In this episode, we speak to science & technology writer and editor Michelle Sipics about changes in work culture, the challenge of communicating complex topics, and opportunities for mentoring Philadelphia youth.
Michelle Sipics is a science writer and editor with a focus on technology, its applications, and its implications across society. She started her career as an engineer and continues to bring an engineering mindset to her professional and personal pursuits. Michelle has also worked as a contributing editor for a professional mathematics society; content developer for the History of Vaccines website from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; news director for Yale’s school of engineering and applied science; director of content for a privacy-focused startup; and shopping cart chaser for a grocery chain. She draws on these and all of her varied career experiences for perspective on a daily basis. Michelle has a particular interest in education in all its forms, and currently serves on the board of Philadelphia Futures, a non-profit that serves low income, first-generation-to-college students in Philadelphia. She is currently the editorial lead for Accenture Technology Innovation.
Listen here or subscribe
Direct subscription links for your preferred podcast player
A few weeks ago, I asked: After a year of remote learning, what can we take back into the classroom? Here’s another thought on that topic.
As Instructors, we are predisposed to make things appear easy, for a variety of reasons. One is simply as a motivational tactic… we tell students “it’s not hard” (even when it is), to try to avoid early frustration and discouragement. If we make it sound easy, maybe it won’t be as hard for them. But the more common reason is that an experienced teacher has taught the material many times before. As with all things, mastery of the material does make it feel “easy”, even when it’s not. And I think we internalize that feeling and sometimes forget that a topic or concept is not easy at all.
Over the past year, instructors facing teaching online experienced the opposite: the enormous difficulty of creating instructional videos or other digital content. All of us (students and instructors) have access to an incredible amount of high quality learning content on YouTube, and let’s be honest, YouTube is the primary source of learning content for our students. I don’t mean that these videos are misleading, rather that both the amount and the quality reinforces the notion that they are easy to produce. There’s usually a high degree of technical, pedagogical, and video production experience that goes into creating a well-crafted learning video.
It’s also true that it’s never been easier to be a digital content creator. I’m not referring the common reaction to the latest TikTok: “That got a million views? Hmph, anyone could do that!”. But making a good video no longer requires a big studio and lots of expensive equipment… You really can do it with your phone and a laptop. There’s a huge industry of tutorials and how-to videos to show us just how EASY it is to make content: videos, music, apps, etc. So, it’s never been easier, but that doesn’t make it easy. It’s an entirely different skill set from creating a good classroom lecture or in-person activity. And it takes an enormous investment of time and practice to become proficient. Anyone who took on this challenge last year had to learn many new skills.
The forced shift in perspective from the past year could benefit our students (and improve our teaching) as we start preparing for a new academic year, whether in-person (fingers crossed!) or online. Too often, we forget that education is not a simple or automatic process. It’s difficult to teach and learn new material at any level in any circumstance. Lean into your experiences with online and digital content creation to let go of the idea that learning should be easy. It’s not, and sometimes it’s really hard. Instead, let’s embrace the degree of difficulty, emphasizing the challenging but rewarding nature of learning for our students. I believe that’s something truly useful we can take away from the last year.
(Socially) Distant Creations
Why Aren’t You Making Math Videos? [3Blue1Brown] If you’re interested in making great learning videos, here are tips from one of the best (Grant Sanderson). He’s also launching a “Summer of Math Exposition” contest for math learning videos (deadline August 22).
Butter [VoicePlay, featuring Deejay Young & Cesar De La Rosa] I dare you to sit still through this a cappella cover of BTS’ mega-hit!
Helium Life Jacket [VOCES8 with Elsa Bradley & Calie Hough] A beautiful ambient vocal arrangement and performance of this piece, originally by composer Slow Meadow (Matt Kidd), shot in super widescreen.
007 Theme [MayTree] Like many, I’m eagerly awaiting the new Bond film. Here’s another great rendition by this Korean a cappella group.
In this episode, we speak to Philly hip hop artist, educator, and activist Steve Tyson, Jr. (Ellect) about producing an album, music videos, and working on a dissertation within the constraints of the past year.
Ellect (b. Stephen Tyson Jr.) a musician, educator, and activist. He is the founder of JusListen Entertainment LLC, a multimedia arts company that promotes critical thinking and freedom of artistic expression through Hip-Hop culture. As an educator, Ellect has a strong passion for youth development with over 20 years of experience in the field. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Arcadia University where he is also earning an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. As a musician, he has earned over 1 million streams across digital service providers and has performed at legendary music venues throughout the northeast USA. In addition, Ellect has written and produced music for “StarTalk Radio” and was featured as a guest on “Sway In The Morning”, where he discussed his passion for hip-hop culture and performed live on-air.
I’m pleased to announce the official launch of So Where Do We Go From Here?, my new podcast with Melinda Steffy! In this series, we talk to members of Philly’s creative community about what they’ve learned during the pandemic and what changes are informing their efforts moving forward. By sharing experiences and ideas for the future, we hope to highlight pathways and opportunities to find creative solutions for the many challenges we still face, individually and collectively.
