Google Classroom in Authentic Learning
August 17, 2014
Tags: Authentic Learning, Google, Google Apps, Google Classroom
An Authentic Learning unit delivers the curriculum to students in a meaningful and engaging manner by challenging them to solve a real problem with a real product that serves a real audience. Authentic Learning units prepare students for the world of today and tomorrow by requiring collaboration, creativity, and communication. Additionally, successfully solving such problems require high-level thinking skills, including reading and synthesizing information from complex texts, writing and speaking with confidence and clarity, and utilizing challenging concepts, content , and skills from mathematics, the sciences, and the social sciences.
While Authentic Learning units require that students use a wide range of learning resources and engage in high levels of collaboration and communicating with classmates, teachers, and even experts beyond the school, students also must build fundamental academic skills and knowledge during the course of these units.
For example, being a basketball player requires a wide range of offensive and defensive knowledge and skills, collaboration, and tremendous cardiovascular fitness. Being successful in a game requires players to synthesize and apply all of these skills naturally. During practice, though, some time must still be spent on skill development–like becoming better at dribbling, passing, or shooting free throws. At the same time, if coaches only practice such skill drills, players will not be able to naturally apply these in a game itself.
Google Classroom–Organizing work in an Authentic Learning environment
In an Authentic Learning environment, like in the basketball example above, students will still participate in specific skill practice and in building background knowledge to develop a conceptual understanding. During this work, students will read, listen, watch, and create (speak, write, draw, animate, etc.) in response. This back-and-forth between students and the teacher requires organization as the teacher creates learning experiences, the students create work within that experience, and both the teacher and student then evaluate that work and provide feedback on it. This is where Google Classroom is helpful within an Authentic Learning unit.
Google Classroom provides a community for students and teachers and an organization system for sharing between students and the teacher which allow this work to stay organized within one another’s Google Drives during an Authentic Learning unit.
Topic: Assessment, Instruction, Tech Tips
Each District 21 school is named after an American author, and learning and literacy is at the center of our Professional Learning Community. The Modern Pen provides a collaborative location in which District 21 teachers can come together to learn the skills that will enable their students to learn new skills and to understand concepts at an even different level than before.
Preparing all students for success
