In the last several years, a major shift in instruction began
to happen. Instead of students having access to handheld technology (tablet,
laptop, etc) only part of the school day, more and more students began to have
access when they need it. Either 1:1 or BYOD or some combination of both is
giving students the opportunity to discover learning or create new information
in a variety of ways.
Before I left my position as a Director of Instructional
Technology, our district was undergoing this shift (albeit a bit late, but we
were headed in the right direction). We were going to allow students to bring
their own device to the classroom to use in the course of their learning. But
through a pilot program we discovered that the focus of our professional
development around BYOD needed to not be on technology. Rather, we needed to
focus our efforts on pedagogy and the change in instruction needed when
students have access to pretty much all known knowledge at their fingertips.
Now, there are so many ways educators are making the shift, improving
their pedagogy and providing innovative ways for students to engage in
learning. However, we saw there was one approach that could have a much greater
effect on learning.
Problem or Project-Based Learning has been around much longer
than any device or technology. The definition for these differs everywhere you
go but in essence students are given a problem and options for presenting their
solution and understanding of the content that makes up that solution. This was
the method we used in our district, as many of the teachers were formally
trained in PBL; however, we put our efforts into creating authentic-based
learning.
For us, authentic-based learning meant that students were
given problems that relate to their life. They were problems their schools or
communities were facing, so the solutions they created were practical and
meaningful. Many times traditional PBL has students take on a role they can’t
relate to. What we found was that when students are working on a problem that
directly affects them or their community they become highly engaged in the
learning process.
So where you can start?
Buck Institute for Education-The
Buck Institute is regarded as the leading source for anything and everything Problem-Based
Learning. What I really like about the resources here is that they are easy to
access and highly authentic. Not only do they have a huge archive of curriculum
resources, they also have videos, webinars and more. This is a site you will
spend a lot of time with whether you are new to PBL or experienced with it.
Authentic Based Learning For Students-Kathy Schrock
has
curated a large collection of resources on everything authentic based learning.
From frameworks to assessments and more, you will find a lot of great content
here.
As you can probably guess, this method of learning isn’t
dependent on technology. Many of our teachers were trained knowing they would
gradually ease into BYOD. However, technology does enhance this type of
learning. It provides students with more access to real-time information, as
well as the ability to connect to more resources and create the information
needed to make an argument. There’s a deeper level of engagement you can’t get
offline.
If you are in a classroom or school that is moving more toward
mobile devices for learning it’s important to know that your pedagogy has to
change. Simply using devices to look up answers or take assessments isn’t
anything that could be done without them. Look for ways to use the devices for
learning that wouldn’t be possible without them.
Authentic-based learning is just one way. What are some of the
ways you are using devices to take learning to another level?
Disclosure: This post was written as part of the University of Phoenix Versus Program. I’m a compensated contributor, but the thoughts and ideas are my own.