Ever Hear of the ‘Adjacent Possible’ Theory…

At first, I didn’t either. Jake Miller‘s EduDuctTape Podcast introduced me to the concept, you can listen to a recent episode where he discussed the theory (starting at time marker 00:08:08):


(referenced podcast episodes mentioned in Jake’s “soapbox” Google Teacher Tribe Podcast ep. 79 & EduDuctTape Podcast ep. 10 )

This theory, as I see it, fits into my philosophy for this blog. When I started, it was two-fold. First, I wanted to reflect on technology integration ideas that I try with teachers & students. Second, which fits into the theory, SHARING! My hope is that this blog inspires other educators to integrate technology. Maybe something I did can be evolved, improved, etc. So with that thought in mind, let me tell you about a recent planning session with a teacher.

It all starts with a high school teacher’s question…

One of my counterparts is on maternity leave, to cover her school, some of us take turns at the high school one day a week. I go on Tuesdays. This past Tuesday, a world language teacher met with me. Her idea started with the question, “how could technology make it happen?”

She wanted her students to take a video clip and replace the audio with dialogue in the target language of the class. How could we accomplish this in the most ‘user-friendly’ (thinking about her students) way possible? My answer: Edpuzzle. I selected this tool because I knew the teacher was already familiar with it, so it would be an easy setup for her. As for the students, it should be very ‘user-friendly’ for them. If you are familiar with Edpuzzle, did you know they have a Student Project feature?

This feature will in essence allow the students to have access to the Edpuzzle editor platform. These features, which teachers use to trim videos and add quizzes, have a few more possibilities. My thought, the students would be able to take a video on YouTube, then utilize the ‘Voiceover’ tool which mutes the video’s audio and allows you to record over it. Now students could mimic a dialogue, explain a process, or describe what is happening in the video.

I did receive an email back from the teacher:

“I was so excited about the student project idea in EdPuzzle that I used it today. It was awesome! Thanks so much for your help and for sharing such a great idea!”

I truly hope this post (past & future posts, too) inspires you on ways technology can be integrated in instruction.

How has the ‘Adjacent Possible’ Theory influenced your experiences with technology? I would love to read about it in the comments below.

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