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VISIONING:
LEARNING PRACTICES
OBJECTIVE: Draw connections between & organize sets of learning practices
OBJECTIVE: Adopt or create a plan to adopt a set of learning practices for your program or organization
What do we mean by learning practices?
Learning practices are the core of what we want learners to take away from maker education experiences and what we will look for in observing and assessing learning. By thinking about learning practices, we push ourselves beyond core content and skills into mindsets, dispositions, and pursuits. This broadening of how we design learning experiences and look for signs of learning is a form of liberatory practice as it supports the development of cognitive capacities, agency, and deeper learning.
What do we mean by learning practice indicators?
As educators, we rely on indicators to tell us how and if a student is learning.
These signals can be visual, verbal, or auditory. They prioritize process over outcomes.
In other words, if we see A, B, C, in the process of doing X, we can see learning.
Say you’re doing a problem solving exercise. Indicators are the things you may observe during that process. This could be learners identifying (in documentation or speech) what works and what doesn't, changing materials or dropping ideas, complementing their problem with real-world solutions, or bringing in solutions from their everyday lives.
GETTING STARTED
This module can be completed on your own; however, you’ll have a much richer discussion if this is a collaborative effort with colleagues and partners.
WHO YOU'LL NEED
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Miro, Padlet, or Jamboard
whiteboard, post-its, chart paper, markers, and printed copies of the Learning Values and Frameworks from our Learning Practices mapping activity
VIRTUAL
PHYSICAL
LEARNING PRACTICES ACTIVITY
The Learning Practices mapping activity has 4 accompanying resources which you can access here.
TIME TO COMPLETE
The program values module will take you and your team at least three hours to work through the first time. Remember this is an iterative process - you may need to come back and revise your thinking after you work through other modules.
PART ONE: Learning Practices Exploration
Explore four sets of maker-centered and equity-focused learning values by organizing and making connections through our Learning Practices activity.
01 LEARNING PRACTICES EXPLORATION
Reflect Individually: In your own journal or thinking space, answer the following questions about learning practices. If you are having trouble getting started, take a look at a few examples of learning practices.
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As a learner, what learning practices do you personally value in a making and tinkering learning experience?
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As a designer and facilitator of making and tinkering experiences, what learning practices do you value in the planning, design, and facilitation of learning experiences?
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What learning practices do you think your organization values with respect to making and tinkering?
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Exploring with Colleagues: Deepen your collective understanding of learning practices by exploring four sets of maker-centered and equity-focused learning practices by organizing and making connections through our Learning Practices mapping activity. Use your individual reflection to add to the learning practices we provided during the Elaborate step.
OPTIONAL READING:
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How Can Understanding What We Value as Educators Shape What We Assess in Our Classrooms?
The Learning Practices Activity has 4 accompanying resources which you can download here.​
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VOTING WITH COLLEAGUES
Go back to the learning practices map you created in Part 1 and have each person vote ​four times on the practices that are most aligned to your organization’s values and work.
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REFLECT INDIVIDUALLY
What do you notice about how you and your colleagues voted? Which practices do you think are most important to include in your set? Is anything missing? Are there any practices that received votes that you think should not be included?
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DECIDE WITH COLLEAGUES
Rank your list of learning practices in order of votes, from most to least. Think about the realities and restraints of your organization. Based on your ranked list, your organizational realities (like capacity and your priorities), choose 4-6 learning practices you can include in your work.
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CHOOSE AND DEFINE WITH COLLEAGUES
Once you’ve identified 4-6 learning practices to prioritize, spend some time defining them so that your organization has a common language to use when discussing and implementing learning practices. ​
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Add your learning practices and definitions to your Collaborative Visioning Journal.
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PART TWO: What are your learning practices?
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In a group, brainstorm words you think are important for each of learning practices. You can visualize your thinking on a whiteboard or online space such as jamboard miro, etc.
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In smaller groups of 1-2 people, take those words and create their definitions.
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As a whole group, you can provide feedback and input for a final round of editing.
PART THREE: Learning Practice Indicators
What do we mean by learning practice indicators?
As educators, we rely on indicators to tell us how and if a student is learning. These signals can be visual, verbal, or auditory.
They prioritize process over outcomes. In other words, if we see A, B, C, in the process of doing X, we can see learning.
Say you’re doing a problem solving exercise. Indicators are the things you may observe during that process. This could be learners identifying (in documentation or speech) what works and what doesn't, changing materials or dropping ideas, complementing their problem with real-world solutions, or bringing in solutions from their everyday lives.
How will you look for signs of learning related to each of your learning practices?
What do you think each one might look like?
Determining indicators is an iterative process and this module will support you with the first step – generating an initial set. After you have that set, you will need to put it into practice by observing learners and then modify what you generated based on what you learn.
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READ INDIVIDUALLY
Read Individually: Take a look at indicators other organizations have created and reflect on the following questions:
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What do these focus on?
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How are they framed?
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Which ideas make the most sense and why?
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Which problems feel familiar? Why?
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Which are confusing?
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BRAINSTORM TOGETHER
As a team, brainstorm a list of indicators for each of the learning practice you outlined in Part 2.
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DOCUMENT YOUR PRACTICES
For each learning practice, determine 3-5 focal indicators. You can document them in your Collaborative Visioning Journal.
CLICK FOR EXAMPLES OF LEARNING PRACTICE INDICATORS FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
