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The Vision Learning ProjectThe Vision Learning Project““I am not a teacher…I am an awakener.”I am not a teacher…I am an awakener.”

-Robert Frost, American Poet-Robert Frost, American Poet

EDLT528 M70 Spring 2010Curriculum Design Project –

Group 3

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Vision LeadersVision Leaders

Eliseo De PiettoEliseo De PiettoEvaluationEvaluation

David HilleDavid HilleDevelopmentDevelopment

Tracey LoftonTracey LoftonDesign & Design &

ImplementationImplementation

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Project DescriptionProject Description

• The Vision Learning Project is an interdisciplinary academic mentorship program that provides a research-based public policy and leadership development program using a multiple intelligences approach

• The program impacts students and the local community in the areas of education, workforce development, and other areas of the local economy

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A Vision for 21A Vision for 21stst Century Literacy Century Literacy

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/frameworkflyer_072307.pdf

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StakeholdersStakeholders

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• To teach students who are growing up in a world undergoing increased globalization to use technology to draw upon research-based solutions to global issues to improve student learning.

• To meet an academic need for high school students and dropouts enrolled in GED classes

• To provide 21st century learning opportunities using web 2.0 tools

• To increase student access to eLearning opportunities that improve student learning

Strategic GoalsStrategic Goals

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• According to the 2006 report, The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, conducted for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation by Civic Enterprises, there is a high school dropout epidemic in America.

• Every year, about one-third of all public high school students – nearly one-half of all black, Hispanic, and Native American – fail to graduate with their class.

• Although education reform has been a primary topic on the public agenda, according to the study, nearly 7 out of 10 students (69 percent) said that they were not motivated or inspired to work hard.

DesignDesign

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DesignDesign

• High school dropouts are three and one-half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be incarcerated

• Across the country, 68 percent of state prison inmates have not received a high school diploma

• According to researchers, 10 percentage-point increases in graduation rates have historically been shown to reduce murder and assault rates by approximately 20 percent.

• Increasing graduation rates by 10 percentage points would prevent over 3,000 murders and nearly 175,000 aggravated assaults in America each year

http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/fcik-dropout-nat.pdf

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DesignDesign

• Lack of connection to the school environment

• Perception that school is boring• Feeling unmotivated• Academic challenges• The weight of real world events

Bridgeland, J.M., Dilulio, J.J., & Morison, K.B. (2006). The silent epidemic: perspectives of

high school dropouts Retrieved December 20, 2007, from Civic Enterprises, LLC Web site:

http://civicenterprises.net/pdfs/thesilentepidemic3-06.pdfs

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DevelopmentDevelopment

DevelopmentDevelopment

• The web as a platform:

Tim O’Reilly said: “You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at varying distance from the core” (as cited in Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p.46).

The Peace WebQuest

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• Using the United Nations Cyberschoolbus online Global Teaching and Learning Project to bridge the gap between achieving and underachieving students

• Creating educational action projects to show students that they have a role in finding solutions to problems in their community and developing future leadership opportunities

• The web-based curriculum facilitates the participation in local and global learning communities by using creative applications of technology to improve student learning

Implementation – VLP WikiImplementation – VLP Wiki

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EvaluationEvaluation

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), defines literacy as:

“…Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.”

• UNESCO recognizes that there are many practices of literacy embedded in different cultural processes, personal circumstances and collective structures.

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=53803&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

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Learning and Innovation Skills • Creativity and Innovation• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving• Communication and CollaborationInformation, Media and Technology Skills • Information Literacy• Media Literacy• ICT (Information, Communications, & Technology) LiteracyLife and Career Skills• Flexibility and Adaptability• Initiative and Self-Direction• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills• Productivity and Accountability• Leadership and Responsibility

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/frameworkflyer_072307.pdf

EvaluationEvaluation

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Evaluation & ReflectionEvaluation & Reflection

• The indicators of engaged learning act as a “compass”for helping our Academic Mentors chart aninstructional course and maintain an orientation based on a vision of engaged learning and what it looks like in the classroom and community

• We define academic excellence as the exchange within the continuum of learning

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing Learning and Technology for Educational Reform. Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.