Authority over Learning
By encouraging students to have more control over their learning, Northeast works to instill a sense of ownership and the desire to become life-long learners. Teachers across campus are putting more control into the hands of students, and students are showing-out.
Using Media to Show Knowledge and Support Creativity
In Dr. Carlena Benjamin's Anatomy and Physiology class, students often use the iPad to produce media to show their knowledge, and in doing so, develop a deeper understanding of the learning objectives. Students not only develop content knowledge, they improve skills related to communication, media literacy, and creativity. One example is through her membrane transport assignment. In this project, students create a video that depicts a process of cellular membrane transport. Students must make the connection between transport and body systems, homeostasis, and homeostatic imbalances all while sharing their knowledge in a digital form that is engaging, explanatory, and concise. These projects are then shared during class and students teach one another. Dr. Benjamin explained, "if there are areas where students can take on more responsibility of their learning, I want to allow that opportunity." Using the iPad, her students are becoming authors of content rather than just consumers.
Using Apple Pages to Author Resources
In the Early Childhood Development program, students are authoring their own collection of lesson plans using Apple Pages on iPad. Students are required to develop four days of lesson plans for their teaching block. Plans consist of a music section, word wall, group activity, and individual lesson. Early Childhood Development director, Mrs. Jenniffer Newell created a template in Pages to guide students in the development of their book. Students are sharing their resources with one another through Air Drop, and when they graduate from program, they have a complete set of lesson plans. Graduated students keep their iPad, and this enables students to share their plans with potential employers during interviews.
