Adventures in Authentic Learning

Book excerpt: This insider’s guide from a seasoned technology coach provides classroom teachers with ideas and strategies to help students develop real-world projects to support authentic learning. Not every teacher has a dedicated coach who can support them in the classroom. Even those who do can benefit from additional ideas and support from a seasoned coach. Written by an experienced instructional technologist, this book is designed to help fill this role, showing teachers how to empower students to take charge of their own learning and provide creative and authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge through projects. With this book, teachers will get the guidance they need to help students engage in learning experiences that allow them to reflect on their level of knowledge and what they need to learn, while exploring topics that correspond with their interests. Instead of providing text-based slideshow presentations that students read off a screen, teachers will learn to guide students in creating tutorial videos, providing peer reviews, curating their own resources and participating in debates. The book: • Shows how to take the fear out of edtech projects and presentations, while helping educators solve the problem of finding time to develop and manage authentic projects. • Offers a blueprint for implementing high-quality strategies and lesson ideas in classes, with a plethora of practical resources to inspire students. • Demonstrates the importance of pedagogy before tech, with some activities highlighting a blend of hands-on learning and technology. • Aligns projects to the ISTE Standards, providing a road map for creating valuable opportunities to help students become successful lifelong learners. • Includes at least three project lesson plans in every chapter, with adaptations for brick-and-mortar and online learning; as well as templates and student examples. For those just beginning to implement projects in their classroom, this book provides a framework for getting started. For those who have been incorporating student projects successfully for years, this book provides fresh ideas and strategies to help students further develop as creative communicators.