Deeper Learning

Video Transcription

Hi. Thank you for joining me today to discuss deeper learning. Let's take a look at the essential questions. These are the questions we're going to be able to answer but the end of today's tutorial. What are the major components of deeper learning? Why should I use deeper learning? And how does deeper learning compare to other learning theories?

Let's get started by talking about what deeper learning is. Deeper learning is using skills and knowledge to prepare for real life. According to the Hewlett Foundation, they are mastering core academic content while learning to think critically, collaborate, communicate effectively, direct their own learning, and believe in themselves. Focus is on college, career, and life skills.

So why should we use deeper learning? Deeper learning helps prepare students for the future as identified by OECD, or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; and as assessed through PISA, which is the Program for International Student Assessment. This is especially important now that the US students are performing far behind their international peers.

Deeper learning has roots in constructivist and PBL theories. But the main difference is explicit connection to college career and life skills, meaning deeper learning has an explicit connection to college career and life skills. An example of this is the Turbine Project, and you can find a video for that on ELSchools.org.

They wanted to teach their students about turbines. And so instead of doing this in a typical classroom setting, they actually took their middle school students to a business that worked with turbines, and the students were able to learn from experts in the field, they were able to visit a place of business, they dressed professionally for the occasion, and it was really just a preview into a future career and life skill, and that's how the students learned about turbines. So that's just an example of how deeper learning is different from PBL and constructivist learning theories.

So there are a couple deeper learning schools that I want to talk about briefly who do a really good job with it. The first one is the Asia Society. This is a school that is developing globally-competent college-ready high school students from a mostly disadvantaged background in urban areas, and they do this through using the deeper learning. Which again, it's a big focus on student inquiry, but it has a larger focus on college and career readiness.

Another organization that is successfully using deeper learning is the Big Picture Learning, and Big Picture is leading vital changes in education in the US and internationally. It's an innovative personalized school that works in tandem with the greater communities they believe that schools must be better and more rigorous, and that lessons need to be learned through practice and research.

And the last example is the New Tech Network. This is a non-profit that helps students gain the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed in life, college, and careers of tomorrow. And they work nationwide as a partner with school districts to help the school districts reimagine learning.

So deeper learning and blended learning, constructivism, and PBL, how are these all connected? Well, they're connected because students are faced with authentic industry-specific problems that they must problem-solve. And students must defend their solutions. An example of this is students in a robotics club who are faced with the challenge of helping firemen find fire hydrants covered over by snowplows.

Using GPS, they developed an app called My Fireman's Friend, and using coding and GPS, the students provided the app to the firemen that quickly and efficiently located the buried hydrants, solving an authentic industry-specific problem using technology, and this was a good glimpse into possible careers. Maybe a career as a fireman, maybe a career as a computer engineer. So this is just the way that deeper learning can really help students prepare in a way that's different from constructivist and PBL, and it's a way that students are using technology or the blended classroom within the deeper learning lens.

Let's reflect for a moment. What value can deeper learning add to your classroom? Why? What are some pros and cons you foresee with implementing deeper learning in your classroom? To review, today we talked about what the major components are of deeper learning and why we should use deeper learning. We also talked about how deeper learning compares to other learning theories.

Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The additional resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description, so you can easily target the resources you want. Thanks for joining me, and happy teaching.