Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry

Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry

<p>How can you create an authentic learning environment one where students ask questions, do research, and explore subjects that fascinate them in today's standards-driven atmosphere? Author Larissa Pahomov offers insightful answers based on her experience as a classroom teacher at the Science Leadership Academy—a public high school in Philadelphia that offers a rigorous college-prep curriculum and boasts a 99 percent graduation rate. Pahomov outlines a framework for learning structured around five core values: inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. For each value, she presents <ul><li>A detailed description of how the value can transform classroom practice and how a digital connection can enhance its application.</li><li>A step-by-step outline for how to implement the value, with examples from teachers in all subject areas.</li><li>Solutions to possible challenges and roadblocks that teachers may experience.</li><li> Suggestions for how to expand the value beyond the classroom, to schoolwide practice.</li><li>Anecdotes from students, offering their perspectives on how they experienced the value in the classroom and after graduation.</li></ul></p><p>The framework is a guide, not a prescription, and middle and high school teachers—individually or as a team—can use it to structure whatever content and skills their current school or district requires. The book also includes suggestions for how to integrate technology into inquiry-based education, but the principles and approaches it describes can be applied successfully even in places without abundant technology. Both practical and inspiring, <i>Authentic Learning in the Digital Age</i> is an indispensable handbook for reinvigorating teaching and learning in a new era.</p>