THE INTERACTIVE SPIRAL
Producer/Product Lead
The interactive model of the Ross Spiral multidisciplinary curriculum embodies the systems approach to education, presenting a nonlinear representation that allows in-depth exploration of its content. Each level of the Spiral focuses on a particular historical period and theme that serves as a “chapter” in the larger narrative of the evolution of human consciousness. These themes unfold chronologically and build upon each other. The model invites analysis of thematic connections, or threads.
This project involved the design and development of the visualization, a database, and a content management application. Presented at the Visualized Conference in NY; Art of Networks, Northeastern University Network Science Institute and featured by Fast Company.
Developed in collaboration with Santiago Ortiz of Moebio Labs.
ROSS LEARNING SYSTEM
Director
Ross Learning System (RLS) was designed at the Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education. It is a custom online content delivery platform for a K–12 interdisciplinary curriculum. Educators can access a vast library of resources including video galleries, student work exemplars, and curated collections of digital art and artifacts. The RLS facilities cross-discipline collaboration, giving users the ability to develop and edit content, expanding the scope of the curriculum. This allows the curriculum to be dynamic and adaptable to different contexts.
VIDEO PROJECTS & EXPEDITIONS
Producer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor
Led media/video teams in the production of documentary and educational programs, interactive e-learning programs, research expeditions, and conference showcases for venues such as TED and the Vatican.
Glossodoris Cruenta, Solomon Islands, © David Liittschwager
HISTOMAPS
Producer, Director
Ross Institute’s Histomaps are designed for users to explore, plan, and collaborate on developing both interdisciplinary and discipline-specific curricula.
Designed in collaboration with Accurat Studio.
PROJECT CIRCLES
Producer, Director
The Project Circles web app guides users in assessing the sustainability of a selected location, in either the contemporary or a historical time period. Through research, investigation, and fieldwork, participants determine how their location rates in terms of the sustainability of its culture, politics, ecology, and economics. They document how they arrived at the ratings and generate a visual representation of their findings. Users examine their data for connections and propose ways to impact change. Project Circles aims to instill an interdisciplinary understanding of the nature of sustainability and how it functions in the world around us.
This tool was developed with the participation of the Circles of Sustainability consortium at the University of Western Sydney and draws upon the Circles of Social Life approach described at CirclesOfSustainability.org.
AR SPIRAL
Producer
With the Ross AR Spiral, users can explore highlights of the Spiral Curriculum using Augmented Reality. The involvement of a dynamic combination of the spatial-temporal, kinesthetic, visual, and logic-mathematical intelligences is made possible through the use of the AR medium.
Click the hotspots that appear around the Spiral to explore key moments in the Cultural History narrative.
ROSS E-LEARNING COURSES
Producer, Director
Ross Curriculum was constructed around Evolution of Consciousness, a chronological narrative from prehistory to the present. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, faculty were required not only to possess expert knowledge of their discipline, but also to have sufficient understanding of other domains in order to work together. Online courses were used to train faculty in the Ross model. Course components included videos, interactive activities, collaborative image annotations, discussion forums, quizzes, and group assignments. An open source LMS (Moodle) was customized to house the courses.