Improvisation Activity #1: Improvisation with an Object

Now that I've provided a general overview for improvisation activities, I'm ready lay out the learning design philosophy and basic setup instructions for the core improvisation types I like to use in both online and face-to-face learning.


The first type, and the one I often use when I'm working with groups of any kind is Improvisation with an Object. The purpose of this improvisation is the encourage participants to see the familiar differently, from new perspectives. It is an extremely flexible activity, and can be set up easily in any kind of environment.


The basic setup for this improvisation is really simple. I tell the group that I'm going to show them an object and then give them a set amount of time to write down as many ideas as possible about what the object might be. The only ting they can't write down is what the object really is or what it's actually used for.

In the simplest version of this activity, I ask participants to work individually and I set the time limit at 30 seconds. The time constraint works well as it helps provide focus for the activity. It also produces creativity by "forcing" people to accept possibilities that they might reject if they were given sufficient time to evaluate.

When I do this improvisation for the first time, I deliberately choose an object that is readily recognizable, such as a pencil. I do this because I want participants to begin with a sense of familiarity, and using a familiar object helps achieve that. I also want to force them to see things differently, think beyond the familiar, translate the known into what they can imagine. 

This jump from the concrete-known to imaginative possibilities is not automatic, however. Typically, when I begin an improvisation series with a pencil, the initial set of suggestions I generally hear are simple translations from one concrete, known object to another. For example:

• It's a thermometer
• It's a straw
• It's a cigar

As I facilitate further stretching with this activity I will ask participants to work in pairs, and  I will also re-introduce objects we have used before. At this stage, both because of group synergies and because they have already discarded obvious translations, the suggestions will evolve into more distant and/or narrative-driven possibilities.

• It's the model the Beatles used as inspiration for Yellow Submarine
• It's a rocket ship from the planet Balsa
• It's the Egyptian skyscraper they called the Needle

At this point, the elaboration portion of the activity is particularly fun. As a facilitator, I'm able to ask questions, extend the narrative and imaginative possibilities, and draw other group members into the discussion.

There are many possible permutations of this improvisation. I have done this online and face-to-face, and as both oral and written activities. I have used it successfully to reinforce concepts with language and composition students, and with software developers and biology researchers. 

It is also an improvisation that I can implement successfully in any situation with, literally, no advance planning.

The bottom line is that it’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s a great way stimulate lateral thinking and imagination. It’s also an activity that gets us out of our set ways of seeing things.

What's in an Improv?

So, today I'm starting work on the different kinds of improvisation activities that Stacy and I are thinking about using in our open course course.

[Stacy: Don't you think this might be a good time to explain about improvisation activities in general?
Rob: Good idea. I can do that now, unless you want to?
Stacy: I'm happy for you to handle it.]

Like I was saying, I thought it might be a good idea if I shared some of our thinking behind improvisation activities and why they're important in the context of creating learner engagement.

From a student perspective, improvisation activities are useful for stimulating immediate, focused interaction and reflection related to specific concepts or skills. They also encourage both lateral thinking, or brain stretching, and creativity. Finally, these activities are great for both individual and group activities,

For learning designers and instructors, improvisation activities have four basic traits that make them valuable for student engagement strategies.

1. The are environment independent -- To begin with, improvisations are activities that work extremely well for student engagement regardless of the physical or digital classroom setting. In other words, they can be conducted easily in both face-to-face or online environments. That's particularly useful for instructors who teach the same courses in multiple environments.


2. They are subject independent -- In addition to being "environment independent," improvisation activities also work equally well across all disciplines. They can be used effectively in Humanities, STEM, and Business courses alike. So the old excuse of "that's a great idea but it worn't work for _________" just doesn't hold true with improvisation activities.


3. They are time flexible -- Improvisation  activities are also extremely flexible with regards to time. You can create improvisation activities that last under 2 minutes, or more elaborate exercises that take up to 10-15 minutes. The choice and design are entirely up to the instructor.


4. They support many different delivery options -- Finally, improvisation activities can be delivered or implemented in many different ways. This means that they can work for any type of teaching style or personality. This means the other old excuse of "that's a great idea but it won't work with my teaching style," is also a non-starter with these activities.

