Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform:

Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform: Using Connected Learning to Develop Tomorrow’s Leaders

Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform | NSLA 1

Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform: Using Connected Learning to Develop Tomorrow’s Leaders An emerging topic in the national discussion on education reform, summer learning offers a unique opportunity to develop, test, and refine innovative K-12 teaching approaches. Summer learning programs provide a platform for classroom teachers to engage in flexible learning environments where they can explore youth-driven, project-based approaches that are not often possible in the school year classroom. Engaging teachers in community-based summer learning programs provides an important bridge, allowing new approaches that have been tested in out-of-school time programs to be aligned with state and national standards, and integrated into school year curriculum. These opportunities can transform the way educators approach

New York City and Chicago, NSLA helped to bring the principles of Connected Learning into school classrooms through a teaching fellowship model.

teaching during the school year and ultimately impact the way young people learn year-round. With support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) led the Summer Pathways for Innovation project in 2012 and 2013. Working closely with a variety of community-based partners in

This report offers lessons learned from work over the past two summers and provides resources for facilitating Connected Learning and Digital Media Learning opportunities. The learnings from the Summer Pathways project demonstrate the possibility for innovation provided by the summer space, as well as the impact of new pedagogical strategies. A variety of links to resources online and in Dropbox are hyperlinked into the document, which include curricula, online tools, and videos.

“These learning opportunities break wide open the traditional confines of school walls and provide more options and opportunities for lifelong learning.” (Ito et al., 2013) “Connected Learning is a model of learning that holds out the possibility of reimagining the experience of education in the information age. It draws on the power of today’s technology to fuse young people’s interests, friendships, and academic achievement through experiences laced with hands-on production, shared purpose, and open networks” (http://connectlearning.tv/ what-is-connected-learning). A natural fit within out-of-school time programs, Connected Learning occurs when student interest is fostered in educational settings and paired with social supports that connect learning to future opportunities for youth.

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Learning Principles • Interest-powered • Peer-supported • Academically oriented

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design Principles • Production-centered • Openly networked • Shared purpose

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core values • Equity • Social connection • Full participation

New York City

NSLA’s Teaching Fellowship Model Through Summer Pathways for Innovation NSLA partnered with the Hive Learning Networks in both New York City and Chicago to facilitate teaching fellowships that paired classroom teachers with summer programs run by the Hive organizations. The teaching fellowship model was born out of NSLA’s vision that summer is a time for innovation, allowing for different pedagogical models that are youth-led and interest-driven. NSLA’s experience as a leader in defining and assessing summer program quality, coupled with a vision for how summer can strengthen school-year learning, positioned the organization as an ideal intermediary to partner with Hive Learning Networks and facilitate the teaching fellowships. Founded through the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative, Hive Learning Networks support collaborations between cultural organizations to create new learning pathways and innovative education practices. Hive organizations are youth-serving institutions—museums, libraries, community-based organizations, school, and afterschool programs, and informal learning spaces—that create Connected Learning opportunities for middle and high school-aged youth. Hive Learning Networks were designed to offer young people environments in which they can congregate in spaces defined by their personal interests, and to provide capacity to educational organizations to integrate and coordinate within the community.

Chicago

ed for the fellowship model based on their experience of offering high-quality summer learning opportunities for middle and high school aged youth. Based on the success of the first year, the fellowship model was expanded in 2013 to include twelve teachers and five program partners. Program partners included Global Kids and the Hive Maker Street Corps in New York. In Chicago, Adler Planetarium and the Chicago Public Library, as well as two Afterschool Matters programs, Street Level Youth Media, and Teamwork Englewood , were partners in the Summer Pathways for Innovation project. An emphasis was placed on recruiting teachers to create Common Core aligned unit plans that could be widely shared with other teachers at their home schools. Each teaching fellow worked with summer program providers to plan summer learning curricula and activities. Fellows mapped the program curricula to state and national standards and instructional practices, co-delivered programming during the summer, and developed unit and lesson plans that translated summer program content into curriculum to be used during the school year. To help facilitate this process of aligning summer curricula to Common Core standards, one of the teaching fellows from 2012 was selected to serve as a teaching mentor to the 2013 teaching fellows.

During the pilot in 2012, three teaching fellows were placed at two Hive Learning Network organizations—Global Kids in New York City and Project Exploration in Chicago. Recipients of NSLA’s Excellence in Summer Learning Award in 2011, both organizations were select-


meet the teaching fellows

Chicago

Anthony Britton

Jennifer Lewin

Teamwork Englewood Website Development, 2013

Adler Planetarium Science Blogging Curriculum, 2013

Anthony Britton is a middle school mathematics and science teacher at Amos A. Stagg School of Excellence in Chicago. He received his bachelor’s in education from Central State University in Ohio. At Teamwork Englewood, Aaron guided youth through the process of creating leadership teams to develop websites for a community arts festival. He has created a unit plan that can be used to guide youth through a website design process.

