I have been an academic for almost a quarter of a century (longer, if you include my years in graduate school), and it is a bit humbling that the work for which I (and my partner in crime, Matt Koehler) are best known for is the creation of a Venn diagram—which, when...
Creative uses of ChatGPT for Education: A conversation with Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick is a professor at the Wharton School of Business and studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. He also leads Wharton Interactive, an effort to democratize education through games and simulations. He is also one of the most innovative users of...
6 Videos (on the 5 spaces for design in Education)
Learning Sparks is a new initiative at ASU that feature short, 5-minute, videos showcasing the expertise of a range of ASU faculty members. These videos are carefully crafted, with high-production values seeking to capture big ideas in bite-sized chunks. A few months...
Talk at Fulton School of Engineering
Last August I was invited to speak at an event organized by the Ira Fulton School of Engineering's Learning and Teaching Hub. For some reason I had not posted about it — so better late than never... here it is, a 30 min talk followed by QnA....
TED talk: How to design a school for the future
My TED talk, titled How to design a school for the future just went live this morning. Sadly, I was traveling in India when the recordings were scheduled so I missed the whole "standing on the red-dot" looking like a thought leader who will give a talk that will...
TPACK & Philosophy
I often receive emails about the TPACK framework and even though I have not worked in that space for a while, I do feel obligated to respond. That said, I usually do not feel the need to document my responses. Once in a while, however, I get a question that demands a...
On designing aesthetic educational experiences in science
What is the role of beauty (and aesthetics) in science in science education? This is something that I have been interested in for a long time, going back to highschool. Over the years I have built a small body of scholarship around this topic. Sadly, this work does...
Plugin’ into superpowers
I have been playing with couple of the newly released ChatGPT plugins (you have to have the paid version to use them) and want to share some of my early experiments. The two I am going to talk about are the ChatWithPDF and the Wolfram plugins. Short answer, they are...
Cleaning and coding Interviews with AI
I have previously written about how AI can possibly help with qualitative research AND how how AI has given me a superpower which is the ability to write computer programs. Well this post is an extension of both of these topics. To provide some context, for the past...
Coding with ChatGPT3: On gaining a superpower
I had heard that ChatGPT3 could help with writing code and just hadn't much time to play with it. Part of the reason is that I haven't really coded in almost 2 decades (maybe more) so was somewhat hesitant to jump in. But again I kept reading of people doing amazing...
Scaling up the SCALE Instrument
Back in 2017, Carmen Richardson and I wrote an article (Richardson & Mishra, 2017) in which we proposed an instrument (Support of Creativity in Learning Environment: SCALE) designed to assess the ways in which a learning environment supports student...
Qualitative research in an age of AI
Qualitative data can be extremely rich, complex and insightful, allowing us to uncover the complexities of human experiences, perceptions, and interactions. It can also be complicated and messy. And the way we make sense of it is through the one-two punch of thematic...
Gilbert Daniels, the gardener who changed our world
Note: I wrote and submitted this piece as an op-ed to the Indianapolis Star to be published on April 14, 2023, exactly 3 years after they had published Gilbert Daniels' obituary. It would have helped set the record straight about his amazing contribution to the world...
Tools “R” Us: When objects become you
Danah Henriksen shared an article with me recently “When objects become extensions of you.” It is an interesting piece arguing that “Whether they are tools, toys, or mirror reflections, external objects temporarily become part of who we are all the time.” Essentially,...
Bringing Design to Education: Benjamin Cluff Jr. Lecture at BYU McKay School of Education
I was recently invited to present the Benjamin Cluff Jr. Lecture by the dean and faculty at the Brigham Young University, McKay School of Education. I had a short but lovely visit, meeting old friends, and making new ones. We had some wonderful conversations, over...
A chat about GPT3 (and other forms of alien intelligence)
We recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of writing a regular column series on Rethinking Technology & Creativity in Education for the journal TechTrends. Over the next few articles in this series, we are going to dive deeper into Artificial Intelligence...
Good to be back, SITE 2023 New Orleans
The Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education conference has been an important part of my professional life for over two decades. My first presentation at a SITE conference was back in 2001 at Orlando, Florida, with none other than Matt Koehler. For the...
From Crayons to AI: New article (10 years of writing)
Ten years ago, we, The Deep Play Research Group, were invited to write a regular series of articles for this journal exploring the relationship between technology, creativity and learning. To celebrate this anniversary, we decided to write two summary/ synthesis...
Learning styles in the classroom? What BS! (But Bing Chat doesn’t care.)
One of the most enduring myths in education is that of learning styles. I had written about it back in 2009 in a blog post titled: Teaching to learning styles: What hogwash. But it a myth that does not seem to go away, maybe because it seems to have some kind of...
Bringing Design to Education: IDC Talks
I was recently invited to speak at a series organized by alumni of the IDC School of Design, IIT Powai. As an alum of the same institution it was a great honor to be invited. You can see the entire series here (and I must say there are some awesome speakers there). My...
ChatGPT as a blurry jpeg of the web
Ted Chiang is one of the greatest, insightful writers working today. I had written previously about one his short stories in a post titled: Truth of fact and feeling: Unpacking McLuhan (2/3) about his short story The truth of fact and the truth of feeling. (If you...
Aesthetics and science education: Beauty at Work podcast
Beauty at Work is a podcast that "explores how beauty shapes our lives and the work that we do" hosted by Brandon Vaidyanathan, Associate Professor of Sociology at The Catholic University of America. In its first season the focus is on beauty in science. As part of...
Creative Provocations: Speculations on the future of creativity, technology & learning (New Book)
I am excited to announce the publication of a new book, edited by Danah Henriksen and yours truly. Titled Creative Provocations: Speculations on the future of creativity, technology & learning, it is part of the Springer series on Creativity Theory and Action in...
Celebrating 10 Years of Re-imagining Creativity, Technology & Learning
10 years ago, we, the Deep-Play Research Group (DPRG), were invited to write a series for the journal TechTrends around the broad and intersecting themes of reimagining creativity, technology, and learning. A decade is a significant chunk of time to devote to a series...
Modeling human behavior: The new dark art of silicon sampling
A couple of months ago I had written this post, On merging with our technologies – which was essentially quotes from a conversation Ezra Klein had with the novelist Mohsin Hamid. I finished the post with a quote speaking the dangers of predictive technologies on human...
TPACK in EDTECHNICA
I have been a huge fan of EdTechBooks for a long time. Their philosophy of making quality textbooks freely accessible for all resonates with me deeply. It is no surprise that I was excited to hear of their latest initiative: that of creating a living encyclopedia of...
Exploring Organizational Creativity & Mindfulness with Ravi Kudesia
Recently our on-going series on creativity, technology and learning for the journal TechTrends has focused on the relationship between mindfulness and creativity, particularly in educational contexts. Our first article set the stage for a deeper dive into this...
Complicating the idea of Design Thinking (in Education)
“Design thinking” is one of the latest buzzwords in education. Proponents argue that design thinking is a tried and tested process for fostering innovation in education while critics suggest that it is the latest fad to sweep through, and will, like others before it,...
Educational Futures Thinking: New book chapter
The philosopher George Santayana (1910) famously stated, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (p. 284). In other words, the “best” way to prepare for the future is to study the past and through that, identify patterns and trends, and then...
Uncertainty, Creativity & Mindfulness: New chapter
Danah Henriksen, Carmen Richardson, Natalie Gruber and just published a chapter (titled: Uncertainity, Creativity & Mindfulness: Opening Possibilities and Reducing Restrictions Through Mindfulness) in the edited volume: Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity....