Design Archives - John Spencer

Apr 30 2024

Using AI to Bridge the Gap from Theory to Practice

By John Spencer Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Podcast 2 Comments

It's easy to get dismissive about educational theory. I've heard teachers say "Don't bother with the theory. Just focus on practical strategies." But when done well, theory can provide a roadmap and framework we can use. It can be a nuanced dialogue that cuts to…

Jan 31 2022

Empowering Students to Self-Select the Scaffolds

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Podcast 2 Comments

When I was a new teacher, I had a goal of differentiating instruction for every student. I would provide additional directions, project sheets, tutorials, and small group instruction for any student who needed help. My main focus was on providing the necessary accommodations on IEPs…

Mar 02 2020

Seven Reasons to Geek Out on Educational Theory

By John Spencer Innovation, Podcast 3 Comments

I haven't written a new article in nearly month. After getting back my data, I plugged away at writing Chapters 4 and 5 of my dissertation, followed by a few revisions. I will likely defend it next week or the week after. One of the…

Jan 14 2019

Seven Strategies for Building Empathy in Students

By John Spencer Creativity, Design Thinking, Podcast 2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-M4dvAgWs&t=64s Subscribe to YouTube Channel A few days ago, my son said something that surprised me. He said, "Dad, we have the best cafeteria lady at our school." And I said, "Wait, what?" But then he went on to describe how this woman chose to…

Jan 15 2018

How Nature Inspires Better Design (and What This Means for Students)

By John Spencer Design Thinking, Future of Learning, Podcast 4 Comments

We want students to be makers and designers. But there's a surprising source of inspiration for design: the natural world. This is the key idea behind biomimicry, which encourages engineers to pay close attention to nature in order to improve their designs. The following post…

Jul 31 2017

Turning Problems into Solutions

By John Spencer Creativity, Creativity Deconstructed 2 Comments

When teachers view themselves as systems architects, they are able to view potential problems as design challenges. What I Learned from Watching People on a Plane Yesterday, on a flight from Portland to Minneapolis, the flight attendant asked the passengers to check their seats…

Design

Using AI to Bridge the Gap from Theory to Practice

Empowering Students to Self-Select the Scaffolds

Seven Reasons to Geek Out on Educational Theory

Seven Strategies for Building Empathy in Students

How Nature Inspires Better Design (and What This Means for Students)

Turning Problems into Solutions

Dr. John Spencer

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