Creative Educator Academy

Academic Year 22-23 application form is CLOSED.  Please read on for more info about the program and consider applying next year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings tech-savvy educators!

Want to learn more about the OSU College of Education & Human Ecology’s EHE-Apple TransformED: Creative Educator Academy? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Please read on…

Creative Educator Academy visual identity

About the Program

The Creative Educator Academy (CEA) is a year-long professional learning (PL) experience designed to expose educators to innovative thinking and creativity in educational problem-solving with an emphasis on STEAM (Code + Create) and hybrid learning. Ohio State is providing hardware, scholarships and professional learning and support in collaboration with Apple as part of its Community Education Initiative.

The program is open to ALL educators–classroom teachers, educational support professionals, and educational administrators. Using design thinking (Stanford’s d.school model) as a guiding framework, we aim to train educators in the following foundational areas:​

  • Learning design & technology integration to transform instruction​ and student support initiatives
  • Data-driven educational planning​
  • Educational risk-taking and creativity​
  • Challenge-based learning
  • Evaluating instructional, learning, and school culture outcomes​
  • Use of Mac OS and iOS tools and apps​ to support educational improvement

Additional topics include, but are not limited to: Coding, visual design, media design, and use of Apple apps for assessment, student support, teaching for inclusion, family/community outreach, and school culture initiatives.​

In cooperation with our Apple CEI partners, various Ohio State partners, and local district partners, we offer a variety of tools, training, and networking experiences during the academic year. Participants will:​

  • Receive a set of Apple tools (e.g., MacBook, iPad, etc) and accessories/apps to use during the program​
  • Bring a classroom- or education-based problem of practice for your project during the program
  • Attend a REQUIRED online info session in early September
  • Attend a REQUIRED in-person on-boarding and tools distribution session​ in late September
  • Participate in a REQUIRED 8-week, fully online workshop on the foundation areas (held between Sep and Dec, 2022)
  • Attend a REQUIRED in-person year-end session in November to present your project proposal
  • Meet for REQUIRED monthly, online meetings from January to April, 2023 for project development support
  • Attend REQUIRED additional coaching and training sessions from January to April, 2023 for project-related skills development
  • Participate in the REQUIRED year-end showcase​ in May, 2023
  • Receive a stipend upon program completion ​

Application Guidance and Eligibility

Interested in applying? Please read the following guidelines very carefully before you prepare your application. We have limited seats, so start preparing early.

Who is Eligible?

ALL education professionals may apply (school/district teams of 2-4 are encouraged!) and participants with the following specific qualifications are a best fit:

  • Currently working on a school-based problem OR school improvement efforts and need support
  • Working at a high-needs district OR with students who need additional academic or social supports
  • Has experience using technology to support student learning
  • Has basic computer and internet literacy (use of computer-based applications, email, websites, etc)
  • Has experience as a student/learner in fully online courses or professional learning experiences
  • Can attend ALL required in-person professional learning sessions (see above; in-person sessions will be held on the OSU Columbus campus or surrounding partner sites)
  • Has time and bandwidth to complete the 8-week, fully online workshop in the fall (between September and December)
  • Has time and bandwidth to attend online monthly project development meetings and your choice of pop-up trainings in the spring (from January to April)
  • Can present their project at the CEA Program Showcase held at the Fawcett Center at OSU Columbus in May, 2023

Application Guidance

If you feel you meet the above qualifications, please consider applying, but keep the following tips in mind.

  • This program is quite a bit of WORK and we want to be transparent about that. If you know you have a lot of commitments this year, please consider applying again in the future when you won’t be as pressed for time.
  • Make note of the participation requirements above–please be sure you can meet them before you apply.
  • We have a few required sessions that meet during the day. We have funding to support your school’s hiring of substitutes for you, if needed.
  • When crafting your application, be prepared to propose a classroom- or education-based problem of practice you intend to solve at your institution during the program year. This problem should stem from work you are already doing so we can support current, in-progress projects.
  • Participation in this program should NOT create additional work burdens for you, but instead should help you achieve goals you are already working toward.

Describing Your Problem of Practice & Goals

This program requires you to submit a statement that includes your goals for participation in the program and a description of a school- or education-based problem of practice you intend to solve during the program year.  The problem can be related to ANY educational or classroom issue from learning to social support to family engagement to professional learning. Below are some guidelines and examples to help you. Please remember–it can be stated in somewhat general terms, but we need enough detail to understand the problem and determine how participation in the CEA would help you address it. Also, the problem will be refined during your participation, so your idea doesn’t have to be set in stone. Use the following guidelines to help you write the statement.

  • Describe a problem of practice that you’re current working on, including:
    • The issue you’ve encountered in your setting and what you think the cause might be (Example: Our 9th graders are struggling with reading fluency and do not like to practice reading in class so that teachers can assess and provide feedback.  We think they are embarrassed to show their reading struggles in front of peers.)
    • The audience(s) most affected by the issue (Example: The 9th graders are struggling and our 9th grade teacher team is frustrated on how to help.)
    • The nature of support you have from your school/district to help with the problem (Example: We’ve tried using different reading materials and reading buddies–neither worked. Our district lacks funding and resources to develop new possible solutions to this issue.) 
    • An idea of the desired short- and long- term outcomes if you found a solution for the problem (Example: If this problem were solved, we would want to see the 9th graders getting practice with reading aloud and receiving feedback from teachers [short-term] and 9th graders reading fluency would increase to grade level expectations [long-term].)
  • Describe your broader professional learning goals and how participation in this program would help you to achieve these goals and solve your problem of practice (Example: Our first goal is discovering solutions for the problem. We think the CEA program’s focus on design thinking and uses of technology might help us develop some ideas. A secondary goal is to expose our educators to the use of the iPad for learning and student engagement.)

~~~~~~~

Apply!

Ready to start your creative journey??  | Applications due:  Closed for  2022-23. Please check back next year.

Questions? Email: EHE-creativeeducator@osu.edu | Text ONLY: 614-975-3756