Personal Inquiry and Online Research: Connecting Learners in Ways That Matter

Julie Coiro, Ph.D. Associate ProfessorSchool of Education University of Rhode Islandjcoiro@snet.neturi.academia.edu/JulieCoiro/Papers

Jill Castek, Ph.D. Research Assistant ProfessorPortland State Universityjcastek@pdx.edu www.pdx.edu/linguistics/jillcastek

Dave QuinnStudent, Ph.D. in EducationUniversity of Rhode Islanddavid_quinn@my.uri.edu Twitter: @eduQuinn

What is digital literacy?

We define digital literacy as involving theskills, strategies, and dispositions to use the Internet productively to:

• Generate useful questions to solve problems

• Locate information• Critically evaluate information • Synthesize information• Communicate answers/solutions

Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek & Henry (2013). New literacies: A dual-level theory of the changing nature of literacy, instruction, and assessment. Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading, Sixth Edition.

Others define digital literacy in slightly different ways

Renee Hobbs

Michael Eisenberg

Doug Belshaw

Henry JenkinsHoward Rheingold

Often, these varied definitions reflect our varied roles in teaching and learning

Classroom Teachers

Librarians andLibrary Media

Specialists

Community Media Makers

EducationalResearchers

But…we have much in common (in addition to special areas of expertise)!

Classroom Teachers Community

Media Makers

Librarians andLibrary Media

SpecialistsEducationalResearchers

Turn and Talk (5 minutes) • Introduce yourself and identify your role. • What does digital literacy mean to you? • Identify a similarity and a difference compared to your

partner’s definition.

Is there enough in common to support each other in designing productive learning experiences?

How might you capitalize on your individual areas of expertise?

Where (and how) does STUDENT-DRIVEN INQUIRY fit into digital literacy?

• Quick context setting: Engaging Today’s Learners• What is important to consider when planning

opportunities for personal (student-driven) inquiry? • What role does the teacher play in the inquiry process?• How can we choose technologies that can be used in

meaningful ways as part of the inquiry process? • What does Personal Digital Inquiry look like in

classrooms across different grade levels?

• It is the core of everything!

The Challenge: Connecting Learners in Ways That Matter

• Move beyond industrial model of universal school toward new era focused on lifelong learning and individual choice – or lose learners emotionally & physically (Collins & Halverson, 2009: Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology)

Gallup Poll (2012) - 500,000 US students, Gr. 5-12

• If we engage learners with rigorous academic content and expect them to know why, when, and how to apply knowledge to answer questions & solve problems (National Research Council, 2012)

• “Lessen achievement gap in ways that lead to positive adult outcomes for more young people”

• High school students engaged in deep, relevant, and personal (student-driven) learning opportunities: • Demonstrated higher levels of interpersonal and

intrapersonal skills (American Institutes for Research, 2014)

• Achieved better outcomes in every aspect of life, including academic, career, civic, and health (Center for Public Education, 2009)

Optimistic Findings

Personal vs. Personalized: What’s the difference when it comes to student directed learning?

• “Personalized” is about a top-down designed or tailored approach to learning; customized for the student, but still controlled by the teacher (serve up learning based on a formula of what a child needs) • “Personal” is something human where the learner

initiates and controls the learning process; often emerges from engagement with others about one’s personal wonderings.

True personal learning: It’s all about who’s doing it!

(Sarah Pasfield, 2013; Wendy Ng, 2010)

So how can we use technology (and good teaching) to design personal,

student directed spaces for learning?

(Julie Coiro, Jill Castek, & David Quinn, in press, The Reading Teacher)

Choosing technology: What’s the coolest new tool you’ve seen?

Hey, that’s cool! 1.

How could I use that? 2.

Hmmm…how might this

connect with what I teach?

3.

Choosing technology: What’s the coolest new tool you’ve seen?

Hey, that’s cool! 1.

How could I use that? 2.

Hmmm…how might this

connect with what I teach?

3. Turn and talk some more…

Are we asking the right questions?

Hey, that’s cool! 1.

How could I use that? 2.

