Brainstorming original ideas - not enough

Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter (2003), in the article, Beyond Brainstorming: Sustained Creative Work With Ideas, posit that coming up with new ideas is but one small step. Creative knowledge workers must work with these ideas and develop them into powerful and useful processes, products, or theories.

The two authors identify some challenges education faces in developing this capacity for sustained creative work, which they refer to as "knowledge building".

One such challenge is when students carry their misconceptions or "naive ideas on into adult life, unexamined and unimproved."

(Interestingly, Jonathan Drori discusses just this idea in his video called 'Why we don't understand as much as we think we do")

I must admit to taking pause when the authors noted that "opinions differ on both the ethics and the practicalities of inducing conceptual change", and when they asked, "To what extent should teachers be concerned about modifying students' naive conceptions?" For some strange reason, my mind conjured up a vision of a little old man in a red suit and the expectant look on the faces of my grade two students... 

Scardamalia & Bereiter's discussion links nicely with the whole idea of Authentic Instruction and Authentic Learning. 

Creativity's Place in Authentic Learning

If you have 20 minutes to spare, take a look at this engaging and thought-provoking Video discussing the importance of nurturing Creativity in our Educational system. 

Sir Ken Robinson presents his ideas in a humorous and entertaining way. All of us, journeying towards a deeper understanding of Authentic Learning, should consider his message.

Flint River Immersion Project

The Westwood Schools in Camilla, GA, are starting up the Flint River Project. A full immersion project that all students in the school will be involved in. The goal - to learn about, research, and share about the conservation, history, environmental health, stories, and heritage surrounding the Flint River located in Southern Georgia USA.

Vicki Davis (coolcatteacher) produced a video cast that explains this project in more detail .

Here is a great example of authentic learning - it is multidisciplinary, cross-curricular - an entire school will take part in the process...

The 'River Writers' are already posting their blog entries about the upcoming project...in this group are 15 'hand-selected' students who went through an application process. Sounds like some 'real-world' applications here...but what about the rest of the project. What will students be doing with the information that they are uncovering about the river? Will they be using the expertise of professionals in their endeavour? What will be the ultimate product?

Inquiry Rubric

Here is an inquiry rubric used by the Galileo Educational Network.

It is a great rubric that offers a section on 'authenticity' along with 'academic rigor', 'beyond the school', 'appropriate use of technology' & 'active exploration'.

Inquiry & authentic learning...are they the same thing?

This examination into authentic learning is bringing up a lot of similar language...

Examples of Authentic Learning?

Ancient Spaces: Antiquity Comes Alive - UBC - classics students recreate archeological sites (ancient Greece) using computer applications.

Open Learning Initiative - free online courses developed to help tutor students - http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI5013.pdf

Calibrated Peer Review - students are trained to edit/provide feedback for other student's work.

Remote Instrumentation - MIT offers access off-site access to state-of-the-art instrumentation.

Five Standards of Authentic Instruction

Fred M. Newmann & Gary G. Wehlage, in their article, Five Standards of Authentic Instruction, identify five key standards that must exist for learning to be considered authentic. I love the idea of these key standards but still question how to apply these standards in the classroom.

According to Newmann and Wehlage, the following elements must exist:

1. Higher-order thinking - students manipulate ideas to create their own meaning.
2. Depth of knowledge - covering of few topics in a connected way - allow students to draw connections on their own (drilling down...rather then skimming over)
3. Connectedness to the world beyond the classroom
4. Substantive conversations - - discussions rich between students - collaborative development of ideas.
5. Social support for student achievement - environment of mutual respect between parents and teachers

What type of education do our students truly need?

I have started this voyage into the world of authentic learning, and I am beginning to truly question what the purpose of an education system should be.

Take Tony Wagner, for example, in his article, Rigor Redefined

In this article Wagner explores one main question - are we were preparing our students to become good citizens? He interviewed hundreds of business, education and non-profit leaders in an effort to truly understand what skills are needed in the modern workplace. Critical thinking, problem-solving skills, ability to collaborate, adaptibility, imagination and problem solving skills are cited by employers as the most important skills...

So, the question Wagner then asks is...are our students learning these skills in school?

From the examples Wagner gives of his observation of AP classes, the blatant answer is no.

According to Wagner, "schools... are succeeding at making adequate yearly progress but failing our students. Increasingly, there is only one curriculum: test prep." Although Wagner is examining the educational system in the United States of Amercia, I would have to extend his observations to our system in Canada.

As an Albertan teacher, how much of our time in the 9 and 12 years do we spend preparing our students to be successful in the governmental diploma exams? What is lost in this process?

Authentic Learning in Education

Maryilyn M. Lombardi in her paper What makes learning authentic? explores what constitutes authentic learning, how technology supports it, and what makes authentic learning effective. I really enjoyed this read as Lombardi helped to define, for me, what authentic learning truly is.
Within her description of authentic learning are the following elements:

• doing rather then listening
• solving real-world problems
• access to online research communities, learners are able to gain a deeper sense of a discipline as a special 'culture'
• 'connection-building' - interpersonal connections are an integral part of learning (George Siemens)

Lombardi also introduces 10 design elements for authentic learning:

TEN DESIGN ELEMENTS

1. Real-world relevance - must match real-world tasks
2. Ill-defined problem - challenges can not be solved easily - should be relatively undefined and open to multiple interpretations - students must identify tasks and subtasks
3. Sustained investigation - problems can not be solved in a matter of minutes or even hours. Requires a sustained period of time.
4. Multiple sources and perspectives - learners are not given a list of resources - students have the opportunity to examine the task from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives
5. Collaboration - success in not achieveable by an individual learner working alone.
6. Reflection - (metacognition)
7. Interdisciplinary perspective - activities have consequences that extend beyond a particular discipline
8. Integrated assessment - assessment is not merely summative - it is wovern seamlessly into the majore task and reflects real-world evaluation processes
9. Polished products - culminates in the creation of a whole product - valuable in its own right.
10. Multiple interpretations and outcomes - not just one correct answer - competing solutions and diverse interpretations are possible