Blending Creativity and Technology in the Classroom

Blending Creativity and Shady Hill’s Bruce Shaw Educational Leadership Chair position provides a Technology in the Classroom member of the faculty with a deeply fulfilling professional development experience. Created to honor the legacy of former Head of School By Kathy Brennan Bruce Shaw (1994-2010), the goal is for the faculty member to study and develop understanding in a specific area of interest and then apply those skills and knowledge to strengthen Shady Hill. From 2018-2020, music teacher Kabir Sen ’92 TTC ’07 held the position of Bruce Shaw Educational Leadership Chair. Kabir focused on how videography, technology, and creative learning can strengthen the educational experience for both teachers and students. After a vocal procedure in 2018 that left Kabir unable to speak for two weeks, he began to explore the value of using videography to convey lessons. He became interested in how that technology could enhance classroom instruction and creative learning. Through the fellowship Kabir studied how the use of technology in the classroom can foster learning and creativity for teachers and students. He sought out as many opportunities as he could to document and design a curriculum using audio and visual techniques throughout the 2018-2019 school year and began strategic conversations with fellow educators to discover and share their techniques. Grant money provided through the fellowship allowed Kabir to purchase video and audio equipment and to attend a “Learning Creative Learning” class at MIT. Using best practices on how technology can benefit the learning experience, Kabir started to create short lesson demonstrations for filming in the classroom and guiding

SCAN QR CODE TO LEARN ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP FROM KABIR!

questions for his colleagues. Kabir focused on how technology can positively impact a variety of subjects such as student learning and achievement, creativity in the curriculum, faculty mentorship, storytelling, and documenting existing practices. The importance of Kabir’s work came to the forefront with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was quickly able to apply the technologies and processes he was studying to online learning and to share his experiences with fellow teachers. During his two years in the fellowship, Kabir discovered the numerous benefits of technology in the classroom: students appeared to be more comfortable on camera and had an increase in creative energy, collaborative spirit, and level of engagement. As Kabir reflected on his time as the Bruce Shaw Leadership Chair, he was grateful for the opportunity to study this subject and see the work in action through modified COVID-19 online classes.

In a world of online learning and experiences, work with video and audio is quickly becoming a core curriculum for students. By implementing video and audio technology in the classroom, students and educators alike can benefit from a deeper, more immersive learning experience.

Kabir formed guiding questions for himself and his colleagues to consider through his research.

HOW CAN VIDEOGRAPHY IN THE CLASSROOM IMPACT...

• Student learning and achievement? • Assessments? • Creativity in the classroom? • Documentation of the existing practices that we use? • Building of community?