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Experiential Learning to Develop Diverse Future Digital Professionals
This document discusses the need for experiential learning to develop diverse digital professionals for the future. It notes that the 4th industrial revolution is blurring digital, physical, and biological spheres. Georgia State University's Digital Learners to Leaders program teaches students leadership, communication, and design thinking skills through team-based projects with industry partners to solve urban issues using emerging technologies. The program has trained over 190 students from 45 majors on projects like a financial literacy app. It aims to develop students' leadership, problem-solving, and life skills through experiential learning.
Experiential Learning to Develop Diverse Future Digital Professionals
- 1. Experiential Learning toDevelop Diverse Future Digital Professionals Tiffany Green-Abdullah Assistant Director of Learning Community Development Phil Ventimiglia Chief Innovation Officer Aafreen Kaur Student in the Digital Learners to Leaders Program
- 2. GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY #2 MostInnovative University in U.S. #2 Best Undergraduate Teaching in U.S. #10 Most Diverse University in U.S. 252% Increase in Research Funding Over Six Years
- 3. FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION “afusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biologic spheres” – World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial- revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
- 4. THE FOURTH INDUSTRIALREVOLUTION
- 6. C U RI O S I T Y W I L L B E N E C E S S A R Y TO K E E P U P W I T H T E C H ’ S C H A N G E S . C R E AT I V I T Y W I L L A L LO W YO U T H TO L E V E R A G E T H E A D D I T I O N A L O P T I O N S P R O V I D E D BY T E C H N O LO GY TO C H A N G E T H E E N V I R O N M E N T. T H E C U R I O S I T Y C Y C L E B Y J O N AT H O N M U G A N
- 8. Acting Reflecting Thinking “Learning is theprocess whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” Experiential Learning Spiral (Kolb & Kolb 2018)
- 12. DLL’S MAGIC… TEACH MODEL &ELEVATE PROFESSIONALISM • Leadership • Emotional Intelligence • Work Ethic • Presentation Skills • Effective Communication • Creative Content - Vimeo.com/gsudll CHALLENGE STUDENT LEDTEAM & SELF DIRECTED LEARNING • 1 Student “Leader” (Paid) • Max 9 Student “Learners” • Interdisciplinary Team Collaboration • Hackathon INSPIRE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY PARTNERS • DIGITAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT • Industry professionals reflect the students’ diversity • Knowledgeable of community assets SOLVE URBAN ISSUES • Community and Social Exploration • Develop a Digital tool • Pitch the MVP: Minimal Viable Product to industry professionals ACCESSTO EMERGINGTECH • Emerging Careers • Virtual Reality • Application Development • UX/UI • Graphic Design • Innovation • Maker Space/Prototyping DEVELOP A SOLUTION ORIENTED MINDSET • Project Management • Design Thinking • Computational Thinking • Entrepreneurship
- 13. P R OG R AM STAT IST IC S Top Majors: #1 Computer Science #2 Computer Information Systems LEADERS & PROJECTS 14 LEARNERS 190 INDUSTRY LEADERS 27 MAJORS REPRESENTED 45 FEMALE TO MALE 60:40
- 14. P R OJE CT SU CC E SS: E C O D R O P
- 16.
- 18. Leadership and LifeSkills Education
- 19. Leadership Integrity Values Problem Solving Team Work SelfConfidence Critical Thinking Work Ethics Decision Making Interpersonal Relationships Self Motivation Emotional Competence Responsibility
Editor's Notes
- #2 Total of 45 minutes for session
- #5 Thank you Phil and thank you everyone for attending our session. Phil described for the 4th industrial revolution and our success graduating students who have traditionally been underserved Let’s think about teaching and learning for this time and developing diverse digital professionals. How are we preparing our youth for their future as technology is accelerating towards singularity. Can we educate them to ensure our usefulness as machines become faster than humans? What are the skills that present day employers desire and that the future will require? These are questions that we seek to answer and why experiential learning is so critical in this 4th industrial revolution But first we want to hear from you. Can everyone take out there phones. We are going to do an interactive poll to see what you know and think about experiential learning.
- #6 Poll Title: What is experiential learning? Definition and Features? https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/c2v1PpGjP9MipOw6C5zu4 I will go back to your responses a few times during the talk.
- #7 I believe that Curiosity and Creativity are the most important characteristics that we need to develop in educational models in the 4th Industrial revolution’s. Curiosity and Creativity are the drivers in my life long love of learning. Chicago is my hometown so this is one of those full circle moments presenting at Educause. I grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood about 7 miles south of here. I developed a love for exploration and learning literally because of the opportunities this city provided to me as a youth. One of them was my ability to explore the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park. I lived in that museum and was there at least 3 times per week. It was really my after school program. Unfortunately the museum stopped offering daily free admission in 1991 so the next generation of poor youth in this city would have to find something else to do with their time. The Obama Library is being built right behind the museum. I pray that the Obama Library will bring back curiosity, creativity and leadership development to this community. Overcoming challenges, being creative and curious are traits found in many people who grow up in tough environments. You need those traits just to survive. We are going to all need to develop these attributes in our youth and re-training adults unemployed due to technology in order to survive. We can do it if we focus on developing teaching and learning models that focus on curiosity and creativity. Let’s check in on your poll results….
