The Wizard of OT

Welcome to the Land of “OT”

Heather Kuhaneck, July 21, 2024

Follow the Yellow Brick Road:  A Journey for OT Educators

Hello and welcome to my blog! I’m Heather Kuhaneck, and I’m thrilled to have you join me on this exciting journey down the yellow brick road towards the emerald city of OT, where we find a new and improved occupational therapy (OT) education. As a passionate advocate for innovative teaching in OT, I’ve created this blog to share insights, strategies, and the latest trends in our field. So, grab your ruby slippers, your magic wand, and even your flying monkeys, and let’s embark on this adventure together!

Why I Created This Blog

Both the world of higher education and the profession of OT are ever-evolving. Technology and AI have offered myriad opportunities, but also an endless array of time sucking tools to learn. Students are changing as well. They have different needs and different expectations. Staying up to date with the latest trends in higher education is crucial for OT educators to enhance student learning and engagement. But who has the time?

Well, as the founding Program Director of the newly developing MSOT program at Southern Connecticut State University, I have made the time to do a lot of learning. In order to craft a cutting edge, innovative curriculum, I have been immersed in reading and taking online courses about a variety of higher education topics. After finding nothing like this blog out there to help me in my work, I decided to share what I have learned.

Through this blog, I aim to create a community where we can explore new ideas, share best practices, and support each other in our own journeys as educators. My goal is to provide a platform that not only informs but also inspires OT educators to teach with courage, heart, and brains! By sharing novel teaching strategies and tools, I hope to empower fellow OT educators to enhance their teaching methods and create engaging learning environments for OT students everywhere. I also hope that we can building a community where educators from across the country and even the world, can exchange ideas, and share the ways in which they have altered their classroom practices for the better.

Why the Wizard of Oz theme? The Wizard of Oz has always held a special place in my heart. The search for courage, heart, and brains resonates deeply for me related to the journey we embark on as educators in occupational therapy. Just as Dorothy and her companions sought these qualities on their path to transformation, this blog aims to inspire similar qualities in OT educators. By fostering courage to innovate, a heart full of empathy, and the brains to apply evidence-based practices, we can initiate meaningful change in OT education. As AI is poised to completely alter almost every facet of human existance, we may also wish to ponder the good vs. evil that AI can do specifically within OT education.

There are SO many topics we could talk about. But here are just some of the coming attractions. Posts will “drop” from the sky like Dorothy’s house, twice a month on Wisdom Wednesdays so mark your calendars and stay tuned for the following topics over the next few months.

There will be 4 categories of blog posts, 1) Good vs. Evil, which will cover the use of AI in education; 2) OT education with Courage, which will include posts to encourage important change in OT education, and how to work within systems that discourage change; 3) OT education with Heart, which will include posts about student centered learning, compassionate education, fostering resilience and grit in our students and more; and 4) OT education with Brains, which will cover a variety of evidence-based strategies in higher ed, with specific applications and suggestions for OT education.

Good vs. Evil

AI in education

Bringing OT history to life using AI tools

Designing engaging interprofessional educational experiences using AI

Leveraging AI to craft OT cases

Preparing students for job interviews using AI role playing

Courage

Embracing change and growth in ourselves

Decolonizing OT education

Embracing culturally responsive education

Exploring new models of occupational therapy practice in OT education

Crafting an occupation-centered curriculum

Cultivating presence in our OT students

Heart

Crafting a student centered syllabus

Cultivating compassionate education in OT

Designing a Responsive curriculum

Empowering OT edcuation through interprofessional community service learning

Reducing cognitive load in OT education

Building Resilience, Grit, and a Growth Mindset in OT students

Brains

Alternative grading strategies (individual posts about specifications grading, standards based grading, and other methods, and posts comparing them for OT education

Crafting infographic syllabi

Embracing virtual reality in OT education

Enhancing OT observations skills with VideoAnt

Gamification and badging for OT education

Using Perusall to enhance peer learning

Replacing FlipGrid with Padlet for video interaction

Visual Thinking Strategies to enhance observation

Think aloud strategies to enhance clinical reasoning

Using concept mapping in OT education

Active learning strategies for the OT classroom

Flipped Classroom and OT education

Competency based assessment and OT education

And more…….

Join Me on This Adventure

I’m excited to share this journey with you and to explore the wonderful world of OT education together. If you’re an educator seeking new ideas, this blog is your resource and community. Let’s follow the yellow brick road to innovative OT education and excellence for occupational therapy students.