Workshop #2:  Challenge Based Learning (CBL)

Link to presenters notes

Apple Link to CBL

6 Design Principles of CBL

1. 21st Century Skill Outcomes
2. Relevant and Applied Curriculum
3. Informative Assessment
4. Culture of Creativity and Innovation- Calculated Risk Taking
5. Social and Emotional Connection
6. 24/7 Access to Tools and Resources

Key Components of CBL

1. Authentic, Real-World Problems
2. Student Directed Teams
3. Open-Ended Solutions
4. Action-Oriented
5. Leverage the tools of Technology
6. Published Globally

CBL Framework (page eight)

CBL Teacher Guide

Learning is best achieved in the context of a story.  Stories are relevant,  begin with a challenge, progress down a pathway of outcomes (staying in the question stage and not immediately trying to find the “simple” answer), and most often end (or continue) with results that impact a local and global  audience.

CBL- Key Components (Process)  The instructor led us through the first of the five Key Components of CBL.  Using data from teacher chats at the end of the year the following

BIG IDEA (QUESTION):  Learning- Assessment

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:  How do we overcome a fixation on grades and performance testing to allow students to have meaningful learning?

THE CHALLENGE: Create stakeholder buy-in to an new learning assessment paradigm.

GUIDING QUESTIONS: and GUIDING ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES:  This is where the standards and the prescribed curriculum are met.  Part of this process can even incorporate having students map their learning to the standards (creates ownership).

SOLUTIONS

Attending a workshop on portfolios and iOS devices.  In a nutshell- empowering students to create portfolios using ipad, iphone, ipod touch, etc.  The greater discussion piece was what a good portfolio looks like- is it a storehouse/showcase of student achievement or part of a learning process with the key elements: Focus on student interests, passions, and goals; choice and voice in reflection, and a tool for empowering life-long learning?

I believe that portfolio’s should be a fluid part of the learning process and not simply a storage box for student achievement.  One thing I struggle with in the educational world of technology integration is the notion that students should have broad say in the decision making in the education process.  Although I believe it is important to be relevant in the tools of technology (allow students to play on the playing field that they are accustomed to playing on) and to engage in their passions creating ownership.   I’m concerned that without appropriate structure and direction, students do not have the ability (brain research shows that pre-frontal lobe is not developing at any faster rate since the introduction of technology) to distill what is truly best for them and that teachers will spend to much time being the rudder for the child’s ship.  Balance is critical and a challenge.

The authors of The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age contend that “participatory learning is happening now—not in the future, but now. Those coming into our educational system rely on participatory learning for information about virtually everything in their lives.  Adults, too, turn first to the Internet and the ‘wisdom of crowds’ and ‘smart mobs’ to help them make
decisions about which car to buy, which cell phone service to use, which restaurants to frequent, and even which form of heart surgery promises the best results with the least risk.”

For something that has become a standard practice in culture, how do Lutheran schools respond to what is certain to not be a passing change, but a new way of life?

This blog serves as a conversation launch point about one-to-one learning in general and also with regards to Salem Lutheran Schools one-to-one learning program.