Leigh Graves Wolf

I just finished presenting with Scott at the 2019 PressED conference! PressED is a conference “looking into how WordPress is used in teaching, pedagogy and research. The conference happens solely on twitter.” Here is the document we used to construct our “talk” – it was SUCH an exciting experience, from constructing our narrative to the actual copy/pasting/posting of our tweets. Below you’ll find a “moment” with our presentation – and be sure to follow the #PressEdConf19 stream today – incredible work and conversations being shared!!

#PressEdConf19 by @gravesle & @schopie1

I’m on the plane ride home from an amazing experience at #OER19. In thinking of what I could write to recap – I thought I would share a story I’ve been sitting on for a few weeks. Inspired by Kate Bowles’ use of the powerful metaphor of a quilt in her incredible keynote and, the discussions I had with several colleagues around open teaching practices – I’ll begin laying out the patchwork.

On July 11, 2016, I was in class with Debbie. I think it was the end of the third week of our intensive 4 week Master’s in Educational Technology program. Over the week the students had to create an “i-Infographic” for an audience. In our program we always encouraged and supported our students to publish and share their important work with the world.

I clearly remember Debbie coming up to me and having me read her (awesome) blog post – she was filled with a sense of worry and trepidation about putting her work out there in the open. I reassured her – and ultimately she courageously hit “publish.” And that’s where the story of the Twitter 4 Teachers infographic begins.

Debbie’s infographic has been continually “going viral” since 2016. If you do a quick google image search for “Twitter 4 Teachers” (the title of the infographic) you’ll see hits from around the world – teachers/educators/administrators who have used her (Creatively Commons licensed) graphic . Over the years she would share tweets with me or messages from other educators who had found her infographic and shared out they were using it in their context.

Things hit a new level a few weeks ago. My twitter notifications were uncharacteristically blinking (which made me worry at first.) And then, I realized I was looped into this amazing exchange:

As the paper about using twitter as a teacher is spreading in Germany it‘s time to name the real author @tech4teachers19 – so many thanx! We love your work! #twitterlehrerzimmer

— Marc Albrecht (@lbrechthermanns) March 29, 2019

It turns out Marc (in Germany) had found Debbie’s infographic, and remixed it into German.

Oh, sorry, here it is. pic.twitter.com/BshTJojFqq

— Marc Albrecht (@lbrechthermanns) March 29, 2019

Not only that – but he went on to share:

If you use #twitterlehrerzimmer you‘ll find a lot of pics by teachers who printed the paper an pinned it in their schools – all over Germany.

— Marc Albrecht (@lbrechthermanns) March 29, 2019

So now, Debbie, Marc, and educators across Germany are all connected – because Debbie took a risk to be open, because our pedagogy & curriculum supported and encouraged open, and because Marc is an open practitioner and embodies the ethos of remix/reuse/share. Since all the layers of this experience were open, the story above is rich with hyperlinks of evidence – digital trails, timestamps and artifacts that can be stitched together – into this new quilt.

It was an absolute honor to return to the School of Education at NUIG this past Monday to share thoughts on Design Thinking & Blended Learning Design for their Research Seminar Series. I’m truly lucky to have such wonderful connections and colleagues at NUIG – I appreciate my “old” friends who came to the table, and the new ones I met this time around! A special thanks to Tony, Cornelia & Gerry for this opportunity.

I’m sharing my slidedeck below – it was just a brief conversation starter, and, then we had the luxury of having a good chat and poked some holes at design thinking and blended learning efforts. Thanks to all of you who pushed my thinking – and I’m looking forward to continued conversations and collaborations.

Delighted to host @gravesle from @ASU as part of our @edtechne Research Seminar Series #designthinking #edtech #blendedlearning @GerryLeadership pic.twitter.com/AEOSeLXYWt

— Cornelia Connolly (@corneliathinks) April 8, 2019

It was a tremendous honor to be asked back to AcceleratED (#apdx19) and IntegratED (#ipdx19) in Portland. I had a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends and of course, the opportunity to meet new friends.  As always, Darren did an amazing job pulling together many different inspiring and thought provoking facilitators. What I love about the conference is the expectation for all to come and be active participants. I sincerely want to thank everyone who came to my sessions – they were challenging conversations and we pushed ourselves to think beyond “fun and free.” The conference ended with a raw and challenging talk by Douglas Rushkoff (many of the ideas were from his new book Team Human,which I have added to my reading list.)

Below you will find a recap of my sessions (with the associated slides/handouts.) All of the collaborative notes from the both conferences can be found: APDX Notes, IPDX Notes. You can also cull through the conference TAGS twitter archives by visiting #apdx19 and #ipdx19.

