It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. —W. Edwards Deming
walks can be augmented through the
National Geographic’s Handheld Birds,
a bird guide that can be used on an
iPhone, i Touch, and other handheld
devices. The guide enables the student
teams to quickly search for bird types
on the basis of characteristics they
observe in the field, to access sounds
and characteristics of specific birds, and
even to record sights and sounds from
the field to add to their database (see
www.handheldbirds.com).
Afterward, the students could create
their own multimedia site to share their
knowledge of birds that they see and
hear in the schoolyard, their neighborhoods, and the local community. These
activities could lead to online investigations of birds that are on the endangered
species list.
Change Agent 2:
Participatory Learning
The advent of low-cost global communications has led to mass collaboration
in the social, economic, and political
sectors. Young people are no exception;
they expect to interact with and have a
voice in everything they do—and that
includes learning.
More than 30 years of research on
collaboration indicates that it
contributes significantly to academic
learning and is more powerful than
competitive learning or learning individually (Darling-Hammond et al.,
2008; Johnson & Johnson, 1989;
Williams, Lemke, & Slipac, in press).
One key indicator of collaboration is
sustained, on-task discussion among
students. Unfortunately, according to
Kamil and colleagues (2008), this kind
of discussion currently accounts for an
average of only 1. 7 minutes per 60
minutes of classroom instruction. The
Internet makes it possible to extend
such discussions beyond the walls of the
classroom. By creating collaborative
blogs and wikis, students can interact
with their peers in other communities
Young people expect
to interact with and
have a voice in
everything they do.
and even other countries.
For example, a geography class could
read and compare interpretations of
current events in newspapers in Beijing,
London, New York, and New Delhi to
gain insights into cultural, political, and
social perspectives on such events.
Then, by creating a wiki together with
sister schools in one or more of these
cities, U.S. students can participate in
ongoing, in-depth discussions of how
culture and geography influence the
reporting of these events.
Blogs and wikis offer many opportunities to engage students in such discussions. For an example, see the blog
maintained by an advanced placement
U.S. government class in Colorado
during the 2008 presidential elections
( http://meyerapgovt.blogspot.com). The
teacher asked crucial questions, and his
students responded in sustained, online
discussions. Sample questions included
the following:
Here is your chance to define the label
you place on yourself. Why are you a
conservative? A liberal? A moderate? A
Democrat? A Republican? An Independent? What do you believe in politically, philosphically, and ideologically?
Enjoy . . . and remain civil.
Change Agent 3:
Authentic Learning
Today’s society is fraught with
economic, environmental, social, and
political challenges. Students are eager
to learn in the context of these real-world issues. And research suggests that
such authentic learning increases their
engagement and the depth of their
learning (Newmann, Bryk, & Nagaoka,
2001).
The work of Newmann and
colleagues suggests that three factors are
crucial to the achievement of increased
learning. First, the student work must
have meaning or value that transcends
the student-teacher relationship. Such
value is created when the student shares
his or her work in a meaningful way
with an audience outside the classroom,
when the student is personally interested in the topic and product, or when
the student perceives a clear connection
between the academic task and the kind
of work done in the real world. Second,
the work must embody serious, in-depth learning in the subject area. The
student must begin to build a schema of
expertise and understanding on the
topic and to express that understanding