Hmmm…how might this

connect with what I teach?

3.

But how? Which parts and why? For whom?

How will your studentsactively engaged with this tool? To what end?

What will your students know, understand,and be able to do before/during/after using this tool?

What if we refocus and flip the sequence of our planning questions for teaching with technology?

1 2 3What will my students know, understand, and be able to do?

How will my students be actively engaged in a way that allows them to use their own voice?

Which digital tool(s) would work best and in what ways?

1. Set learning outcomes

2. Create authentic opportunities for students to be actively engaged

3. Then…make purposeful choices about technology (or no technology)

1. Hey that’s cool!

2. How could I use that?

3. How might this connect with what I teach?

RATHER THAN…

A critical piece is still missing…

A safe classroom culture that values curiosity and honors student

voices while encouraging collaboration, problem solving,

risk taking, and reflection.

Building a culture of inquiry is key!

1. Set learning outcomes

2. How will my students be actively engaged in a way that allows them to use their voice?

3. Then…make purposeful choices about technology (or no technology)

Culture of Inquiry

Culture of Inquiry

trust and respect

risk-taking

problem-solving

collaboration

reflection

What might a culture of inquiry feel like in a digital age? (Four sets of core practices)

Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI) Framework

Inquire

• Inquiry: “Learning that starts with lived experience…where people actively shape their own learning as they work on real problems in their own communities” (Bruce & Bishop, 2008; Dewey, 1938)

• Generating their own wonderings about these problems helps students connect their own interests to real-life issues in ways that can lead to real change (Hobbs & Moore, 2013)

• Opportunities for purposeful, self-directed inquiry become personally fulfilling learning experiences (Drive by Daniel Pink, 2009)

INQUIRY = ENGAGEMENT IN REAL LIFE

THIS STUFF MATTERS!

Varied Levels of [Digital] Inquiry

• Modeled inquiry: Students observe models of howthe leader asks questions and makes decisions.

• Structured Inquiry: Students make choices which are dependent upon guidelines and structure given by the leader (may vary).

• Guided Inquiry: Students make choices during inquiry that lead to deeper understanding guidedby some structure given by the leader.

• Open Inquiry: Students make all of the decisions. There is little to no guidance.

Alberta Inquiry Model of Inquiry Based Learning (2004)

Collaborate & Discuss

• Learning is social! Today’s learners prefer and expect opportunities to collaboratively construct meaning and support each other’s thinking in ways that lead to action (Schofield & Honore, 2010).

• Expand discussion based reading practices such as reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown, 1984), collaborative reasoning (Anderson et al, 2013), quality talk (Wilkinson, Soter, & Murphy, 2012), and CORI (Guthrie, Wigfield, &

Perencevich, 2004) to support satisfying one’s personal wonderings while working with peers to co-construct new knowledge in complex digital spaces.

Collaborate & Discuss

Cognitive

Social

SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTING MEANING =

ENGAGEMENT

Social Practices: Request & give information; jointly acknowledge, evaluate, & build on partner’s contributions

Cognitive Strategies: Read, question, monitor, repair, infer, connect, clarify, and interpret

Participate & Create

• Student action through creation and participation is the ultimate goal of learning (Casey, 2013)

• When students investigate personally meaningful problems in their community they want to make positive changes or build awareness by creating a digital product (Hobbs, 2011).

• Through participation, individuals assert their autonomy and ownership of learning (Zhao, 2009); in turn, their inquiry becomes more personal and engaging while seeing meaningful connections between home, school, and community (Ito et al., 2013)

Renee Hobbs (2013)

The Life Of AHomeless Person

(after a photo walk Discovery)

Discussion… Research….

Composition…Revision…

10 page Comic book

Participate & Create

DIGITAL CREATION / ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

IN REAL LIFE = ENGAGEMENT =

I MATTER!!! I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Reflect

• Final stage = reflection; but also the beginning stage! • Inquiry should lead to a student’s next burning

question (Thomas & Brown, 2011)

• Reflecting on action enables students to reframe problems, identify gaps in their knowledge, and decide what additional inquiries may be necessary (Casey & Bruce, 2011).

