Approaches to CBE

Video Transcription

Hello, everyone. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. Today, we're going to be looking at some of the approaches to competency-based education. And for today's lesson, I've chosen a quote by John Dewey which states, "Education is not preparation for life. Education is life itself." By the time we are done with this lesson, you will be able to understand the three contemporary approaches to competency-based education-- iNacol, the Buck Institute, and Deeper Learning.

So first, let's take a look at the basics of competency-based education. When we look at competency-based education specifically in the classroom, it can be addressed both by the teacher through that deeper learning and that mastery approach within the specific classroom.

Or it can be addressed online through various elements of adaptive learning so really looking at the different ways that students can approach that mastery with various elements of adaptive software. Those usually begin with preassessments to see where a student is followed by various activities that help students complete the elements of mastery that they need.

Now, there are three contemporary approaches when it comes to competency-based education. The first is iNacol. The second is the Buck Institute. And final is the Deeper Learning. Whichever approach you select, it should be carefully considered by you as a teacher to make sure that you're meeting the needs of the students in your classroom. So all of them are valid, but they all will be better or worse depending on the types of students that you have.

Let's go ahead and take a look first at the iNacol framework for competency-based education. When we look at the iNacol framework, we're looking at the idea that students are really working towards that proficiency or mastery of those competencies through various elements, that they are working with assessments that are really authentic to their individual needs and learning, that they are able to receive that feedback immediately so that they can move forward at their own pace.

That there is lots of differentiated support so that students who are getting there sooner have continued education that they can do to expand upon their knowledge, as well as students who are seeing difficulties that they are able to get help in certain areas, finally that the outcomes included in that framework include both the application and the creation of knowledge so that students are really focusing on developing the skills and the mindset that they need to compete in the 21st century.

When we look at those design principles within curriculum-based education design, various curriculum teams want to make sure that they consider the way in which those various standards are going to progress from grade to grade to grade. You also want to make sure that you're looking at the opportunity for interdisciplinary learning options so that there are ways in which that you can apply this material not just in your class but in the other classes as well.

A big benefit is that many different states have really developed those common core state standards in a progression so that you can help understand the way in which you move from standard to standard to standard.

And teachers then can also consider how to use those different standards to pull together various different classes so that students are able to see the way in which they connect together. So for example, various state standards within history or social studies can vary closely align to some standards in English language arts so that students are perhaps researching something in history and then writing about it in English so that they're able to work together.

Also, you want to make sure that you are establishing how the mastery is going to be assessed and tracked so that teachers are all on the same page of how they're going to collect that information and that students know the way in which they'll be assessed.

Finally, you want to then make sure that you determine those details of the various instructions so that teachers are understanding how they will instruct each competency in each standard, how much time and what are the various opportunities that students will have in order to learn and then present their proficiency.

Next, let's take a look at the Buck Institute's connection to competency-based education. This is really focusing in on the idea of project-based learning. Project-based learning emphasizes the development but also then the reinforcement of those 21st century skills that students are able to take what they learned in the classroom and apply it immediately to the world around them to be able to compete globally in our world.

Those skills and those competencies that are discussed here include the four Cs for the Buck Institute. Those four Cs are creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. And then students who are using those four Cs are able to really work on projects that have authentic audiences so that they feel like they are ready for the college and career.

One example I have of this is in one of my interpersonal communications classes, students are working to identify an area of the school that they feel like could be improved. And then they do the research that's necessary and present their findings and their persuasive ideas for how to improve that element of the school to various administrators, teachers, school board members, really allowing for that authentic audience so students can see the way in which their work can be applied outside of just the classroom.

Now I want to focus in just a little bit on the idea of that Deeper Learning and Deeper Learning's connection to competency-based education. When we discuss Deeper Learning, we're really focusing in on the idea that the student is beginning in their core content area and competencies. So if we are looking at language arts, they are beginning working towards mastery within English language arts class.

Then as they begin to develop that content knowledge, they can expand the knowledge that they have into more real-world applications so the way in which that they can transfer those skills and competencies and content knowledge into the way in which they could use that outside of the classroom

Finally, when we talk about Deeper Learning, students are really able to gain that kind of confidence that they need. So it looks at the base level first. Do you know what you're talking about? Gain confidence in that and then work out the ways in which you will be able to present that knowledge and that information confidently to the outside world. They become the master of that classroom.

Now that we've reached the end of the lesson, you are able to understand the three contemporary approaches to competency-based education-- iNacol, the Buck Institute, and Deeper Learning. Now that you've been able to look at these three various approaches, which do you think would be the most appropriate for your learning environment?

For more information on how to apply what you've learned in this video, please view the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The additional resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material and includes a brief description of each resource.