As the school year comes to a close, there are still plenty of opportunities for students to gain something valuable they can take with them into the summer and the approaching school year. Since it’s Memorial Day Weekend, we thought we’d focus a little bit on how teachers can help mold independent learners with STEM activities in the 21st century classroom. Enjoy—and remember, it’s almost summer!

Building Independence Among 21st Century Learners

If you’re a regular reader of the Eduporium Weekly, you may be surprised by us suggesting kids become independent learners since we tend to preach the importance of collaboration among today’s students. While this is still quite important in shaping their 21st century success, it’s okay for them to become well-rounded learners too—right? Even though it’s not quite time for the 4th of July, we thought we’d keep with the patriotic theme and list off some benefits of independent learning this Memorial Day Weekend. Somewhat surprisingly, there are a lot of ways to use technology to encourage independent thinking and boost creativity through innovative projects to finish up the school year strong!

With a strong focus on history topics, these Memorial Day-themed lessons are made interactive by the technology they incorporate. Students can browse the Internet in search of interesting soldiers or perhaps someone from their hometown who fought for our country. They can then get creative or do a little research and write a biography based on what they think the soldier was like! To turn up the STEAM even more, encourage kids to get creative and use some fancy tools to create a 3-dimensional rendering of what they think their soldier might have looked like. This would be especially great if the classroom has a 3D printer to use!

Of course, if you have a strong 21st century teaching mindset and can’t go a day without collaborative work in the classroom, we have project ideas for groups, too! Students can put their design skills to the test and create an interactive book of what patriotism means to them. Or, they can even use tools like the Thirsty Plant Kit to plant some Memorial Day flowers in honor of our country’s brave soldiers. Not only is it a good chance to get hands on with technology, they’ll love the chance to do something for the community and be blown away when the built-in sensors alert them when the plants need water. See—there are lots of ways to build strong, independent learners—even as the school year comes to a close!

Yearlong PBL and Independent Learning

If you’re a teacher who’s ever undertaken the task of a yearlong project-based learning model, it’s easy to start listing the advantages. Even for parents who see the excitement, engagement and their children coming home still buzzing with ideas from school, project-based independence has its upside. In today’s student-centered classrooms, project-based learning is often taking center stage. With technology there to help kids do more, they are also able to spread their wings as independent thinkers, designers, learners and creators.

Yearlong projects are somewhat different that traditional project-based learning in a few ways, including the amount of dedication from the students’ end. They help foster essential motivation in children, which results in them embracing the learning journey rather than focusing only on achieving a good grade. Also, though in a lot of cases, students are working independently, they are constantly communicating with other classmates about their projects and consequentially building their own communication skills. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of yearlong projects is that students work backwards. While remaining focused on the long-term goal, students adhere to checkpoints set by the teacher to ensure that they’re covering everything they need to know.

Some of the best independent yearlong projects are those that focus on autonomy and mastering learning outcomes—oftentimes using innovative tech tools in the process. Almost immediately, students immerse themselves in their projects and become much more engaged than they are in their regular day-to-day classroom instruction. Since the nature of the projects is ongoing as well as independent, teachers can take students aside and offer them valuable feedback about their work, make suggestions and challenge them to improve their projects. Employing this kind of independent learning in education definitely has its long-term benefits—both to teaching and learning.

Fostering Independent Thinking Skills

For much of the last 100 years and continuing into much of today’s education, teachers have been spending much too much time on relaying facts (the “what”) rather than challenging students to figure out the “why.” Sure, a lot of science, historical and math facts are important pieces in a child’s education, but, in the real world, how far will they get if they can’t figure out the ‘why?’ The answer, in all likelihood, is not very far. If students can see something developing in front of them but don’t know why it’s happening, they will not be able to creatively solve the problem—and that will probably comprise the majority of their 21st century job.

Rather than just feeding information to their students, teachers should be giving them plenty of opportunities to discover concepts on their own and apply what they’ve learned to real-world activities. Active learning—or learning through hands-on experiences—enables children to grasp the important things much more effectively and often without the need of traditional instruction. When kids engage in experiential learning, they are able to see and remember that there is often more than one right answer to a problem without needing to be told by their teacher. Teachers, especially in today’s world, need to spend a fair amount of time developing students into independent thinkers and preparing them for more than a pen-and-paper world.