Zarah Carranco

Jennifer Lewin is a middle school teacher for the Chicago Public Schools. She received her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Chicago, and Masters in Education, Teaching, and Learning from DePaul University. Jennifer also facilitates and teaches afterschool programming on and off campus with the Adler Planetarium and Northwestern’s Science Club. Over the summer, Jen worked with high school youth on creating a science blog and connected digital badges to the process. Her unit plan takes a walk through this exploration of science and writing.

Chicago Public Library Curiosity Machine, 2013 Zarah Carranco is a ninth grade English teacher at Gary Comer College Prep in Chicago. She completed her bachelor of arts in international studies at the University of Chicago in 2008. Zarah worked with youth this summer to explore Iridescent’s Curiosity Machine, which enables youth to learn from scientists and engineers in the field, be mentored by engineering students, and create their own experiments. Zarah, a high school English teacher, used the Curiosity Machine model to develop a writing curriculum.

Kelly Fischer Street Level Youth Media Music Video Project, 2013 Kelly Fischer is a special education teacher at Jacqueline Vaughn Occupational High School on Chicago’s northwest side teaching youth ages 14-22 with cognitive disabilities. She received her bachelor’s from DePaul University, and master’s in Special Education from Roosevelt University. Kelly has been working with Street Level Youth Media and Mikva Challenge over the past five years to develop meaningful civic action projects. As a teaching fellow in 2013, Kelly created a unit plan that instructs youth on how to develop music videos.

Aaron Lee Adler Planetarium Far Horizons Arduino Curriculum, 2013 Aaron Lee spent a majority of his adult life as a member of the U.S. Navy, where he served for 15 years. After leaving the Navy, he earned a master’s degree in education from DePaul University and taught three years in Chicago Public Schools before joining Morgan Park Academy where he teaches Physics, Astronomy, Computer Programming, and Robotics. Aaron worked with the Adler Planetarium Far Horizons Program over the summer to guide youth in balloon launches that gathered data from the Earth’s outer atmosphere. He created a Common Core aligned curriculum and a series of YouTube videos that guide teachers through the mechanics of creating the data collecting devices.

3 Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform

Stephanie Madziar Project Exploration Environmental Adventurers, 2012 Chicago Teacher Fellow Coordinator, 2013 Stephanie Madziar is a middle school science teacher at Perspectives Middle Academy in Chicago, IL. She received her teaching degree at Northern Michigan University and is currently working on her master’s degree from the American College of Education. In 2012, while working with the Environmental Adventurers Program at Project Exploration, Stephanie created a mini-unit to teach youth how to observe, classify, and research bees. In 2013, she served as a Teacher Fellow Coordinator, and in this role she developed a workshop to link to state and national standards.

LaTina Taylor Chicago Public Library Full STEAM Ahead, 2013 LaTina Taylor has 19 years of experience and a passion for STEM teaching and learning. LaTina earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is currently taking graduate courses in STEM education at DePaul University. LaTina Taylor is currently the Lead Technology Teacher at Eli Whitney Elementary and teaches Structural Engineering to fourth graders and underwater robotics to middle schoolers. LaTina worked at the Chicago Public Libraries in collaboration with the Museum of Science and Industry to develop a unit plan.

Daphne Whitington Street Level Youth Media Music Video Project, 2013 Katherine Daphne Whitington has been a teacher in Chicago Public Schools for thirteen years and currently teaches creative writing at Percy L. Julian High School on the city’s south side. She received her master’s in education from Northwestern University in 1998 and her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012. She has published and presented at national and international conferences and her first single-author book is currently under consideration by Teachers College Press. While working with Street Level Youth Media over the past summer, Daphne developed curriculum for creating the audio portion of a music video.

meet the teaching fellows Yiram Abdouby Global Kids Geocaching, 2012 Yiram Aldouby is a dean and music teacher at the High School for Global Citizenship in Brooklyn, NY. Yiram teaches a laptop-based music production class in which students with no background in music are given a chance to compose and produce instrumental and song tracks. Yiram worked with Global Kids on the Geocaching “Race to the White House” program. He created Common Core alignment for the program itself as well as for the digital badges that were used.

New York City maker corps street team, 2013

Working closely with college students involved in STEAM-related majors (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) these educators and subject-matter experts developed and facilitated “reverse field trips” – hands-on activities led at summer learning programs in the South Bronx, NY. The activities they facilitated drew on 21st century skills. They created a website that displays their work from the summer and includes a standards aligned curriculum.

Monica Encarnacion Andrew Adler Global Kids Geolocation “NYC Haunts”, 2013 Andrew Adler has been teaching since 2001 after joining the teaching fellows in Washington, D.C. His focus is serving students who learn differently and need more support through accommodations and/or modifications. He is currently enrolled in Bank Street College, School Leadership with a focus in Special Education. Andrew worked with youth over the summer to create a geolocative game on the Aris platform about the New York City Draft Riots. Andrew created a website for teachers to develop a similar unit based on historical events in their own cities.