In our inaugural episode, we speak to the amazing Dr. Natalie Nixon about the year that’s been and how creativity is critical for where we go from here. Natalie is a creativity strategist, global keynote speaker, and author of the award winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work, and her work has been featured in Forbes and in Fast Company. As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC she advises leaders on transformation—by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value. A hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology and fashion. She began her career in education and as a hat designer. Dr. Nixon was a professor for 16 years and is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures. She’s valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.
We also posted a bonus episode, our “rehearsal” session with renowned theater director and producer David Bradley. The audio for this episode is a bit uneven (my apologies to David… we were still experimenting and learning the best ways to record the podcast). But it’s another thoughtful conversation about the performing arts during the pandemic and where we go, on stage, from here.
To listen and subscribe to our show, follow the link for your preferred podcast player or visit our podcast home page:
Other: Direct RSS Feed (copy and paste this link into your player)
We’re thrilled to share these conversations with our Philly community and beyond, and we hope that others also find them as interesting, informative, and inspiring as we do. Later this month, we’ll be speaking to hip hop artist and educator, Steve Tyson (a.k.a. ELLECT) and Michele Sipics of Accenture Technology Innovation. Look for new episodes every two weeks, and follow us on Twitter or Instagram for updates!
If you have suggestions for potential guests for the show, please drop me a line.
(Socially) Distant Creations
Ten Times Virtual Choirs Stole the Show [Stay At Home Choir] A compilation of fantastic virtual choral performances. Virtual choirs started well before the pandemic, and I fully agree such projects will continue to be impactful in the future, even after constraints on in-person singing are lifted.
Tech As Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium [National Endowment for the Arts] Last issue, I linked to the launch event for this report. Now here’s the full report, along with 10 companion essays from art practitioners. Recommended reading for everyone in the art-technology intersection.
Calculus Green [Prof. Robert Ghrist] I’m a big fan of these well-produced and visually stunning video textbooks for U. Penn’s calculus courses.This latest series is for those with some basic calculus who want to go deeper. Speaking from experience, I know these take an insane amount of work to produce!
Live from London – Summer 2021 [VOCES8 & Friends] Last summer’s virtual festival was a much-needed infusion of beautiful live vocal music from some of the world’s leading vocal groups. It’s back this summer with even more concerts and ensembles! (Streaming through August, via season pass or purchase individual performances.)
Minecraft Theme, a cappella [Maytree] The Korean singing group, known for lending voice to technology, drops another popular video game soundtrack. This one is particularly timely for me (see below).
What I’m creating…
We’ve already completed three weeks of our Young Dragons Summer STEAM camp. Here are some highlight videos from the first two weeks:
Many sessions are open to all, including Beyond Virtual Ensembles, my workshop with fellow ADE Ellen Fishman on Wednesday, July 14 at 10am (Eastern):
Over the past year, music educators pursued projects using virtual ensembles to continue instruction and performance. These projects combine individual recorded performances into a group video performance. Though we are all excited to return to in-person music making, we believe there are many lasting benefits to virtual music ensembles, including more individualized instruction and feedback, collaboration with other schools and organizations, and the potential for very large scale works. Virtual projects introduce new opportunities for creativity, beyond live performance, introducing new media skills that may benefit students in their pursuits beyond music.
The process of producing virtual performances, however, remains challenging. We will share our experiences and offer a tutorial of best practices developed over the past year to get your virtual projects to the finish line.
No prior music experience is required. To join us for the session, click here to register. Hope to see you then!
In this bonus episode, we chat with renowned theater director and producer, David Bradley, about performing arts during the pandemic and where we go from here on the stage.
Our apologies, the audio for this episode is a bit uneven (it was one of our practice sessions, and we were still figuring out the best ways to record for the podcast).
David Bradley brings decades of experience as a producer, theater director, writer and arts educator. Throughout his career he has specialized in boundary-crossing artistic collaborations frequently exploring civic and community themes. He’s a long-time member of the resident ensemble at People’s Light, where he’s directed over 30 productions, including The Diary of Anne Frank, The Crucible, Young Lady from Rwanda, Doubt, and The Giver. He is the producing Director of Arts & Learning at World Cafe Live. David teaches at Arcadia University and is a graduate of Yale University, and in 2020 received a Leadership Award from the Arts + Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate remarkable leadership, exceptional innovation, and a commitment to the community in Philadelphia.
Listen here or subscribe
Direct subscription links for your preferred podcast player
In our inaugural episode, we speak to Dr. Natalie Nixon, renowned creativity strategist, author, and speaker, about the year that’s been and how creativity is critical for where we go from here.
Natalie Nixon changes lives through ideas so that people build their creative confidence for years to come, get paid their worth and make an impact. She is a creativity strategist; global keynote speaker; author of the award winning The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work; and has been featured in Forbes and in Fast Company. As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC she advises leaders on transformation- by applying wonder and rigor to amplify growth and business value. A hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology and fashion. She began her career in education and as a hat designer. Previous to Figure 8 Thinking, she was a professor for 16 years. She is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures. She’s valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.
Listen here or subscribe
Direct subscription links for your preferred podcast player
Creating at a Distance 