10 Easy Ways to Build Interactivity into Student Projects

Innovation

It’s a hands-on world but our students are mostly producing presentational, hands-off projects. Teachers and students alike need to interact to impact their audiences.

Constructing interactive projects takes project based learning to a new level. When students in my dissertation study created interactive eModules, the average increase in post-test scores was 547%. Twenty percent of students who scored 20% or less on the pre-test scored 80% or more on the post-test over the course of two weeks.

I’m not suggesting that you’ll get the same gap-closing results just by adding interactivity to student projects, but it certainly justifies giving it a try. Here are ten ideas for turning one-way presentations into two-way interactive projects.

  1. Contact Sheet vs. Interactive Picture Collage
    There is a Contact Sheet feature in Photoshop that will line up a batch of photos in neat rows and makes it easy to work off of printed sheets of photos. Galleries of pictures become even more engaging with a Google app called Loupe Collage that will place photos in collages of different shapes that can be saved as an image. Hovering the cursor over images in the collage will enlarge the individual image. When an image is clicked, it opens in a separate window that can be printed. You can share the collaged image or a link to the live collage.
  2. Map vs. Interactive Map
    Most of us would be lost without Google maps. But using Geobatch to add records that contain location data, maps become interactive. Just hover over the pins on the map to view the data in geographic context.
  3. Picture vs. Interactive Diagrams
    It’s true that pictures provide a lot more information than narratives in much less time. Interactive diagrams provide information about portions of your pictures when you hover over them. Simply use the picture as a background of an Excel spreadsheet, format the cells into a tight grid, merge groups of cells, and insert a comment that will appear when the cursor is over the merged cell.
  4. Infographic Poster vs. Interactive Infographics
    ly or Piktochart make it easy to combine data with eye-catching graphics. ThingLink will allow you to hyperlink your objects and text in your infographic to other online resources.  Just got a tip from Naomi at Dell about ThingLink 3D VR.  Talk about engaging your viewer!
  5. Slide Show vs. Kiosk Model
    Slide shows that are designed for presentations to large audiences can be informative, but they’re pretty impersonal. Slide shows that are designed for individuals become self-paced, intimate communication tools especially if they include lots of hyperlinks to related resources or allow for website-like branching stories.
  6. Report vs. Docent Doc
    Student reports can be pretty dull for both the writers and readers. Imagine how much more engaging and informative the report would be to create and experience if sound files were embedded or linked to the document.
  7. Questionnaire vs. Form/Survey
    People wonder if their feedback or choices will matter when they fill out paper questionnaires or ballots. When questionnaires are digital, it’s possible for participants to become more engaged. Their data points become part of trends when the results are shared immediately, and there is no fear of hanging chads or lost ballots.
  8. Video vs. YouTube
    Creating a video represents a huge investment of time. Home videos of vacations were the butt of many jokes because they went on forever and were only interesting to the people who went on the vacation. Inviting audience feedback makes videos somewhat interactive. If your audience is large, share a link to an electronic feedback form or survey. If there will be multiple viewings by smaller groups, consider posting the video on YouTube or other video sharing sites where there are built in comment sections below each posting.
  9. Charts vs. Interactive Charts
    Charts are great for displaying data in a digestible manner. Embedding static charts and graphs­­­ is not new. Have you noticed that the new Google Forms display results as live charts that display additional information that is hovered over or clicked? Sharing charts digitally brings data to life so it becomes interactive instead of presentational.
  10. Websites vs. Blogs
    Websites provide information from the presenter’s perspective. Bring multiple perspectives to your website by choosing a blog format. Your website will be richer for it.

 

How will you inter*act for impact?

Ask “Now What” to Inspire Authentic 4Es

Innovation

Let’s agree that it’s not just what you know, but what you do with what you know that leads to success in the Innovation Age.

In the Information Age, when knowledge was king, educators asked students “what” (content) and “so what” (relevance). At the end of the unit, students were tested to how much they learned. End of unit, move on. Some students retained a tremendous amount of random information that made them ask “when am I ever going to use this information?” They were asking “now what” in their own sometimes dissatisfied way.

Enter the Innovation Age.

Asking “Now What” During the Development Process

In order to prepare students to thrive in the Innovation Age, they need to constantly ask “now what.” Now that I’ve learned this, what can I do with this new information or skill? Teachers need to plan for this new kind of engagement by asking themselves during the lesson planning process, what do I want students to be able to do as a result of this lesson?

I used these three questions, “what,” “so what,” and “now what” to design technology professional development for teachers in our district and to focus chapters of each book. To my surprise, this kind of backwards mapping caused me to redesign workshops and reposition chapters. I realized that the content or activities I had planned would probably not inspire the “now what” actions I desired.

I was very privileged to launch my book “Innovation Age Learning: Empowering Students by Empowering Teachers” in my home state of Hawaii at an event called “Innovation Age Connect.” Instead of giving away signed copies of the book to educators, my sponsor S&S InterMark and I wanted our “now what” to be connecting teachers with other change agents and resources, such as my book and website. Seventy change agents from diverse walks of life attended the event. After introducing the idea of being in the Innovation Age we discussed the new demands on education and paradigm shifts this new age would cause.

Impact of Students Asking “Now What”

When teachers get students to continually ask themselves “now what” they help them to not only prepare for the Innovation Age, they encourage authentic engagement, empowerment, empathy, and exploration (4Cs).

  • Authentic Engagement – When students ask themselves “now what” they become more engaged because they are actively looking for the usefulness of the information.
  • Authentic Empowerment – By charging students to be solution seekers, teachers empower them and give them agency.
  • Authentic Empathy – The value of solutions is measured by the users. Unless students empathize with users and understand the problem or challenge, they cannot be successful. Model digital citizens behave empathetically as well as ethically.
  • Authentic Exploration – Creative, innovative solutions require a willingness to explore multiple solutions, not just understanding traditional ones. Students need to become accustomed to taking risks and exploring with a purpose.

Making “Now What” Personal

The first topic at the Innovation Age Connect event was identifying one of the 4Es that was the most thought-provoking. The room got very loud. There was rich conversation about which E-word they wanted to focus on or start with.

These are the “Change-Inspiring Questions” we started with:

  • Engagement – Do I ask “now what” do I hope my audience will do as a result of this activity and then plan accordingly?
  • Empowerment – Have I given them the inspiration and resources to give them agency to be part of the solution?
  • Empathy – Since success of the solution is in the eyes of the user, am I instilling empathetic thinking?
  • Exploration – Have we brainstormed at least 50 solutions before focusing on one answer?

It took me a long time and several iterations to distill Innovation Age teaching down into the one phrase, “Inspiring smart, empathetic change.” Continually asking “now what?” could encourage the 4Es and spark that smart, empathetic change that innovators develop and embody.

Get in the habit of asking “now what” whether you’re receiving or preparing a message.

May your “now whats” be amazing!

Innovation Age Blogging Begins

Uncategorized

I’m making the commitment to blog at least twice a month on topics related to innovation and/or educational technology.

The first article “Ask ‘Now What’ to Inspire Authentic 4Es,” is about inspiring engagement, empowerment, empathy and exploration.  See how four thought provoking questions led to loud, committed discussion at the book launch event “Innovation Age Connect” in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Coming in early May, “10 Tools for Adding Interactivity to Traditional Projects.”

Blog article #3 will showcase highlights from “Inviting Innovation through Inventing,” a chapter I co-wrote in Creative Intelligence in the 21st Century: Grappling with enormous problems and huge opportunities.  See how Rube Goldberg inventions can be a gateway to innovation.

Let the blogging begin!