Connected Learning Summit 2019

Learning From Mistakes
Bill Shribman

Digital educational projects typically need proposals and pitches. Failure is not typically mentioned in proposals and pitches: it’s not a great selling point. And yet, as we know, failure in digital development is inevitable.
Bill Shribman, Senior Executive Producer and Director of Digital Partnerships produces a rich array VR, AP, mobile web games, apps and skills at WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston.

In an honest and self-deprecating presentation, Bill will share how smart development and transparent processes can effectively bridge the gap between funder expectations and the realities of digital development.

This involves a willingness to embrace risk and to include stakeholders – especially where one might otherwise choose not to. This can turn failures into valuable data that inform and improve most products, most of the time. The rest of the time is best summed up here by two noted experts in failure:

Dudley Moore: “Do you feel you've learnt by your mistakes here?”

Peter Cook: “I think I have, yes, and I think I can probably repeat them almost perfectly.”

Great to Good: When Time and Design Conspire Against Maximizing Learning
Leigh Peake

At CL2018 we (Gulf of Maine Research Institute) reported on the relaunch of our informal science learning experience, LabVenture, where we host ~70% of Maine’s 5th/6th grade cohort annually in our marine research lab for a 2.5-hour exploration of ecosystem complexity. Funded by NASA, the renovated experience features technology-enabled, data-rich, localized climate learning experiences that combine global data sets (e.g. sea surface temperature), local data sets (e.g., lobster landings), and multitouch technology to enable students to investigate the impacts of climate change in the Gulf of Maine. Post-launch, it was apparent that the length and pace of the experience, combined with key design decisions, were conspiring against our effort to achieve student learning outcomes. At CL2019 we’ll report on the significant adjustments to the program that emerged as necessary after launch. We’ll describe our process of integrating observations and perspectives from informal educators, researchers/evaluators, and learning designers and the necessity of embracing the messiness of launching a complex program. This tale of traveling from great to good (and back to great) includes lessons on the limitations of user testing, the integration of research and practitioner voices, the scramble to fund adjustments when you spent most of your dollars on the launch version, and the comfort of reminding ourselves that no children were being harmed as we made our way through this process.

A PSA Nightmare: Good Intentions Gone Wrong
Lisa Casteneda
Tim Han

As researchers, we are always looking for new ways to share ideas about our topic-area: education. As part of this effort, we decided to team up with a local school who specializes in dyslexic students to share findings about dyslexia in the narrative structure of a PSA. We attempted to bridge the gap between research, education and emotion and it went poorly. At the heart of our mistake was understanding how to communicate feedback effectively. We found that when collaborating with many folks about a topic that is not only scientifically interesting, but also emotionally intense, it is difficult to capture all the elements one hopes in a 2 minute PSA. What we were used to doing as we co-wrote papers or worked on presentations was much more challenging to do with people outside our core network, and in the more visual and emotional medium of film. Throughout this project we were tasked with connecting the ideas from the school to the actors and film team, all of whom had their own thoughts and experiences with dyslexia. All of these elements put us out of our comfort zone, but at the helm of a project we all felt passionate about! Come hear about our vision, our mistakes (many of which had to do with the fine art of specific feedback), and how we would do things differently (which we ultimately did) in our attempts to leave the research publication world for that of the public service announcement.