What Did You Learn At School Today? We hear a lot these days about project based learning, inquiry based learning, etc… What does that mean? What does it look like when schools shift away from “drill and kill” learning towards big ideas, questions, and “no right answer” kind of learning? And what kind of questions can ‘we’ ask to support students in their learning? - Presented online for the 2013 Reform Symposium Conference on October 11th, 2013 See the presentation video here: http://2di.me/rsconpost

1. Shifting Learning:
What did You Learn at School Today?
Nothin’
http://2di.me/SortOfDunno
By David Truss @datruss
http://DavidTruss.com
http://2di.me/2dimes

2. Shifting Learning:
What did You Learn at School Today?

3. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?

4. How do you want students to respond to…
Shifting Learning:
What did You Learn at School Today?
Should their answers come from here?

5. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What do you want your students to say?
- What do you want your students to say?

6. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What do you want your students to say?
(Share your thoughts)

7. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What do you want your students to say?

8. Based on: Challenging the Status Quo: http://2di.me/ChallengeSQ

9. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What questions can you ask?
- What is important to you?
(What do you value?)
- What do you want students to share?

10. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What questions can you ask?
- What is important to you?
(What do you value?)
- What do you want students to share?
(We’ll get back to these questions)

11. About me and School District 43:
Vice Principal of Coquitlam Open
Learning - servicing online and blended
courses to about 4,000 school aged and
adult students.
http://online.sd43.bc.ca

12. About me andme and District 43:
About School SD43:
Lead Administrator for Inquiry Hub Secondary
School which provides students with:
• Blended instruction
• Reduced timetable structure
• A student-driven inquiry approach to
learning
http://inquiryhub.org

13. So what does iHub look like?
• Topical workshops instead of daily classes

14. So what does iHub look like?
• Use of extensive online learning resources

15. So what does iHub look like?
• Flexible assessment which allows for
a variety of ways to represent learning

16. So what does iHub look like?
• Small school, learning commons environment

17. So what does iHub look like?
• Dedicated Inquiry Time!

18. But my school doesn’t look like that!

19. But my school doesn’t look like that!
What can I do in my classroom?

20. What do we want to create?
An inquiry-driven, collaborative, and engaging
learning environment that incorporates these
aspects:
7 Ways to Transform Your Classroom http://2di.me/7trans4m

21. When students get to choose their own topics, with
guidance and support from their teachers, peers and
community members, these learners will produce
thoughtful, rich and compelling answers.
http://2di.me/1inquire

22. When students get to choose their own topics, with
guidance and support from their teachers, peers and
community members, these learners will produce
thoughtful, rich and compelling answers.
http://2di.me/1inquire
Which of these resources will you use to help
you develop some inquiry based projects?

23. Empower students to have choice…
What (and sometimes when) do the learn?
How will they be assessed?
Neon Mic by
fensterbme
http://2di.me/2voice

24. Empower students to have choice…
What (and sometimes when) do the learn?
How will they be assessed?
Neon Mic by
fensterbme
http://2di.me/2voice
Do my students own their own: (Learning)
• learning process
• learning environment
• learning products • learning assessment

25. An important skill to learn is how to
‘write to a specific audience’,
and there is no better way to promote this than to
give learners a legitimate audience for their work.
http://2di.me/3audience

26. An important skill to learn is how to
‘write to a specific audience’,
and there is no better way to promote this than to
give learners a legitimate audience for their work.
http://2di.me/3audience
What can you do to increase the audience
of your students’ work beyond the class
or just you, their teacher?

27. Collaboration is a learned skill that is essential
in today’s world. Have students
collaborate on projects that matter,
in many different communities.
http://2di.me/4collaboration

28. Collaboration is a learned skill that is essential
in today’s world. Have students
collaborate on projects that matter,
in many different communities.
http://2di.me/4collaboration
Who do you know in your community
(or your online network) that can
share their expertise with your students?

29. Provided students with many opportunities to be
designers, stewards and teachers.
Every student has the potential to lead!
http://2di.me/5leadership

30. Provided students with many opportunities to be
designers, stewards and teachers.
Every student has the potential to lead!
http://2di.me/5leadership
How can you create more authentic leadership
opportunities for your students in your class?

31. Play promotes discovery and invites the idea that we
can have fun learning, even from our mistakes.
Ingenuity and creativity are both sparked from an
environment that incorporates play into learning.
http://2di.me/6gamesengage

32. Play promotes discovery and invites the idea that we
can have fun learning, even from our mistakes.
Ingenuity and creativity are both sparked from an
environment that incorporates play into learning.
http://2di.me/6gamesengage
How can you embed ‘Game Design’
into your lessons?

33. A key principle in the new learning theory,
Connectivism, considers networks to be a central
metaphor for learning. Expose students to a
multitude of learning networks.
http://2di.me/7networks

34. A key principle in the new learning theory,
Connectivism, considers networks to be a central
metaphor for learning. Expose students to a
multitude of learning networks.
http://2di.me/7networks
What tools can you use to connect
students to learning that’s happening in
other physical and digital learning spaces?

