1. Boise
State
University
Designing for Serendipty
in Educational Innovation
Lisa Dawley, Dept. of Educational Technology

2. “I
feel
myself
ge5ng
smarter.”

3. “To
innovate
is
not
to
reform”
Edmund
Burke
1 2 3
How
we
become
innovators
Importance
of
serendipity
serendipitous
Design
f or
learning

4. 1
How
do
we
become
educa?onal
innovators?

5. Educa?onal
Innova?on
• Innova?ve
breakthroughs
require
years
of
intensive
prepara?on
• Enthusias@c
immersion
in
a
domain
results
in
deep,
rich
knowledge
• New
ideas
spur
on
more
new
ideas,
networks
generate
cycles
of
innova?on
• Give
freedom
to
innovate
Geoff
Colvin

6. How:
Deliberate
Prac?ce
&
Opportunity
• A
lifelong
period
of
deliberate
effort
to
improve
performance
in
a
specific
domain
Geoff
Colvin
1. Know
where
you
want
to
go,
and
iden?fy
next
steps
2. Prac?ce
directly,
master
what
you
don’t
know
3. Self-­‐regulate:
set
concrete
goals,
observe
in
ac?on,
evaluate
4. Deepen
your
knowledge
with
mental
models
**Mul@plier
effect:
improvement
over
?me
increases
drive.
Extrinsic
mo?vators
can
be
useful
in
early
stages.

7. 2
Importance
of
serendipity
making
fortunate
discoveries
while
looking
for
something
unrelated

8. A trip to Finland??

9. Serendipity
is
a
major
component
of
scien@fic
discoveries
and
• Penicillin
inven@ons
• Silly
puYy
• Mauve
• Teflon
• Scotchguard
Key
component
of
• Cellophane
business
intelligence
• Chocolate
chip
cookies
• Christopher
Columbus
• Grounded
theory
(paYerns)
• Used
in
business
intelligence

10. How
do
we
go
off-­‐course
when
curriculum
is
standardized,
accountable,
and
tested?

11. 3
3
Design
Ideas
for
Serendipitous
Learning
and
innova?on

12. Personal
Learning
Networks

13. Personal
Learning
Environment

14. Why
PLNs?
• Supports
connec?ons
among
teachers/learners
• Supports
serendipitous
knowledge
construc?on
through
distributed
nodes
and
networks
• Empowers
learners
to
become
self-­‐led,
independent
knowledge
seekers
and
creators
• Allows
customiza?on
of
learning
paths
specific
to
individual
interests
or
needs
• It’s
fun
and
you
can
take
it
with
you!

15. Organizing
Informa?on
in
the
Network

17. Social
Network
Knowledge
Construc?on

18. Construc@on
&
Crea@on
Opportuni@es
• Blogging/twee?ng
• Social
media
crea?on

19. Construc@on
&
Crea@on
Opportuni@es
• Simula?ons
• 3D
prin?ng

20. Construc@on
&
Crea@on
Opportuni@es
• Virtual
Worlds

21. Growth
Trend
in
virtual
worlds:
tweens
and
teens

22. Virtual
World
Popularity
by
Age
• Poptropica
144M
• Stardoll
94M
• Habbo
200M
• Barbie
Girls
22M
• Neopets
65M
• IMVU
50M
• Buildabearville
• Club
Penguin
63M
• WeeWorld
40M
21M
• Whyville
7M
• Gaia
36M
• Jumpstart
4M
5-­‐10
10-­‐15
15-­‐25
• Second
Life
25M
• Utherverse
7.5M
• eRepublic
2M
25-­‐35

23. Virtual
World
Types
by
Age
HAND:
movement
(somato-­‐
sensorymotor
system)
HEART:
rela@onships,
emo@ons,
long-­‐term
memory
(limbic
system)
HEAD:
Intellect,
decision
making,
planning,
impulse
control
(frontal
cor@cal
networks)

24. Learner
Choice
to
Demonstrate
Competencies
• Quest-­‐Based
Learning
3dgamelab.org!

25. To
sum
it
up
• Excellence
and
innova?on
come
through
deliberate
prac?ce
• Serendipity
is
a
necessary
aspect
of
innova?on
• Opportuni?es
for
serendipity
can
be
designed
into
learning
environments
and
curriculum
– PLNs,
content
crea?on,
learner
choice