Author: Chase Iaconelli

Date: 06/17/2024

A Communicator’s Playground

Upon reading Chapter 2 (Communicators) in the Sail the & C’s textbook, Microsoft Whiteboard and its far-reaching applicability for teachers and students was something that pronounced itself. Microsoft Whiteboard is a versatile program that enables people to work on projects and presentations in real time, with a landscape that is rife with potential and creativity. Students can harness the power of their ideas by adding graphics, text, images, animations, all while communicating with their partners during the creative process. The environment of Microsoft Whiteboard is fluid and open, users are able to manipulate the canvas of their project in a way to invites input and changes on go, allowing for alterations to be made seamlessly. Not only does Microsoft Whiteboard encourage students to facilitate communication, but it does so in a manner that fosters educational engagement with the class content. In the age of technology, students have access to more information than ever before, and Microsoft Whiteboard channels this reality by allowing its users to use the application on any device, so that once you leave your computer, you can work on the project on your phone, tablet, or even virtual reality headsets.

Primary Features & Educational Value

In academia and professional development, one of the pervasive struggles people face is the effectiveness of brainstorming and constructing a plan. There are many avenues that people can take to ease these struggles, but only some offer the tools that Microsoft Whiteboard does. From its colorful platform of notetaking to the mechanisms of video and voice chat, the displayed whiteboard is meant to serve as a blueprint for those seeking detailed and nuanced collaboration with their partners to integrate their ideas from the abstract to reality. Microsoft Whiteboard allows multiple users to operate simultaneously within the space, increasing efficiency and effectiveness as it relates to time-sensitive deadlines. The educational value of the application pronounces itself when one considers how students might use the whiteboard for storyboards and group projects that demand communication and collaboration. Teachers can track their student’s progress as they work through the differences in their approaches and watch their endeavors evolve from rough ideas into a fully formed and cohesive direction. Since the whiteboard allows an organic expression of ideas, students can divide their contributions to the project into tasks. One student can work on the text, another can input pictures, and another can find documents or videos to include, providing a well-rounded and all-encompassing environment for equal participation.

The Accommodation of Diverse Learners

There is an aspect of this application that serves a greater purpose for the multiple intelligences of diverse learners in the classroom. Neurotypical learners will surely benefit from using Microsoft Whiteboard. However, those who have learning disabilities such as ADHD, Dyslexia, or Autism can find much more profound meaning in this program as well. Visual learners might need help with the often rigid and uninspired classroom lessons using Microsoft Whiteboard due to its use of colorful images, graphics, drawing functions, and mind maps. Those with auditory processing difficulties may be eased by the fact that they can use the whiteboard to record lessons or lectures. Kinesthetic learners can harness the platform’s hands-on features so they will feel more connected to the course’s content. Moreover, those who struggle with the communication element of schooling will find encouragement in the exciting aspects of collaboration and virtual involvement.
Microsoft Whiteboard, in addition to all of the programs that Microsoft Education offers, gives students the freedom to express themselves in a new and creative domain that differentiates the fundamental lessons of the classroom. It enables them to build their critical thinking skills and connection to their fellow students as they navigate the challenges and trials of their educational journey. This is just one more tool teachers can use to further the innovation of how content is delivered and the new ways that students interact with it.

Author: Chase Iaconelli

Date: 6/20/24

Learning That Facilitates Awareness, Inclusion, Activism & Change

Across the expansive and ever-changing landscape of contemporary education, there is a growing embrace of teaching methods and practices rooted in progressivism’s enlightened principles. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s ‘Learning for Justice’ has led the charge in such teaching modalities by crafting classroom resources and teacher professional development. The aim of the site and the initiative is not only to dismantle the effects of white supremacy within Southern education but also to bolster awareness around intersectionality and the advancement of human rights for all people. Steeped within the Learning for Justice initiative is a multi-dimensional approach that works with educators to best orient themselves around culture and climate, curriculum and instruction, leadership, family, and community engagement. The initiative deploys tools that include articles, guides, lessons, films, webinars, and comprehensive frameworks for teachers to structure their content.

It seems warranted to investigate one of these tools to see what value they serve for teachers and students in order to better understand the anatomy of learning for Justice.

Collage of Concerns: Do Something K-12

One tool that seems to pronounce itself when navigating through the website is the Collage of Concerns: Do Something learning plan. In this activity, the teacher will have their students create a collage incorporating pictures that express the issues surrounding social Justice and diversity. The theme or direction of the project will be related to the content the students have been learning, such as the central text or characters of a book. The project will take place over a week. The value of the lesson will be to develop literary skills and effectiveness in communication; their engagement with the contents of the lesson’s book will allow the students better to understand the issue of social Justice and diversity while also allowing them to express their ideas and feelings on the matter.
First, the teacher will instruct the students to hunt for newspapers, magazines, and catalogs to share their recycled images with other classmates and define the direction of their collage. Then, the students will draft a template consisting of visual checklists consistent with the rubric provided by the teacher. The “Do Something Planning Guide” will be their map as they move through the project’s objectives. The teacher will add instruction throughout the week so that the students clearly understand the expectations of the rubric and assignment. For the sake of clarity, let’s say that the book being reviewed is about a girl who belongs to the LGBTQ+ community and faces hardship and hatred as she strives to become a professional tennis player; the students will brainstorm talking points relevant to the story and begin to combine their images so to express a chosen theme about her story effectively. Students can draw their illustrations and be encouraged to find words associated with social Justice, anti-bias, or LGTBQ+ pride. Once students develop a coherent direction for the project, they can begin the creative process of collaging.

