21st Century Learning Activity

Week 4 (Nov 15 - Nov 21) Apply It! 

Activity	Due Date	Format	Grading Percent
How to Learn from Mistakes	Day 3	Discussion	5
21st Century Learning Activity	Day 7	Assignment	7

Note: The online classroom is designed to time students out after 90 minutes of inactivity. Because of this, we strongly suggest that you compose your work in a word processing program and copy and paste it into the discussion post when you are ready to submit it.

Learning Outcomes This week students will:

1. Construct a 21st century inquiry-based learning activity that includes differentiated instructional strategies and learning styles as part of the instructional methods.

2. Design a content-based activity that includes self-reflection and shared feedback opportunities for students.

Introduction

In Week Four, you build upon your learning from the first three weeks by considering elements of capacity building for educators. You look through a variety of lenses, supporting Course Learning Outcome 2: Use a variety of content-based instructional materials and strategies supporting inquiry-based learning, student reflection, and technology. You get an inspiring glimpse into the world of an engaging classroom teacher and learn of the powerful impact your practice as an educator can have on student learning. This week, you apply the principles from Framework for 21st Century Learning to create an engaging, inquiry-based student activity to implement with students and share with other educators. You have the opportunity to get creative and apply what you’ve learned in a way that follows best practices and potentially transfers to your own practice in the future.

Required Resources

1. Ash, P. B., & D’Auria, J. (2013). School systems that learn: Improving professional practice, overcoming limitations, and diffusing innovation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

· Chapter 5: Capacity Building for All Educators.

2. Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). Framework for 21st century learning. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

· This website is the home page for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills organization, an organization promoting learning in what it calls the “The 3Rs and the 4Cs” for the 21st century. The website has numerous links to resources and information about the organization at work, news about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills organization, as well as a link page devoted to “Exemplar Schools.”

3. TED.com. (2010, November 10).  Diana Laufenberg: How to learn? From mistakes  [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_laufenberg_3_ways_to_teach

· Diane Laufenberg, an 11th grade history teacher in Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy, offers 3 ideas about learning in this 10 minute TED video. One surprising idea is that failure can lead to learning and eventual success. One way that others have expressed this idea is to “fail forward,” taking lessons from failure to lay the foundation for future success.

Discussion To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. How to Learn from Mistakes This discussion is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability with the objective Construct a 21st century inquiry-based learning activity that includes differentiated instructional strategies and learning styles as part of the instructional methods and Design a content-based activity that includes self-reflection and shared feedback opportunities for students. Additionally, this discussion is your opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the Course Learning Outcome 2 while reinforcing MAED Program Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9.  This discussion serves as a source of inspiration as you prepare for the assignment this week involving the creation of an inquiry-based lesson! The speaker in this 10 minute TedTalk you will view emphasizes the power of listening to and considering students’ perspectives, allowing them to take risks and be comfortable making mistakes, and how experiential learning promotes thinking, problem-solving, and genuine student interest. You will consider yourself lucky to learn of the “... most awesome moment of revelation” as shared by this dynamic teacher.  Initial Post  View Diana Laufenberg’s TedTalk: How to Learn? From Mistakes and read the transcript.  Part I Reflect upon each quote below. How were your eyes opened, either for the first time or maybe reopened?

· “The things that kids will say when you ask them and take the time to listen is extraordinary” (Laufenberg, 2010).

·  “. . . And here's the thing that you need to get comfortable with when you've given the tool to acquire information to students, is that you have to be comfortable with this idea of allowing kids to fail as part of the learning process. We deal right now in the educational landscape with an infatuation with the culture of one right answer that can be properly bubbled on the average multiple choice test, and I am here to share with you: it is not learning. That is the absolute wrong thing to ask, to tell kids to never be wrong. To ask them to always have the right answer doesn't allow them to learn” (Laufenberg, 2010).

Part II Next, share one other remark, quote, or point of discussion from Mr. Laufenberg that impacted your thinking as a teacher and learner. What connections can be made from Ms. Laufenberg’s talk with what is expressed in chapter 5: Capacity Building for All Educators (Ash & D’Auria, 2013) involving the quality of teaching? Explain its impact and how you might apply it to your assignment for this week. Guided Response: Post replies to at least two peers. In your replies, consider asking questions of peers about their responses to encourage further conversation. Consider their impressions of each quote. How did their perceptions differ or agree with your own? Share how their perception may have altered or added to your own. Remark upon their added remark, quote, or point of discussion from the TED Talk. Provide specific feedback regarding their ideas for implementing it in this week’s assignment. Though two replies is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including the instructor) before the last day of the discussion; this will further the conversation while also giving you opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this topic.

