21st Century Learning and Teaching

Jackie GERSTEIN: I absolutely love planning lessons from scratch.  I just got a job teaching technology units for a summer camp for elementary age students. I can design and teach whatever I want – planning for a different theme each week. Some of the themes I am planning are: Expanding and Showing Your Personal Interests Through Blogging, Photos, and Videos; Coding and Creating Online Games; Tinkering and Making – Simple Robotics; Hacking Your Notebook; and Creating Online Comics, Newspapers, and Magazines.  I have begun the process of planning these classes through reflecting on what the lessons will look like.

Learn more:

- https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/design-the-learning-of-your-learners-students-ideas/

This is a follow up to a post I wrote, How Do We Learn? How Should We Learn?  The purpose of these posts is to encourage educators to examine practices they take for granted, implement without deep...

The following are some suggestions for establishing context (the list is just a start). Ironically, they are practices that are often recommended are best practices in teaching but they aren’t implement as often as they should be:

• Assess and Connect to Learners’ Real Life and Previous Experiences with the Topic – seehttp://ideaedu.org/research-and-papers/pod-idea-notes-instruction/idea-item-11-related-course-material-real-life
• Use Hands-On and Experiential Activities – see http://www.raft.net/case-for-hands-on-learning
• Use Case Studies and Simulations – seehttps://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/casestudies.html
• Have Learners Engage with Real World Practitioners – see http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52279118#52279118
• Implement Place-Based Learning – see http://www.ourcurriculummatters.com/What-is-place-based-education.php