It is important for students to have the opportunity to branch out and build connections beyond the classroom. Allowing students to extend their learning experience beyond the classroom will help them meet the goals of many 21st century projects. This is easily done through the digital community, which includes a diverse audience, family members, peers, local community members, and people around the world. Knowing that others will be reading, watching, listening, and commenting can be a motivating factor for our students.
There are many great ways to build connections and branch out of the classroom. You may seek out experts on the project topic to give curious students an opportunity to chat with experts around the world. You can do this by allowing students to interview politicians, doctors, etc. using a blog, or you could put the word out around the community that you are looking for expert help. Save a list of experts and add people as you meet them. This will give students a large choice when it comes to interviewing an expert on their topic.
Fluency in technology is a great skill to teach students, and it will benefit them for the rest of their lives. For over a dozen years, students in the Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) have been showing the benefits of using technology to solve problems and make improvements in the community. The students use geospatial technology and multimedia tools to solve problems that interest them throughout the community. This is done following the EAST Initiative Model, a model which can be replicated in your classroom.
The EAST Initiative Model is built on four essential ideas: student-driven learning, authentic project-based learning, technology as a tool, and collaboration. Students need to be responsible for their own learning, and they should be engaged by solving real problems that their communities face. It is important to give students access to technology in order to solve these problems, and for students to work as a team. Following this model will teach students how to be effective problem solvers, fluent in technology, and give them the 21st century skills necessary to be successful in their generation.
It is important to teach students to lead their own inquiry. This will allow students to be more interested, and it will allow them to retain the information for a longer amount of time. Of course it is also important to teach to the standards and requirements of your school, but there are ways to let students take charge of their own learning. With higher interest and more collaboration, your students will become more successful academically, socially, and in the future.
For our project, I would like to incorporate the EAST Initiative Model. It is so important for students to learn these skills, and be able to apply what they have learned in the future. The students will learn how to solve problems, involving weather, which are found throughout the community. And hopefully the students will retain this information and be able to apply it later in life.
I agree with you that it's important to allow student to lead their own inquiry process. This is the foundation for Project-Based Learning. I agree that letting students collaborate and allowing students to do the leading in the project will help them build connections within their project and keep them interested. It will also allow them to make connections to real-world situations.
ReplyDeleteSaving a list of experts is a great way for students to contact them and it is a easier way so they don't have to look them up themselves. It is also a great way to branch out and put the word out as you said it. In general, speaking to adults in the or outside the community gains the quality of your project and you have multiple perspectives to add insight too.
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