Multi-pronged approach is a proven method to impart 21st ... fileMulti-pronged approach is a proven method to impart 21st Century skills and prepare students for success in education,

Multi-pronged approach is a proven method to impart 21st Century skills and prepare students for success in education,

and as productive workers and informed citizens later in life, able to live and work in an interdependent, global, knowledge society.

www.globalskillslearning.com

Deep

Learning

Technology

Learning

Environments

Practitioners

Network and

Community

Partnered

Classes

Teachers

and

21st Century Skills

and College Readiness Model Implementing Knowledge Building in

PreK – 12 Education Deep Learning/21st Century Skills + Technology-enhanced Learning

Environments + A Community of Practitioners + Partnered Learning Environments

Index Component #1 of KBIA module: Deep Learning / 21st Century Skills

Component #2 of KBIA module: Technology-enhanced Learning Environments

Component #3 of KBIA module: A Community of Practitioners

Component #4 of KBIA module: Partnernered Learning Environments

What is KBIA – The “Content vs Skill” Debate in K12 education

Clarion Call – Transforming Classrooms into Vibrant Learning Labs

A Primer – Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

College Readiness and Academic Success

21st Century Skills

The “Four Cs” of 21st Century Skills - Hallmarks of CSCL inside and outside the classroom

Engagement in Reality-Centered Projects Produce Theme-based Learning

KBIA - A Technology-Enhanced Solution

Theory Behind the Practice: 12 Knowledge-Building Principles

A Technology-based Solution With A History

The International Connection

KBIA Objectives

Blueprint For Knowledge-Building Classrooms, Students and Teachers

Knowledge Building in Action Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Model K-12 Education

Deep Learning

for

College Readiness

and Acquiring

21st Century Skills

Community of

Practice for

Educators

with Training,

Ongoing

Professional

Development

and Mentoring

Technology-

Enhanced Pedgagoy,

Methodology and

Tools for Learning in

Small Groups

Partnering classrooms world-

wide for students to interact with

presentations of online

collaborations, and educators to

interact with their colleagues to

improve teaching practices

Formative Assessments

in Real Time of

Academic Achievement

and Student Learning /

Teaching Efficiency

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making

Creativity and Innovation

Learning to Learn, Metacognition Ways of Working

Collaboration (Teamwork)

Tools for Working

Information Literacy

Information and Communication

Technology Literacy

Living / Working in the Knowledge Society

Citizenship – Local and Global

Life and Career

Personal and Social Responsibility

Small group and project-based learning with

online collaborations between students

Summer Institutes, Videoconferencing and

Virtual Interactions Between Educators

Internet-based platform supporting knowledgeware

and work spaces

Internet-enabled embedded assessment tools and Java applets

Regularly-Scheduled Videoconferences and

Summer Institutes

Contact: Phone: (1) (786) 975-6149 * Email: [email protected] * www.globalskillslearning.com

21st Century Skills

www.youtube.com/user/KBIACSILE?feature=mhee

Watch knowledge building in action - a must see for anyone interested in bringing Knowledge Building pedagogy into PreK-12 learning environ-ments: in school classrooms, special education, after-school programs…

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.youtube.com/user/KBIACSILE?feature=mhee

KBIA – Knowledge Building in Action

Deeper learning delivers the 21st Century skills and

knowledge students will need to succeed in a world that

is changing at an unprecedented pace.....

Deep Learning is the jewel in the KBIA approach, promoting a series of skills

that enable students to go beyond basic skills and support their mastery of core

academic content, in the process acquiring 21st Century skills - thinking critically,

solving complex problems, working collaboratively, communicating effectively,

and learning independently. These will prepare students to be successful in school,

and later in life, become productive workers and informed citizens able to join the

workforce of an interdependent, global knowledge society.

Knowledge building attempts to transform learning and teaching in today´s

classrooms through the effective use of technology to support highly-researched

pedagogical strategies for teaching, learning and assessment of academic

achievement and teaching efficiency. Knowledge building moves forward

effective educational practices in PreK-12 learning environments that promote

critical thinking, innovation and creativity rather than focusing on memorization

techniques and removing any context from the acquisition of knowledge. We

have seen the success of these stragtegies in classrooms around the world; the

time has come to bring the model, one that is scalable, economical and readily

implemented, to U.S. classrooms to nuture our students in their academic pursuits

and prepare them for success as students and as global citizens.