Luckily for teachers, there are tons of effective ways to customize classrooms to help kids develop independent learning skills and the best way to establish this outside-the-box structure is to flat out tell students how it will be when they arrive on the first day! In open learning environments, teachers give fewer passive lectures and students enjoy more opportunities to write and talk about what they are learning. Since there is a greater focus on independence, there should also be an even greater focus on constructive feedback as well. A good rule of thumb is supplying students with at least three things they did well and another three areas they can improve. Research projects are also good so that kids can each learn something important and interesting, but explore independent topic areas. Nobody wants to sit through 25 versions of the same presentation, right!? And, finally, try letting the students do the teaching. You never know—the kids might learn better when the information is coming from peers! 

Fostering Independence in PBL Classrooms

By the time students reach middle school, they are generally capable and, most of the time, willing to embark on their own independent learning adventures. While some teachers may find it disheartening that they don’t necessarily need their guidance anymore, there’s nothing wrong with letting independent thinkers and creators do their own thing. At this age, students are starting to come into their own developmentally and, like in any endeavor, want to be given more control and shown greater levels of trust. We say, hey, as long as they’re being responsible, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

In this day and age, it’s almost a requirement that kids develop independent thinking skills to prepare for the real world. Teachers can help get them started and point out some of the skills they should be working to improve, but, once they hit those middle school years, they should be prepared enough to do a lot of their learning on their own. Student independence in PBL-focused classrooms is obviously contingent on teachers taking a step back and letting the students use technology to enhance their autonomous thinking. However strange this might seem, it is an essential aspect of effective project-based learning. Ultimately, to be successful in the 21st century, students need to know how to manage themselves and use their natural creativity to solve problems when they might not always have help.

There are a few good suggestions we’ve heard that help teachers ensure that their students are working in a beneficial environment. First and foremost, they must make sure that students know that they are still expected to engage in their work and put their absolute best effort forward. A good way to constantly keep them focused is to establish rules and norms right off the bat, so that they get comfortable with the pace of their new routine. Teachers will probably want to jump in from time to time and offer constructive advice to their students and that’s fine—in fact, their progress always needs to be monitored—just don’t get too involved or give them any answers. Try some of these suggestions in your 21st century classroom and see how high student independence soars!

Revolutionize Curriculum to Enable Readiness

What better time to become inspired to spark a classroom revolution than Memorial Day!? So much has been made about the need for kids to learn with technology as early on as elementary school to prepare them for the real world. Many schools and districts, however, continue to rely on their longtime curricula despite evidence that shows innovation in education is highly beneficial for today’s youth. Whether that innovation involves regular EdTech, hands-on experimentation or simply getting up and moving around, most things that aren’t black and white textbooks appeal to kids and help them learn. There’s no reason for educators to fear change. It’s been done effectively and can be aligned to best fit each and every school while offering students choices they want and technology you can trust.

To ease apprehension, remember that plenty of innovative districts have implemented EdTech initiatives and, due to proper planning and execution, the education experience has been amplified. First, teachers should realize that 1:1 programs close to being the new normal. Every student in the classroom can better engage when they have their own laptop or tablet to follow along with material or view well-placed, interactive videos that they can actually all see. This access to EdTech devices also simultaneously boosts children’s comfort levels with using technology and narrows the gap among classmates. There are ubiquitous software programs that have been developed and allow for more efficient use by teachers as well as students. It’s this same software that will commonly be used in future jobs as well. In the case of classroom technology, the BYOD movement is something that has benefitted greatly from this. Since this movement sprang up a few years back, BYOD has evolved into something that teachers clearly see has benefits that outweigh its drawbacks.

To spark a curriculum change that is better catered to modern times and will better prepare students for the future, it will undoubtedly require a well-planned proposal, especially if dealing with administrators who are set in their ways. Each student learns differently, so why should every student in every grade across the country be required to go about learning in the same way? It’s a waste of time. By determining only what students need to learn and not setting any requirements for how they learn it, classrooms would become much more open and likely produce better engagement and retention. As for the financial aspect, there are plenty of ways to revamp the curriculum with innovative technologies and still save money. Educational discounts for one, are a great route to take. Many companies (including this one!) offer educational pricing on many technology items, like laptops, tablets and circuitry for academic users. All it takes is a bit of information and now you know how to innovate and save at the same time! Good luck!


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