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The teacher will instruct the students to write captions that are descriptive of what their theme is and what the overall concern of the collage might be, relating to the protagonist’s journey in the book. Once the collage is finished, the students, who had been assigned or allowed to pick their own groups, will present their finished product to the class. The Do Something learning plan should be posted in a hallway or visible space, and family member, other classes, grades and members of the school are not just encouraged but invited to come and see their work. This fosters a strong sense of community, academic praise and awareness to the topic of LGBTQ+ issues. Onlookers can leave sticky notes and comments on the collage to further promote community participation, dialogue and awareness on the given theme or topic of the project.

The week after the projects are submitted and presented, the teacher will engage in a reflective discussion about the process of creating a collage, the central themes of the text, and the deeper considerations and impact that such issues have on the community and the class as a whole. Students should feel confident in the book’s central purpose and be encouraged to develop uplifting solutions to their concerns relating to the complexities of social and cultural issues within the lesson.

The Learning for Justice website contains lesson plans and guides for teachers to reach their students in new and exciting ways while fostering a basic understanding of diversity, inclusion, Social Justice, and progressive perspectives. The Southern Poverty Law Center understands that these types of lessons can be seen as controversial and at times ill-placed within the classroom, but their goal in offering these types of tools is to change the conversation around taboo and uncomfortable topics by increasing awareness, education, and engagement for the future generations of teachers and students. Rest assured, the Learning for Justice initiative is a comprehensive and well-thought-out resource designed to equip educators with the necessary tools to navigate these complex issues in the classroom.

When it comes to the ethics of educational collaboration, and the ambition required to have a meaningful impact on students, one should look no further than the Qatar Foundation. In the Middle East, education can be a rather subversive service, with many countries limiting access to quality education for political and cultural reasons. But in Qatar, bustling industries and investments are being made to increase access to education. Education City, as it’s known in the region, is a large and expansive landscape filled with campus buildings, research centers, student housing and multi -disciplined facilities. This is all made possible by the Qatar’s growing partnerships with leading international universities. In the spirit of education collaboration, renowned universities such as Georgetown, Northwestern, and Texas A&M have all set up satellite campuses in Education City.

Pictures of Education City and its sprawling landscape of state-of-the-art academic facilities.

The Qatar Foundation is a strong example of what can be accomplished for students when institutions embrace the spirit of international collaboration in the name of advancing quality education. Hamad Bin Khalifa University, established by the Qatar Foundation, is at the foundation of this collaboration, as the communication, innovation and relationships of its international partners has enabled groundbreaking research programs. Funding and oversight of these pursuits come from a broad range of supporters, who notice the ambition and drive of the Qatar Foundation, and champion their goals of comprehensive education. Interdisciplinary programs such as the Academic Bridge Program, an initiative that brings students from schools around the world to collectively work on projects in their given discipline, is another example of their robust collaborative spirit.

What the Qatar Foundation understands, and why they are so successful, is that collaboration is an imperative element of growth. In order to achieve goals and overcome obstacles, bodies of higher education must rely on each other for improvement, adaptability, course corrections and community engagement. The international aspect of their collaboration also speaks to the amicable nature of foreign relations, as it relates to the matters of education. From hosting conferences, funding expos, and research projects, to their general message of promoting lifelong learning for all students, this foundation truly embodies a collaborative and forward-thinking institution of higher education. The Qatar Foundation is establishing a dynamic and innovative educational ecosystem by fostering a community of collaboration. This ecosystem, which surely serves as an example to the rest of the education community, will guide students to confront the complex challenges that will be faced in the 21st century.

Hands-On AI Projects for the Classroom: A guide for Secondary Education Teachers is a project that I came across while doing research for interesting learning methods that harness the emergence of technology in the classroom. The AI project is a new and exciting way for students to interact with content, while also becoming well versed in the functions of AI. The project seeks to build a student’s confidence and intellectual abilities by having the student ask questions with the AI Chabot. The consequences of this inquiry-based platform are that students will embrace their curiosity and have the tools to design their own Chabot, creating a space for applicability throughout their academic journey. Because the nature of AI is always evolving, the limitations of the AI project continually shrink the more the student uses and understands it. We all know that students are under an incredible amount of pressure to perform and make good use of their time. This AI project, when wielded intentionally, can build a foundation of efficiency that a student can harness and utilize for the rest of their academic and professional life.

A class of collge students sit in class as they learn about the ethics and practices of AI.www.Bloomberg

A Teachers Role

When it comes to teachers, there are no constraints of AI, they can use it for Math, Social Sciences, English, and foreign languages. In appealing to the range of multiple intelligences, teachers can deploy the AI project into their classrooms to reach all learning styles and grade levels. Teachers can be descriptive in the AI prompts, relating it to the curriculums content, such as asking the Chabot to write a paragraph with grammatical errors and have the students find them in exercises. The possibilities and applications of this AI project are quite literally endless! When educators embrace innovative and new ideas, collaborate in their pursuit of effectiveness, our nations can students truly flourish and grow.

A Teacher stand over her student and guides them as they navigate the wonders and complexities of AI programs.

Author: Chase Iaconelli

Date: 05/29/24