Design Thinking: How to Follow Through (APDX)

Design thinking (DT) has infiltrated many of our PD/PL sessions, but, often we’re left cleaning up post-it notes with no real plan for action. This session takes a critical look at DT and provides an opportunity to practice sustainable DT.

There were some fantastic notes and suggestions brainstormed during the session which you can find here.

What now? A Critical (Speed Discussion) #EdTech (APDX)

At times it feels as if the conversations and sessions are repeating themselves – are we truly making progress? This session will be a rapid series of critical provocations between participants culminating in idea generation and challenges.

Here are the discussion questions along with critical questions brainstormed during the session.

Data Detox: An Ethical Intervention (IPDX)

Using Mozilla & Tactical Tech’s Data Detox as an intervention, this session will be an interactive detox and an entry point into discussions about ethics and digital literacy.

Write Aloud worksheet used during the session: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12kyxqVpqzjxHqG0v53-KLXzUE3gmC9Ff4TnNBRtc8Ag/copy

Theory into Practice: Listening, Learning & Sharing (IPDX)

This workshop is an intense refresher (or introduction) into educational technology theories (new and old.) Participants will create an #iPDX19Syllabus of resources to share with the conference community.

2018 was quite a year of transition – maybe the most change I’ve had in a year, ever! Let’s start with some personal changes…

I started 2018 in recovery mode (after having an emergency colostomy due to endometriosis in October 2017.) In March, I went back to the Cleveland Clinic for a check up, and I was cleared for the colostomy reversal. I was extremely anxious, but also excited at the potential of being “put back together.” Over Memorial Day weekend, I had my reversal surgery – it was SO much easier than the original surgery and I was released to go home 3 days after the surgery. Additionally, I met with Dr. Judith Scheman of the behavioral medicine program before my surgery – it was incredibly helpful to learn about the brain/gut connection and to learn ways to deal with my anxieties. At the end of 2018, I’m feeling 98% back to my new normal (still some aches, pains and anxieties – but much better than how I felt in January 2018!)

I have tried to share my story publicly so others know they are not alone. I am here to help connect you to resources that have helped me (specifically here related to endo, ostomy or wound care!) I have tremendous respect for my doctors and nurses – for their training, for my ability to access world class care due to our health insurance. Being confronted with these medical and health challenges first hand brought many things into sharp focus. I’ll do my best to continue to advocate and donate so others who are also faced with these challenges have the same privilege and support that I have had during my journey.

While all of my personal challenges were presenting themselves, I went through the process of applying for – and getting – a new job. I resigned from MSU in June of 2018 and started as a Clinical Associate Professor at Arizona State University in August of 2018. My first semester was incredible – I’m so happy to be teaching again. I’m working remotely from Michigan and visit Tempe a few times per year. Ditching my 120 mile/day commute has been life changing. I have reclaimed about 15-20 hours/week, time I can funnel into – anything! I have missed daily interaction with colleagues face-to-face, however, I have been co-working with some amazing friends around town which has helped fuel my creativity & energy.

I’m proud of my academic publishing and presenting record this year – though it was not as voluminous as it has been in the past, I still was able to produce scholarship (with amazing friends and colleagues) despite my physical challenges.

Wolf. L. (October, 2018) #CPED2018 – Constructing a collaborative convening “syllabus”. Learning exchange presented at the meeting of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, Glendale, AZ.

Buss, R., Henriksen, D., Mertler, C. Rotheram-Fuller, E., Wolf, L. (October, 2018) Leader-scholar communities (LSCs) @ ASU: Lessons learned, lessons shared, lessons inspired. Learning exchange presented at the meeting of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, Glendale, AZ.

Buss, R., Henriksen, D., Mertler, C. Rotheram-Fuller, E., Wolf, L. (October, 2018) Growing into change: Moving from F2F to online in a doctoral research conference. Learning exchange presented at the meeting of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, Glendale, AZ.

Dousay, T. A., Wolf, L., Santos Green, L., & Asino, T. (2018). Rise of the “Teacher Influencers”: Examining the benefits and conundrums. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 973–975). Washington, D.C.: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Marciano, J., Wolf, L., Oviatt, R., Tunstall, L. & Varrichione, A. (2018). Creating community in online courses: A case study examination of instructor practices. In E. Langran & J. Borup (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 214-218). Washington, D.C., United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).  

Wolf, L.G., Marcotte, C., Kosko, M. (2018). The Quickfire Challenge Roundtable: How to fail fast & learn while having fun. Roundtable presented at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education conference, Washington, DC.

Hagerman, M.S., Wolf, L.G., Woods, H. (2018) Educational technology programs, evaluation, and transformation. In Smith, B., Ng-A-Fook, N., Radford, L., Pratt, S.S. (Eds), Hacking Education in a Digital Age: Teacher Education, Curriculum, and Literacies. Information Age Publishing.

