Transformative Project Based Learning

York County School Division teachers recently participated in a three day Project Based Learning workshop with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE).  This video highlights their exemplary efforts towards planning Transformative Project Based Learning exeperiences for their students. 

During the workshop, teachers identified significant content, created an entry event and driving question, and developed a project plan.  Additionally, teachers participated in the Critical Friends Protocol in order to share their project designs and receive valuable feedback from their colleagues.

Transformative Project Based Learning provides opportunities for students to do work in which they:

• Master the content and skills of the curriculum,
• Make a difference locally, nationally and/or globally,
• Feel a sense of  ownership, and
• Develop 21st century skills.

The following examples highlight the authentic, purposeful learning occuring through such projects in the York County School Division. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field Trip 2.0: Creating Digital Content in the Field

York County School Division (YCSD) teachers met at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, VA on April 29, 2014, where they completed their fourth and final training session with YCSD and Discovery Education professional development specialists regarding strategies for creating and sharing digital content. 

As a result of a unique professional development partnership between YCSD and Discovery Education, the cohort members developed lessons in which students master the content and skills of the curriculum by creating digital video content and posting their work to a global audience.

Using the theme of environmental stewardship at the Virginia Living Museum, teachers representing kindergarten through high school participated in a professional development, field trip experience.  Working in collaborative groups, the teachers collected original digital content, downloaded content from Discovery Education, and created instructional cross-curricular Boards using Discovery Education's Board Builder platform. 

(Screenshot examples of two Boards created by YCSD teachers on April 29, 2014.  The Boards are posted to Discovery Education's Board Builder platform.)

Teachers contributed to their group's Board by making sure that it reflected specific subject matter (i.e., a math teacher may have created content on the Board that showed graphically how rising
pollutants corresponds inversely to declining amphibian populations).  


During the training, teachers also explored opportunities to replicate their experience as they plan field trips in which students create digital content at locations such as the Virginia Living Museum and then share their work with a global audience.  Rather than simply touring a museum's exhibits during a field trip, the students will have a great sense of purpose if the vist and digital content creation is connected to the teachers intended learning outcome and real-world issues. 

Examples of real-world, purposeful work might include topics such as designing a better lobster trap to save the turtle population, or influencing legislators to promote environmental stewardship.  Field trip experiences in which students master the content and skills of the curriculum by creating digital content that will be viewed by thousands, or possibly millions, can certainly have a positive impact on student engagement and achievement. 

Skype: Taking Students Far Beyond the Reach of the School Bus

York County School Division (YCSD) teachers met at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, VA on December 5, 2013, where they completed their sixth and final training session with YCSD   professional development specialists regarding strategies for delivering original digital video content to a global audience. 

 YCSD teachers ranging from kindergarten through high school, in preparation for this final session, developed lessons connecting cross-curricular topics such as math, science, and English to real world applications used at the Jamestown Settlement in 1607.  Teachers then posted their lessons to the Skype in the classroom website, providing classrooms around the world with an opportunity to participate during the December 5^th event.

The teachers delivered these live lessons through Skype to classrooms across North America from the Fort, Powhatan Village, and the Ships located at the Jamestown Settlement.  Topics that were addressed on December 5^th during the live Skype lessons included; the impact of weather on travel, early navigational tools and mathematics used to reach the Virginia coast, ship buoyancy, methods of archeology, freshwater issues, life comparisons of then and now, colloquialisms, exchange of technologies, and cultural traditions. 

During the lesson delivery, participating students learned from the teachers while stepping back to 1607 within the Jamestown Village, James Fort and Ships docked along the James River.  The students were able to view artifacts and ask questions to the expert Jamestown Settlement interpreters. 

Over 500 students from schools in Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri and Canada were able to visit the Jamestown Settlement through the virtual field trip.  Skype is a powerful vehicle for taking students to wonderful learning destinations that are far beyond the reach of a school bus. 

In addition to providing participating classrooms with an engaging learning experience from the Jamestown Settlement, YCSD teachers expanded their professional network for future collaboration and the exchange of information.  Future collaboration with this network may include opportunities for YCSD teachers and students to learn as they visit significant sites around the world through Skype and future Skype in the classroom connections.

Reflections on BLC12

Alan November’s (@globalearner) annual Building Learning Communities Conference (BLC12) in Boston continues to foster pedagogical design that transforms education and spreads the seeds for student-driven learning across the globe.  With Keynote Speakers such as Chris Anderson (@TEDChris), Geetha Narayanan, Eli Praiser (@elipraiser), and Greg Whitby (@gregwhitby); the combined acumen for teaching and learning was inspiring and fueled the educational passion of all educators in attendance.

Alan November's vision for globally connected and collaborative learning for students in which their work matters, provides a sense of ownership, and makes a contribution to the global community was pervasive throughout the conference.  Educators from around the world were engaged in break-out sessions that will have a tremendous impact on student engagement in our schools.  In addition, through pedagogy such as project-based learning, students will not only be passionate about their work, but the world will be a better place due to their positive impact far beyond the classroom.

