10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete Flickr: Corey Leopold By Greg Stack So much about how and where kids learn has changed over the years, but the physical structure of schools has not. Looking around most school facilities — even those that aren’t old and crumbling — it’s obvious that so much of it is obsolete today, and yet still in wide use. 1. COMPUTER LABS. At Northern Beaches Christian School students learn everywhere. 2. 3. 4. 5. Corridors at Machias Elementary are used for informal learning 6. 7. 8. Learner Centered Classroom at Riverview Elementary School. 9. 10. Greg Stack is an architect for NAC Architecture and specializes in developing best practices for the planning and design of educational environments.
Getting Started with Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don't Go Crazy) Before the start of the school year, many of us want to use the remaining weeks of summer to learn some new skills -- such as project-based learning (PBL). One of the things we stress for new PBL practitioners is, as I say, "don't go crazy." It's easy to go "too big" when you first start PBL. I have heard from many teachers new to PBL that a large, eight-week integrated project was a mistake. So how do you start PBL in ways that will ensure your success as a learner and teacher? Here are a few tips to consider. Start Small As I said, "Don't go crazy!" Plan Now One of the challenges of PBL, but also one of the joys, is the planning process. Limited Technology We love technology, but sometimes we get too "tech happy." Know the Difference Between PBL and Projects This is the big one! We are all learners, and when we start something new, we start small. Photo credit: wwworks via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
How To Kill A Learner's Curiosity In 10 Easy Steps How To Kill Learner Curiosity In 12 Easy Steps by Terry Heick Ed note: This has been updated from a 2012 post that you may or may not have already read. So, there’s that. Killing a learner’s natural curiosity doesn’t happen overnight. It can take as long as 12 years, and in some rare cases even that isn’t long enough. Learning environments focused on standards, assessment, and compliance allow for the implementation of research-based strategies in pursuit of streams of data to prove that learning is happening. And who ever qualified for a job by demonstrating how strong their curiosity is anyway? Below are twelve tips to help stifle learner curiosity and keep the learning nice and tidy in your classroom this school year. Step 1. Whether physical or digital, individual or group, you’re the teacher (or “district curriculum coordinator”). Step 2. Voice and choice sound great in theory, but who knows better what a learner needs than the teacher. Step 3. Right is right. Step 4. Again, see #3.
PBL Wheaton High to model project-based learning for Montgomery County schools This is project-based learning, where educational instruction moves away from a traditional academic setting to an active classroom that encourages collaboration and communication among students. As the Montgomery County Public Schools system plans to replace the Wheaton High School building in Silver Spring, officials aren’t just aiming for physical classroom overhauls. They’re also planning to redesign the curriculum, expanding a project-based learning environment that will resemble adult work settings and real-life situations. It is part of a larger quest to “redefine the school” and prepare students for “21st century education,” Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said. “Critical competencies for workers now include skills and knowledge acquired beyond a high school education as well as the ability to apply learning, think critically about information, solve novel problems, collaborate, create new products and processes, and adapt to change,” Starr said. School projects aren’t new.
Inspiring Curiosity in 12 Easy Steps « Learning Is For Everyone -LI4E A tongue-in-cheek piece ran in Alternet recently titled, “How to Kill Student Curiosity in 12 Easy Steps.“ “Each year,” wrote the wags at Alternet, “it seems, our school systems commit themselves ever more profoundly to the corrosive idea that test scores and “instruction” – not learning” – must be prized above all. Alternet drew up its anti-learning list as a complement to Teach Thought’s must-read “12 Characteristics of an iPad Ready Classroom” , which called for a classroom that’s adaptive, dynamic and digital, and instruction that, among other things, is student centered and diverse. courtesy TMWillingham.com “Killing a learner’s natural curiosity doesn’t happen overnight,” Alternet points out. “ It can take as long as twelve years, and in rare cases even that isn’t long enough.” Since a “Curiosity Driven Life” is our hallmark here at LI4E.org, we thought we’d keep the conversation going with our own top 12 list. 1. 2. 3. See #2. 4. Knowledge is as much a journey as a destination. 5.
What’s the Best Way to Practice Project Based Learning? By Peter Skillen Project Based Learning can mean different things to different people, and can be practiced in a variety of ways. For educators who want to dive in, the good news is that a rich trove of resources are available. In order to create your own definition and practice, here are some parameters to consider. We like to think with the frame of continua rather than dichotomies simply because things are rarely on or off, black or white, ones or zeroes. You could likely add other dimensions to consider as you build your own understandings and beliefs. Who is in control? Who is asking the question to be investigated in the project? If the projects are collaborative in nature, you may wish to consider the amount of interdependence that students have with one another. Is the content a rich, deep problem space or is it a more narrowly focused content area? How authentic is the problem under investigation? This post originally appeared on Voices from the Learning Revolution. Related
Practical Tips for Mobile Learning in the PBL Classroom Given the number of technology tools being used by educators and students, it's no wonder that mobile technologies and mobile learning are being explored in various implementations. From data collection tools to mobile phones, students are learning at school and on their own. Remember, however, that technology is a tool for learning, so we still need to focus on models that provide engaging uses for these tools. Project-based learning can pair well with tenets and best practices for mobile learning to create intention and flexible contexts for learning. Here are some tips and ideas to consider if you want to try mobile learning with your next PBL project. 1. Educators can use the "Need to Know" activity, and have students create a list of questions and "need to knows" to compete the project. Use Twitter, or another related tool, with a hashtag to create a backchannel list of "need to knows." 2. PBL projects present a great opportunity to have students go out in the field. 3. 4. 5.
Criteria for Effective Assessment in Project-Based Learning One of the greatest potentials for PBL is that it calls for authentic assessment. In a well-designed PBL project, the culminating product is presented publicly for a real audience. PBL is also standards-based pedagogy. In addition, teachers need to make sure they are continually assessing throughout a PBL project to ensure their students are getting the content knowledge and skills that they need to complete the project. When designing, use R.A.F.T. as a way to ensure an Authentic Culminating Product R.A.F.T is great teaching strategy that many teachers use in activity-based lessons and assignments. This strategy is a great technique to use when figure out the culminating product for PBL. Target Select Power Standards However, PBL's intent is not to cover, but to get in depth authentic assessments that truly show a student has mastered a few given standards. "When you go window shopping, you often spend a few hours walking down the street or the halls of the mall window shopping.