Lessons Learned

We use the term “shift” to describe the process of moving our schools to “learning 2.0“. If you follow the learning 2.0 link to Wikipedia, you will be redirected to the “eLearning” page. This concept is definitely a fluid one! As you scan down the page, several Web 2.0 technologies are mentioned. A portion of the shift is moving our classrooms from ones mostly directed by teachers to ones driven by students. We use the term “teacher facilitators” who design learning opportunities which often involve the use of technology to connect students to each other and to the larger learning community. This shift is also towards designing curriculum that leads our students to learning outcomes that are being termed “21st century“ skills. A big part of these skills involve various literacies (information, visual, tool, etc.). The ICL standards for HKIS tie in nicely to these skills and literacies. Lots more can be writting about supporting student learning by using social networks and read/write online tools but the point of this post is to share how one school has made this shift.

I  recently visited with Brent Loken and Grant Ruskovich at the Hsinchu International School secondary level in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Brent showed me around the brand new facility sharing plans and ways the students would be designing how the classrooms and open spaces would be further used and enhanced. Project-based learning as well as student ownership of the facility is a big part of the school’s mission.

For those of us who sometimes struggle to make just small gains in shifting our schools, it was pretty incredible to see so much of what we believe in actually happening.  I found myself offering Brent an idea or two while asking questions about learning 2.0 instruction. It became humorous after a while with his response consistently being “yes, we are doing that”.

Here are a few of the highlights of the afternoon:

•    The school’s five learning outcomes are embedded into the regular curriculum with some classes having blogs where students reflect and rate how they are doing in meeting the school learning goals on a weekly basis.
•    Students are preparing the video that will be used when school adminstrators go to recruitment fairs.
•    Courses in the Upper School are called “learning expeditions” and last two years. Each is centered around a single essential question with second level ones guiding the various topics being covered.

I will be adding more information about HIS as I connect further with Brent.