- #8 Poll Title: What is experiential learning? Definition and Features? Https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/c2v1PpGjP9MipOw6C5zu4
- #9 The academic framework for Experiential Learning was developed by David Kolb. He is one of the top scholars researching experiential learning. “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb, 1984, p. 38). In the experiential learning spiral, we are constantly cycling through Experience, Reflection, Thinking and Acting. I’ll use a myself as one example for storify the process. In the moment, I will tell you about PantherHackers, a student organization I advise but it was through my EXPERIENCE as the Project Manager that one of Phil’s 1st projects at GSU, the digital literacy initative which was one of my first student facing projects. In my REFLECTION about what we were attempting, I had to immerse myself in research about Digital Literacy and gaps in our models as I worked with staff, faculty and students. In reflection, it is particularly import to identify any inconsistencies between experience and understanding. In THINKING, my reflection gave rise to a new idea which was that we were under valuing our students and their ability to teach themselves and solve their own problems and well as social problems. I ACTED on that thinking by helping students develop a student organization to solve some of the issues they experienced in the gap between theoretical course work and the need to have real project experiences when they were looking for employment. 4 years later I am still their advisor. Points to remember: Learning is an endless recurring cycle not a linear process Our brains are built for experiential learning and I believe we can push the limits more with experiential learning because we don’t need to be teaching to memorize when the world of knowledge is at our fingertips. Experience and Acting on those experiences are exceptional motivations for learning This learning cycle Experience, Reflection, Thinking and Acting can be a rubric for a holistic and authentic assessment. I will focus on two experiential learning programs that I have developed at GSU…the 1st is again PantherHackers. ------------- Research (Not for presentation) 1. Experience, either a new experience or situation is encountered, or a reinterpretation of existing experience. 2. Reflective Observation of the New Experience. Of particular importance is any inconsistencies between experience and understanding. 3. In Thinking reflection gives rise to a new idea, or a modification of an existing abstract concept (where the person has learned from their experience). 4. Active Experimentation - the learner applies their idea(s) to the world around them to see what happens.
- #10 While experiencing and reflecting on PantherHackers growth to a large students org and their success winning hackathons, I identified some key characteristics that made them innovative including interdisciplinary teams, their diverse backgrounds, peer to peer learning and working on project based on interest and not grades. PantherHackers showed a ton of initiative developing projects and events but a downside to only being a student organization as their advisor was my inability to really put them some stepped paces. This is when I saw the need for a program. We were invited to apply for a Digital Economy Iniative grant to the silicon Valley Community Foundation through Cisco social Responsibility. DELETE: (PantherHackers Student Organization grew to 400 students, they were Partners in the development and planning our our 1st Makerspace called Exlab and they work as trainers under the brand Panther Tech Training. I also noticed that students were missing nuances of career development knowledge, particularly as a 1st gen student myself, I understood that much of what they are missing was part of a hidden curriculum understating their lack of social capital, social networking and heightened imposter syndrome. This is why I began researching Learning Communities as a solution for student success and ultimately pitched my team as “Learning Community Development.”)
- #11 In 2017, we won that grant and crafted a program that acted on my prior knowledge of digital literacy and intentional focus on on encouraging women to be in technology and develop expertise in iot. I want to show you a shortened version of our initial promo video for the program we named, Digital Learners to Leaders because all leaders are learners and all learners can be leaders.
- #12 I hope that gave you a quick look into our urban environment and diverse students. The program is very culturally responsive so it was very intentional to use a hip-hop beat to reflect back to our students their culture so they can see that this is a program for them. DLL is An interdisciplinary and experiential learning program at Georgia State University to enhance and develop digital literacy and digital leadership for our diverse student body by curating experiences with industry professionals and developing a digital tool to solve problems of urban communities. We also do a summer camp for Middle and High School with an expo at the end for parents where we invite admissions, financial aid etc. We want these students to feel part of the GSU community. Yes, it a longer play but one that is critical to establishing diverse digital professionals and future GSU students.
