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Knowledge Building Centers

Knowledge building is a central focus of the learning commons program.  The program of the learning commons is to use the power of information and technology, the physical space of the learning commons as an extension of the classroom, and the curriculum of the various classrooms, to push excellence in the school through effective collaboration.

 

The emergence of collaborative technologies, the opening of quality information and multimedia resources, and quality instructional designs, allow classroom teachers new opportunities to develop super learning experiences jointly with the specialists of the school.  Teacher librarians, teacher technologists, reading specialists, teachers of the gifted, and special education teachers stand ready to combine forces to demonstrate that co-teaching and integrated instruction are far superior to isolated one-person teaching strategies.

 

Knowledge building can happen as a face to face experience, a totally online experience, or a combination of both. We recommend that  a knowledge building website, wiki, or other virtual tool be used to create a series of learning experiences as the organizing element of collaborative instruction.

As a companion to knowledge building centers, we recommend that every child, teen, and adult create thier own Personal Learning Environment (PLEs) as a companion to working in Knowledge Building Centers. PLEs present a challenge to every person to come into command of their own learning by first, creating their own portal into the informaiton world. This is followed by the development of a personal learning network that finally results in a portfolio both personal and public. Please visit another website devoted to the PLE at:

 

What is a Knowledge Building Center?

 A knowledge building center is an online presence of a particular learning experience that accomplishes a number of this that a simple online directive assignment does not usually do. Consider the following characteristics and compare them with  your current assignments.

  • A KBC can be used either with face to face  or online learning experiences. If face to face, then the KBC provides the organizational structure for everyone to keep everyone on track during the learning experience. If online, the KBC is not only a structural element, but is the real work space, exhibit space, demonstration space, communication space, and assessment space.
  • A KBC is a natural when it comes to collaboration - everyone is participating: teachers, students, teacher librarians, teacher technologists, any other specialists, experts, parents, and administrators. Everyone is helping, coaching, doing, building, reflecting, and succeeding together.
  • A KBC uses technologies that really boost deep understanding of the topic at hand and also help learners build learning how to learn skills.
  • A KBC employs a sound instructional design that elevates thinking, habits of mind, creativity, and combines personal expertise that leads to collaborative intelligence.
  • A KBC is designed to facilitate sharing, exhibiting, discussion, and problem solving.
  • The object of a KBC is to have every learner meet and exceed the expectations of the learning experience.
  • A KBC is designed for assessments that differentiate among the various learners. The goal is to have 100 percent of the learners succeed.
  • In the KBC, the final learning activity is a BIG THINK: a metacognitive activity that "replays" the learning experience in order to plan improvement strategies for the next experience together.
  • Resources to build KBCs available form LMCSource include: Beyond Bird Units. Refreshed. 2011, The Big Think, 2010, and Google Apps for Education, 2011.

 

 

Can we see some examples when a learning experience is topical in nature?

 
 
 

 

 
 

 

Can we see some examples of a learning experience when a particular text is the center of study such as a book or a speech, or a document, or an article?

 

These examples use Book2Cloud interactive ebook technology at: https://sites.google.com/site/book2cloud/

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

Constructing Knowledge Building Centers

Our project: Learn to build a Knowledge Building Center:

  • When you get the template up on the screen, it should look like:

     

 

    • Next, create your "hook front page" for your topic using the template.
    • Next under lesson plans, construct your learning experience (we suggest using the concept jigsaw puzzle model because of its simplicity - See model attached below):
    • Topic and Grade level
    • Your name and school
    • Think model used (find models attached below)
    • Old method
    • Overview of the learning experience (brief paragraph)
    • Goals and Objectives:
      • Content to be learned:
      • 21st Century Skills need to learn the content
    • Essential Questions
    • Assessment
      • Of content knowledge
      • Of 21st Century skills
    • diagram or flowchart of the learning experience
    • Co-taught learning activities
    • Culminating Activity
    • The Big Think
      • Content So What (identify strategy)
      • Process So What (Identify strategy)
      • What's Next
 
Helpful sites to help construct a Google Site:
 

 

Specialized Templates based on the 4 stage Inquiry Process profiled in Together for Learning

  
 
Sound Instructional Designs in KBCs

THINK Models –Loertscher, Koechlin and Zwaan

from: Beyond Bird Units, Redress Edition. Hi Willow, 2011

 

§  Background to Question Model—where learners build enough background knowledge on a topic to formulate intelligent and engaging questions for themselves

§  Sensemaking Model—where the learner takes a group of facts, ideas, or opinions and makes sense through visualization, classification, or synthesis

§  Read, View, and Listen Model—where learners read, view, and listen widely on a topic and combine what they learn with what others know

§  Advice to Action Model—where learners consult a wide variety of advice and discern what are the wisest courses of action

§  Compare and Contrast Model—where people, places, ideas, time periods, issues or solutions to problems are analyzed and compared to gain understanding of varying perspectives

§  Concept Jigsaw Puzzle Model—where groups build expertise on subtopics and then combine their expertise to build a big picture across what everyone has discovered

§  Problems/Possibilities Jigsaw Puzzle Model—where learners build expertise in various parts of a problem and then combine their expertise to solve the larger problem.

§  Decision Matrix Model—where learners assemble facts, ideas, or opinions in a spreadsheet-type of matrix that enables them to do a comparative analysis in order to make an informed rather than a subjective decision

§  Patterns & Trends Matrix Model—where learners assemble facts, ideas, or opinions in a spreadsheet-type of matrix that enables them to look for patterns or trends across the data collected

§  The Timeline Model—where learners arrange ideas, events, or data in chronological order to enable comparisons, sequences, contrasts, or developments in order to see a larger picture of what is or was happening.

