My Current Work
What is meaningful assessment?
There are many developments in school learning such as technology integration, maker movements, design thinking and innovation, virtual reality, augmented reality, learning by playing, computational thinking, human centered approaches, etc.. There are different ways to implement new concepts and a variety of metrics to gauge its value and/or progress. In particular, one question has been eluding educators: what is effective and meaningful assessment that aligns well with developments in research-based pedagogical practices. Because of the complexity and open ended nature of what the world requires of people, standardized curricula and scores are diminishing in perceived value, and there is a dire need to address the goal of education and what it can offer.
What now?
Our current work is in trying to answer part of the question about assessment, and how to deal with creating authentic, purposeful, meaningful, valuable, and long-lasting work artifacts that can transform how schools approach learning.
Online Tutoring Company
We currently run an online tutoring service for students who need academic support, or who want to excel in particular subject areas. The emphasis is on student engagement through fun and rigorous activities that have clear goals. The setup is 100% online so that students can receive help from wherever they are as long as they have a device and internet connection. Payments and scheduling can also be made and managed online. The most popular courses are coding classes where they learn, share creations, and have fun. Each lesson is documented with student feedback and their digital creations that outlive the lesson.
Consulting Work
Our consulting work ranges from helping startup schools to create compelling visions involving technology, to actually implementing specific software and communication methods that complement the mission of the schools. We primarily work with schools in Orange and Los Angeles County, as well as with overseas schools, and are working to further expand our client base. Our most recent work involves the implementation of OneNote Class Notebooks in conjunction with Microsoft Teams for high school students, and some purpose-based mathematics projects that align with the school philosophy and existing curriculum.
Conferences
We regularly submit to high profile as well as small, local conferences related to educational technology. We have received acceptances to present at numerous events, including ISTE2018, FabLearn 2017, E-Learn 2018, CUE 2018, HICE 2019, SITE 2018, and more. Our presentations focus particularly on developing methods of using media and technology to capture evidence of student learning, and to preserve and share the valuable learning experiences that students have in a variety of learning environments.
