Course Description: The session is designed for educators from all content areas. At the end of this session, participants will develop an online learning tool wireframe that fosters collaboration amongst students, peers, teachers, families, and schools. Learn how Chan’nel Howard developed the City Schools Online Learning Portal to encourage myriad levels of community engagement.  It started with family lesson seeds and growing into a district-wide virtual arts week.  Collaborating with Kathleen Mazurek, they explored a variety of ways a website could connect with an audience. Through lessons, galleries, challenges, and student tie-ins to curriculum, they crafted bi-weekly cycles from April until June.  Online learning has introduced new ways conversations can unfold and performances can manifest.

How can you build in space for collaborative practices within your online learning curriculum?

Participants will:

• Learn how to build a wireframe for a collaborative opportunity that supports learning opportunities among multiple stakeholders.

• Learn how to include multiple platforms and applications to support fine arts instruction in a virtual classroom setting and or instructional space.

• Learn how to use a single project for multiple purposes and educative considerations.

Facilitator: Channel WIlliams-Howard & Kathleen Mazurek

Bio: Chan'nel Howard is the Fine Arts Coordinator for Baltimore City Public Schools.Ms. Howard received her Master's Degree from the University of Phoenix in School Administration, Supervision, and Leadership and hopes to complete her doctorate by the fall of 2021. She is a proud graduate of Baltimore City Schools, attributes her success to music educators that she has had throughout her schooling and works to ensure Baltimore City Schools students equitable access to arts instruction across the district. 

Kathleen Mazurek is an artist, writer, and dual-certified fine arts/special education instructor at Baltimore City Public Schools.  Her work centers on communication and how technology bridges consciousness. Collaboration has been the driver for her most successful projects. Through her grant and crowd-funded project Decode Me Space, she facilitates pop up design skill-share workshops with open-source software.  Past partners have included the Baltimore Museum of Art, Open Works, Allovue, Motorhouse and the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, and the Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center.  She has collaborated with educators on developing apps and ed-tech projects that have won the 2015 Baltimore Hackathon and the Walters’ ArtBytes Hackaton. Her collaborative after school program Liberty Tech Kids was featured in Slate Magazine.

Key Teaching and Learning Strategies explored in this course: 

• Facilitator Role - TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION: Align technology tools to learning goals.

• Artist Communities - COLLABORATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES: Adopt collaborative learning structures to deepen learning goals.

To download the full MSDE Fine Arts Office Professional Learning Framework, please click here.