{"id":15087,"date":"2019-12-02T15:09:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T19:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechteacher.org\/?p=15087"},"modified":"2020-01-22T17:31:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T21:31:57","slug":"getting-started-with-deeper-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechteacher.org\/getting-started-with-deeper-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started with Deeper Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part 1 of the Deeper Learning Series<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the first post in a new 4-part EdTechTeacher series focused on Deeper Learning. <\/em><\/strong>
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How might educators and school leaders design experiences that spark and sustain deeper student learning?  As an unprecedented emphasis on deeper learning has developed across the nation, we are tackling this complex challenge with a new level of urgency.  Fortunately, new research, frameworks, design resources and practical examples have emerged that can help all of us chart new paths in our own contexts.  In this four part series, we will explore the highest quality research and practical resources out there to help educators design for deeper learning.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deeper Learning Competencies and Frameworks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Essential skills and competencies considered part of \u201cdeeper learning\u201d typically include critical thinking, creativity, communication, and complex problem solving. Proponents of deeper learning make the case that all learning environments, regardless of the specific innovation or approach, should help build these student competencies so that they are prepared for our rapidly changing world. 
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Several organizations have existing frameworks promoting this type of learning, such as the Hewlett Foundation<\/a> and New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning<\/a>. For years, educational researchers and authors have also been promoting these skills and dispositions (for example: Tony Wagner<\/a>, Sir Ken Robinson<\/a> and Scott McLeod<\/a>) and most school districts across the nation address these in their vision statements and strategic planning documents. Many schools have also developed \u201cGraduate Profiles\u201d that often include deeper student learning.  Examples of these include the JCPS Backpack of Success Skills<\/a> and Charlotte-Mecklenburg\u2019s Learner Profile<\/a>.  More information about this can also be found in the free EdX course Envisioning the Graduate of the Future<\/a>. 
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Why Deeper Learning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are several key reasons why deeper learning is emerging as a core theme in schools across the country.  Although not an exhaustive list, below are some of the central reasons why we should focus on fostering deeper learning experiences for all of our students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longstanding Aspirations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As described in Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine\u2019s comprehensive study \u201cIn Search of Deeper Learning<\/a>,\u201d there have been long standing aspirations for deeper learning.  Some examples include John Dewey\u2019s advocacy for experiential education, Paulo Freire\u2019s opposition to the \u201cbanking model,\u201d and modern scholars\u2019 research on \u201cambitious instruction\u201d that focuses on student reasoning and application of underlying concepts. The theory behind education that leads to deeper learning is not new, but has arguably been sidelined the past few decades for various reasons (which are beyond the scope of this series, but important nonetheless). This resurgence in focus on deeper learning is as much an opportunity to revisit theorists who advocated for this in the past as much as it is a chance to chart a new course in our schools.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic Shifts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another driver of deeper learning involves the rapidly changing economic realities that our students will soon enter and begin to shape.  The top skills sought by employers in 1970 may have been reading, writing and arithmetic, but that economic reality is long past. The top skills sought by today\u2019s employers are complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity. (Source: In Search of Deeper Learning<\/a>)  How much of our current school system is designed to prepare students for 1970 as opposed to the modern knowledge economy?  This question often leads to uncomfortable discussions about the reality of modern schooling and what changes are needed to make the shift to deeper student learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies back up this claim that economic skill sets and demands are shifting.  Research by Levy and Murnane<\/a> concludes that there is a significant gap growing between demand for routine manual and cognitive tasks (declining rapidly) and those that involve working with new information and solving unstructured problems (increasing rapidly).  Their research points to the following as critical skills for the knowledge economy: <\/p>\n\n\n\n