1

Deep Learning

21st Century Skills – the

“4Cs” of today´s education:

Critical Thinking

Creativity and Innovation

Collaboration

Communication


Vibrant living labs – collaborative learning environments

where students are motivated and have a reason to learn.....

The Knowledge Building Paradigm promotes engagement in reality-

centered projects, theme-based learning and activities situated in real-life and

life-like contexts as ways to engage students in meaningful learning. Discourse

becomes collaborative problem solving rather than memorization, and the use of

knowledgeware and ICTs support the constructive use of authoritative

information.

Knowledge-building activities take place around themes that are aligned with

the curriculum and standards. They are applicable to a wide variety of subject

matters and engage students in hands-on learning. The knowledge-building

methodology focuses on ideas, providing smart exercises for applying knowledge

to new situtations and where students learn to work collaboratively with others.

Knowlege building involves creative, sustained work with ideas, where the

overarching objective is to work collaboratively to improve those ideas. Because

knowledge building reflects the work of small groups, every student in the group

must contribute to the discourse and to the database.

Knowledge building is appropriate for PreK12 education, and can involve

students from as young as 3-4 years of age all the way to high school seniors and

beyond. KB students develop competencies, master content, increase their

literacy skills and improve their language usage because they are constantly

reading and writing..They also come to see themselves and their work as part of a

society-wide effort to advance knowledge frontiers.

2

Technology-enhanced

Learning

Environments

High-researched pedagogy

and methodology, with

embedded tools to prompt

learning and assess academic

achievement and teaching

efficiency.


KBIA´s Community of Practitioners is ongoing and collaborative. When we

find motivated educators – teachers, faculty, staff, administrators, principals and

superintendents - we nurture them and aim to reward them with personal and

and professional opportunities to capacitate them to contribute toward transforming

their schools into 21st Century learning organizations. At KBIA, we organize venues for

training on highly-researched pedagogy and methodology and the use of the tools to

assess academic achievement.We foster collaboration with other KB teachers and

administrators in offering mentoring opportunities to learn from each other, share

material and discuss important issues such as assessments, classroom management, and

ways to address socio-economic barriers to accessing education and improving

outcomes. The project also supports Peer-to-Peer University, distance learning, and

videoconferencing.

In a knowledge-building learning environments inside and outside the classroom,

teachers act as facilitators to enable students to use technology to become better

information seekers, analysts, problem-solvers and communicators. The KBIA model

adheres to guidelines set forth by UNESCO that establish ICT Competency Standards for

Teachers, qualifications that allow teachers to integrate ICT into their teaching and

learning while advancing student learning. UNESCO´s Competency Framework for

Teachers Project combines ICT skills with emergent views in pedagogy, curriculum and

school organization. The overall objective is to improve teacher practice in a way that

contributes to a higher quality education system that can, in turn, produce a better-

informed citizenry and higher quality workforce. These contribute to advancing a

community´s economic and social development.

3

The role of the teacher in KBIA is of utmost importance in a

knowledge-building classroom, where they serve as leaders,

motivators and facilitators...... A Community of

Practitioners

KBIA network supports training,

professional development and

mentoring. Online consultations

with content and methodology

experts, and a repository of tools,

materials and shared resources.


The world is shrinking, and it is paramount that we prepare

our children to become global citizens in an interdependent

knowledge society.....

KBIA´s Partnered Classrooms Project networks our knowledge-building

students with others across the U.S. and around the world. Students work together on

a common theme each school cycle, where they can do research, contribute notes in

the database and present their findings through regularly-scheduled videoconferences.

By stimulating a geographically-diverse working environment among students, KBIA

is encouraging cultural awareness while developing self-awareness in students.

Participating in a world-wide network gives international exposure to local issues,

offering a globalocal lens through which students study different disciplines and

academic subjects. KB students get to work with other students around the

world, building bridges and establishing the basis for international cooperation.

They can improve foreign language skills along with enhanced learning about other

people and their geography, history and culture. Thus, they are able to cultivate

respect and an expanded understanding of others, appreciate differences and find

common values, thus creating a bond and a good start for understanding the

importance of co-exsistence toward building a basis for international citizenry.

Each year, partnered knowledge-building classrooms participating in the KBIP – the

Knowledge Building International Project - have an opportunity to come together for

a hands-on Summer Institute hosted by one of the knowledge-building schools to

provide in-country support. The students are divided into age-appropriate groups to

conduct hands-on research, work in the knowledge-building platform, and present

their findings to each other and to outside groups and organizations.