So, What's in an Improv?

When we set up an improvisation activity, we generally think about three separate parts -- 1) the setup; 2) the activity; 3) the elaboration.

The setup is really important because it explains what the improvisation activity is and why it matters. This also helps everyone feel comfortable with the activity. That's a big part of doing improvs with students since the open-ended nature of these activities causes a certain amount of anxiety for some. Not that discomfort is necessarily a bad thing – a bit of healthy anxiety can generate lots of creative thinking – but we generally want learners to be comfortably uncomfortable.

The activity part of the improv is the actual improvisation itself. That’s the part where everyone reflects, interacts, and creates based on the setup. 

But a good improvisation doesn’t stop there. We also want to capture the energy and ideas created by the community, and then use that to extend the connectedness of the activity. That’s what we call the elaboration.

In my next post, I'll outline our first improvisation activity example and discuss its many possibilities and permutations.

So now I'm really starting to put this connected learning course together and...

I'm Starting Today!

I am calling today the official "start day" for stitching together the open course that Stacy Zemke and I are co-facilitating this summer. Of course, Stacy is a pro and I'm just a guy with all these abstract ideas that we're not sure how to work into meaningful activities. She gets things done and I keep thinking up new ideas to go on top of the other things I haven't done yet.

But today is the day I get serious about this.

I mean it.

Look here, I even have a course overview (yes, it is extremely abstract and could turn out to be anything but I think I should get some points for at least getting this far). In all honesty, Stacy helped with this too, although she should receive no blame for any inadequacies it reflects.

The Power of Connections

Overview

The Power of Connections is an, open, online course focused on the theme of learner engagement and collaboration. The course is created within a Connected Learning framework. As such, it prioritizes the following core philosophies and pedagogical commitments:

• The learner is the center of her/his personal learning network. The course provides an opportunity for the learner to extend or strengthen that network.


•  The learner’s network grows through connections (interaction) with people and information (nodes in the network). As such, community – structured and unstructured is a key component of the course.


• The greater a learner’s engagement with his/her network, the greater the potential for learning. Consequently, as its primary pedagogical focus, the course will focus on modeling and facilitating the learner engagement.


• Effective learning experiences allow and promote “centrifugal” expansion, an outward focus that encourages learners to make new, natural connections.  This focus necessitates the prioritization of openness – open pedagogy, open communities, and open content. Through course design, support for open forms of content, and use of multiple networks and communities, the course will embrace open and centrifugal learning.


• Network feedback loops help learners understand the potential of their learning networks and facilitate their expansion. The course will provide multiple form of feedback to individual learners, as well as the learning community, to facilitate network expansion and acceleration.

Organization 

The course is divided into 4 modules, each covering approximately 1 week in time. The four modules and their themes are:

• The Power of Connections – Connected Learning, networked learning, collaboration, and learning engagement


• The Power of Openness – Open pedagogy, centrifugal learning design, connected communities, open content


• The Power of Creation – Learner agency, knowledge construction, network analytics and feedback loops
  
  
• The Power of Imagination – Education redesign, assessing engagement, program design and certification, lifelong learning

Okay, So What Are You Really Doing?

Wordy and really abstract, right? Okay, so here's the real plan. Stacy and I want to offer up a series of collaborations (structured and unstructured), that are designed to help us deliver a connected-learning and/or connectivist learning experience. We want to leverage our personal networks, as well as others in our community, to crowdsource solutions and examples for engagement in online and hybrid learning environments.

What kind of solutions? Good question. That's still a bit of a work in progress, but our idea is to move through each module using a series of improvisations, dialogues, and artifact activities that, essentially, get su to collectively construct a catalog of great engagement solutions, activities, and examples.

What's Next?

You mean there's more to creating an online course than just coming up with a description? Really? Stacy never said anything about that, daggone it!

I suppose the next step, if there must be one, is to begin designing/sharing/throwing out there some ideas for our improvisations.

That will have to start tomorrow. I'm already worn out today.