Authentic Learning Opportunities

Authentic Learning opportunities reflection

One of the most important factors that affect student’s learning is a significant learning environment. As learning facilitators, we have a huge responsibility to coach students for their future. Our experience back ground; our knowledge about the student’s culture identity; our capacity to reflect on our daily performance; our desire to find authentic experiences for students; and the passion to coach learners. All these fuel and empower a good teacher to guide her/his students to connect the dots instead, of collecting the dots.

The current education system believes that it can built the future of new generation while supporting the same standards that were used in the industrial revolution. Shaping young people that just regurgitate the right answer, follow rules, and obey. Not a generation with high levels of thinking and creativity. In other words, generations that just collect the dots, where teachers are the “control content center” and the learners develop skills and take informational assessments by memorizing information and repetition. The education system has the paradigm of developing “academic ability people” focused on what they need to learn according with the government system. This system is known as Competency – Base Education or CBE. Where 45% of college students make no significant improvement in critical thinking and reasoning or written communication skills in the first two years of college and 36% still show no significant gains after 4 years. Even with higher percentages in high and middle schools. This type of education puts young people in the situation of failing and dropping out of school, especially on disadvantaged communities.

While the Outcome - Based Education (OBE) is focused on authentic learning opportunities and real-world assessment with multiples dimensions and meaningful connections between concepts (connect the dots). In this education, the learners are the control learning center and they deliver the information, not the teacher. Because the goal is to prepare the learners for the challenges of the real world. Our responsibility as a learning facilitator is to create an effective learning environment and guide them through their personal development journey. Where the learners have choices, ownership, voice, and agency over their learning. Students construct new ideas or concepts based upon their past and current knowledge. This is the education that John Dewey argued that learning of growth was the result of the quality of mental process, not the production of right answers. In order to ensure that our students are learning and growing we have to know what the essential objective is. So that, at the end of the assignment, class, course, or program, the students are able to master the topic critically. Emphasizing the application and integration of knowledge more broadly, instead of focusing on covering material.

The impact of the emphasis on test driven accountability and on standardization of teaching and learning in general in public education, especially in title I schools with ranking grade “D” or “F”, is huge and it affects directly the implementation of effective Outcome - Based Education (OBE). The pressure of teachers to train students to pass the STAAR test in Math and English Language Art (ELA) throughout PLC’s, Meetings, classroom observations from district and school management staff, and after school programs. The huge academic gap that students have from elementary school and the high percentage of new teachers in the school every year perpetuate the Competency – Based Education (CBE). Under these circumstances, we frequently hear the learners express that school is boring and disengaging. Leading to skipping classes, and chronic misbehavior. What can we do as learner facilitators to emphasize the implementation of the Outcome -Based Education (OBE) constantly within this reality?

In my experience as a math learning facilitator in Middle School, in order to start the process of implementing a significant learning environment. I had to demonstrate throughout data that giving the learners choices, ownership, voice though authentic learning opportunities paid off. Most of my students loved and were engaged in creating meaningful project; learning from each other; and collaborating to help their classmates with interactive presentations between them. I promoted daily authentic connections, not only with the academic topics. Also, with their culture, the big picture, and their life (social-emotional-economic circumstances). We need to keep in mind the phrase of Alvin Toffler “You’ve to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that the small things go in the right direction.” to shift the focus to the individual learner’s journey; not the standards and the curriculum. Each group and individual in my classes has unique characteristics that require especial attention. Where the new culture of learning and the learner’s families play an important role with authentic learning opportunities.

Having Pre AP, Academic, lab students in math and guiding the Techies Club in school; gave me a bigger picture to understand in the praxis, the differences between the two contexts of education. Allowing me to move back and forth from CBE in my math classes to OBE in the Techies club and vice versa. Allowing me to implement some OBE elements in my regular classes. While the Techies club was immerse in OBE. Where members came willingly to my classroom after school, to enjoy learning and continue their own growth mindset. Connecting their outcomes products to their own style of learning, in a collaborative and Free Libre Open Sources (FLOS) culture environment.

My daily observation in both contexts helped me to reflect, evaluate, change, and refine my teaching practice. Students from my regular classes created their own and unique math project and presented the concepts to their classmates. While students from the Techies club, (regular math classes): code with robots, prototypes apps, compose music, craft digital art, and record creative video clips in a significant learning environment. The later ones, mapped their own journey, were more confident, more independent, and more versatile in a regular classroom setting.

I believe that human beings are complemented by dependent and independent learning experiences on formal and informal settings with different percentages in each side depending on the circumstances. The process of learning needs to be active, dynamic, and flow naturally. Similarly as the process that a bird has from the nest until it is independent. Some take more or less time depending on the ability of each individual. This example needs to be applied by any teacher when aligning outcomes, activities, and real-world assessment in any lesson. If the learners are the learning center; the teachers will give them choices, be more flexible, and create meaningful connection with the student’s identity. To create a strong teacher-student relationship, in order to engage students in a deep authentic learning.

My culture and my knowledge of the challenges that our learners face to succeed is similar to my own background. This has helped me to be more effective in the implementation of a significant learning environment in this school. Plus, what I have learned in the educational technology course, catapulted my constructivism philosophy of digital education and my comprehension of concepts and applicability to be a more effective teacher. I think that I am in the middle of my learning journey and my learners are in different landmarks along the way. During the COVID19 crisis, many 6th grade students struggled with the digital basics. This circumstance, confirmed the digital gap in disadvantaged communities versus fluent ones.

Creating a significant learning environment with a new culture of learning is the key to expand the growth mindset, the curiosity, and the creativity in each student. Our role as learning facilitators is to allow authentic learning experiences to our scholars; so that they can learn anywhere, any time. We need to continue our learning journey while understanding their perception of the world to prepare our instruction and focus to be more effective on the learning outcome for their future. The future that is waiting for them.

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