods and take risks as an educator”
(Simmons, 2012)
http://www.insidehighered.
com/advice/2012/04/18/essay-how-colleges-canencourage-professors-innovate-teaching
• Padlet
• Start Up Faculty Responses:
http://padlet.
com/ltaddei/z60ysca8yjim
•
Faculty from other institutions:
http://padlet.
com/ltaddei/vj1llyduec5f
• Instagram and Twitter
• YouTube
• Class Video - https://youtu.be/iE9CuPtTylQ
Using Technology to Build
Community
What represents who
you are?
To start with building community, we have created a
padlet for everyone to share…..
http://tinyurl.com/drexelelearning
Problem Solving
Birthday Challenge
● Students had to line up by birthday, but
not say a word.
●
Created
○ Innovative thinking
○ Leadership
○ Shared Experience
○ Sense of Community
Hands-on Learning
Create Your Own Brand Activity
●
Attendees used craft items to create
a visual of their own slogan that they
shared with the group
●
Created
○ Trust
○ Group dynamics
○ Shared Experience
○ Community Building
http://think.stedwards.
edu/studentlife/icebreakersandteambuilder
s
What innovative techniques
do you use to build
community and encourage
collaboration?
Risk Taking
• Provide a safe environment that allows risk-taking
• Be willing to try new ideas and then tweak to improve Allow do-overs –
making mistakes is acceptable
• Get out of your own comfort zone
• Throw out everything at the end of the year and start over again
• Talk to other faculty and find out things they have tried and what worked
and what did not work
See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/facultydevelopment/encouraging-creativity-and-innovation-in-yourself-and-yourstudents/#sthash.jkaDzwH0.dpuf
Risk Taking
• Innovation can include “fun, creativity, diversity,
collaboration and the ability to trust intuition”
(Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).
• “One of the most essential elements
of innovation is risk taking”
(Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).
If you never failed, you never
lived
Technology & Dialogue
Qualitative Data Findings:
http://prezi.com/abgtzwisydvc/?
utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Music Credit: Lost Boys by Ruth B
Google Drive form asking students for information before class started -
http://goo.gl/forms/c38N2O13LS
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then
there is no hope for it."
– Albert Einstein
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain
cells”
- Dr. Seuss
● Research recognizes that some of the most effective
leaders are truly passionate about what they do and have
a genuine interest in helping their constituents or
followers” (Reimers-Hild & King, 2009).
● “Innovation is about coming up with new ideas,
products, collaborations, services and solutions that can
be implemented and used” (Reimers-Hild & King,
2009).
• Ryshke, R. (2012) What schools can do to encourage
innovation:
• http://rryshke.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/whatschools-can-do-to-encourage-innovation/
• Taking risks and sometimes even looking at failure as
“fuel for innovation” can help promote this process
(Ryshke, 2012).
Encouraging Innovation
Sharing tips and suggestions with
each other:
http://padlet.com/ltaddei/800ashdo3ykb
Our Challenge to You….
• To use one new active learning technology to engage
your students.
• To use technology to build community and collaboration
in your classroom.
• To let go of your fear and take risks in the classroom with
technology.
• http://tinyurl.com/actionplantakingrisk
Please view and join the wiki we created
with resources and information related to
this presentation.
takingriskusingtechnologyintheclassroom.wikispaces.com
If you would like to continue the conversation, please contact us at:
Dr. Laura Taddei
• Assistant Professor, Education and Human Services Division
• Neumann University
• taddeiL@Neumann.edu
• Twitter @drlaurataddei
• 610-513-6144
Dr. Meghan Radosh
•
Associate Director of Alumni Engagement
•
Widener University
•
meradosh@widener.edu
• Twitter: @Dr_MeghanR
Dr. Cathy M. Littlefield
•
Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership & Management, Graduate Studies
•
clittlefield@peirce.edu
•
Peirce College
•
Twitter: @PeirceGradEd