§  History & Mystery Model—where learners try to determine what happened, really happened, or find explanations to mysterious happenings

§  Take a Position Model—where learners take positions based upon careful study rather than upon whim

§  Re-Create Model—where learners create authentic reproductions whether literary, real, artistically, or creatively

§  Reinvent Model—where learners try to invent new ways of doing things, processes, environmental systems as close to the real world as possible

§  Learn By Doing—where learners create apprenticeships, experiments, mockups, or performing tasks in the real or simulated world

§  Teacher-Directed Quest Model—where learners do research projects under the teacher and learning specialist’s direction such as:

o   Online Quest Projects

o   The Report

o   The Research Paper

o   The WebQuest as a Research Model

§  Learner-Directed Quest Model—where learners take the initiative with adult shadowing of research projects:

o  Hero’s Journey 

o  Become an Expert

o  I Search

§  Mix It Up! Model—where learners mix and match any of the models above

 

 
A Quick Look at the impact of Technology on Learning:
 
What technology tools are you using that contribute to teaching and learning in your school? Example from a Sunday School timeline of the Old Testament. The teens made the presentation as a group to summarize the entire year of Old Testament Study but did it really contribute to deeper understanding? We might be impressed by the glitz but...  https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUkdWYq2f0WvZGhiMzgzdmRfNzFjM3JxaDhjOA&hl=en
 
 
  • Types of Learning Boosts from Technology:
     
    1. Learning How to Learn:
    2. Brainstorming
    3. Question building
    4. Gathering and organizing quality information
    5. Reading engagement
    6. Analysis and synthesis of information and ideas
    7. Collaborative writing and editing
    8. Collaborative visualization; Mindmapping
       
    9. Presenting, publishing and communicating
    10. Reflection and metacognition
    11. Collaborative knowledge building; Collaborative intelligence
    12. Other learning How to Learn Tool
       
    13. Motivation:
    14. Novelty
    15. Real world
    16. Relevant
    17. Experimenting and playing Problem posing and problem solving Simulations
    18. Global projects: Appreciation of other cultures
    19. Other Motivational Tools
       
    20. Creativity and Content Creation
    21. Building/composing, creating using many tools and presentation venues
    22. Digital story telling; growth in oral speaking
    23. Creativity tools and innovation because of those tools
    24. Presenting, publishing and communicating
    25. Collaborative  and individual writing 
    26. Other Creativity and Content Creation Tool
       
    27. Efficiency
    28. Tools that save time for individuals and groups
    29. Organizational tools that help everyone get the job done.
    30. Other Efficiency Tool
       
    31. Deep Understanding of Content Knowledge:
    32. Collaborative visualization; Mindmapping
    33. Multimedia experiences not possible in a non-tech world
    34. Growth in Content Knowledge: the major ideas of the various disciplines: what we know and are able to do
    35. Other Deep Understanding of Content Knowledge Tool
       
    36. Assessing What We Really Value:
    37. Deep understanding
    38. Learning How to Learn
    39. Critical thinking
    40. Creative thinking
    41. Habits of mind
    42. College and career ready
    43. Common Core Standards and other standards we value
    44. Formative and summative
    45. Other Assessing What We Really Value Tool
       
    46. Teaching Strategies, Techniques and Organization
       
    47. Differentiation
    48. Presentations
    49. Going paperless
    50. Tracking and managing
    51. management systems for courses, grading
       
    52. Environments such as Google Apps for Education; Moodle
    53. Other Teaching Strategies, Techniques and Organization Tool
Resources:
 
 
 
 
Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wikis/etl/index.php/Handbook_of_Emerging_Technologies_for_Learning
 
 
 
Activity:  Brainstorm about the best Web 2.0 tools:  Fill out questionnaire on tools at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGdKb1JoRDFOalh1VHFQTTY4Mk9YWGc6MQ and then you can view the results at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tgJoRhD1NjXuTqPM682OXXg#gid=0
 

Knowledge Building Seminar materials, Spring, 2010. You can watch the various sessions on line:

Creating Knowledge Building Centers (idea from Deb Wallace) that are major collaborative pathfinders and work spaces  for learning units that are repeated in the school over and over. These knowledge centers might have links created by everyone, tools, data sets, sample units and their effects over time, projects across the class/school/world, places to collaborate with experts; links to special collections at various libraries/museums/govt. agencies; student created tutorials/projects/interviews/data sets.

 

Using our Google Sites Knowledge Building Center Template

The Knowledge Building Center template now shows up in Google Site's template gallery.  To find it, a user has to begin to create a site, then choose "browse the gallery for more."  A new window will open allowing users to search the template gallery.  A search for "knowledge building center" brings up the template with your name and the description "A place where classroom teachers, teacher librarians, teacher technologists, other adult specialists, and students are engaged in collaborative inquiry." Download the template and you are ready to go and can modify it any way you wish.

 

Users of other website creation services (e.g., Weebly, etc.) will need to build their Knowledge Building Centers without this shortcut. Hopefully during the seminar, participants will build KBCs in various technologies and share them with everyone else.

 

Add here other templates that you are sharing that use various kinds of web 2.0 tools:

 

 

May 15, 2010  Links to Jing Presentations of a Knowledge Building Center  

                                             -- submitted by Lois as part of the Vision Project for Dr. Loertscher's LIBR 233 class.

              The PowerPoint slides that accompany are titled Vision Project.ppt  and can be found under "Images and files" when in Edit mode.

 

1. http://www.screencast.com/t/NDI5MGI5O

 

2. http://www.screencast.com/t/NGEyZTYz

 

3. http://www.screencast.com/t/MGYxZjVmY

 

4. http://www.screencast.com/t/NDIzMzhkMmUt

 

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