Scott Edward Moran, Ph.D.
moran.scott1@gmail.com 210-269-7531
On this page, you will find...
Tasks
1. Discuss key components of PDL and potential roadblocks.
2. Complete the PDL activity (Revised plan).
1. Purpose-Driven Learning: Myths, Problems, and Education Applications
https://askatechteacher.com/pdl/ http://www.mrmoreno.com/blog/purpose-driven-learning
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Purpose Driven Learning (or PDL) is a concept coined by Michael Matera and Adam Moreno to summarize the philosophy that each learner’s inner strengths can be unlocked by focusing with purpose and drive.
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By following the guidelines for Purpose Driven Learning, teachers avoid the biggest pitfall in many lesson plans — that they are theoretic without meaning in the real world.
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In the end, learning is changed from pedantic to powerful and students learn to reliably connect academic studies to the world outside the schoolhouse.
Engaging PDL in your classroom is seen by some as teaching students what they want to learn at the expense of what they need to learn but this isn’t true. Done right, students come to understand that real knowledge relies on a solid foundation of data upon which they build their personal interests.
2. Three potential roadblocks:
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School Standards. Standards are taught first and additional learning is scaffolded afterward. Standards are in fact the foundation that underpins your students’ ability to achieve their PDL goals. Find connections to the norms and granular information that allows you to dynamically build lessons that meet unique goals.
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In-place curriculum. Treat your grade level or school curricula the same as you might the school standards. Understand what they are and how they achieve the intended learning goals. Apply UBD’s concept of Backward Design with PDL as the goal. How can you teach more when you struggle to complete what is already required? This answer may surprise you: When students have a purpose for learning, they absorb it faster, remember it longer, and voluntarily spiral back on it as needed.
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Parent buy-in. Change is one of life’s constants but when it happens in the classroom, it’s stressful — even nerve-wracking — for parents. To achieve this buy-in with PDL, understand its pedagogy and show examples to parents that verify its effectiveness.
Scott Moran
Based upon the illustration and document above, the idea here is to create lessons that are based on student interests, ones that have applications in the real world. These lessons should also help students to develop social and emotional skills, leadership skills, resilience, curiosity, etc.
Assignment
Revise your Backward design unit plan to include elements of PDL. Please submit your revised work to the class Padlet with your full name and campus name.
Backward Design template with PDL (PDF)
The Four Cs of 21st Century Learning
The four C’s of 21st Century skills are:
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Critical thinking
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Creativity
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Collaboration
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Communication
These four skills are essential for modern students to succeed in school and the workplace.
They often make the biggest impact in terms of setting your students apart when applying for and starting their careers.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the practice of solving problems, among other qualities.
In addition to working through problems, solving puzzles, and similar activities, critical thinking also includes an element of skepticism. Critical thinking empowers students to discover the truth in assertions, especially when it comes to separating fact from opinion.
Creativity
Creativity allows students to embrace their inner strengths from big-picture planning to meticulous organization. As a student learns about their creativity, they also learn how to express it in healthy and productive ways. More importantly, they also become motivated to share that creativity with others.
Collaboration
Practicing collaboration and teamwork helps students understand how to address a problem, pitch solutions, and decide the best course of action. It’s also helpful for them to learn that other people don’t always have the same ideas that they do.
Communication
Even in situations where vocal tone is available, students need to learn how to communicate effectively.
That includes minimizing tangents, speaking directly to an idea, and checking other participants to make sure they’re engaged. Reading an audience — even if it’s just two other people in a group discussion — lets students determine whether they should keep expanding on an idea or wrap up their point.
So, what is the big idea?
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Critical thinking teaches students to question claims and seek truth.
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Creativity teaches students to think in a way that’s unique to them.
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Collaboration teaches students that groups can create something bigger and better than you can on your own.
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Communication teaches students how to efficiently convey ideas.
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Combined, the four C’s empower students to become one-person think tanks.
Assignment
Revise your Backward design unit plan to include the 4Cs. Please submit your revised work to the class Padlet with your full name and campus name.
Backward Design template with 4Cs (PDF)
Students will have three primary goals for this unit.
First, they will be working to research a chosen SDG and consider a scenario-based lesson. Second, they will need to determine how they will educate others in terms of their SDG, for most people know very little about the SDGs. Finally, they will be creating a multimedia presentation and persuasive letter meant to convince people to take action regarding their SDG. Be thinking about these three aspects of the project at all times.
Alternatively, students can
construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, the occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity OR
evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces the impacts of human activities on natural systems.
Extension: Enter your multimedia project in the worldof8billion video contest.
Extension: Use the Five Thinking Hats Method when reading: Five Thinking Hats is a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved.
You and your team members can learn how to separate thinking into six clear functions and roles. Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic “thinking hat.” By mentally wearing and switching “hats,” you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.