4

Partnered

Learning

Environments

Videoconferencing

for interactions

between students

in partnered class-

rooms and between

teachers for mentor-

ing opportunities.

Knowledge Building in Action (KBIA) is a 4-pronged approach – deep learning supported by technology and a shift in

learning and teaching, with components for professional development and partnered classrooms – to impart 21st Century

skills and promote college readiness while improving learning outcomes. KBIA takes advantage of highly-researched pedagogy and

technology to address NetGen educational requirements and arm children and teens with the same skills they will need for success

in college and later in life.

Today’s knowledge society requires students to develop skills at an early age to achieve

success in a technology-driven, global economy. Or perhaps it is that students need skills

and a different kind of knowledge in order to excel in today´s society. It is a fact that

young people are so used to technology, which has successfully engaged them in learning

in a different way than in days gone by. That same technology is forcing teachers to

change their methods in order to be effective facilitators of students being able to

transform information into knowledge. What is clearly needed is a learning process that

is not simply a pedagogy to facilitate students acquiring facts and information alone.

Despite which side one falls on the information/skill debate line currently raging in

education reform, everyone agrees that students need both content and analytical skills

to succeed in the 21st Century. With knowledge building, students get both.

Clarion Call For Transformation In K12 Education We read and hear a lot about top thinkers in the educational reform debate – luminaries

from the fields of education, public policy, and philanthropy, as well as business looking

for skilled workers - weighing in with their ideas regarding what kind of reform would

make the biggest impact for students and teachers. While their recommendations converge

around myriad important issues, one issue seems to be receiving prominent attention – that of promoting deeper learning and the

teaching of so-called “21st Century” skills as a way to prepare students to be successful - as students in post-secondary education

and as productive workers and informed citizens later in life.


Do students need to master content or develop learning skills to succeed?

In a knowledge-building classroom, they get both!

5

What is KBIA? Weighing In On The “Content vs Skill” Debate in K12 Education

But little has changed in our education system in over a

century – or two. Behaviorist learning theory in U.S.

education fomented the growth of direct instruction

and explicit teaching of a skill-set using lectures or

material demonstrations, rather than exploratory models

such as inquiry-based learning. In this education system,

adequate for last century´s factory era, testing evaluated

a student´s abilities, aptitudes or performance based on

a specific kind of memorization-based intelligence.

Thus, students were rewarded with good grades based

on how well they memorized.

Our society has transitioned from an agrarian society

of the 19th century and an industrial society of the

20th century to the information society of the 21st

Century, yet our education system remains the same –

analog learning for digital living. The delivery of

standardized content by stand-alone teachers, who

are expected to do uniform work in self-contained

classrooms has become obsolete. We need to trans-

form K12 classrooms into vibrant learning labs and

effective mechanisms to prepare young people as

successful students, and later in life, as productive

workers and informed citizens in an interdependent,

global economy that the 21st Century knowledge

society has become.

KBIA – Knowledge Building in Action 6

Since the beginning of schooling in the U.S., the role of the teacher was to transmit a

fixed body of knowledge and skills to engage students in predictable careers and pursuits.

By innovating teaching and learning for today´s technology-infused, global knowledge

society, students are being groomed for a world that has changed drastically, more so over

the past 50 years than other times in human history. Eric Hoffer said it best: “In a time of

drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.” But what future awaits students

who find themselves, “equipped to live in a world that no longer exists?”

Today, we are at a tipping point that compels us to abandon learning environments that

were designed to meet the needs of an isolationistic, factory-era industrial economy.

Thriving in a global economy fueled by innovation and creativity will require us to

transform classrooms into knowledge-creating communities and collaborative learning

environments that foster the creation and continual improvement of community

knowledge. These will provide students of the 21st Century with the skills and knowledge

they will need to be able to live and work in the information society, and education plays

a critical and ever-increasing important role in developing these needed skills.

Knowledge building represents an attempt to refashion education in a fundamental way,

so that collaborative learning becomes a coherent effort to initiate students into a

knowledge-creating culture. At Knowledge Building in Action, we believe that we must

return to the roots of pedagogy, which literally translated from the Greek means "to lead

the child". Knowledge-building teachers lead their students in the search for knowledge.


The introduction of information technology into schools has necessitated changes in

pedagogy, and knowledge-building teachers are adopting new methods of teaching

facilitated by new technology. They are ahead of the curve in adapting their teaching

methods to conform with available knowledgeware and computer-based ICTs. And

they are doing so while still meeting the requirements of teaching standards.

