Welcome to the third week of the Heinemann Summer Sessions! Each week throughout the summer, we will feature an article, video clip, or new professional book chapter from the Heinemann Digital Library on the topic of student engagement. Today, we look at an article from Jackie Gerstein titled, "Educator as a Design Thinker," featured on the Heinemann Digital Library.
This week, thousands of educators from around the world will gather at the ISTE Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Attendees will build connections and experience powerful learning with the goal in mind of creating globally educated students. Jackie Gerstein, an educator instrumental in the movement toward innovative education, shares her thoughts in an article for this week’s reading “Educator as a Design Thinker”.
Throughout the article she explores: How can the educator use design thinking principles to inform instructional and curricular decisions? How can the educator include their students in creating a learning environment informed and influenced by design thinking? She shares the importance of knowing your audience, your learners, and including them as “co-creators” of the learning activities and curriculum. While certainly this can feel daunting in a world of accountability and testing, she encourages educators to rethink their instructional approaches, even if making just small shifts at a time. What could the first instructional shift be in your own classroom?
Have something to share regarding this article? Use #summerplc and be sure to follow @HeinemannPD, @HeinemannPub and @JackieGerstein on Twitter.
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