2.3 - Authentic Learning
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences. (PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c).
Artifact: ITEC 7400 Engaged Learning Project
Reflection:
The Engaged Learning Project was an individual class assignment designed to allow students to have an authentic learning experience. In this project, students were to first research various forms of alternative energy, examine the advantages and disadvantages of each, and produce questions for our company partner to be used during a Skype session. Based on the questions in their interview, students had the option to choose one alternate form of energy to research further, were to work with company partners to collect energy data from at least three different locations, and to make recommendations to the community based on their findings. Though this was created for an individual class assignment, I worked with the instructional supervisor, the environmental science co-teachers, the English Language Arts department teachers, and community partners from Sumter EMC and GA Power.
Standard 2.3, Authentic Learning, requires that candidates demonstrate the ability to “model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences” (PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c). This artifact demonstrates my ability to use resources to generate authentic learning experiences for my students. While creating the project, I designed the unit to model and facilitate the use of many digital tools and resources, including Google Docs and Powtoon, both of which allow students to collaborate digitally. However, simply selecting digital resources is not enough to create an authentic experience. An authentic learning experience requires that students take on roles of adults and use technology to generate products that have relevance in the world outside of their classroom. In this project, students are working alongside community partners, gathering real data from around the state (and sometimes around the country), and making real recommendations based on their findings. Those recommendations are in the form of short videos viewed by members of our community and letters written to their state representatives about using an alternative energy source. These products in this learning experience are authentic and gives them an adult voice with a real audience, rather than the voice of the student with a simulated audience they so often get.
This learning experience stretched me to my creative limits. Creating a project that was meaningful and authentic did not seem like a difficult task until I attempted to do it. The key in creating this project was to tap into members of the community who were eager to assist students and provide these types of experiences. If I were to redesign the project, I would likely work more closely with the Civics instructors in the building. There is likely a way to make this project cover more than just ELA and science, especially since it includes a letter to a representative.
The impact on student learning could be easily assessed in an ongoing manner throughout the project implementation by asking students questions and at the end of the project by using the provided rubrics to assess student understanding. The impact on faculty development is harder to assess. Though I did collaborate with many in the design of this project, implementation on a full scale could ultimately include a cross-curriculum component in which faculty development and school improvement would be easier to assess. The collaboration with community partners in the creation of the project also had a positive impact on school improvement.
The Engaged Learning Project was an individual class assignment designed to allow students to have an authentic learning experience. In this project, students were to first research various forms of alternative energy, examine the advantages and disadvantages of each, and produce questions for our company partner to be used during a Skype session. Based on the questions in their interview, students had the option to choose one alternate form of energy to research further, were to work with company partners to collect energy data from at least three different locations, and to make recommendations to the community based on their findings. Though this was created for an individual class assignment, I worked with the instructional supervisor, the environmental science co-teachers, the English Language Arts department teachers, and community partners from Sumter EMC and GA Power.
Standard 2.3, Authentic Learning, requires that candidates demonstrate the ability to “model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences” (PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c). This artifact demonstrates my ability to use resources to generate authentic learning experiences for my students. While creating the project, I designed the unit to model and facilitate the use of many digital tools and resources, including Google Docs and Powtoon, both of which allow students to collaborate digitally. However, simply selecting digital resources is not enough to create an authentic experience. An authentic learning experience requires that students take on roles of adults and use technology to generate products that have relevance in the world outside of their classroom. In this project, students are working alongside community partners, gathering real data from around the state (and sometimes around the country), and making real recommendations based on their findings. Those recommendations are in the form of short videos viewed by members of our community and letters written to their state representatives about using an alternative energy source. These products in this learning experience are authentic and gives them an adult voice with a real audience, rather than the voice of the student with a simulated audience they so often get.
This learning experience stretched me to my creative limits. Creating a project that was meaningful and authentic did not seem like a difficult task until I attempted to do it. The key in creating this project was to tap into members of the community who were eager to assist students and provide these types of experiences. If I were to redesign the project, I would likely work more closely with the Civics instructors in the building. There is likely a way to make this project cover more than just ELA and science, especially since it includes a letter to a representative.
The impact on student learning could be easily assessed in an ongoing manner throughout the project implementation by asking students questions and at the end of the project by using the provided rubrics to assess student understanding. The impact on faculty development is harder to assess. Though I did collaborate with many in the design of this project, implementation on a full scale could ultimately include a cross-curriculum component in which faculty development and school improvement would be easier to assess. The collaboration with community partners in the creation of the project also had a positive impact on school improvement.