Challenge Based Learning

Challenge Based Learning is Apple's answer to teaching in the 21st Century.  With increased access to information and informal learning, the "sit and get" style of teaching doesn't work anymore.

According to Apple...

Challenge Based Learning is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems. Challenge Based Learning is collaborative and hands-on, asking students to work with other students, their teachers, and experts in their communities and around the world to develop deeper knowledge of the subjects students are studying, accept and solve challenges, take action, share their experience, and enter into a global discussion about important issues.

In typical Apple fashsion, their CBL website is full of engaging videos.  I recommend spending some time exploring the site

Key Components: http://ali.apple.com/cbl/components.html 
Process: http://ali.apple.com/cbl/process.html

Any my favorite, the Challenge Based Learning Pilot Schools: http://ali.apple.com/cbl/pilot.html  Featuring my former boss, Scott Smith, CTO for Mooresville Graded School District.

21st Century Teachers via NCDPI

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/repository/teachers/

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently published their repository of Professional Development. They broke teaching into 5 strands, which you can see below. Each strand is then broken down into specific items. When you click on the specific items you are present with professional development opportunities.

For Example, Strand 1 is Teachers Demonstrate Leadership and if you click on Leads in the school, you are presented with 10 opportunities.

The strands are a pretty good example of what 21st century teachers look like.

STANDARD 1: TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP
A: Leads In the Classroom
B. Leads In the School
C. Leads the Teaching Profession
D. Advocates for the School and Students
E. Demonstrates High Ethical Standards

STANDARD 2: TEACHERS ESTABLISH A RESPECTFUL ENVIRONMENT FOR A DIVERSE POPULATION
A. Provides and Environment that is Inviting, Respectful, Supportive, Inclusive and Flexible
B. Embraces Diversity in the School Community and in the World
C. Treats Students as Individuals
D. Adapts Teaching for the Benefit of Students with Special Needs
E. Works Collaboratively with Families and Significant Adults in the Lives of their Students

STANDARD 3: TEACHERS KNOW THE CONTENT THEY TEACH
A. Aligns Instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study
B. Knows the Content Appropriate to the Teaching Specialty
C. Recognizes the Interconnectedness of Content Areas/Disciplines
D. Makes Instruction Relevant to Students

STANDARD 4: TEACHERS FACILITATE LEARNING FOR THE STUDENTS
A. Knows the Ways in Which Learning Takes Place, and the Appropriate Levels of Intellectual, Physical, Social, and Emotional Development of Students
B. Plans Instruction Appropriate for Students
C. Uses a Variety of Instructional Methods
D. Integrates and Utilizes Technology in Instruction
E. Helps Students Develop Critical-Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
F. Helps Students Work in Teams and Develop Leadership Qualities
G. Communicates Effectively
H. Uses a Variety of Methods to Assess What Each Student Has Learned

STANDARD 5: TEACHERS REFLECT ON THEIR OWN PRACTICE
A. Analyzes Student Learning
B. Links Professional Growth to Professional Goals
C. Functions Effectively in a Complex, Dynamic Environment

Principal Kappy Cannon Fosters Technology Innovation and Teamwork

Kappy Cannon, the South Carolina 2010 Principal of the Year, encourages master teachers to innovate with new technologies and work together to share their skills with the entire staff.

Fostering Curiosity

I read recently that the Creativity Quotient (CQ) has dropped over the last ten years. That decline has been a concern for businesses who need creativity in this new technologically booming world. But we can't really blame the students; we as teachers must take some responsibility as well as parents, the system, and the political climate. Students produce what we demand.

As 21st century teachers, we must develop creativity by presenting challenging problems; providing opportunity for exposure to research numerous resources; time for incubation (resistance to closure), birthing the idea, checking it out with experts in the field, implementating the emerging idea, and evaluating results. That means we must let students go deep, rather than racing broadly through material. They must learn to synthesize what they glean and put the information/skills into meaningful contexts.

Technology & Thinking: Part I

The teacher of the 21st century must be multi-talented in delivering and guiding instruction. The world is changing at a breath-taking rate in information, skills, and needs. In order to meet these demands, two of the foci today for how the 21st century teacher instructs are in the domains of technology and cognition: The 21st century teacher must challenge students to utilize technology to construct knowledge and problem solve.

First, the selective use of technology tailored to student need is a vital vehicle for 21st century teachers to deliver content in this 21st century and for 21st century students to construct/create their own learning. Access to information is unprecedented and is increasing literally daily. The 21st century teacher must stay current with the new technological developments and their educational applications. These new trail-blazing, technological paths bring learning into the world of the 21st century student. They cannot move, live, or breathe without technology!!

In my honors class we do a 24-hr. famine of technology during our cautionary, sci-fi unit because so many sci-fi authors fear the ramifications of technology, like Ray Bradbury. Interestingly enough, students come back the next day after no I-Pod, texting, cell phones, radios, TV, computer, facebook, etc. describing symptoms of withdrawal, as though they were addicts: irritated, sleepy, arguing, frustrated. I have seen in U.S. News and World Report the new cell phone implant into the scalp and can believe these kids would love it!! Yikes!

However, rather than fighting the techie trend totally, 21st century teachers must utilize it in the classroom through internet school news, class websites and wikis, social networks (approved and private), google voice aps (voice turned to text), online surveys (surveymonkey.com and google), interactive white boards, webcams for document editing and podcasts, student response systems like Activote, and more. By moving into their world, no longer will they perceive eduation as archaic but a real-world experience of the lifelong learner.

Secondly, the 21st century teacher must strategically develop higher-level thinking, both divergent and convergent. By fostering curiosity (divergent thinking) and problem-solving (convergent), creativity develops. When questioned, many CEOs today of Fortune 500 companies said that creativity would be the number one trait employers would be looking for in the next decade because of the changing nature of information and skills. This global, or molar, perspective seeks for the right tools to deconstruct a problem, brainstorms multitudes of solutions, selects the right one, and carries through (Csikzsentzmihalyi, 1990).

The Global Achievement Gapby Tony Wagner emphasizes the need for curiosity and creativity and indicts the educational system as the main culprit for killing both! His stats say 70% of students who drop out say they were bored. I know from my personal online survey that almost 100% of the struggling readers in 9th grade, who are the most likely ones to drop out, say they are totally bored reading. And reading is the foundational skill and gateway to success in most courses and in careers. According to Csikzsentzmihalyi (1990), if skill and challenge are not balanced, boredom or frustration occurs. For example, if the challenge is too high for the skill, frustration is the result; conversely, if the skill is too high for the challenge, boredom occurs. The 21st century teacher must help students balance this equation to develop curiosity, interest, and creativity.