JEFF PIERCE
Response to "The Anti-Education Era" (click image to view)
Understand
Knowledge of Content & Pedagogy
The three pieces in this section of the showcase all highlight a different element of my understanding of content and pedagogy.
In the fall of 2014 I read The Anti-Education Era by James Paul Gee. I admire Gee's simple and direct voice and I find his ideas affirming while also challenging. I have included my written response to his book in my showcase as I feel like this paper is a great example of my ideas on the topic as well as my voice as a writer.
This video, a collaborative project done with my classmates in the summer of 2014, highlights my focus on learning student misunderstandings before teaching them. More information about the project, including our research and tons of cool stuff that wouldn't fit in the video, can be found by clicking here.
Professional Showcase: Understand, Play, Transform
On this page I have selected a series of artifacts to highlight my professional skills. I have organized these products into three areas: my understanding of content & pedagogy, my use of games to promote learning, and my attempts to transform education. Below are a number of products and artifacts to showcase my professional expertise in these three areas. Click on the words above to jump right to each section.
Play
Impact of Games on Learning
James Paul Gee presents a convincing case for how play is a form of learning. These three pieces all highlight how I utilize play in my lessons.
Games in Social Studies: Curated List (click image to view)
Games have always been a passion of mine, and so is teaching social studies. The above image links to a curated list of games that I have used in my professional practice. Do you know a game that's missing? You can make a contribution right to that document!
If I am going to teach course content and key concepts with video games, I also need to teach my students how to "read" video games. The paper linked to above is a great example of the kind of video game literacy I want to teach my students.
Click here if you want to play a video game with a unique narrative approach!
Video Game Literacy (click image to view)
Classroom Video Game Arcade Design Project
Another way to involve video games in the classroom is to have students make their own. In the blog posts below, I outline a series of steps necessary as part of a class project culminating in a student-made video game arcade. The core element of the class video game arcade is the Raspberry Pi microcomputer which can load and display student-created video games using the Scratch program.
Innovative Teaching: Genius Hour MOOC
Transform
How to fundamentally change education
To transform education, a global approach is needed. This video highlights my international perspective on education. My team ran this webinar with our hosting team spread out in Kentucky, Michigan, and Florida; our guests were in Florida, Hong Kong, and Australia. Running a successful webinar also required (as the video demonstrates) troubleshooting when the technology inevitably messes up. Read more about the project here, or view the webinar below.
To transform education, we need to rethink the traditional curricular approach to the school day. Genius Hour (also known as 20% Time, or Google Time) is one educational experiment. It's quite simple: students are given a significant chunk of time each week that they can devote to any project they want.
I developed a MOOC (massively open online course) to teach teachers how to implement Genius Hour in their classrooms.
Click here to view the first page of the MOOC.
Below is a slideshow of student work from the first year I ran Genius Hour in my classroom.
A deep understanding of education, and a spirit of play, are necessary but not sufficient elements to truly transform education. While I certainly don't have the answer to what education can become in the 21st century, these two pieces are examples of the steps I am taking to truly transform my educational practice.
Not only do I have an understanding of pedagogy, I also have a background in design. I have studied user experience and game design. One step in designing a game is to conduct a competitive analysis comparing your product to others on the market. The above slideshow are the three games that I compared my product to (click each image to find out more about each game). And click here to view my competitive analysis of these games.
Design Experience: Competitive Analysis
Geographic Misunderstandings
The Bridge: International Webinar