• It also challenges students to develop and consider social and ethical impacts of their creation and ideas (Hobbs, 2010).

Reflect What decisions informed your design?

1. Set learning outcomes

2. Create authentic opportunities for students to be actively engaged

3. Then…make purposeful choices about technology (or no technology)

Digital Inquiry Framework

Digital Inquiry Framework

INQUIRE

COLLABORATE & DISCUSS

PARTICIPATE & CREATE

REFLECT

CHOICES….CHOICES….CHOICES…

Knowledge-Based Learning Outcomes How will students use their knowledge?

Adapted from Harris & Hofer (2009)

Inquiry PracticesHow actively engage with learning outcomes across different stages of inquiry?

Coiro, Castek, & Quinn (in press)

Purposeful Technology UseHow can technology support or enhance…

Adapted from Hammond & Manfra (2009)

Varied Purposes for Using Technology to Support Digital Inquiry

Knowledge-Based Learning Outcome (adapted from Harris & Hofer, 2009)

Curricular-Related Purposes of Technology Use (adapted from Hammond & Manfra 2009)

Knowledge Acquisition Teachers GivingKnowledge Building Teachers Prompting Knowledge Expression Students MakingKnowledge Reflection Students Reflecting

Choices in inquiry-based learning can progress from teachers using technology for giving information and prompting knowledge toward students actively using technology to make and reflect on new content

TEACHERDIRECTEDINQUIRY

STUDENTDIRECTEDINQUIRY

Technology for Knowledge Expression

Technology for Knowledge Building

Modeled Inquiry

Guided Inquiry

Open Inquiry

Giving

Prompting

Making

Structured Inquiry

Reflecting

INQUIRECOLLABORATE

& DISCUSS

PARTICIPATE& CREATE

REFLECT

Personal Digital Inquiry Planning Guide

Learning Outcomes

Self-Directed Inquiry Practices

Purposes of Technology Use for Teaching and/or Learning

Curricular:

Participatory:

Inquire:

Collaborate & Discuss:

Participate & Create:

Reflect:

Giving:

Prompting:

Making:

Reflecting:

Useful for building curriculum-based models of how personal inquiry, online research, and digital tools can connect and engage young learners in ways that matter

Some examples

Guided Inquiry, Grade 4

In Summary• The Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI) Framework can serve as

a springboard to inspire ways of engaging learners in the full range of digital inquiry practices while planning strategically for how students use technology to acquire, build, express, and reflect on new knowledge gained during their inquiry.

Learning Outcomes

Self-Directed Inquiry Practices

Purposes of Technology Use for Teaching and/or Learning

Curricular:

Participatory:

Inquire:

Collaborate & Discuss:

Participate & Create:

Reflect:

Giving:

Prompting:

Making:

Reflecting:

Possibilities: Using Inquiry and Technology to Enhance Wondering, Dialogue, Participation & Reflection in Kindergarten

Opportunities to learn more this week:

• Organizing Learning: Extending Collaboration, Cognition, & Connection (Jill Castek) Tuesday Promising Practices• 20 Time Projects (Dave Quinn) Wednesday Research Roundtable• Designing Supports for Digital Inquiry (Julie Coiro) Thursday Tips and Tools

To read more:

Personal Learning and Online Research: Connecting Learners in Ways That Matter (Julie Coiro, Jill Castek, & Dave Quinn, in press, The Reading Teacher)

Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI) Framework

The BIG QUESTION:

How can we foster inquiry, collaboration &dialogue, participation & creation, and reflection using a common instructional framework and effective teaching practices to support digital literacy education?

After the break…

Things to consider when planning a lesson

• Context: Your personal values about teaching and learning; learner needs, school resources and values• Purpose: Curricular goals and learning

standards• Materials: Texts, tools, and technologies• Pedagogy: Organizing instructional strategies to

shape learning (informed by your values and beliefs) • Assessment: Work products and criteria for

judging quality

The Digital Literacy Curriculum Framework (Coming up next!

More examples

https://vimeo.com/84688866