Interest Based Learning

Interest-Based LearningBuilding new curriculum resources

for engagement and education

David Hunter, MiT

Outline of today’s talk

• Introduce myself• Connections to Moodle• Why IBL?• Introduce Interest-Based Learning• Zombie-Based Learning (an example)• Response to ZBL• Who would IBL empower?• What would we need to do?• Recap

Who Am I?

• Teacher– Masters in Teaching– Social Studies / Language Arts– Seattle, USA

• Curriculum Designer• Project-Based Learning• Blended classrooms• Professional Dancer

Who Was I?

• Merchant Mariner • Dishwasher• High School Dropout– Couldn’t connect learning and school

So Now…• Very interested in engaging students• Promoting the power of education• Promoting the fun of learning

Interest-Based Learning and Moodle

•Open source•Built on community•Worldwide network

Why Interest-Based Learning

Address these issues:Student EngagementEffective lessonsTeaching to high academic standardsRelate learning to the real worldEncourage deeper thinking Promote 21st Century Skills

Interest-Based Learning

• Project-Based or Problem-Based Learning• Set through the lens of different interests

PBL (Project/Problem Based Learning)

• What is PBL?Extended process of inquiry in response to

complex questions, problems, or challengesRigorousLearn Academic content and 21st Century skills

CollaborationCommunicationCritical thinking

Interest-Based Learning

• Project-Based or Problem-Based Learning• Set through the lens of different interests• Allowing Student Choice – Curriculum– Application

• Creating connections to real world applications• Encourage deeper thought• Encourage multiple modes of application

What it would look like:

• Multiple curricula for students and teachers to choose from

• Standards-based• Real-life or narrative driven• Could be local• Open-source + Shared• Similar framework to encourage sharing

How it could work:

• Students and teachers go to a source of Interest-Based Curricula

• They choose the learning standard or concept they are going to learn

• (For example: G-MG.3. Apply geometric methods to solve design problems)

• Students could choose the interest they want to learn through.

Through this resource

There would be a menu of curriculaCould learn through:ZombiesSkateboardingFashion designGraphic designEngineeringEtc…

The Curricula Comes From…

• Teachers• Community Members• Professionals

Each would follow a similar framework and include Real-life or narrative-based applications

Example:

Intro to Zombie-Based Learning

• Includes all Middle School Geography Standards (5-8th grade)

• Standards based on the “Geography for Life” standards created by multiple geographic professionals and organizations

• Narrative set in a Zombie Apocalypse• Problems, projects, scenarios for learning are

set within the narrative

The Standards

• 18 Standards set within 6 sections1. The World in Spatial Terms2. Places and Regions3. Physical Systems4. Human Systems5. Environment and Society6. The Uses of Geography

The Standards

• Standards designed with the outcome to be a person:

• “who sees meaning in the arrangement of things in space;

• who sees relations between people, places, and environments;

• who uses geographic skills;• and who applies spatial and ecological

perspectives to life situations” Geography for Life, 1994

The Narrative

• Students encounter all concepts• In a “realistic” way• In a Zombie Apocalypse

The ZBL Narrative

Preparing for the OutbreakStandard: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

Example Application: An outbreak might be heading your way. Using data, students map the movement of the zombie infections.

Post-Outbreak SurvivalStandard: How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places and environments in a spatial context

Example Application: Using Mental Maps to navigate.

Finding a New SettlementStandard: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

Example Application: Based on resources, climate, hazards, and physical geography, students develop a plan for finding new places to settle.

Building a New CommunityStandard: The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement

Example Application: Discuss requirements for new community and develop models to grow and construct a safe and sustainable community, based on actual facts of community growth.

Planning for the FutureStandard: How to apply Geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

Example Application: Develop innovative, specific, and long term recommendations for rebuilding a working society.

Response to Zombie-Based Learning



• Teachers• Education professionals• Geography Professors• Home-school parents• Former students• Zombie enthusiasts• Text book creators• Video game studios

Why so Positive?

• Is it just zombies?• Is it just geography?• Is it a new way to learn?• Is it an interesting way to learn?

What if we created a network of Teachers and Community Members to design Interest-Based Lessons like ZBL?

Who would it empower and what would it require?

Empowering Curriculum

Interest-Based Learning Empowers• Students• Teachers• Community Professionals

How IBL Empowers Students

• Choices based on individual interests• Explore realistic applications• Explore conceptual connections• Foster creativity• Encourages connections to local world and

personal life

How IBL Empowers Teachers

• View teachers as professionals who make important decisions regarding student learning

• Expects effective curriculum, puts emphasis on effective teaching

• Provides tools to practice modifying curricula

How IBL Empowers Community Professionals

• Teaches professionals to create lessons and curricula

• Challenges community members to show how they use academic skills in the real world

• Creates connections between school and professionals in the community

What would creating this community require?

• Educating teachers and community members on effective curriculum design

• Framework of effective IBL curriculum

What would effective IBL framework include?

• Consistent, but openLesson plansAuthentic Assessments (Pre, Post, Formative)RubricsStandards-based Learning ObjectivesReal-life connectionsProject and Creative outlets

Recap

• Combine Project or Problem-Based Learning• With an INTEREST or real-life APPLICATION• Design a curriculum based on high academic

standards• Make it open to everyone• Repeat ad infinitum to create more engaging

teaching resources

Q + AThank you!

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