Challenge Based Learning

Silva, Katherine

ET

"Challenge Based Learning - Welcome to Challenge Based Learning!" Challenge Based Learning. [Website] Apple, 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. Retrieved from https://challengebasedlearning.org/pages/welcome

Apple. (2012). Challenge based learning: A classroom guide.  Retrieved from https://challengebasedlearning.org/public/toolkit_resource/02/0e/0df4_af4e.pdf?c=f479

The Challenge Based Learning website is an online community and forum for teachers using challenge based learning projects in their classroom.  Challenge based learning is very similar to inquiry based or project based learning where the process begins with a compelling issue that is engaging to students and has implications to their community or society at large.  Students take this idea and connect their lives to it through the essential question.  For example, “Sustainability: What is the impact of my water consumption on my community?” or “Conflict: How do views on race, ethnicity, and nationality contribute to conflicts?” or “Identity: What groups do I belong to and what roles do I play?” (CBL Classroom Guide, p. 9).  From here, the essential question is turned into a challenge for the students, as in “Reduce your family’s (or your school’s) water consumption,” “Improve tolerance at your school,” or “Create opportunities for group dialogues at your school” (CBL Classroom Guide, p. 10).  Students then develop their own research questions and research plan as they find solutions to this challenge.  The community provides a 40 page classroom guide to explain the process.  The guide includes step by step guidance, tips for teachers and several practical templates for teachers including a preparation checklist, prompts for creating essential or guided questions, a team group work agreement, and a storyboard template.  

Students of LIBR250 will easily recognize familiar concepts as this model combines many of Dr. Loertscher’s core concepts and learning models.  CBL emphasizes essential questions, student driven learning, collaboration, and technology to make learning more real, personal, and exciting.  By signing up for the community, teachers and librarians have access to projects and videos from previous classes.  Teachers and librarians can also use the site to share what their own class videos with the community, which in this model is important to finish the process by sharing with a real world audience.  (Keep in mind that the terms of service give Apple the rights to any videos uploaded.)  

Evaluation:

Although created by Apple and Apple Educators, the website and guide does not try to sell Apple products too much, and the reality is, most schools are using Apple products anyway.  The templates and teacher checklists in the guide are very useful and time-saving, especially the student agreement and the storyboard planners.  Although the guide is geared to the classroom teacher, for the students’ research and discovery to be successful, librarian collaboration would be essential.  Overall, the guide and the website seem to be worthy supplements to Beyond Bird Units and The Big Think.  

(Personal note: I have a colleague who is attempting one of these units right now on Cultural Diversity.  She reports that the process is “NOT easy” and “slow,” but that she is really pleased with her students' conversations and what her students have produced so far.  It is a change in mindset for both teachers and students.)