I’m working on my 2019 goals (both personal and professional.) I’m elated to be returning to Ireland for #OER19 and have some exciting writing and presenting projects in the works. I’m also looking forward to continued growth – continuing to listen, continuing to learn.

I had a wonderful time this afternoon meeting with dedicated educators across Canada who are members of the #LNDLCA community. My dear friend Dr. Michelle Schira Hagerman extended the invitation as a part of her groundbreaking work leading the The Canadian Institute for Digital Literacies Learning.

Below are a few artifacts from the session (thanks for the tweet Michelle!) – I’ve embedded my slides and the original invitation to the webinar.  I look forward to continued conversations and connections via the #LNDLCA hashtag!

 

Thank you to the brilliant Dr. @gravesle for sharing insights on #designthinking with the #LNDLCA and @uOttawaEDU communities this afternoon. And thank so much to our participants for sharing the hour with us. pic.twitter.com/kJqkEsDGwc

— Dr. Michelle S. Hagerman (@mshagerman) November 28, 2018

 

Slides

Invitation: Webinar with Dr. Leigh Graves Wolf

From Buzzwords, to Theory, to Practice: Design Thinking in Classroom Contexts

Dr. Leigh Graves Wolf is teacher-scholar and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Leigh teaches with the Educational Leadership and Innovation EdD program and is a faculty fellow with the Office of Scholarship & Innovation. Her work centers around online education, K12 teacher professional development and relationships mediated by and with technology. She has worked across the educational spectrum from K12 to Higher to further and lifelong. She believes passionately in collaboration and community. Leigh shares her work at www.leighgraveswolf.com.

We invited Dr. Wolf to share her expertise with us because she is a creative, innovative teacher, scholar, and leader who, over the past decade, has leveraged design thinking frameworks to lead massive institutional change projects at the macro-level, and to create daily lessons for her own students at the micro-level. Leigh has offered to share her current thoughts about design thinking — which, despite being a bit of an educational buzzword — is worth understanding as a powerful framework for the design of theoretically and evidence-based classroom practices in every discipline.

This session will take place from 4PM to 5PM on Wednesday, November 28th, 2018. Please join us! The webinar will be hosted using Zoom.us. You can attend from the comfort of your home, on a laptop or via the Zoom app on your smartphone.

One of the last projects I was working on at MSU has concluded – and I realized I never shared any updates/info on the grant! In May 2017, Margo Glew, Kyle Greenwalt and I were awarded a grant from the Longview Foundation titled: Digital Badging for Global Teacher Learning.  We proposed the following:

This proposal seeks to develop two learning modules for global educators, both inservice educators and preservice educators who have reached the field placement portion of their program. These modules will be available to teacher candidates and practicing teachers anywhere and will engage participants in two areas of global education practice: the first module (for elementary educators) will focus on developing competency in global project-based learning curriculum design, and the second (for secondary educators) on integrating global citizenship education into the teacher participant’s subject area. These modules will consist of a combination of online learning and collaboration, specific classroom projects, and preparation of curricular units and lessons.

The design of the learning modules will center around the development of competency in one area of global teaching (project based learning/global citizenship education) and not, as is common in other forms of professional learning, the completion of “seat time” at a workshop or presentation. In addition to receiving continuing education credits, teacher participants will, at the successful completion of the learning module, be recognized for their competency with a digital credential. This digital badge will be available for teachers and teacher candidates to display on their LinkedIn or other social media profiles to communicate their expertise in this area of global education. Teachers will also receive the badge in the form of a vinyl cling to display outside of their classroom door. The modules will be developed by a team of colleagues from Michigan State University’s nationally recognized teacher preparation program and K12 global educators and education leaders to meet the specific needs of practicing global educators and global educator teacher candidates. The purpose of the project is twofold: 1) we seek to develop and deliver two global education micro-credentials to practicing teachers and teacher candidates; 2) we seek to develop a framework for the learning pathway, technical infrastructure and administrative infrastructure for managing, reviewing and awarding digital badges for global education so that future credentials may be developed and implemented. It is our goal to ultimately develop and deliver a range of micro-credentials for a variety of competency areas for the global educator.

We partnered with Kelly Jacobs from the Lansing School District and Robert Lurie from Waverly High School.  I was responsible for the website and editing the podcasts (the teachers and Kyle/Margo created the content.) Here is the final result of our efforts (three modules!) which we used to run a pilot this fall:

http://gravesle.msu.domains/GlobalEd/

I had SO much fun editing the podcasts (it was great to get back to my audio production roots) and I learned a lot about publishing to iTunes!

The pilot has ended (thus, no more Michigan Continuing Education Credits) – but – you can still download all of the podcasts here on iTunes (or, directly download the mp3 files from the Microcredential Website.)