School Community Connections
Summary
LRDC researchers are working to build a new model of school/community connections. Creating a “community school” has meant various things throughout the history of educational reform. Most recently, it has meant that the school was a place that should draw the community into its culture. But what should the early 21st century community school be like? Advances in digital technology have opened up new possibilities for where learning occurs, how it occurs, and who gets to be involved. The hypothesis we develop in this project is that schools should not only draw from the community, but they should be extending out to meet it. Learning should not be confined within the walls of the school. The curriculum should not be the only learning resource available to students. And teachers should not be the only adults who have learning relationships with students. In this project working with a Pittsburgh Public school called University Preparatory Academy, we will design bubbles of informal learning within a summer bridge program and in after-school time during the year. The learning experiences will use a range of robotic and computer technologies in ways that are intended promote technological fluency, allow students new ways to express themselves, and perhaps even challenge traditional notions of what we mean by learning and teaching in public schools.
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