Project Based Learning

Here's a video describing a software tool that supports project based learning and aligning projects with state standards. The tool is called Project Foundry. The school is somewhere in Milwaukee. 

What's the Purpose of Education?

Following along similar lines of a previous post regarding the purpose of education, it looks like there is a movement building around the idea that the 'basics' are just not good enough in todays world. If it is true that the original purpose of education is to 'school' the poor in the 'basics,' teach discipline and reduce crime - making a the kind of a shift being suggested by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is very significant. Incorporating 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, as well as computer and technology skills into the curriculum will change education significantly.

As I've suggested in previous posts, the 'curriculum' is not as important as the 'method' employed. We must use the knowledge we have gained about how people learn, use our understanding of the brain as a complex organism and employ the tenants of experiential/project based learning if we have a chance of turning the 'schooling' system into an 'education' system.

Here's the article referred to above:

Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
Poll suggests 'back-to-basics' approach to education is not enough for nation's citizens
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
Results of a new poll commissioned by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills shows the vast majority of U.S. voters believe students are ill-equipped to compete in the global learning environment, and that schools must incorporate 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, and computer and technology skills into the curriculum. But the upcoming presidential election, researchers say, presents a perfect opportunity to charter a new path to success for America's students.

Changing Education

Here is a link to a nice video on some of the changes taking place in education around the US.

http://www.edutopia.org/node/3285

Schools Fail to Engage Students

A recent study followed 1000 students starting when they were three years old and finished when they were 17 years old (which is now). The study, by a University of Virginia education professor, found little evidence of education that engages students or helps them learn to think and solve problems. Here's a quote from an article about the study:

“We don’t see much opportunity for kids to be actively engaged in projects, or teachers interacting with kids individually or in small groups, in ways that could stimulate learning,” he said. “Students learn more math and become more literate when the instruction is focused not just on whether the kids know the right or wrong answer but encouraging understanding on a deeper conceptual level.”

I am an advocate for engaged, project based, collaborative learning - focused on real-world problems. I believe this is one of the only ways to break the bonds that have isolated school and education from the rest of life. We know far too much about the brain and how people actually learn to continue to have 90% of classrooms providing passive learning (lectures).

Access the rest of the article here.