Designing Deeper Learning Opportunities for Students

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Five Questions to Ask When Creating Deeper Learning Experiences

Frank Bogden, Jr., Instructional Facilitator of Technology, Loudoun County Public Schools (VA)

Throughout my 28-year career as an Instructional Facilitator of Technology in Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools, I’ve had a front-row seat to the evolution of teaching and learning in what I think is one of education’s most dynamic periods of change.

While there have been many positive changes in education that I’ve been proud to support in my district, one of the biggest, and I think most impactful changes, is the shift to creating instructional experiences supportive of deeper learning.  

“Deeper Learning” is the process through which the learner becomes capable of applying what is learned in one situation to new situations. This process includes rigorous, authentic, and student-centered instruction.

In this context, rigor provides cognitive demand and appropriate support so that every student in our classrooms is engaged in meaningful and complex intellectual work. Learning within an authentic context involves real-world tasks or tools, makes a real impact, and/or speaks to students’ interests, backgrounds, or lived experiences. Authentic learning might be community connected and includes ongoing reflection. Finally, student-centered instruction is culturally responsive and engaging; it includes student agency, voice and choice, and multiple pathways.

As the Instructional Facilitator of Technology in the Buffalo Trail Elementary School, I support classroom teachers as they create the environments that facilitate the deeper learning experiences we the Loudoun County Public Schools seeks to provide all students. Here are five questions I ask about every “deeper learning” experience I help create that every educator should, in my opinion, ask as well. Those questions are:

Does this learning experience include the rigor needed to engage students in complex and meaningful learning?

This past school year the school I serve in, Buffalo Trail Elementary, offered a lot of digital storytelling opportunities that coule include a 3-D printed component.

During these digital storytelling assignments, students were asked to create their own Science Show using a green screen and demonstrate their learning by writing their own scripts after learning about the concept using a host of digital resources, designing their own backgrounds, and editing the video to showcase their style and learning. In designing something to print, we teach the students how to design the image in their head and help make it become a reality. Both styles of projects allow student choice, are authentic, meaningful and engage students in new ways. 

Does this learning experience involve real-world tasks?

In order for students to complete any project, they must be able to learn the standard. Loudoun County Schools is fortunate to have access to amazing resources. One is Discovery Education Experience. Discovery’s use of slideshows, videos, virtual field trips, and student investigations allow you to flip a classroom and front load information. We love Experience’s ability to engage the students in various ways. Once they gain an understanding of the standard, students can transfer what they learn into products that allow them to gain a deeper understanding. Our second graders studied symmetry, patterns in nature and weather. Once the students learned the concepts, they were asked to design a symmetrical snowflake in Tinkercad, an online program that lets students make 3D resources with online, computer aided design. After the snowflake was printed, students were then asked to justify their designs based on their understanding of the concepts. 

Does this learning experience empower students to integrate their personal interests, backgrounds, and experiences?

Loudoun County Schools profile of a graduate incorporates the 5C’s: Communicator, Critical Thinker, Creator, Contributor and Collaborator. All deeper learning opportunities should engage the students in these ways. We want students to be active learners and not passive learners. So much information students take in today is passive so engaging them to create a product that gives them opportunities to develop these types of skills is essential. These deeper learning opportunities are often done in teams where each member of the team is taking an active role in the production of any digital story product. In the design and 3d printing projects, we encourage students to collaborate and help each other. We are very purposeful in ensuring that students are engaging in work that helps strengthen their soft skills. Our fifth graders study regions of the United States. They use Discovery Education and other resources to learn about landforms in the region, economics, and other facts. They are given the task of creating a tourism video showcasing the region and its features. They create scripts, gather pictures, and record themselves using WeVideo–an online, interactive learning platform–and a green screen. Students work in teams to create, produce, edit and publish the product. In this process, they gain experience in each of the competencies of a graduate.

Does the learning experience connect students and their learning to the community?

Once students collaborate and begin to produce a product, we spend time in the revision process. We design these learning opportunities with the revision time built in to allow students to reflect and improve upon their product. Digital storytelling projects allow students to target an audience, work on written and oral language skills, focus on content all the while being creative and entertaining. Oftentimes in revision, we can discuss fluency, dive deeper into the content and the use of digital graphics and design principles. Our fifth grade students have the opportunity to create content for the morning news show. Teams of students work together with the intent of educating or entertaining our younger students. When the students create videos in We Video, such as Kids Got Talent, the process of writing, recording, editing and revising the video often takes many takes. Supervising teachers watch a draft, provide feedback and allow the students to revise the video before the final product is shared with the school. 

We encourage all students to share their products with the intended audience. We want to ensure that these students communicate what they have learned. We often showcase student created videos on our News Show or among other classrooms. We hold gallery walks for printed projects or incorporate them into displays or dioramas. We ensure that each learning opportunity allows time for students to take pride and ownership in their work.

Is this learning experience culturally responsive?

Finally, we encourage the teachers to reflect. We want to see what went well from their point of view. We ask what could have been done differently? This process is all about growth. Developing deeper learning opportunities often takes teachers into uncharted territory and through reflection, we can build confidence and understanding that will improve upon future projects. Our third grade learns about ancient civilizations throughout the year. After their Egypt project, they discuss each step of the experience. They look at new resources like updated content from Discovery Education to improve the learning process. They look at the products students created and discuss more authentic products. They also look at ways to reflect and celebrate learning. This year they had students use hieroglyphics to write their initials on a pendant that was designed in Tinkercad and 3d printed. The pendant was then used to spark their reflection on what they enjoyed about the project, what they learned, and things they felt they could improve upon. The team took these reflections and used them to influence future projects. 

We understand that students need deeper learning experiences to be knowledgeable. We know that in our ever changing world, students not only need that knowledge but they need the skills to be successful in whatever life brings. By providing students with authentic experiences, we are building their capacity to be successful in the future we envision for them.

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