We live, learn and work in an increasingly complex,

information-rich world and NetGen students populate

the 21st-century classroom. Unique thought patterns

of these “digital natives”, who have grown up around

an increased use of and familiarity with media, com-

munications and technology, require changes and

shifts in learning and teaching: from instruction to

construction and discovery; from teacher as a transmitter

to teacher as a facilitator; from teacher-centered to

learner-centered education.

Teachers need to be able to engage students in more

challenging and relevant ways of truly absorbing

information, and students need opportunities for

greater exploration of implications for their continued

academic growth; they need smarter exercises for applying

content knowledge to new situations and learn to work

collaboratively with others. These are the hallmarks of a

research community, the skills employers are seeking for

their workforce, and critical factors that advance a country´s

economic and social development. These are the important

skills young people need to be successful in all aspects of

life.

With KBIA, both content and skills acquisition are possible,

and the KBIA module is available for implementation in

any classroom with an Internet connection, regardless of

geopolitical location or socioeconomic status of the

classroom, and is currently available in a wide range of

languages.


Implementing KBIA in elementary and

secondary school classrooms constitutes a

viable way to reverse the disastrous decline of

education in the U.S., or provide the impetus

for improved education in other countries

around the world.

The KBIA module is a technology-based

solution that is easily scalable and affordable.

The KBIA module can work within existing

education systems as well

as in new education models. KBIA curricula

promotes learning in a wide range of

disciplines, can be aligned with standards, and

can easily harmonize learning objectives.

KBIA plants the seeds of 21st Century skills

that will spring to life in post-secondary

education by giving students a solid

experience in knowledge building. The

module has an important teacher training

component that allows teachers to imple-ment

knowledge-building collaborative learning

environments in their classrooms.

A Primer - Knowledge Building Pedagogy KBIA proposes to redesign teaching and learning to become a relevant form of

education for meeting 21st Century needs. By implementing a highly-researched

pedagogy that supports the educational rigor needed to promote deeper under-

standing, the knowledge-building pedagogy promotes the mastery of academic

content by students while arming them with the skills they need to become

independent learners.

KBIA takes a multiple-pronged approach to improving educational outcomes in

elementary- and secondary-school students:


Technology Partnered Classroooms

Community of Practitioners

Deep Learning and 21st Century Skills –

Knowledge building pedagogy induces motivation

to learn, improves learners´ higher order thinking

(e.g. critical thinking and problem-solving), and fosters

personal development (e.g. communication skills,

interpersonal skills and lifelong learning attitudes). KBIA

activity is a project-based methodology that promotes deeper learning and provides

students with a reason to learn.

Technology – The knowledge-building pedagogy takes place within a technology-enhanced

environment where the class is broken up into small groups - knowledge-building teams -

that form collaborative learning environments with constructivism underpinnings to develop

collaborative inquiry abilities. Here, students can engage in personally- and educationally-

meaningful activities, share information, launch collaborative investigations and build networks

of new ideas with the help of knowledgeware hosted on an Internet-enabled platform. The

group configuration of the classroom is a great classroom management tool, too. This is

because knowledge building engages every student in the discourse needed to contribute

toward the group building knowledge around a given subject in the curriculum, and

provides a viable solution to the problem of class size, weighing in on the class size-

versus-student achievement debate.


A Community of Practitioners - The role of the teacher in KBIA is of utmost importance in

a knowledge-building classroom, where a shift toward the use of ICTs (Information and Communication

Technologies) does not obviate the need for teachers to serve as leaders, motivators and facilitators.

KBIA does not purport to replace teachers but rather enhance traditional teacher leadership skills and

practices that maintain their importance, especially those related to lesson planning, preparation and

follow-up. Therefore, an important component of our approach involves progressive stages of professional

development that become the cornerstone of the KBIA model the buttress on which knowledge-building

learning environments are supported. Initial teacher training in the use of the technology and methodology

and ongoing peer-to-peer training and mentorship of new KBIA teachers and administrators are key to our

success. KBIA supports an online portal for interactions and access to a repository of material.

Partnered classrooms – An important impetus for developing international relations at an early age, KBIA

students work with their partnered classrooms around the world on a common theme, use a common data

base, and present their findings via videoconferencing and face-to-face meetings.

