For the last four years I have been working with a large group of educators on developing the framework and implementation of Challenge Based Learning. The frame work has been used and is in use around the world with great success. We recently completed a project with 19 schools from around the world that represented all levels from elementary through higher education. The results of the project study completed by the New Media Consortium demonstrated the efficacy of the approach for the acquisition of traditional academic skills and the digital age skills needed to lead us into the 21st century.

What I am really excited about is the work I have been doing with groups to use the frame work (big idea, essential question, challenge, guiding questions, guiding activities, guiding resources, solution, implementation and evaluation) as a tool for organizational change or in the best case transformation. All organizations have challenges and the CBL process provides a perfect framework to thoughtfully consider the challenge and do the work necessary to develop a solid solution.

What challenge is your organization facing?

I have been giving a lot of thought to all of the effort to improve schools, measure students and measure teachers. Millions and millions are being thrown at data warehouses, assessment engines, and  performance pay programs that reward (or penalize) teachers based on the results. Yet, these expensive systems measure a small part of what makes up a student, like taking a 30 second MRI. And based on this tiny bit of evidence huge, and expensive, decisions will be made. But what if our exam is missing what is really getting in the way of learning because we only really looked at 15% of what makes up a kid. What if we are treating only part of the problem, or missing the point totally. Students are a complex mash up of specific contexts.

Historically the educational system has acknowledged some of these contextual differences but still offered a one size fits all approach. Now we are proclaiming a new era of individualized education utilizing the wonders of technology – but the data driving the decisions is only a sliver of what makes up the child. We must acknowledge the incredible importance of context when “assessing” our students. History, culture, community, economic opportunity, access, aspirations (community, family, student), vision, choices, advocates (or lack there of), etc. I argue that the compilation of these factors, or maybe just one of them has a larger impact on whether a student succeeds in learning and a teacher succeeds in teaching him/her than what we are currently measuring. Now this does not get us off the hook – we should all be held accountable for the success or failure of the children. What it means is that the net must be cast much further both in assessment and accountability. We must define, engage, assess and hold accountable everyone and everything within the universe of that student – not just the student, teacher and school. This is even more important in the historically under performing schools. We have incredible technologies used for national security that measure thousand of variables to assess security risks. How about we bring this same level of sophistication to the assessment and instruction of our children. It may be passe or quaint  – but maybe it really does take a village to assess, evaluate and assist our students – especially those that are the most vulnerable.

Another semester has been put into the books, and I wonder how much was really learned in schools across the country, and if there was learning was it meaningful and lasting. I am amazed at how much I do not remember about my schooling, and I had a lot of schooling. Every year more and more of the details fade and I am less able to remember all of those facts and figures I worked so hard to memorize. Two years of Latin – gone. Two years of Greek – really gone. How to diagram a sentence – are you kidding. What I do remember are the larger themes and stories. I remember the environmental and self reliance lessons my grandmother taught me  while touring the mountains of Colorado. I remember the power of family and the tragedy of policy from the stories I experienced on the rez. I remember the stories of incredible resilience of the students I worked with in a boarding school in  the mountains of Southern California. So, how can we bring the power of story to the day to day learning in schools. How much in the standards really needs to be learned – does it really lead to success? Or should we build the curriculum around powerful stories and focus on the larger themes of life rather than memorizing the nits. What do you think?

I am slowly moving the content over from the old site and adding content from a digital storytelling course I have taught for several years both online and face to face. All the content should be available by the end of the week. If you are looking for something in particular or have some recommendations for what content you would like to see let me know. This will be the format for the digital storytelling content:

Storytelling • What is a story? • Components • What is a Telling?
Digital Stories • Definitions • Examples
Process • Script • Storyboard • Planning
Production • Tools • Tips
Post Production • Digitize/Organize •  Editing
Distribution • Reflection

I will also be adding content from a great project I participated in this past year on Challenge Based Learning.