The HGSE Dean’s Office launched the Act for Equity project in early 2016 as part of the School’s commitment to the Fulfilling the Promise of Diversity (FPD) community conversation. The inspiration behind the project was to leverage the power of theater-based learning to broaden and deepen the ways in which we as a community interact around critical topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. According to Margie Zohn, the troupe’s director (Ed.M. AIE ‘12 and faculty member in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences): “Theater allows us to inhabit stories with not just our minds but also our hearts, and to be affected in deep and nuanced ways.” Act for Equity events combine prepared theatrical vignettes with improvisation driven by audience participation and facilitated discussions.... Read more about Act for Equity at HGSE: Theater for Social Change
An ongoing discussion at the Teaching and Learning Lab revolves around education innovation - what does it look like and how does it manifest? This past March I embarked on a week long trip with a group of 30 Harvard graduate students visiting 25 schools, education non-profits, think-tanks and companies. For many, it was the first time soaking in the California sun and buzzing through the hub of tech-giants. For me, I was home again with a fresh set of eyes. The trek gave me a peek into what types of education innovation were happening in the area.... Read more about A Glimpse of Innovations in Education: The Silicon Valley Edition
The expectation to set aside three full days for a design workshop was enough to arouse the cynic in me. It was a frigid January morning and I arrived at MIT’s W20 wearing my skepticism on my sleeve. What could possibly be learned by having a group of educators, engineers, design thinkers, and administrators congregate around and deliberate on the challenges of preparing teachers to be 21st century educators? It did not take long to realize that I had landed in a room full of people who in spite of their disparate professional backgrounds had one important thing in common — they had the audacity to believe that a long established system as complex as education could be reimagined and reinvented.... Read more about Designing Teacher Education
As the TLL portfolio grows, so too does the diversity of digital learning experiences we produce. Some experiences exist at the course level. Many more, however, are intentionally modular — comprised of unique multimedia, web, document, curriculum, and assessment objects. This modularity enables reusability, which supports flexibility in implementation and ample return on investment. However, as the MIT Office of Digital Learning is discovering, it can also support learner agency, informed instructional decision-making, and effective business development.
On December 9th, 2015 the Teaching and Learning Lab Practicum (T-127) hosted a gallery walk to showcase the capstone projects that students created for the course. Community members from around HGSE – administrators, faculty, staff, and fellow students – attended the event to join the class in exploring and celebrating this meaningful work. As a new member of the TLL who was not significantly involved in this first iteration of the course, I came to the event excited to learn more about the students who engaged in this endeavor, the projects in which they took part, and the skills and knowledge they are taking away from the experience. In this post, I would like to share some of what I discovered from this inspiring event.... Read more about Walking the Walk: Reflections from the Inaugural T-127 Gallery Walk
These were just some of the questions asked at this year’s Business Innovation Factory (BIF) Collaborative Innovation Summit in Providence, Rhode Island. Two and half days of powerful stories about business, history, education, art, adventure, and more brought together 400 innovators to think about how we might reimagine social systems in a rapidly changing world. BIF is focused on catalyzing new approaches to tackle complex challenges. Their annual summit is an opportunity to share the stories of those leaders who are creating change and connect those from across industries and roles to build community around active problem-solving in the social sphere.... Read more about The TLL Goes to BIF