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Masters of Arts in Education

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From 2010-2014, I completed an MA in Education from Michigan State University, with a concentration in technology and learning. My research also focused on creativity in education and community outreach and engagement. 

Annotated Transcript: Master's of Arts in Education Program
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Showcase: research and special projects on creativity, technology, education and community engagement
 
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Comic books, cameras, music and movement ...these are all tools I’ve used to create relevant programming and engaged learning experiences. Below is a collection of work created during the Master’s of Arts in Education program at Michigan State University. My research centered on technology and learning, with a personal concentration on creativity in education. All these projects have helped focus my career goal of designing participant-driven educational opportunities, socially constructed learning environments and a community engaged learning society.

Entrepreneurism

The linked PDF is a resource to help educators implement a teen entrepreneur program. It illustrates the successes of 12 teenagers who created their own small businesses. They learned how to create objects, develop business plans, market products and sell their items locally and online. It also illustrates how partnerships, technology and student-driven projects create relevant programming that increases student engagement. 

Web Resource for Creative Education
This website was designed to showcase successful arts integration projects with K-12 students. Some of these projects are featured as “best practices,” while others are from my own work in Greater Lansing. My main audiences for this site include other educators, project partners and potential funders. I hope others are able to use this information as a starting point to help integrate the arts into their programming and increase student self-efficacy.
Literacy and Cameras 

Below is an image from a case study that taught literacy through photography. Students increased their comprehension through listening, reading, writing, and taking photographs. They made direct connections between their images, writings, readings and personal experiences. 

Digital Storytelling

What makes an experience compelling? This stop motion animation to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg depicts how music can evoke feelings and contemplation. Musicians use tempo, mood, rhythm, dynamics, flow, harmony, counterpoint and other musical devices to inspire listeners. This project is an illustration of how educators can use music and other techniques to help ignite students' passion for learning.

Increasing Communication with Movement

REACH Studio Art Center partnered with Michigan State University Associate Professor and Director of Dance Sherrie Barr, MSU graduate student Jeana-Dee Allen and eight MSU undergraduate students to teach five workshops titled: “Art Meets Movement: breaking the rules of art making.”

TEDx Lansing Presentation 

This TEDx talk is about my work with local youth to use creativity and technology to improve literacy, communication and a sense of community. Throughout my work, I help find creative ways to encourage and bring students together in socially constructed learning environments.

Jeana-Dee Allen
Comic Book Making 

In this lesson plan and reflection students learned how to tell a story about their dreams through writing, acting, taking digital photographs of their reenactment and using the application Comic Life to package their story and photos into a comic book. They learned about basic character development, creating and executing a plan, technical vocabulary and graphic design.

What is dance? - by Jeana-Dee Allen
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Podcast: Changing Perceptions

The following podcast is a creative approach to evaluating student understanding. I questioned three high school students (in a dance and movement workshop I co-facilitated) about what they thought about dance before the program began and after it ended. The resulting audio shows how students' perceptions evolved through an interactive and collaborative learning environment.

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