Kentucky College of Education .
During doc week , Appino , along with classmates Taylor Clements and Steph Anderson , sat down to discuss their experience in the program . While they represent a focus on the area of school technology leadership , there are a variety of specializations offered within the Educational Leadership Studies department . Many students in the department work full-time and are known as innovators in their schools , constantly on the lookout for ways to update students ’ learning experiences to match the ever-evolving , technology-rich careers they will enter .
As school leaders , many in the program are facilitating conversations with teachers , administrators , school boards and parents to help update the learning process . The doctoral program gives them a research base for this type of transformation .
“ We are able to say ‘ this is what the world is doing , and this is where we need to be going ,’” said doctoral student Anderson , who is an elementary school principal in Iowa . “ The foundation in research and things we learn in the program help us facilitate those conversations to make an impact on teaching and learning .”
Clements is a high school math teacher in Louisville who has used his experience in the program to approach issues in his school , such as updating policies on cell phones and social media . The program gave him a wider perspective and deeper understanding of the issues , he said .
“ I love how it ’ s not just the ivory tower research , it ’ s hands on ,” he said .
“ Everyone here is definitely thinking about the right now . For instance , one of our faculty members ( Dr . Justin Bathon ) helps run the Fayette County STEAM Academy . Here is a faculty member who is working passionately in a high school and knows all the kids . He is a Ph . D . and is actually applying it .”
The program addresses the process of school change . In an # EDLDocWeek session on design thinking , Dr . John Nash described a high school he has worked with that had been on an academic watch list . A typical reaction would have been to add stricter policies and rules to solve what ailed the school , he said . Instead , they brainstormed a solution and piloted it – a new schedule that doesn ’ t use bells – with a group of 300 students from the school of 1,800 . Journalism students operated as person-on-the-street interviewers , getting spot interviews and user feedback on how it was going . Some of
“ We are able to say , ‘ This is what the world is doing , and this is where we need to be going .’”
— Steph Anderson , doctoral student
the idea went to scale , and it worked . Soon , principals from higher performing schools were asking for their secret .
“ It worked because it involved users from the start ,” Nash said . “ Empathy works and can bring solutions that are very surprising .”
In addition to sessions like the one on design thinking , faculty put together a week ’ s worth of activities for the students while they were in Lexington . They toured distilleries , played Breakout Games and attended a BBQ in faculty member Dr . Jayson Richardson ’ s back yard .
“ Any time we are together it ’ s fun ,” Appino said . “ Whether we are working or having dinner together , we are having conversations about education , how we use tech in schools , where the vision is going and what the research is saying . We work with a rock star leadership in this program . The faculty running it are heavy hitters with a lot of knowledge . It is powerful to work with this incredible faculty and a diverse , strong group of students who are education leaders that will impact learning .”
Education leaders will be faced with a new issue this fall — many students are returning to school after spending a summer immersed in Pokemon Go gaming .
“ Pokemon is this new thing , and we don ’ t know how long it will last ,” Appino said . “ I ’ m excited that it is teaching augmented reality to the masses and we need to leverage that in the classroom . We have an incredibly eager faculty at my school in Vietnam and one of the first questions they will ask me when I get back is ‘ Robert , how can we use this ?’ and ‘ Where might this fit in our curriculum ?’ It is part of my role as a tech integration specialist . If it doesn ’ t fit with standards and goals , then maybe we can use it as a team building thing , or maybe not at all . But what I come back to is that we are in a very exciting time for education and this doctoral program is helping us polish and dive deeper into this excitement in a way that I wouldn ’ t have had if not for this community of learning I ’ m working with .”
KINESIOLOGY & HEALTH PROMOTION
UK Alum Explains Race Walking
Race walking is an Olympic sport . It pushes bodies to the extreme . But how does it compare to running ? An alum of the University of Kentucky College of Education recently explained race walking in the New York Times ’ Ask Well column , based on the doctoral dissertation she completed at UK . The story can be viewed at http :// well . blogs . nytimes . com / 2016 / 09 / 09 / how-does-race-walking-compare-torunning /.
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