Wednesday, March 7, 2012

#macul12 Raw - My notes from Challenge Based Learning - Andy Losik @mrlosik

Apologies in advance for typos, boo boos, and all misinfomation - Hey, they're notes!


Challenge Based Learning - Andy Losik

Introduction

  • CBL teaches real world problems
  • multi-disciplinary
    • using flickr to gather resources
    • researching news
    • creating posters to promote resources
  • use the technology the students already have
  • tends to avoid content that is too politically or socially controversial
  • Hamilton helping Hamilton project
    • “I can learn why Hamilton needs our help” - Big question
    • tornado relief
    • local tv picked up story and assisted (authentic audience)
    • mrlosik.blogspot.com


CBL project example - How can I be a leader in our school and a positive influence?
How can we make this a doable project?
  • Technology benchmarks are backloaded rather than prescribed
  • story boarded, wrote, directed, edited
    • used google docs to collaborate
    • 3-6 all have their own google docs accounts
    • utilize language arts skills
  • Students suggested a film festival style assembly
    • Students will also deliver an auxiliary verbal message to support the video
    • parents will act as
    • after party in the media center
  • Prove that iPads are impacting your learning
    • Prove ‘em or lose ‘em
    • difficult to push students beyond the “they’re cool”
    • Used a google form to let students formulate their answers and have a working script

Teaching the path to innovation

  • Edheads.org
    • simulations for students
      • has close captioning and video
      • science (i.e. types of surgeries)
    • Design a cell phone
      • actually has very little to do with cell phones
      • Problem is posed - Senior Citizens need a phone with different features than students
        • What do you do first
    • Site teaches the path of innovation
      • research
      • design
      • test
      • evaluate/reflect
    • Good way to scaffold CBlearning

Essential questions to solutions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9tjxdTbtUvA


Setting up the environments

Physical environment

  • Cave
    • Private space to work
  • Watering hole
    • Space for collaboration
  • Campfire
    • projector and smartboard for local showcase
  • Mountain top
    • A place to showcase globally
    • blogs, wikis, website


Virtual environment

  • Collaborative online spaces
  • access to experts
  • provide immediate feedback
  • provide an audience
  • Peer feedback
    • Using Google Docs (scripts, planning)
    • Glogster

Suggested Technologies

tinyurl.com/cbletech

Using video reflection as evidence vs data
  • more meaningful than dots on a spreadsheet
  • parent reflection of student impact is very powerful


More resources are coming
  • Apple is partnering with teachers to develop more CBL resources
  • challengebasedlearning.org
  • iTunes U app is a great way to access CBL resources

Challenge Time


How do we turn the thousands of families traveling from the Upper Great Lakes right past Henryville, IN on their way to Florida into a disaster relief delivery effort?
  • Think impossilbe to possible
  • What are the logistics that need to happen?
  • Anticipate the questions from doubters

tinyurl.com/cblmaculguidingqs

Q/A skype with Katie Morrow

  • She doesn’t do CBL all the time but it is an important part of creating engagement with her students
  • Motivating students by connecting them to a great purpose
  • She does or feels you can pre and post test
    • But also
      • Self-assessment
        • reflection booth
      • peer-asessment
    • Document the journey
      • take photos
      • take video
      • take screen shots
      • Have students collect evidence of growth
  • How have colleagues reacted to your CBL lessons
    • Some teachers are afraid
    • Failure is ok
    • Building success with smaller groups or work with another colleague
    • Adoption has been somewhat slower than she might have liked but even small attempts build momentum
  • Biggest impact is in the long term effects on students
  • Essential questions
    • Sometimes teacher pre-created the essential questions
      • Students build guiding questions
    • Other times students work as a class to create the challenge questions
      • Creates more buy-in
      • Questioning is one of the harder skills to teach students
        • They are too use to having students ask the questions
        • QFT - questioning format technique
          • Open ended vs closed questioning
    • The essential questiona and the challenge are the same
      • action verb of the challenge is just the “I dare you”
    • Remaining open to possibilities
      • Allow the questions to evolve toward good open ended questions
  • What do you do to help students who still don’t buy in?
    • Working in teams and peer pressure seems to have a big impact on participation
    • Instill pride in teams
      • team names
      • work space
      • defining roles
        • Good tools in CBL community under support for roles
    • Katie shared seeing students who sometimes struggled the most at first can have some of the biggest turn around and become the most involved


Reflections