Creating authentic learning experiences requires planning and purposeful implementation
Why authentic learning? There are so many reasons to choose from, some of the most important being: providing deep purpose for learning, empowering students, providing differentiation and choice options in learning, connecting students to others locally and globally, and allowing opportunities to develop empathy, creativity, and innovation skills.
While there are many wonderful resources on the web regarding Problem Based Learning Units (PBL’s) and authentic learning, it seems best to boil it down to a common definition teachers can remember. One that has worked is real purpose, real product, and a real audience.
Real purpose: solving a real world problem or creating something new and novel for the world
Real audience: sharing possible solutions to real world problems with someone who needs the information, or sharing the novel creation to an audience who would enjoy it
Real product: the vehicle for delivering the new information or idea to the authentic audience
(Next page: Steps for planning and implementation)
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