35. Inquiry learning is ‘active’ learning…
Student driven
Students are provided an opportunity
explore and question on their own
(and also with the facilitation of a teacher).
Creating good questions and
coming up with thoughtful,
rich and compelling answers.

36. Inquiry learning is ‘active’ learning…
Student driven
Students are provided an opportunity
explore and question on their own
(and also with the facilitation of a teacher).
Creating good questions and
coming up with thoughtful,
rich and compelling answers.

37. Inquiry learning is ‘active’ learning…
Student driven
Students are provided an opportunity
explore and question on their own
(and also with the facilitation of a teacher).
Creating good questions and
coming up with thoughtful,
rich and compelling answers.

38. “Inquiry is not about the
pursuit of the perfect
question or the next exciting
project. It is about being
open to new learning and
taking informed action.”
http://2di.me/HalbertKaser
Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser
Inquiring learning environments:
New mindsets required, April 2012

39. What are our students doing?
http://2di.me/ihubgarden

40. What are our students doing?
Current inquiries include:
• Designing 3D models to scale
• Improving writing in different genres
• Developing a commercial glass recycling program
• Inventing a vortex water fountain
• Studying game theory and human behavior
• Creating a mural with community influence
• Building a mirokernel (coding)
• Constructing aquaponic and hydroponic gardens
• Promoting healthy eating

41. What are our students doing?
Current inquiries include:
• Designing 3D models to scale
• Improving writing in different genres
• Developing a commercial glass recycling program
• Inventing a vortex water fountain
• Studying game theory and human behavior
• Creating a mural with community influence
• Building a mirokernel (coding)
• Constructing aquaponic and hydroponic gardens
• Promoting healthy eating

42. What are our students doing?
Current inquiries include:
• Designing 3D models to scale
• Improving writing in different genres
• Developing a commercial glass recycling program
• Inventing a vortex water fountain
• Studying game theory and human behavior
• Constructing a mural with community influence
• Building a mirokernel (coding)
• Creating aquaponic and hydroponic gardens
• Promoting healthy eating

43. And some of them will fail…

44. And some of them will fail…
(Or at least I hope so!)

45. And some of them will fail…
(Or at least I hope so!)
Because if none of them did…
Then we didn’t push them hard enough!

46. By David Truss
http://2di.me/fail2learn

47. “To teach is to model
and demonstrate,
to learn is to
practice and reflect.”
Stephen Downes
‘Push-ups’ by Ann Truss

48. http://2di.me/inquirypoints

49. (Students learning about learning.)

50. “We have been defining learning according to
what is to be learned… while what learners in fact
want is not to learn per se but rather to do.”
Stephen Downes
‘Father and son surf lesson in Morro Bay, CA 11 of 12’ by mikebaird on flickr

52. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What do you want your students to say?
(Share your thoughts)

53. How do you want students to respond to…
What did You Learn at School Today?
- What do you want your students to say?

54. Extending the learning
beyond the classroom…
How can you inform parents and get
them to support what you do?

55. Can parents ask better questions than…
What did You Learn at School Today?
If they ONLY ask:
Do you want your answer from here?

56. Can parents ask better questions than…
What did You Learn at School Today?
If they ONLY ask:
What mark did you get on your test?
-orHow much homework do you have?
-orDo you want your answer from here?
How did your team do in today’s game?

57. Can parents ask better questions than…
What did You Learn at School Today?
If they ONLY ask:
What mark did you get on your test?
-orHow much homework do you have?
-orDo you want your answer from here?
How did your team do in today’s game?
What are they telling their child is important?

58. What did You Learn at School Today?
- What questions can you ask?
- What is important to you?
(What do you value?)
- What do you want students to share?

59. What did You Learn at School Today?
- What questions can you ask?
- What is important to you?
(What do you value?)
- What do you want students to share?
What do your students
‘do’ at school?

60. What do students ‘do’ at school?
Learn how to learn?
What was your biggest challenge today?
Show compassion?
Who did you help today?
Enjoy learning?
What was your favourite part of the day?
What questions did you ask today?

61. What do students ‘do’ at school?
Learn how to learn?
What was your biggest challenge today?
Show compassion?
Who did you help today?
Enjoy learning?
What was your favourite part of the day?
What questions did you ask today?

62. What do students ‘do’ at school?
Learn how to learn?
What was your biggest challenge today?
Show compassion?
Who did you help today?
http://2di.me/whodidyouhelp
Enjoy learning?
What was your favourite part of the day?
What questions did you ask today?

63. What do students ‘do’ at school?
Learn how to learn?
What was your biggest challenge today?
Show compassion?
Who did you help today?
http://2di.me/whodidyouhelp
Enjoy learning?
What was your favourite part of the day?
What questions did you ask today?

64. What did You Learn at School Today?
Nothin’
http://2di.me/SortOfDunno
Shifting Learning:
What kind of answers do you want?

65. Shifting Learning:
What did You Learn at School Today?
By David Truss @datruss
http://DavidTruss.com http://2di.me/2dimes