Deeper Learning

• Shifting to deeper learning approaches - NMC Report Quest: Click here for the Horizon report. Go to Page 10. Have a read through the two pages in the Horizon Report.

• Move to the Process & Submit Section Below (2 & 3).

• Challenge and Struggle: From Avi: I wonder at how much educators break down the learning process for our students, allowing them to experience content in bite-sized, pre-packaged and controlled pieces (Novi would say: "Somewhat like this course, you mean?"). There is nothing wrong with that, as long as we also provide opportunities for real challenge and deeper learning. Do we allow our students to struggle enough? Are we frightened by what will happen if the answers do not come easily, or if the process becomes a bit messy (or a lot messy)? Watch the video: Challenge at the Heart of Deeper Learning (13:25).

• Move to the Process & Submit Section Below (2 & 3).

“More time for teacher planning allows for deeper engagement. If you give teachers more time, you get better results, so we give teachers more time.”

Keep the above quote (taken from the reading for this quest) in mind as you work on this quest. According to the article, deeper learning requires the following five skills:

• • • • Mastering core academic content

      • Thinking critically and solving complex problems

      • Working collaboratively

      • Communicating effectively

      • Learning how to learn

The article goes on to suggest that successful schools must find ways to deploy learning time so that their students build deeper learning skills while also mastering grade-level content and standards. To help shape learning time, it is important to:

• • • • Build a positive learning environment

      • Use an interdisciplinary, project-based approach

      • Engage in “authentic” formative and summative assessments of learning and skill development

      • Connect students to the “real world”

      • Encourage teachers to work collaboratively and as deep learners themselves

The five deeper learning schools showcased in the article have all redesigned or transformed how students and teachers spend their time in school. Time is considered a flexible resource and what we may consider as standard time conventions may not necessarily be so. The span of a school day, a school year, the length and number of classes taught, the allocation of prep and professional development for teachers, the ways that students and teachers spend their time together, and even where the learning takes place can all be modified to encourage deeper learning.

Read http://www.timeandlearning.org/sites/default/files/resources/deeperlearninges.pdf

Reflect / Respond: Compare your school (or class) with the five case study schools presented in the article

Some questions for you to consider when handling this topic

(These questions are not required; they are simply here to guide your thinking if you wish to use them.):

• What are some similarities? Differences?

• Do you see ways of incorporating some aspects of time shifting to encourage deeper learning in your classroom?

• Do you agree with the statement that giving teachers more time to plan will yield better results?

• Do you have examples to support your opinion?

• What do you consider to be the ideal planning time?

• What can you do more or less of to support deeper learning with regards to the use of technology?

• Do you think your use of technology in your classroom is ideal in terms of tool and time allotted? Explain why or why not.

• What do you want to say about this topic/issue... which has not been brought up in these questions?

Process/Representation

• Reminder of how to handle self-directed quest processing and representation.