Unity VR, AR... and 'Innovation'

'Innovation' can be an overused word. How do you define 'innovation?' How does your school or business define it?

I've always promoted the development of and thrived in 'innovation labs' as places to get things started. You know, places where you try new things, new approaches, new ways to design, think and explore challenges and ideas. My house at various times is an innovation lab, and I've built a few in education. 

The trick is moving innovation out into the routine. Even if it improves practice or opportunities, sometimes it can meet resistance.

I've been experimenting with VR and AR lately... and in an exploration setting, there's a lot of great things to dive into in this field. I've chosen Unity3D on this front (free for the hobbyist, education, personal use). 

What schools and businesses have 'true' innovation labs? Are they isolated or based in rich collaborative practices?

How can VR and AR be used to reimagine... the places we live, problems we need to solve, new ways to visualize something, or how we work?

Opening new doors takes time-tested and new approaches. There are new ways to visualize things, experiment, and collaborate. How do you or your workplace dive into 'ideation?'

Build new opportunities. Keep moving forward. Keep learning. Never know what might evolve.

Rethinking Community Service Day in Schools

I've been thinking about 'community building' quite a bit lately, more so than usual.

I ran into a friend who's in her 10th year of teaching yesterday, and when I asked her how things were going, she talked about, as many k-12 educators often do... 'triage.' Events and initiatives were piled on, and budgets fell to cuts again, key support positions riffed, PD time was scarce and dominated by initiatives, and then she dove into a description of her schools recent 'community service day.'

She said that faculty was asked to plan activities in the community, kids signed up, and the entire school marched out on one day to do community service work. Projects ranged from yard work, a lot green up efforts, to scientific testing, to nature walks, and bike tours. I asked her how 'bike tours' helped build a sense of community... and she laughed. Kids, she described, often loathed the activities as busy work and 'free labor' and she was worried they lacked connection in real and meaningful ways. Then, after one day, community service was over.

What if 'building community' was a grade level theme... all year?

The concept of grade level themes was introduced to me from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia about eight years ago. For each grade classes at SLA are driven by theme focused lenses:

9th: Identity
10th: Systems
11th: Change
12th: Creation

So, if you're a 9th grader, every class, math, science, humanities, art, etc., is exploring 'Identity' as a theme to focus academics into something meaningful to kids lives. The result, especially in a project-based and inquiry-driven school, is that the students make meaningful connections to their place in the world.

What if a school used 'building community' as a project lens to focus every academic course and outreach project together at one grade level? What if teachers got a whole year of PD time to plan? What connections would people make? What academic disciplines could work together instead of functioning in their silo? What could students gain by knowing who is working in their community, in what jobs, and more about the area history and needs?

Schools can be robust community centers. It just requires thinking differently. Changing some thought paradigms about silos in education, about the school as a citadel, about one and done type activities - to check off on a list, can help connect kids, families, and communities on much deeper levels.

#vted #education #communitybuilding