The KBIA approach to new learning and new teaching for 21st Century skills supports an important building block for college readiness - the

“big ideas” in the area of content. Knowledge building involves creative, sustained work with ideas around authentic questions and problems,

where the overarching objective is to work collaboratively to improve those ideas. KBIA´s big idea is to put into practice highly-researched

theories about learning and teaching that improve outcomes.

Knowledge building is a deliberate effort to increase "cultural capital", forms of knowledge, skills, education and advantages that give people

a higher status in society. In the process of engaging in knowledge-building activities, students are able to create new knowledge or at a

minimum master the content of the subject matter being discussed in their small group learning environment.

Knowledge Building for College Readiness Knowledge building pedagogy induces motivation to learning while promoting collaboration. The range of cognitive and meta-cognitive

capabilities, often described as “key cognitive strategies,” have been identified by those who teach entry-level college courses as being as

important or more important than any specific content taught in high school. Also identified as perhaps the most important academic skills most

closely associated with college success are those of reading and writing, skills that are practiced and honed through the use of the knowledge

building methodology. Research indicates these to be important key elements of college success and critical for college readiness.


Research shows that if students are prepared to succeed in college entry level courses, they will

most likely be able to cope with the full range of college courses they can encounter throughout

their academic studies. But in order to prepare students for college readiness, we cannot wait

until they are approaching college age to prepare them for college success. We must start

arming them at an early age with the skills and

knowledge they will need for post-secondary

education, and facilitate the process of them

becoming independent learners able to fully

participate in collaborative learning

communities. The idea of community, after all,

is important to all human beings, who are, for

the most part, very social creatures.

To be successful in school, students must be able to learn based on a broad set of

competencies: the ability to be good, analytical readers of oftentimes complex materials;

skilled at seeking out information and researching answers to problems; the ability to

distinguish between useful and irrelevant material. Students – and future professionals

alike - need to use these skills to learn quickly, under pressure, and on their own, to

handle the challenges of academic study and demands of the labor market later in life.

Attitudes and behavior are attributes also needed to succeed in college, among which

study skills, time management, awareness of one’s performance, persistence, and the

ability to utilize study groups are important attributes also imparted by participation in

knowledge building collaborative learning environments. But these skills are learned,

not automatically acquired, and knowledge building facilitates the learning of these

skills — the sooner the better, to capture natural curiosity, creativity and innovative

thinking of young minds before being entrenched in obsolete learning methods and ineffecient learning environments like, where

there is little reason to learn and even less motivation to innovate and be creative.

College Readiness “The level of preparation a student needs in order

to enroll and succeed — without remediation — in a credit-bearing

general education course at a post-secondary institution that

offers a baccalaureate degree or transfers to a

baccalaureate program.”

College Success “Completing entry level courses

at a level of understanding and proficiency that makes it

possible for the student to consider taking the next course in the sequence or the next level of course in the subject area.”


The Four Cs (critical thinking, creativity and innovation, communication, collaboration) of 21st Century Skills are the hallmarks of knowledge-building classrooms

The four “Cs” of 21st Century skills have replaced the three “Rs” of

yesterday´s education model to prepare today´s students for tomorrow´s

challenges. These skills can be acquired through participation in a

knowledge-building classroom where students aim toward knowledge

creation, which encompasses invention, innovation, and creative additions

to the supply of useful knowledge and ideas. In knowledge-building

classrooms, students learn to work collaboratively, in small groups, to

probe issues around authentic questions that lead to solutions of real

problems. Students engage in discussions with each other to advance

knowledge on shared problems of understanding. In contrast to the

13


traditional concern of education where teachers impart knowledge that

is then situated within the individual mind, knowledge building

prompts collaborative learning that becomes public knowledge, which

can itself become an object of inquiry and the basis for further knowledge building endeavors. Thus, a knowledge-

building dynamic exists that drives the continual creation, refinement and advancement of new knowledge.

Learning in a knowledge-building classroom is centered on advancing the knowledge of the group as a whole, as

opposed to traditional learning directed toward increasing an individual’s knowledg, in a collaborative learning

environment. Schools can become important agents of change to increase society’s capacity for knowledge creation by

transforming their classrooms into knowledge-creating communities. These communities will support collaborative

learning environments that foster the creation and continual improvement of community knowledge.

Engagement in reality-centered projects produce theme-based learning.

The knowledge-building paradigm promotes engagement in reality-centered projects,

theme-based learning and activities situated in real-life and life-like contexts as ways to

engage students in meaningful learning. Discourse becomes collaborative problem solving

rather than memorization, and the use of knowledgeware and ICTs support the constructive

use of authoritative information.

