2.3 Authentic Learning
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Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students in authentic learning experiences. (PSC 2.3/ISTE 2c)
I was able to integrate my love for website and app design with my love for teaching and learning in this Engaged Learning Project (ITEC 7400). The objective was to engage my students in the form of app building within the 8th grade Georgia Studies standards. Today’s students use apps every day on their devices but very rarely do they have the opportunity to create one. Now, I will state that even though the app will be created for educational purposes, the students will still see this an immersive lesson on technology and curricular learning to exceed the standard of both content and technology.
As the teacher of this unique lesson/project, it was necessary for me to be able to model and facilitate the digital tools and resources for each learning group from the very beginning. This was a critical time as the students would learn the online system (http://www.como.com) to create and manage the apps used for this project. After 2-3 class sessions, the students were released to work collaboratively in their groups for the rest of the project. There was check-in sessions about every 4 weeks to monitor the progress of the app creation. I had the apps (html 5 version) on my phone so the monitoring of the app creation and information would be as easy as just clicking on the app! I continued to check in with the groups throughout the app creation process as we had almost all school year to get this completed.
As for how I assessed the process of learning, it all comes back to having the apps that are being created on my school iPad. I was able to assess the learning of the students through what has been created and researched and then presented within the app. This will highlight the student-directed learning throughout the entire process of the app creation. The app itself will act as a portfolio of knowledge acquired throughout the learning process. There is a blog feature embedded within the app itself and will be used by the student group for their reflection of their app creation and learning process of the content standard assigned to the group.
In regards to this artifact being an authentic learning experience, students stated in the past that there is not much available in regards to Georgia Studies for students to have fun with. They explained that anything they found is either learning materials, homework, PowerPoints, or study guides. This app creation gets them excited to think about being producers instead of consumers, which coincidentally, is also in the 8th grade Georgia Studies standards. They had a problem finding something fun to help them learn, and now, are creating something fun for other students to download and use for their own educational learning pleasure.
I learned that multi-month projects are difficult to maintain, and difficult to assess. There are multiple checks along the way, which are needed for everyone to stay on task, including the teacher. The only difference would be to change the time frame and start each group when that group’s standard is first introduced during the school year. Then, each group would only have 3 or 4 standards of time to complete their project. This may be more feasible.
The work that went into creating the artifact was creative and out of the box thinking to impact student learning on a whole other level. Students do not always want to be consumers, and have more of an enjoyable learning experience when they can instead be the producers. Learning and the overall impact is assessed by the content within the student apps and through surveys throughout the app creation process, how many downloads the app has, and the pride the students take in their work.
As the teacher of this unique lesson/project, it was necessary for me to be able to model and facilitate the digital tools and resources for each learning group from the very beginning. This was a critical time as the students would learn the online system (http://www.como.com) to create and manage the apps used for this project. After 2-3 class sessions, the students were released to work collaboratively in their groups for the rest of the project. There was check-in sessions about every 4 weeks to monitor the progress of the app creation. I had the apps (html 5 version) on my phone so the monitoring of the app creation and information would be as easy as just clicking on the app! I continued to check in with the groups throughout the app creation process as we had almost all school year to get this completed.
As for how I assessed the process of learning, it all comes back to having the apps that are being created on my school iPad. I was able to assess the learning of the students through what has been created and researched and then presented within the app. This will highlight the student-directed learning throughout the entire process of the app creation. The app itself will act as a portfolio of knowledge acquired throughout the learning process. There is a blog feature embedded within the app itself and will be used by the student group for their reflection of their app creation and learning process of the content standard assigned to the group.
In regards to this artifact being an authentic learning experience, students stated in the past that there is not much available in regards to Georgia Studies for students to have fun with. They explained that anything they found is either learning materials, homework, PowerPoints, or study guides. This app creation gets them excited to think about being producers instead of consumers, which coincidentally, is also in the 8th grade Georgia Studies standards. They had a problem finding something fun to help them learn, and now, are creating something fun for other students to download and use for their own educational learning pleasure.
I learned that multi-month projects are difficult to maintain, and difficult to assess. There are multiple checks along the way, which are needed for everyone to stay on task, including the teacher. The only difference would be to change the time frame and start each group when that group’s standard is first introduced during the school year. Then, each group would only have 3 or 4 standards of time to complete their project. This may be more feasible.
The work that went into creating the artifact was creative and out of the box thinking to impact student learning on a whole other level. Students do not always want to be consumers, and have more of an enjoyable learning experience when they can instead be the producers. Learning and the overall impact is assessed by the content within the student apps and through surveys throughout the app creation process, how many downloads the app has, and the pride the students take in their work.