My Great State: Using the Adventure Learning Framework and Participatory Media to Build Community and Engage Learners
November 19, 2009, 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Jeni Henrickson, Master's student, Curriculum &
Instruction
About the seminar
My Great State is an online learning environment in development for K-6 classrooms. Attend this webinar to learn how the adventure learning framework was used in its design and how the site hopes to incorporate participatory media in such a way to enhance and personalize the learning experience for young students. Your feedback on the site design and curriculum are appreciated and welcomed.
Adventure learning (AL), an inquiry- and experiential-based learning framework developed by Dr. Aaron Doering at the University of Minnesota, blends the multiple affordances of online learning with the authentic activities of everyday life and culture, bringing together learners, experts, and teachers in a unique community. One successful implementation of the AL framework can be seen in the GoNorth! online learning environment, upon which numerous studies have been based
The goal of My Great State is for learners to find value in community-building while embracing diversity, respecting the land, and merging old practices with new in innovative ways, even as they strengthen and enrich their inquiry, observation, literacy, and creative-thinking skills.
Within the My Great State learning environment, students explore how a local landscape (physical and social) has changed and adapted over time, how those changes relate to other communities, and how the learner as an individual fits in the picture. Learners examine real-world issues that directly impact them by looking at photos, watching videos, interacting with experts in the field, reading historical and current-day texts, and collaborating with peers and others. Learners then have the opportunity to reflect on these experiences using inquiry-based projects and collaboration tools.
Jeni Henrickson is currently an
M.A. student in Learning Technologies at the University of Minnesota, Twin
Cities. She also works as an interactive design specialist in the
University’s Training Services unit. She is interested in hybrid forms of
learning that blend online technologies with teacher-led activities, and in
exploring ways to personalize and situate online learning so that learners
feel engaged and motivated and part of a supportive community of teachers
and co-learners.