KB involves students from as young as 3-4 years of age all the way to high school seniors

Knowledge-building students not only develop competencies and increased literacy skills

but also come to see themselves and their work as part of a society-wide effort to advance knowledge frontiers.

Knowledge-building activities around themes are applicable to a wide variety of subject matters. Take, for example, a

common theme of water – of vital importance to everyone on this planet. History students may explore how great

civilizations were formed around water sources and the conquest of societies made possible by navigation on the seas

and oceans. Social studies lessons might focus on how governments have an obligation to supply clean water for their

citizens. Biology students could learn about what constitutes a healthy river that contributes to a healthy community.

The applications are endless!

14 KBIA – Knowledge Building in Action

Multidisciplinary learning that is relevant to a student´s life -

Effective educators must meet the challenges of facilitating the learning of a

multi-diverse, multi-lingual and multi-cultural student population. The KBIA

model increases high school graduation rates and decrease secondary school

drop-out rates by engaging students in multi-disciplinary learning that is

relevant to their lives.

One of the key innovations in this approach is the use of linkages to core

subjects with common themes across multiple disciplines. Blended project-

based learning is common in KBIA CSCL environments, where students can

explore subject matters from difference perspectives. The following exemplifies

the linkages that can be made:

In this scenario, teachers ranging from 2nd grade through high school, align their core subjects with a common theme

(sustainability in this case) and can easily include hands-on learning components (such as growing seedlings or herbs),

local issues (such as sourcing foods locally), global awareness (such as reducing carbon footprints), and can adapt

learning to suit specific situations (rural vs. urban settings, ethnic populations, etc.). This approach encourages and

supports teacher innovation, and aligns studies with real-world experience, providing more relevance, depth and

complexity, and fostering a deeper understanding of the subject. At the same time, teachers and students become working

and contributing members of a larger community linked by a common goal on common ground, mitigating barriers such

as geographic favorability, gender biases and poverty.


Another innovation is making learning relevant to students. We can also see from the case study below how engagement in

hands-on activities changes not only the student but the teacher as well.

CASE STUDY: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Studying Math….. Welcome to the ninth grade math class of Mr. Hamilton, working with his students on improving the long jump for an upcoming sports competition. Students create digital media that trace their practice sessions, and by watching their videotaped performances in long-jump trials and comparing their performance to grids and charts, students study important math and physics concepts - angles, momentum and distance. They also study physiology and begin to understand how muscles work, learn how nutrition contributes toward the formation and maintenance of healthy muscles, and can work together in small groups to share their ideas on how to improve their long jump and increase their distance. This multidisciplinary approach to learning has a direct impact on a focused subject matter or discipline and on complementary areas of studies as well. The case study demonstrates how small group exercises allow an entire class to master math and physics concepts of the content being studied in a standards-based curriculum while also learning complementary aspects of biology and life sciences. Students not only acquire a deeper understanding of the subject matter, they perform better all around on tests. Mr. Hamilton´s students are motivated to learn because they are studying THEIR muscles, THEIR performance and THEIR potential. Many of the students in Mr. Hamilton´s class volunteer to become peer tutors to work alongside their teacher, to produce digital media that reflect the curriculum and standards that high school students are expected to master. Mr. Hamilton taps into his own creative potential by overseeing the production of content tailored to his students. Under the status quo of teaching, mathematics teachers are expected to be content conveyors, following pre-defined curriculum in preparation for accountability tests; they are not expected to be creative in producing content. Knowledge building pedagogy allows the creativity and Innovation of both teacher and student to be maximized in the classroom setting.


A third innovation of the model is that students working in KBIA CSCL environments come to see themselves and

their work as part of a global community with common problems that transcend geography and nationalities. When

students work collaboratively with peers and become contributors to a world-wide

network, they learn to evaluate problems from a societal point of view and

apply an “act locally/think globally” mindset to problem resolution. With

the KBIA CSCL model, students consider real-world, authentic issues,

researching and acquiring knowledge from authoritative sources.

Working in small groups or teams, they are able to theorize, propose,

and evaluate solutions. This methodology is the same as that used by

advanced research organizations and businesses to develop new ideas,

create new technologies, and solve real-world problems. Learning to

apply a societal view and scientific approach to problem solving arms

students with the 21st Century skills needed to prosper in a global society.

