Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Don Goble. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Don, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.
Standardized testing continues to permeate schools across the United States. Schools have done a great job of teaching students that it’s the extrinsic grade that matters more than the intrinsic learning. And now, with the infusion of AI, students have easy access to fulfill assignments, score good grades, but yet learn nothing along the way.
I believe assessment in schools needs a complete overhaul to allow for students to create multimedia content, to show what they know. Through the creation process, whether it’s digital art, video production, podcasting, or graphic design, students will be tasked to critically think about the media they are creating. In the process, students will inherently be learning media literacy skills, which in my opinion, is the #1 literacy that is not thoroughly considered by schools across America. Yet, an entire generation of students have only lived in a world in which they have an iPad, smartphone, or laptop in their hands since they were born. Our students consume more media in a day than we could ever imagine, yet, there aren’t media literacy classes provided in schools to teach young people the power of the choices they make on social media posts, or how the media we consume tremendously influences the choices we make, or ideas we believe, simply by what they see on a device.
My entire career has been spent teaching students the lessons of media literacy, through the creation of their own media projects. Students collaborate, write, record, edit, and publish stories to show their learning. A smartphone in their hand is an entire media production powerhouse, and I teach students how to properly tell stories to show their learning.
One particular example my students were involved with, was an immersive learning experience through teaming up with the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most well known and successful Major League Baseball organizations. A few students of mine and I attended multiple Cardinals Fantasy Camps. These Fantasy Camps allow adults over the age of 27 years old, to live out their Major League dreams for five days. They play games, they attend fundraising banquets, and live, if even for a short time, the Major League experience. As a group, my students and I, along with my Chicago producing partner Steve Douglass and students of his, produced video stories for social media and the stadium scoreboards for the camps we attended, which were at their home location of Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and their spring training site in Jupiter, Florida. We also attended a camp at the home the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
From 7:30 am in the morning, until 11 pm or Midnight over the course of camp days and beyond, Steve, our students, and I would interview St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame players, Fantasy Camp attendees, and St. Louis Cardinals executives. We all would then create game montage pieces and short human interest videos, which told the stories from the former players, and the campers’ experiences.
Our students learned how to use iPhones, DSLR cameras, tripods, monopods, editing software, and ultimately, publish their work on social media and the stadium scoreboards. But more importantly than the technology and final products the students used, our students, from two separate schools, from different cities, learned to work as a team. They gained skills interviewing total strangers. The students learned problem-resolution, time management, and life skills which will stay with them forever.
This form of assessment may not be exactly replicated in a classroom environment, but there are so many community partners everywhere, which would love to work with our kids on projects. The schools our students attend have their own clubs, organizations, athletic teams, theater, music, and performing arts departments, and more, where students could tell stories. An individual lesson, which may have an essay or standardized test at the end of the unit, could be replaced with a podcast of the student sharing the knowledge they learned. Students could interview an expert in the field of study they just covered in class. Or, students could create an infographic or digital graphic design to visually represent the ideas and lessons they gained.
Forrester CSO Insights issued research in 2012, which revealed 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. They went on to say we process visuals 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. Therefore, wouldn’t it behoove educators to find visual projects for their students to have them show what they know?
As a classroom teacher with over twenty years of experience, I believe school assessments need an overhaul. Through the creation process, we can offer our students an immersive learning experience, which will last them much longer than the Scantron test sitting in front of them. Let’s do better. Let’s allow for the time and resources it would take to create a system, where all students feel seen and heard, through their creative minds.
Don, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
With 30+ years of education and business accomplishments, I have successfully executed high expectation educational goals, professional media content, as well as marketing campaigns, elevating brand visibility, driving revenue growth, and communicating with executives. I have developed a proven ability to drive full-funnel awareness and garner social media engagement by leveraging strategic website optimization, photography, videography, podcasts, graphic design, and digital marketing.
I’m appreciative of the leadership opportunities I’ve been afforded as an Apple Distinguished Educator, Apple Learning Coach and Adobe Creative Educator. These experiences led me to receive awards from Apple, Adobe, PBS, and many other organizations. I am currently seeking new career opportunities, which would allow me to leverage my professional experience, by contributing to an innovative corporation, a university, or to a school district community, by developing compelling messaging, leading teams, and collaborating as a Content Creator, Marketing Director, Assistant Professor, Technology Integration Coach, or Classroom Media Teacher.
I am most proud of the adults and students I have positively influenced through my media instruction and professional development career. Witnessing my students gain entrance into the university of their choice on scholarship, or winning awards from the lessons they learned in my classes. In addition, the companies which implemented my digital marketing ideas and their achievements which followed after, are the most rewarding experiences of my career. However, ultimately it is the relationships, which were built on trust and collaboration along the way, which have given me my greatest satisfaction that I have positively impacted lives.
Any advice for managing a team?
I firmly believe honesty and loyalty are key components for managing a team and maintaining high morale. I also believe in expecting more from an individual than they expect from themselves. People will rise to the occasion. Through honest and fair critique, people will improve their skills. We can’t accept the unacceptable, but rather we have to seek to understand. When negative situations occur, listening is way more important than speaking. Showing empathy, accountability, and knowing what motivates an individual, contributes to maintaining high morale through challenging times. We also must celebrate our successes. Too often people look beyond what we do well. While we don’t want to stay in that space for too long, what’s the point of working hard if we can’t celebrate an achievement?! That said, I’ve always told my clients, teams, and students that we are only as good as our last project. This mindset hopefully drives the group, including myself, to always strive for greatness.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Building relationships has helped me create and maintain my relationships with my clients and students. Knowing what makes people tick and having conversations about them and their lives is crucial. This business is not about me, but about those I serve. It’s then through relentlessly working hard, showing up early, staying late, following through, giving respect, earning trust, and having a can-do attitude, has allowed me to stay at the top of my game. If there is a problem, I want to be a part of the solution.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dongoble.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgoble2001
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/don.goble.16
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dongoble
- Twitter: @dgoble2001
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dgoble2001
- Other: Instagram for the St. Louis Cardinals Fantasy Camps: https://www.instagram.com/stlcardinalsfc
Image Credits
Profile photo courtesy of Kristi Schafer Smith Emmy award photo courtesy of NATAS Mid-America Emmys Don in TV studio with headset instructing 2 students photo courtesy of Marteana Davidson Don instructing and pointing at iPhone with student courtesy of Gloria Shields Journalism Workshop Don presenting on stage photo courtesy of Brianna Hodges Don recording batting at Fantasy Camp photo courtesy of Steve Douglass Don wearing America Needs Journalists is a selfie Don with Ozzie Smith Cooperstown Fantasy Camp photo courtesy of Austin Coburn Don with Steve Douglass looking at iPhone photo courtesy Triston Scales