Learning to the 21st Power: Taking student learning to the level needed for success in the 21st century world market.

I know I promised QR Codes for Geography, but this was the purpose of the blog and you will get your free ideas next time.  

Learning to the 21st Power: Taking student learning to the level needed for success in the 21st century world market. 

The Players: The Nebula team at Goldenview Middle School have teamed up to plan an experimental project aimed to bring students and team members into a 21st century model of thinking and learning.  Other players agreed to be involved or are currently in discussion to enter include Conoco Philips Alaska, Google Plus Education division, Consumer Energy Alliance, and the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.  The first two groups have entered into the project with excitement and this summary acts as an introduction for others to join.  Other individuals have tentatively agreed to work with students both in person and via Skype.  This group includes App designers, physics professors, and local drill and geological teams. 

The Project: At the beginning of the school year, the Nebula gifted students will be split into groups of six.  Depending on the number of gifted sections, this will create five to ten groups of students.  By the end of the first week students will be introduced to ten different problem statements related to energy supply and demand on both a local and global level.  Each statement will have implications or challenges affecting either the mode or efficiency or production, the use and need for efficiency in the consumption of the energy, and each will also include the social implications of the challenges on the social dynamics of either developed or developing communities around the globe.  The Goldenview principal has donated space for the team to create a meeting room for research, collaboration, and engagement with field professionals wether in person or via internet communications.  

The Room: Teams will have scheduled access to the planning room during one forty-five minute period per week.  Depending on the schedule, this will take place during either their Language Arts class or their Science class.  As both teachers have designed the bulk of their curriculums to support this project, students will benefit from the collaboration time.  The room will also be available for sign up before and after school as well as lunch to accommodate professionals working with groups. 

The Rough Time Line (adjustments will appear as planning continues): 

First Quarter: Students have the first quarter to engage with a mountain of introductory information from PBS Media, Conoco Philips, British Petroleum, as well as information from the Switch Energy Project.  By the end of the first quarter, groups must chose with problem statement they wish to engage. 

Second Quarter: Students will use this time to conduct independent research via print, film, audio, web material, and live professionals. Students will also engage in full class discussions, presentations, and labs based on broader energy concepts.  The team job is to collaborate their research and focus the full class work on the narrow problem chosen by the team.  This research is based on the knowledge that they will form a hypothesis of a possible solution to the challenges presented in the problem question at the end of the quarter. 

Third Quarter: Students use this quarter to develop their proposed solution to the problem.  This solution can be original or build upon attempts currently taking place in the energy world with the intent of improving the outcomes.  The solution can address the problem in its entirety or areas of the challenge in order to help build toward a greater solution with the sum of many working parts.  Teams will not only be responsible for creating a proposal pitch for their solution, but they must create a testable model either through mathematics, digital modeling, or physical experiments to test and collect data on the effectiveness of their solution.  Students must have the model complete and tested before the end of the third quarter to simulate hard deadlines in a fast-paced world market.  

Fourth Quarter: Students must build and publish a website based on their project, research, and tested hypothesis for the purpose of communicating the information to a broad and diverse public.  Students will need original print, video, audio, games (for exposing younger audiences to the ideas), and mobile applications related to their proposed solutions.  Whether the solution proposed by the team is successful or not determines the final summary of the project.  If the solution succeeds, students will use this published presentation to explain why and formally request participation in moving the project to a larger scale.  If the solution fails to meet the requirements set by the team, they will explain what steps would push the project in the proper direction and formally request participation in moving forward with new ideas.  

What we Need from You (Not Money): We need time.  I started this project based on my vision that education needs to be more than students learning facts and skills for the sake of learning facts and skills.  This no longer applies to the motivators our students respond to.  They crave purpose and have no qualms asking what that purpose is.  Throughout my career, I have always used large ideas and projects as vehicles for teaching the standards rather than the standards themselves as the vehicles.  Lately I have heard the private sector state loudly that they want to be involved in education and I have seen many great business partnerships fall into ruts of schools asking for money and service for hanging up company logos.  My fellow media teacher and I already have media and local businesses work directly with our media classes to create advertising and creative film work.  Please see samples of our student work here. We also work together on what has been known as the Passion Project and over the last two years, we have developed it from an amazing project on paper to an even more eventful project through 21st century tools and ideas.  For examples of student work, please follow the links on this page.  This project seemed like the next logical step in integrating real world problem solving, innovation, collaboration, and creation into our forward thinking team.  If you or someone you know would be interested in participating, please email your contact information to butterfield_lee@asdk12.org or comment on this post.