Author: jhrusso

For the capstone project in my Instructional Strategies for Teaching and Learning in Digital Contexts course, I developed a module to help middle school students learn emotional self-regulation techniques. This specific module was developed to help students understand how their brains, emotions, and actions are all interconnected. As a middle school teacher, I understand how important social emotional learning is for adolescents and wanted to come up with the beginnings of a course that would help them develop skills and knowledge in this area. I utilized Articulate Storyline 360 to create this course as well as PowerPoint, OBX Studios, Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere Pro to add further enhancements. This module utilizes video and scenario based learning to advance students to the learning objectives. Furthermore, this course was developed to align with K-12 Quality Matters Rubric.

As part of my work on an Articulate Storyline module, I have utilized design thinking to create a cohesive and effective product. This process has involved various stages, including empathy data gathering, ideation, prototyping, and testing. One critical aspect of this process has been the involvement of subject matter experts and the use of class feedback.

To gather empathy data and gain insights into the needs of our target audience, I conducted an interview with a behavioral intervention specialist at Wake Forest Middle School. This expert provided valuable insights into defining the scope and sequence for the module and how to create a product that would be useful and relevant for my target audience.

With the insights gained from the subject matter expert interview, I moved on to ideation and prototyping, creating initial versions of the module and testing them with a focus group of classmates. The feedback I received from the focus group helped me to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments to the content and design of the module.

In creating this Articulate Storyline module, I have leveraged design thinking to create a product that is both informative and engaging. By involving subject matter experts and soliciting feedback from classmates, I was able to create a product that meets the needs of my target audience while also being effective and engaging.

A reviewers link has been provided so that you can provide comments on the course that can help me continue to provide enhancements in the future. Please check back frequently as this course will continue to be updated.

Click on the picture below to access the course.

During my first semester in the MEITE program, I had the privilege of working with several talented individuals on a project for our Design of Emerging Technologies for Education class. The goal of our project was to develop a program called Circle Keeper that teachers and other stakeholders could use to track student data trends and their relationship to interventions taken for individual students. Specifically, we chose to work with Restorative Circles as they are new behavioral intervention that many schools are utilizing. However, this could be expanded to work for a plethora of behavioral intervention techniques.

In the process of developing the Circle Keeper application, the design thinking process was a critical component. Through this process, my team was able to empathize with users and understand their needs and challenges. One way my team accomplished this was by interviewing subject matter experts on Restorative Circles to gain insights into the intervention technique and its impact on student behavior. Additionally, my team also solicited feedback from potential end-users, including teachers and classmates, to ensure that the application met their needs and was user-friendly.

The design thinking process also helped my team to define the scope of the project, including identifying the key features and functionality needed to make the application successful. By storylining and wireframing, my team was able to map out the initial design and create prototypes that could be tested and refined based on user feedback.

Overall, the Circle Keeper application serves as an excellent example of how the design thinking process can be utilized to develop emerging technologies for education. By using a customer-centric approach and engaging in user research and testing, my team was able to create a product that met the needs of its intended users and had the potential to impact student behavior in a positive way.

Below you will find a link to my team’s Google website which outlines the design thinking steps that were used to create a prototype of our Circle Keeper application. Within this website you will also find a link to our interactive prototype. I encourage you to explore this site to learn more about this amazing prototype, my design team, and the processes that used to create our final product.

Circle Keeper Google Site

During my coursework in the Educational Innovation and Technology, Integrative Seminar, our class was tasked with creating educational entrepreneurial modules in the form of a free MOOC. My group’s module was designed to help educational entrepreneurs increase their entrepreneurial competency in goal setting, planning, and task management. We chose this competency based on the EntreComp: The Entrepreneurs Competence Framework authored by Bacigalup, Kampylis, Punie, and Van den Brande (2016). Through survey analysis, we found this competency to be foundational for achievement in the entrepreneurial setting and beyond. This course was developed using current research and multimedia design principles and is closely aligned to the Quality Matters Rubric to ensure learners’ success in the course.

To access this course, visit this Canvas link and use the login information below.

Username: jhrusso@ad.unc.edu / Password: Coursework123

Below you will find a gallery of the planning slides that my group utilized when forming our module. We utilized Lee and Hannafin’s (2016) Own it, Learn it, Share it framework to outline our course development. This framework is based on the principles of design thinking, which emphasizes empathy with the user, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

During my time in the MEITE program, I had the privilege of working with Dr. Kelly Ryoo, a renowned researcher and professor in the field of design thinking and technology design for science education, on the Iterative Design to Engage All (IDEA) Learners Institute. we created and presented professional development for educators across North Carolina with the following mission: “Using emerging PFAS research as a foundation, the IDEA Learners program will build the capacity of STEM teachers to engage ALL learners and cultivate a diverse biomedical workforce” (IDEA Learners Website). To prepare the professional development, we conducted interviews with the teachers we would be working with in the institute. This allowed us to gauge our participants’ prior knowledge on the topics to be presented, better understand their needs and the needs of their students, and tailor our sessions in a format that most appealed them. In this way we were able to empathize with our participants and curate a learner-centered professional development program that most suited them and created an ideal learning environment for innovation. As a team, we worked on many iterations of these interview questions and the professional development as a whole. These iterations continued as we received feedback from participants throughout their time in the institute.

I encourage you to explore the IDEA Learners website to learn more about this professional development program, its current progress, and the design team teachers who I worked with during the program.

Iterative Design to Engage All (IDEA) Learners Institute Website

Below you will find a link the final version of the questions that we asked during our interviews.

IDEA Teacher Interview Questions

The following posts will exemplify some of my academic work. I have chosen artifacts to showcase how I have created innovative solutions to common, seemingly impossible problems that plague the modern education system. Check out my work in the following posts.

Empower Me- an Articulate Storyline 360 module

A Meta Approach to PD on Project Based Learning- BMC & Mock Poster Presentation

Achieving More through Proper Planning and Management- a Canvas course

Circle Keeper- an iterative design project

Iterative Design to Engage All (IDEA) Learners- professional development program