In the 'Creating Your Window on the World: Students Leaving a Legacy' session, Garth Holman (@GarthHolman) and Michael Pennington (@ProfessorMike1) shared their students’ work in a glowing example of 21st century learning.  Their pedagogical design has cultivated an environment of passion-driven learning within their classrooms.  As Alan November would say, their students 'own the learning'. Garth and Michael’s students do not complete work simply because of course requirements or a grade, they engage in in-depth cross curricular learning endeavors with a vigor and self-driven tenacity that many educators could only dream of for their students.  Garth and Michael have made this dream a reality by giving their students a global voice via blogs, wikis and a multitude of digital platforms for publishing their work.  Their vision has created a learning environment driven by purpose and a global voice.  The students’ ongoing global contribution is evident through their digital history book (dgh.wikispaces.com).

Educators who attended the BLC12 Conference must continue to share the  powerful pedagogical concepts conveyed throughout the conference.  In the words of Geetha Narayanan, ‘we should approach our charge as an oceanic theme with our ideas and efforts rippling out in concentric circles, ever expanding the impact’.

As an educator, I am honored and humbled to be part of the Building Learning Communities Network.  Further, I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to contribute to education’s global professional learning community and remain focused on educational practices that provide students with a learning environment in which their work matters, they have a sense of ownership, and their work makes a contribution far beyond the classroom.

Transformative Learning: 3 Examples of Students Engaged in Work that Makes a Difference

How do you motivate students within the classroom?  As 21^st century educators, we are well aware of the necessity to provide our students with rigorous and engaging learning experiences.  In addition, we know that our students expect to use digital tools in order to access the world and enhance their learning. 

After attending a January 2012 talk by Alan November (@globalearner), I began to reflect on my beliefs related to student engagement and the factors that motivate students to learn.  Alan November suggested that students are motivated when their work makes a difference, they have a sense of ownership, and their work transforms the learning of others.  Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) provides additional clarity to the issue of student engagement and motivation by arguing that student work must have a purpose. 

The following examples showcase transformative learning experiences in which the students were highly motivated due to the design of the work.  In each example, the students’ work made a difference, created a sense of ownership, and added information that aided in the learning of others.  In addition to these critical attributes, the use of digital tools in order to share the students' work beyond the classroom is a common characteristic of each learning activity.

Video of Classroom Procedures

Each fall, teachers begin the year by establishing clear classroom procedures with the students.  The procedures are then reviewed and practiced until the students have a strong understanding of the routines and the classroom is functioning like a well-oiled machine.  In Mrs. Caruso's(@CarusoM1) classroom, this process became a transformative learning experience for her students.  The students created videos for each of the established classroom procedures using Movie Maker.  Within each video, the students enacted the procedure, providing powerful demonstrations of the desired routine.  Creating the videos was a tremendous strategy for reinforcing the procedures for her current students.  However, the learning experience became transformative due to the fact that next year's students will view the videos in order to learn the classroom procedures.  They will of course be charged with creating new videos for the students who will be in Mrs. Caruso's class the following year. 



Long Division Claymation

The long division algorithm provides a daunting challenge to teachers in regards to student engagement and understanding.  Rather than simply practicing the steps involved in the process via rote learning, students in this example created Claymation videos.  Prior to developing the Claymation videos, cooperative groups of students created stories to represent their division problems and bolster understanding of the mathematical concept.  Then, using digital cameras and video editing software, the students created the Claymation products by taking photographs of their clay representations of division problems.  Through the Claymation process, they were able to convert the still photographs into a sequential video and gain a greater understanding of the long division algorithm.  Finally, once their Claymation videos were complete, they were uploaded to the school’s network and YouTube.  In doing so, the products added to the body of information and allowed others to learn from their work. 

Scientific Method Music Video

Utilizing the scientific method is a powerful process for students, providing them with a systematic means of exploring their world and drawing conclusions based on their investigations.  For Mrs. Hodges’ (@Hodgesvj)fourth grade students, the motivation for mastering the scientific method was evident from the moment she proclaimed that the class would be responsible for creating a music video regarding the topic.  The students were immediately able to take ownership of the work as they began planning the video.  Through the production of their music video, the students were able to emphasize critical components of the scientific method such as; making observations, predicting, identifying variables, and drawing conclusions based on data.  In this transformative learning experience, the students realized the profound purpose of the work since the product would be posted on YouTube so that others could learn from their scientific method music video. 

In the aforementioned examples, Alan November and Daniel Pink’s concept of motivation and transformative learning was clearly evident.  In each case, the students were motivated due to the work having purpose beyond a grade or assigned requirement.  The students took great pride in their work, knowing that it would be accessed by others far beyond the classroom.  In addition, the learning activities were transformative by design.  The students' work made a difference, created a sense of ownership, and added information that aided in the learning of others.  In our unwavering efforts to provide students with a world-class education, it is vital to create transformative learning experiences in which our students are motivated, engaged, and able to see the value of their work.