- #13 In DLL, we TEACH, INSPIRE AND CHALLENGE To bring it back again to what PantherHackers taught me was Grades and Majors are obstacles to increasing the pipeline into STEM/STEAM/DIGITAL Professions DLL has no gpa minimum or is open to all majors. Innovation and creativity is not relegated to any particular major or a particular GPA so we are open to all majors and there is no GPA requirement although students must be in good academic standing. Our students need more culturally relevant and responsive programming – “they need to see it to be it.” I also recognized that our students have untapped potentials to solve community problems. While we are educating them we must also make sure they are developing character and community consciousness to essentially use their powers for good. Our ultimate goal is to assist them in developing a Digital Identity (in research it is known as STEM or STEAM identity) this digital identity a predictor of a digital career – they have to see it to be it, externally and internally. I want to get into some of the nitty gritty of what we are teaching and alignment with what employers need and want. Model Professionalism – by them seeing diverse leadership and becoming leaders We intentionally discuss and assess EQ We talk about work ethic, acknowledge the challenges of time, coordination to collaborate – yet we don’t seek to make excuses – PUSH THROUGH We hold workshops in presentation skills and Their seeing excellent presenters including specific Career Talks We elevate our Program, our Students and our professionals through our Creative Content - Vimeo.com/gsudll and Flickr DEVELOP A SOLUTION ORIENTED MINDSET – teaching replicatable frameworks and processes CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY PARTNERS – we develop in them an asset based mindset when working in and for the community. We stress the important of Social Responsibility and ultimately developing their digital identity. Some students have changed their majors, often times the major was based on something insignificant, a fallacy or family influence without understanding the industry. ACCESS TO EMERGING TECH – this is where I really put a lot of time and attention into the curation of our professionals from diverse backgrounds. The most challenging thing is time and fitting in more professionals when I get exposed to them. We’ve also been blessed with so many GSU Alum who want to give back. STUDENT LED TEAM & SELF DIRECTED LEARNING – we only get limited exposure to these emerging techs so students have to self direct their learning when they find some thing they want to specialize in. 1 Team Leader (paid) + max 9 Learners Ideate a Project that impacts a Social or Community issue Pitch the idea to mentors Work toward a MVP – Minimal Viable Product Present their MVP by end of the semester SOLVE URBAN ISSUES –A question you have to ask yourself is, if our job is to educate and students leave GSU not having any since of their cultural identity as it relates to their education and career, have we truly educated them. The answer is not really. They may know facts and figures but if they do not know their role and potential impact in society, our Return on Investment in them is greatly depreciated. Now By Adding digital literacy and leadership to this equation you get students who are ready to lead in emerging technologies. This is way community and social exploration is a large outcome of DLL as well as my own passion for community development and transformation.
- #14 The key ideas that PH influenced in DLL was Grades and Majors are obstacles to increasing the pipeline into STEM/STEAM/DIGITAL Professions Innovation and creativity is not relegated to any particular major or a particular GPA so we are open to all majors and there is no GPA requirement although students must be in good academic standing. Our students need more culturally relevant and responsive programming – “they need to see it to be it.” I also recognized that our students have untapped potentials to solve community problems. While we are educating them we must also make sure they are developing character and community consciousness to essentially use their powers for good. In DLL, we TEACH, INSPIRE AND CHALLENGE Our ultimate goal is to assist them in developing a Digital Identity (in research it is known as STEM or STEAM identity) this digital identity a predictor of a digital career – they have to see it to be it, externally and internally.
- #15 Quick stats on DLL
- #16 Karen was so quiet when she went through DLL as a Learner, Impressed us during her Leader interview for the 2nd cohort and now she is in a position that did not exist 2 years ago when she began DLL. She supervises insurtech, fintech and digital asset companies within the Bermuda government. She majored in Actuarial Finance and Computer Science. Her video profile is near the top https://vimeo.com/356959193
- #17 We have many success stories but I will focus on just one and you’ll here from one of our past student leaders shortly. EcoDrop - originally lead by Kavin in the middle. Nicole on the far left is now the CEO of EcoDrop is a convenient and incentive-based reverse vending machine for recycling: The problem in current recycling in Atlanta and elsewhere is the lack of awareness, accessibility, and incentives for the everyday person. Recycling is not a priority for most people because it does not have a rewarding outlet for disposal. It is the first machine of its kind in Atlanta. We were so proud when EcoDrop took 1st place in our Hack GSU Hackathon. Now they are all over Atlanta working to encourage recycling. I want to show another video profile for EcoDrop.
- #19 Pipelines College students teaching in Summer camp Summer camp Professional success Deeper community partnerships Alumni network for DLL Teacher professional development Now we will have Aafreen Kaur, one of our past Leaders and now our Digital Literacy Ambassador for the program.
- #20 Introduce, Aafreen Kaur, Digital Literacy Ambassador
- #23 In summary, these are the skills that were being imparted to you in the length of the program that you just underwent
- #25 Poll Title: What is experiential learning? Definition and Features? https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/c2v1PpGjP9MipOw6C5zu4 PLEASE REVIEW THIS PRESENTATION ON YOUR EDUCAUSE APP.