I write this from Worcester, MA the day after returning from Washington, D.C. and our Inauguration trip. While in Washington, 11 students from Worcester Academy worked three 18 hour days, conducting interviews, producing videos, and writing blog entires examining the Inauguration. While it is obvious that experiencing the Inauguration alone is monumental, it is the work that the students have done and their intrinsic motivation that stands out in my mind.
Ever since this project was developed, the idea behind it was two fold. My co-director, Pete Smith and I wanted our students to experience the Inauguration but just as important, was the educational potential the trip provided. This trip was about giving our students the opportunity to document history and express themselves and their perspectives. Watching my students wake up at 6am and for some to work until 1am the next morning was awe inspiring. These students put their all into collecting and producing quality content about the Inauguration. They spent time developing strong articles on real issues surrounding the Inauguration. They had to develop questions and interview tactics for everyone from Dee Meyers, President Clinton's Press Secretary and Congressman James McGovern, to high school students. The challenges they faced are one's journalists face on a daily basis and the work they created added a valuable perspective. The students recognized that they were not only witnessing history, they were documenting it and people were interested in what they had to say.
The Educational Impact
Our 11 students' focus and dedication that developed from this trip drives at the idea that the way students learn no longer can fit into a 19th century or even 20th century model. The value of the students taking ownership of this trip to produce a quality article, image, video, or twitter update (tweet), outweighs any learning they would have gained through a lecture. Brian, one of the students on the trip, stated the following on his Twitter account:
no it was a lot of work but it was much more fun than the work back here.....soooo maybe it was a vacation?
Today's students are capable and ready but we must engage them. We must get them interested in learning. This trip did that but it does not have to be the exception to the rule.
No matter the topic, whether it is the Inauguration or Geometry, when students can produce and share something of value, their willingness to really invest their time and energy will dramatically increase. If we really want to find out how you can get your students to want to learn and be engaged, find a way to have them take ownership of the material.
Students today are surrounded by an amazing array of media tools. These can be used by classes in any discipline to get your students to synthesize learned content and produce a something of value that highlights their understanding. A student's education is not about simply learning facts but rather understanding the concepts. If you want your students to really understand the content, they need to see its worth, they need to produce something of value connected to that content. Regurgitating information does not work.
While social media was our medium for this, there are many ways and methods for a class to accomplish this concept. Student driven learning is possible and necessary. As the technology becomes more ubiquitous, we must prepare our students to understand that the tools they use on a personal level can produce quality content of value.
I witnessed history and I will never forget that but what will always stay with me was the dedication and efforts put forth by our students. Their work is proof that student driven or project based learning is valuable and worthwhile. As my memories of the Inauguration fade, it will be the dedication and hard work that our students put into producing their work on this trip that will always stay with me.
Photo Credit: Brandy Agerbeck
A cross-posting from http://wainauguration.org
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