RTE Nationwide ran a piece today on how we are trying to promote creativity through Rory's Story Cubes™.We've already received a positive response from viewers.
A big thanks goes out to Stephen Macken who filmed and edited the piece.
Anita and I are part of the learning group for the Corrymeela Refugee Integration Project taking place in the Greater Belfast Area. The project is a partnerhip between Corrymeela Community and the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seeks (NICRAS).
At a recent learning group meeting, the question about the effectiveness of the existing needs assessment questionnaire was raised. It was the usual text-based word document. Our view was that it was unappealing and and ill-suited for peothe target audience who would not take time to read the document of ask for help with filling it in. We agreed that something more visual might work better.
I proposed using the projectives method of gathering feedback. Dr. Elaine Woodall of the Univeristy of Ulster (Coleraine campus) employed this method in a survey she conducted on the effectiveness of our Innovation Hub project with Citi back in 2007.
We quickly sketched out the questions (see below) we wanted to asked both local residents and the members of the refugee and asylum seeker community.
Below you can see the final images used in the Needs Analysis. The response so far has been really positive with Ann Marie White, the project worker, expressing her surprise at the level of honesty expressed using this simple approach.
This short video provides an example of how one teacher in Dallas has used Twitter to enhance her students leaning experience.
While there may be some initial hurdles to overcome, I see Twitter as providing students with a voice in the classroom, where previously they may not have had the confidence to express their confusion or differing perspective.
If a format can be provided that encourages the expression of thoughtful tweets, I can imagine Twitter harnessing the benefits of the Socratic Method, whereby students learn primarily from what they express, rather than what is 'poured in'.
Hopefully I will have a chance to put this into practice with a forthcoming project.