Classrooms are partnered, and through regularly-scheduled videoconferencing,

students are able to share the results of their research and online collaboration.

They present their multi-media presentations such as videos, power points, charts, graphs and pictures to their

partnered classroom and develop a relationship with their peers to learn from one another. Likewise, Teachers are

partnered with more experienced knowledge-

building educators to be mentored. By becomming

members of the KBIA Community of Practice, they

are able to network to share experiences, access

resources and material, and also learn from one

another.









Users can build on, reference, or annotate each other´s ideas by contributing notes to the database.





KBIA Portal supports a digital workspace that serves to archive

resources such as documents, classroom material, etc. The community forum

function allows teachers to chat with experts in content or duties. For example,

if a 7th grade biology teacher wants advice on class instruction, he or she can

enter the corresponding chart forum. Likewise, school administrators, principals

and other non-teaching staff have an opportunity to chat with experts about

school administration and other non-teaching issues. Finally, there are sections

for news and a repository of materials like best practices and case studies, and a

mechanism to disseminate other important information, a calendar for KBIA-

related events, those about happenings in the field, funding deadlines for

classroom material, continued professional development, awards, etc.


Successful Knowledge Buiding is based on the 12 characteristic hallmarks of collaborative

learning discourse, referred to as knowledge building principles. Two decades of research on knowledge building (KB) —

defined as “the production and continual improvement of ideas of value to a community”—

with the “community” referring to student groups — show that students at all ages can

work collaboratively to build new knowledge.

In a knowledge building classroom, learners are concerned with understanding, based on their real problems in the real world. Ideas produced or appropriated are real, and pro- lems are ones that learners really care about — usually very different from textbook problems and puzzles.

Real Ideas, Authentic Problems

All ideas are treated as improvable. Participants work continuously to improve the quality, coherence, and utility of ideas. For such work to prosper, the culture must be one of psychological safety, so that people feel safe in taking risks — revealing ignorance, voicing half- baked notions, giving and receiving criticism.

Improvable Ideas

Idea diversity is essential to the development of knowledge advancement. To understand an idea is to understand the ideas that surround it, including those that stand in contrast to it. Idea diversity creates a rich environment for ideas to evolve into new and more refined forms.

Idea Diversity

Epistemic Agency

Community Knowledge, Collective Responsibility

Students themselves find their way in order to advance. Participants set forth their ideas and negotiate a fit between personal ideas and ideas of others, using contrasts to spark and sustain knowledge advancement rather than depending on others to chart that course for them. They deal with problems of goals, motivation, evaluation, and long-range planning that are normally left to teachers or managers.

Students' contribution to improving their collective knowledge in the classroom is the primary purpose of the Knowledge Building classroom. Contributions to shared, top-level goals of the organization are prized and rewarded as much as individual achievements. Team members produce ideas of value to others and share responsibility for the overall advancement of knowledge in the community.

Theory behind the Practice


All individuals are invited to contribute to the knowledge advancement in the classroom and all participants are legitimate contributors to the shared goals of the community; all take pride in knowledge advances achieved by the group. All are empowered to engage in knowledge innovation.

Democratizing Knowledge

Knowledge building is not confined to particular occasions or subjects but pervades mental life — in and out of school.

Symmetric Knowledge Advance

All members, including the teacher, sustain inquiry as a natural approach to support their understanding.To know a discipline is to be in touch with the present state and growing edge of knowledge in the field. This requires respect and understanding of authoritative sources, combined with a critical stance toward them.

Pervasive Knowledge Building

Constructive Uses Of Authoritative Sources

Knowledge Building Discourse Students are engaged in discourse to share with each other, and to improve the knowledge advancement in the classroom.The discourse

Students take a global view of their understanding, then decide how to approach their assessments. They create and engage in assessments in a variety of ways. Assessment is part of the effort to advance knowledge, used to identify problems as the work proceeds and embedded in the day-to-day workings of the organization. The community engages in its own internal assessment, which is both more fine-tuned and rigorous than external assessment, and serves to ensure that the community’s work will exceed the expectations of external assessors.

A goal for Knowledge building communities is to have individuals and organizations actively working to provide a reciprocal advance of their knowledge. Expertise is distributed within and between communities. Symmetry in knowledge advancement results from knowledge exchange and from the fact that to give knowledge is to get knowledge.

of knowledge building communities results in more than the sharing of knowledge; the knowledge itself is refined and transformed through the discursive practices of the community, having the advancement of knowledge as their explicit goal.

