Highschool


 * Yeah, But**

In the last week I've heard in many variations a conversation I call, "Yeah, but". The conversation goes something like this: "Project based learning sounds good, but we tried it before and it didn't work." Sounds like a solid argument, doesn't it?

I wonder if Thomas Edision said, "I've tried making this light bulb a hundreds times and it doesn't work. I guess I'll just keep using the candle since I know that works." The story is that Edison tried over 10,000 times before he was able to make the incandescent light. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have had more free time if he used the candle. At least he would have maintained the status quo. Yeah but, as an infamous maintenance worker once told me, "If you do what you've always done you get what you've always got." So if the way we've been teaching is so great why have standardized test scores stayed the same since the 1960's?

The point I'm trying to make is that if we continue to teach the same way, we will continue to get the same test scores. Maybe what we have to do is to try project based learning again and maybe this time the "lightbulbs" will go off on our students.


 * How Does a Student Add Value to the Classroom.**

Easy. Be a contributor. In this video, Ben Zander shows how. media type="custom" key="5887291"


 * Grading a Project**

Buy a bag of candy bars for your class. Have them eat one. Then have the students assign a number between 1 and 100 as a "grade" for the candy bar. You will find that the grades are different. How would a fair evaluation of the candy bar look? What would a fair evaluation of a project look like?

I think projects have to be in Quad D to be in the "A" range. One project we observed in San Diego was a sailboat with wheels. The students were measuring something to do with resistance. Not all of the sailboats were expertly made. Some of the students were dead tired of working on the project. They were working in a make-shift lab on the floor in the hall with a rotating fan. The project was Quad C in my opinion since the calcuations required high rigor. Also, every student did the same project. I left with the thought that a good project was one that opened the door for furture opportunites.


 * Magic Move**

Many times in wrestling a young wrestler expects me to show him a "magic move." A magic move is a move that transforms a wrestler into a champion. Unfortunately, there's no magic move. A wrestler can perfect a technique, but to win a match takes more than technique.

I think the same is true about project-based learning--it's not a magic move. I have seen how it works in San Diego. I know that inquiry-based learning is a way to discover and perfect learning. But the learning is hard work to perfect.


 * What is Technology?**

Here's a joke.

One day, a young painter gets a job painting yellow lines on the highway. He is given a can of paint and a brush. The first day, she paints a mile of center lines. The boss is pleased. The next day, the young painter only paints a half mile. When she returns to the shop, she's tired and sweaty. The boss is happy, but not pleased. The next day, the painter only paints a quarter of a mile more. When she returns to the shop, she's exhausted and drenched in sweat. The boss is not happy or pleased. The boss sets out to see why productivity has fallen.

The boss watches the painter and sees that she has set the paint down on the ground, dips her brush into the bucket and runs to where she is to paint the next stripe. Then the painter walks back, dips her brush into the can, and walks back to paint the next stripe. As she paints more and more, she has to run longer and longer.

How can the painter improve productivity without buying any new "technology"?

She can bring the paint can with her.

This is an example of "technology". Technology can be a new idea. That's what High Tech High tries to teach. How to come up with a new idea.

Probably, some of you have an iPod. In my opinion, one of the greatest modern inventions. All of the iPod is assembled in foreign countries. Only the idea was made in America. The iPod captures the essence of High Tech High. Educators want students to be creative by finding faster ways of performing a process or using less resources. This is the idea of Inquiry-Based Learning. Behind Inquiry Based Learning are projects that reinforce 21st Century skills.


 * Inquiry Based Learning is Technology**

When the painter brought the can of paint with him, the painter used an idea to increase productivity. There wasn't a new gizmo that increased his potential. Just an idea.

Suppose that parking is a problem at the high school. One solution is to buy more land and expand. But maybe there's another solution. Maybe the lines can be painted in a Harringbone pattern. Whether this solution works isn't the point. The point is that maybe a solution exists that does not require investment in land. That's the concept captured in "High Tech". Technology means getting more with the same or less resources. Technology means getting the same amout faster. Technology is an idea. Maybe the technology is a new computer or a new gizmo, but it's mainly an idea.


 * Why Inquiry Based Learning?**

In economics, competitive forces lower the cost of a product to the point where all profits have been squeezed out. Believe it or not, economists call this a "normal profit". There are many examples of products that have become homogenious. Some of these are: tshirts, agricultural products, and manufacturing. Many people think that jobs going overseas is a bad thing. But look at the jobs that go overseas. They are jobs in which the profits have been eliminated. Are these the jobs that we want our students to have after high school?

If we want our children to have a higher standard of living than we did, we will have to give them the skills to create. This is idea is captured in the iPod. All of the iPod was made overseas but the idea and the profits remain in the USA. The idea is hard to copy so the profits are retained. And look at how many times Apple updates their software. Look at the new products they release. This is a company that keeps reinventing itself. Apple started in a garage making personal computers. Now they are in the video, music, and computer industry. If Apple had not kept up with consumer demand, would they still be in business?

So I ask you. What kind of student do you want to produce? Do you want to produce a standardized student or one that creates ideas and can be agile enough to change in a dynamic workplace? Do you want to train a student for a specific job that might be eliminated in 10 years or do you want a student who can learn new skills?

When I look at inquiry based learning, I see students learning how to differentiate themselves. Each project is unique in its idea so it can't be easily copied. A student is learning that the value of their learning is in differentiation.


 * Adding Value**

When I talked to a trigonometry student, he talked about adding "value" to his work. In marketing, all of the value is added by the end user. For example, if you have recently renewed a subscription to a magazine, you might have found options to add the digital version for a few dollars more. Many companies now "bundle" their products because this adds value. In other words, they can sell the product for more because the end user, or customer, sees more value.

Do your students see the work that they are doing in your class as valuable? Do you teach value added concepts? If each student is getting the same content in the same mannner, they are becoming a homogenious product. When a product becomes homogenious, the price goes down and the competition is fierce. But if you are teaching a student how to differentiate themselves, you are giving them a competitive edge--you are adding value to their human capital. This is one outcome of IBL. In the video below, economist, Alex Tabarrok, discusses how ideas trump crises.

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 * Rigor and Relevance**

How does inquiry based learning apply to Quad D?

A standardized product would be Quad A. A project would fall into the Quad D area for many reasons. The projects we saw at High Tech High had to be cross curricular, articulate with the community, and involve multimedia. These requirements move a student-learner into the Quad D.

When I think of inquiry based learning, I think of the movie, **//A Beautiful//** **//Mind//**. In this movie, John Nash develops the idea that cooperation will lead to a higher level of utility maximization than working in one's self interest. All of his Nobel Prize research was based around this idea.

Can you think of other ideas that would lead to such deep self-exploration and rigor that your students could engage in?


 * Think Like a Kindergartener**

Here's a link to a post on how projects allow even advanced learners to see abstract ideas. Click on this link [] to see Prezi. Prezi is a better alternative to PowerPoint. For classes that teach deep, nonlinear content, Prezi is the way to go. For example, in my mock trial, there are layers of complex theories and rules. How does a student see the big picture? A Prezi might be the answer.


 * Do You Fear the Judgment of Others?**

Most adults are afraid of what others will think of them. They are afraid to take risks so they become conservative in their views. In the TED Talk below, Dr. Brown shares his experiences with creativity--a major component of project-based learning.

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