Kristin Harrington - Adventures in Authentic Learning

21 Step-by-Step Projects From an Edtech Coach

Kristin Harrington

2020 International Society for Technology in Education

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Senior Acquisitions Editor: Valerie Witte

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Book Design and Production: Danielle Foster

Cover Design: Beth DeWilde

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-56484-881-9

Ebook version available

Printed in the United States of America

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This book is dedicated to all the educators and students I have been so fortunate to work with and learn from. You inspired the ideas in this book and continue pushing me to be better every day.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a nonprofit organization that works with the global education community to accelerate the use of technology to solve tough problems and inspire innovation. Our worldwide network believes in the potential technology holds to transform teaching and learning.

ISTE sets a bold vision for education transformation through the ISTE Standards, a framework for students, educators, administrators, coaches and computer science educators to rethink education and create innovative learning environments. ISTE hosts the annual ISTE Conference & Expo, one of the worlds most influential edtech events. The organizations professional learning offerings include online courses, professional networks, year-round academies, peer-reviewed journals and other publications. ISTE is also the leading publisher of books focused on technology in education. For more information or to become an ISTE member, visit iste.org . Subscribe to ISTEs YouTube channel and connect with ISTE on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, Third Edition Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss

Inspiring Curiosity: The Librarians Guide to Inquiry-Based Learning Colette Cassinelli

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Kristin Harrington is an edtech coach for Flagler County School District in Palm Coast, FL, as well as an adjunct professor for Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. She has a masters degree in Educational Technology and Instructional Design from the University of Florida. Kristin is the president of the ISTE Learning Spaces Network, a guest writer for ISTEs Empowered Learner Magazine and blog, and a recipient of the 2020 ISTE Edtech Coaches Award. She is also the co-founder of Edcamp St. Augustine and Edcamp Flagler, as well as the secretary of the Florida Council of Instructional Technology Leaders (FCITL).

As an educator Kristin worked in both private and public schools, before transitioning into her current role as a coach.

Thanks to everyone on the ISTE publishing team for your tremendous help and support with writing my first book. To my editors Valerie Witte and Linda Laflamme, I truly couldnt have done this without your help, and I appreciate all of your kind and thoughtful feedback throughout this process. This was truly a team effort, and this is a much better book because of your help and support.

To my family, thank you for believing in me even when I may not have always earned it. To my friends, thank you for listening to me talk about this book for the past two years and for never complaining. Arent you glad its finished? To my favorite people, Brady and Nate, may you always have your love of learning and creativity. You all have inspired me more than you know!

Manuscript Reviewers: Rich Dixon
Sheryl OShea
Shaundel Krumheuer
Chip Cash

ISTE Standards Reviewers: Donna Albertson
Carolina Seiden
Kim Lowden
Aimee Bloom

Seeing the excitement on a students face when they create, solve, or accomplish something new is an amazing and contagious experience. For many educators, this is why we teach, and this feeling inspires us to continue searching for new ways to achieve this and seek new adventures in our classrooms. Student enthusiasm for learning can happen at any grade level, although its arguably more difficult to achieve in middle- and high-school classrooms. In my role as an edtech coach, I continually work to create these experiences for both students and teachers. I have found that more often than not, this enthusiasm happens in conjunction with authentic projects. The ISTE Standards for Students (International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE], 2016) recognize this as well, calling on teachers to encourage communication, creativity, student voice and choice, and other important skills to help develop engaged and lifelong learners.

As an edtech coach, I have the unique opportunity to truly see what is happening in the classrooms where I work, as well as gather a wealth of ideas from the teachers I coach. Through collaboration, shared ideas can build into something great that needs to be shared with an even broader group. Thats partly how Adventures in Authentic Learning came about: Many of the projects and insights I share in this book grew from reflecting on classroom collaborationsbetween coach and teacher, teacher and students, and students and their peers. So whether you are a teacher or edtech coach, or fill another role in our schools, my hope is that you will take ideas from this book and build upon them, making them even better.

Many of the ideas and projects in this book focus on a similar goal: to foster communication skills and empower students as they engage in learning experiences that are authentic. So what does this mean? To me, authentic lessons incorporate some element of student choice and topics relevant to students. They also involve students in solving a problem or creating something, while engaging in tasks that incorporate skills we typically see in the workforce and our world outside of school. The ISTE Standards for Students focus on helping students build these much-needed skills, making them the perfect blueprint for getting started with helping your students become lifelong empowered learners and competent and creative communicators. To help you implement these standards with your students, as well as fulfill the ISTE Standards for Educators (ISTE, 2017), youll find numerous connections between the standards and the project ideas presented in this book.