Embedded, Concurrent and Transformative Assessment

Rise Above Through a sustained improvement of ideas and understanding, students create higher level concepts.Creative knowledge building entails working toward more inclusive principles and higher-level formulations of problems. Learning to work with diversity, complexity and messiness results in new syntheses. By moving to higher planes of understanding knowledge builders transcend trivialities and over-simplifications and move beyond current best practices.


Utilizing the knowledge-building learning cycle in the

classroom can lead to a new form of professionalism

that is continuous and sustainable, enhancing the ability

of teachers to influence transformative outcomes.

Assessment tools can be applied to the evaluation of

academic achievement by the individual student, of an

entire class, or of teaching efficacy by giving a universal

view of how the class is achieving learning objectives.

UNESCO has acknowledged the importance of preparing

teachers to provide technology-supported learning

opportunities for their students, and have developed

standards to identify, develop and evaluate learning

materials and teacher training programs in the use of

ICT in teaching and learning. Teachers trained in the

KBIA model adhere to UNESCO guidelines on ICT

Competency Standards.

. Further support for widespread adoption of

the knowledge-building module.....

.


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So…..

how do we get computer-supported collaborative learning, technology and methodology into the classroom, analyze data for formative assessments, and supporting ongoing professional development?

If we want knowledge building to bring about systemic change to have important implications for curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development, we need to involve students, teachers, parents and school administrators. We also need to engage in nonpartisan advocacy among community members, government regulators and policymakers through briefings, grassroots, the media, and social media outlets. And, recognizing that it does take a whole village to raise a child, that education is intricately entwined with myriad social and human service issues, and that we will not find success by working in a vacuum, we must join forces with like-minded and complementary organizations, people and institutions to work toward real, long-lasting and relevant education reform and address some of the root problems that prevent children from learning. We need to cultivate the “Can Do” Spirit in Education by refusing the status-quo thinking by carefully – and deliberately –

fostering respectful, trusting and collaborative relationships, think big and organize people around the big ideas. We must recruit good teachers who can become great KB facilitators. We need to find teachers and school administrators who believe that the time has come to move away from the norms that governed factory-era schools and embrace those that prepare students with 21st Century skills, breaking with the teaching practices and traditions of the past to embrace technology. And we need to energize them to overcome the resistance they will receive from vested interests as they attempt to modernize an outdated and obsolete education system.

When we find good KB educators – teachers, faculty, administrators, principals, and superintendents - we must nurture

them, train them, and reward them with personal and professional opportunities to participate in transforming their schools into 21st century learning organizations. We must organize for them venues, tools and opportunities to collaborate with other KB teachers and administrators to learn from each other, share material and discuss important issues such as assessments, classroom management, and ways to address socio-economic barriers to accessing education and improving outcomes. Finally, we will have to engage innovative and enlightened funders to help defray the costs in the short-term for long-term gains, and mount a convincing public policy campaign to educate our elected officials that the time for implementing knowledge building in the classroom has come, to prepare our children to become tomorrow´s leaders.

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KBIA objectives:

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Components of the knowledge-building classroom blueprint for success:

Train the educator in methodology and applications with hands-on learning sessions sessions and ongoing mentoring to master the knowledgeware platform and other technology. Prepare teachers to become facilitators in the use of technology in the classroom Assure technology compliance in the classroom with adequate computers, Internet connections, web cams, white boards and other tools. Secure the license needed to utilize the knowledgeware platform and create the data base that will be used as the basis for knowledge-building activities. Establish the servers or secure a hosting service that will house the data bases. Get to work with the students to create the data base, do the research and engage in exciting knowledge building activities. Network with other KB teachers, share ideas and materials, get your community involved, and pursue professional development opportunities. Attend conferences ,workshops, and the annual Summer Institute, where the extended community of knowledge builders can come together to share achievements, set a course for future developments, and interact with both newcomer and veteran knowledge builders to view and discuss the work of innovative practitioners, researchers, and engineers from around the world.

Contact: Knowledge Building in Action, Phone: (1) (305) 351-6815 Visit us online at www.globalskillslearning.com. For further information, email us at [email protected]

27 Knowledge Building in Action is an NGO, U.S. 501(c)(3) organization. Visit us online at www.globalskillslearning.com

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Multi-pronged approach is a proven method to impart 21st ... fileMulti-pronged approach is a proven method to impart 21st Century skills and prepare students for success in education,