How can 21st century skills become embedded effectively into today's online learning environment? Using exemplars from UT High School as a model, participants will discuss how to design tasks that are project-based, creative, and engaging for an online or blended classroom.
This session will model best-practices for creating engaging, project-based and creative tasks within an online setting. The included exemplars will showcase technology integration that promotes creativity, higher-order thinking skills, and authentic problems. Utilizing research-based instruction, the session will provide a platform for discussion of the essential skills needed to create an enriching, learner-focused experience. Armed with a template for creating engaging, authentic, and creative student experiences in an online setting, participants will utilize exemplars to pilot and/ or adapt for students’ personalized learning and discuss the necessary components to implement strategies for higher-order thinking and creativity in an online and/ or environment.
Participants will be engaged through device-based activities, peer to peer interaction, and audio/visual media. The following questions are a sample of what may be discussed, but is not limited to this list:
- How are you using online learning environments?
- What are the key components in an effective online or blended learning environment that promotes creativity? Engagement? Project-based learning?
- How do you determine the level of flexibility (open-endedness) in a task?
- How do you ensure differentiation options in an online or blended environment?
- What are some exemplars of tasks that demonstrate the key components of creativity, engagement, and project-based learning?
- How could you adapt any exemplars that were explored?
- What are your aha’s for designing instructional tasks in an online/ blended environment?
This session has been designed based on the application of creative and project-based learning in an online and/or blended setting. The following resources have influenced the presentation and question design:
- Creativity in the Classroom, Alane Starko
- Encouraging Creativity in Online Classrooms, Stephanie Clemons http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article05.htm
- Understanding Project-based Learning in the Online Classroom, John Orlando http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/understanding-project-based-learning-in-the-online-classroom/
- Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education. Promising Practices in Online Learning, John Watson http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED509636
- Classifying K-12 Blended Learning, Heather Staker and Michael Horn http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED535180