Assignment To complete the following assignment, go to this week's Assignment link in the left navigation. 

21st Century Learning Activity This assignment is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability with the learning outcomes Construct a 21st century inquiry-based learning activity that includes differentiated instructional strategies and learning styles as part of the instructional methods and Design a content-based activity that includes self-reflection and shared feedback opportunities for students. Additionally, this discussion is your opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the Course Learning Outcome 2 while reinforcing MAED Program Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9.  Your principal has directed your attention to the Framework for 21st century learning and has asked you develop a learning activity centered around a core subject for students incorporating Learning and Innovation Skills,  Information, Media, and Technology Skills, and Life and Career Skills, while exhibiting differentiated instructional strategies and consideration for a variety of learning styles. Additionally, you use your time during your school wide professional learning to plan this lesson for a two-fold purpose: (a) to implement it in your own classroom and (b) to potentially share it during subsequent professional learning time. Someone from your school’s leadership team if not the principal will observe your lesson as a guest in your classroom (you are not being evaluated) as you implement it with students.  Instructions Prepare a 7-10 slide presentation with the goal of implementing it and sharing it with others per your principal’s request. Your presentation will include what a high quality instructional plan would have and follow what your principal has asked you to design during professional development, though it will be represented in presentation format only for this assignment. Create a multi-media/digital presentation of your lesson in a teacher-friendly (easily understood by teacher participants), engaging, presentation format including your choice of presentation software such as Prezi, Slideshare, PowerPoint, Thinglink, Present.me or another source from educatorstechnology.  Note: You are not creating two separate products. What would be constructed as an instructional (lesson) plan will be formatted as a presentation instead. Create your assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations below.  Content Expectations

a. Presentation—Digital/multi-media (2 points): Plan utilizes presentation software for communication/sharing of ideas. 

b. Presentation—Lesson Plan (4 points): The following components of a high-quality lesson plan should be included in your presentation with each appropriate label. It is imperative you do not include a separate, formal lesson plan document within your presentation as it is not readable by viewers.

· Grade level content standard—Includes one to two reading, writing, math, or science standards from your state or Common Core State Standard.

· Learning objective/outcome--Aligns with selected standard(s), is specific, observable, measurable, and in student-terms.

· Grade level content standard—Includes one to two reading, writing, math, or science standards from your state or Common Core State Standard.

· Learning objective/outcome--Aligns with selected standard(s), is specific, observable, measurable, and in student-terms.

· ISTE-S--Include at least one technology standard that integrates student use of technology in a meaningful way to support your plan.

· Skills—Lesson addresses at least one Learning and Innovation skill, one Information, Media, and Technology skill, and one Life and Career Skill from the Partnership for 21st Century Learning framework. 

· Inquiry—Includes an inquiry-based approach and at least two purposeful questions ranging in levels of cognition (Bloom’s or Webb’s DOK) to promote critical thinking.

· Differentiation—At least two different suggestions for differentiating instructions and/or materials so as to reach ALL learners.

· Student self-reflection & Feedback—Suggests at least one way students can receive and give feedback as well as reflect upon their learning. 

· Formative Assessment—Include three different ways to assess FOR learning such as student work samples (what kinds of student artifacts would you bring to share with the participants of your presentation?)

Written Communication Expectations

a. Syntax and Mechanics (0.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.

b. Source Requirement (0.5 points): Provide at least 5 resources for your participants that cover at least three of the components of a high-quality lesson plan as demonstrated in your presentation (i.e. resources pertaining to writing objectives, State, CCSSI, and/or ISTE standards, 21st century learning/skills, inquiry-based teaching and learning, differentiated instruction, student self-reflection, provision of feedback, and formative assessment).

Review and Submit the Assignment Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment to the courseroom for evaluation no later than Day 7. Recommendation Save your work! You may wish to incorporate this project into your learning in another course (e.g., EDU689 or the Capstone course, EDU 695). Since eCollege does not grant students access to previously completed courses for long, it is strongly recommended that you save your key assignments on a flash drive or store them though cloud-based software such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or something similar. Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.