STORIES

STORIES

This section of the OER resources includes information and links to the stories of educational innovations included in the case-studies as well as all the other stories contributed by students and users.  While many of these stories are also included in the e-book, not all of them are, and furthermore the brief descriptions and “tags” provided here will make it easier to search the stories you may want to select for your students or yourself.

In addition to being able to sort stories by the last name of the featured educator or first author, the following “tags” have been used to categorize these stories:

  • Context of the innovation: K-12 education; higher education (HE); not-for-profit (NFP); business; health care; other 
  • Subject’s role/position: leader (CEO; dean; director; etc.); faculty/ teacher; healthcare provider (HP);  consultant; other
  • Type of innovation: 
    • new organization/for-profit; new organization/not-for-profit
    • long-term venture/new branch; long-term venture/new business line; long-term venture/new program; long-term venture/new service
    • one-time/facilities; one-time/dissemination; one-time/transformational initiative; one-time/learning experience; one-time/termination 
    • changing norms/individual practices; changing norms/systemic change 
    • other:  not fitting in any of the previous categories 
  • If an annotated version or commentaries is available, a link to that document will be provided next to the story title. 

How to contribute a new story

In the spirit of an “open education” approach, we encourage everyone to help us continue to grow this collection of stories, following the format specified in the “Guidelines for Contributions” to ensure consistency.

List of current stories

The stories have been arranged in alphabetical order by last name of the featured entrepreneurial educator.  Items preceded by an asterisk have not been included in the e-book.  The full report can be accessed by clicking on the title; for some stories, an “annotated version” including the identification of the entrepreneurial practices use a specific points can also accessed: 

Additional stories contributed by students and users:

HE; faculty; one-time initiative/learning experience

An exceptional educator in the field of radiologic technology, who enhanced learning experiences for her students in various ways, including the “Skullfie Project” – engaging students in mapping their own skull.

“Unleashing Creativity in Radiologic Technology Education” explores the innovations of JoAnna Berger, an exceptional educator in the field of radiologic technology. This narrative highlights JoAnna’s innovative approaches to enhancing learning experiences for her students. Through her creation of the “Skullfie Project,” JoAnna’s commitment to excellence and inclusivity shines. Her story demonstrates the impact of compassionate teaching, entrepreneurial spirit, and thoughtful planning in shaping a transformative educational environment that bridges the gap between theory and real-world application.

K-12; K-12 teacher; one-time initiative/learning experience

A newly hired “maker” teacher in a private K-12 school redesigned a 3rd grade unit on renewable energy that involved having students build their own wind turbine.

HE; faculty; long-term venture/service

A faculty member in Web Design and Interactive Media developed a project within one of her college courses that would bring her students into the community to support story-telling across generations (and particularly with older adults with dementia) and create an exhibit that would travel across senior centers in the region.  

HE; academic dean; changing norms/systemic change

Dean of a school of nursing who initiated many innovations, including a sustainable initiative to increase the diversity of their student population so as to increase diversity in the nursing workforce and thus better serve all patients.

K-12; counselor; long-term venture/new service

In her former role as director of counseling in an urban school district, this counselor educator established SAT DAY, an 8-year-long initiative that increased students’ ability to taking SAT exams and thus their access to higher education.

K-12; faculty; long-term venture/service

An education faculty member launched an enrichment program to support reading for urban elementary students (Project READ), staffed by volunteer pre-service teachers and international graduate education students that has been active for over 15 years.

Stories derived from our case-studies:

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