Monica Encarnacion has been an educator of young children for over ten years. As a bilingual teacher, she has taught a wide range of grades from kindergarten to eighth-grade. This past September she returned to the classroom as a teacher at PS274—The New American Academy at Roberto Clemente State Park in the South Bronx. Monica now develops and delivers Common Core aligned interdisciplinary curriculum that encourages her students to explore the world around them through collaborative inquiry.

Marie Tesi Walleska Lantigua Global Kids Virtual Video Project, 2012 Walleska “Wally” Lantigua is a high school special education teacher in Brooklyn, NY. She has taught in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar. Wally is also a published photographer, capturing moments in the lives of others and incorporating photography into her curriculum. She is currently working at the High School of Telecommunications, Arts and Technology. Walleska had an article published about her experience with the Virtual Video Project (VVP) at Global Kids during the summer of 2012.

Scott Neagle Global Kids Game Design Camp, 2013 Scott works at Bard High School Early College Queens in New York as a math teacher, music teacher, college advisor, and data specialist. He has released two albums and performed on national TV with the futurist literary wobble-wobble rap group Heavy Jamal that he co-created. With the Global Kids Game Design Camp, Scott taught youth how to use the design website Scratch to create video games that were based on environmental and social justice issues. Scott used what he learned in this program to create a web-based curriculum that can be used in a math classroom.

Marie Tesi is a middle school science teacher at MS 390 in the Bronx. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in science-business from the University of Notre Dame and her master’s for teaching from the City College of New York. While chancing an opportunity with NYC’s teaching fellows program, Marie found her calling to be a teacher.

Gina Tesoriero Gina Tesoriero is a middle school learning specialist and STEM teacher at MS 104-Simon Baruch Middle School in New York City. She received her bachelor’s from the University of Albany, and master’s in special education from Hunter College. Gina has been teaching for five years and works to incorporate an interdisciplinary approach that draws on multiple modalities and connects to real-world applications.

Visit the website developed by this team, and see the curriculum they created.

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hrough the teaching fellowship project, teachers learned ways to incorporate technology and Connected Learning strategies into lesson plans in order to draw on student interest, while also facilitating both academic goals and peer learning. The lessons learned through this model have broad applications, and can provide a template for transforming traditional learning during the school-year in ways that foster intellectual curiosity, and also increase access to and social supports for educational and workforce opportunities.

LESSONS L EARNED: Transforming Traditional Classrooms

LEVERAGING COMMUNITY RESOURCES

BRIDGING INTEREST AND OPPORTUNITY

Using Connected Learning challenges the traditional dichotomy between teacher and student—creating opportunities for youth leadership and interest-driven learning.

Engaging teachers in Summer Learning programs creates opportunities for effective partnerships.

Bringing Connected Learning from the summer space into school-year classrooms demonstrates the value of digital media in expanding opportunities for youth and preparing them for the 21st century.

transforming traditional classrooms Using Connected Learning challenges the traditional dichotomy between teacher and student-creating opportunities for youth leadership and interest-driven learning.

When the traditional roles between student and teacher are reimagined, there are multiple opportunities for Connected Learning. Teachers are able to provide supports and build pathways to opportunity for youth, while also learning from their own experiences. Teachers serve as facilitators of learning as opposed to lecturers. Additionally, youth have the opportunity to think creatively, work collaboratively, and lead effectively.

Teachers as Learners Engaging with summer learning programs presents teachers with the opportunity to learn alongside, as well as from, students and other informal educators. In these settings, teachers help to provide the social supports for students, but are not always content experts. The Summer Pathways for Innovation teaching fellowships demonstrate the efficacy of youth-led teaching models because they work to generate enthusiasm for learning in both teacher and student. During the summer of 2013, the New York City Maker Corps Street Team—comprised of NSLA teaching fellows and Maker Corps memFind out more about Gina Tesoriero’s learning from bers—was formed, leveraging each group’s expertise to provide fellow Street Team members. Watch her video on YouTube. high-quality summer program enrichment. Teaching fellows Marie Tesi, Gina Tesoriero, and Monica Encarnacion contributed expertise in classroom teaching and curricula, while the Maker Corps members—three college students involved in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) related majors—shared field-specific knowledge. This team of educators and subject matter experts developed and facilitated “reverse field trips”—hands-on activities that were led at summer learning programs in the South Bronx, NY. Activities drew on 21st century skills, reinforced program themes, and connected to Common Core math and literacy content. The Street Team used Mozilla Webmaker as a forum for students to reflect on their learning throughout the process.


Marie Tesi reflected on how the fellowship was an opportunity for teachers to engage in learning as much as they helped facilitate it.

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“My experience so far has really excited both the educator and the student in me. I’m taking away many exciting ideas and resources on connected learning! I’m eager to show my students all the events, activities, and local organizations with which I’ve been involved so far. . . . I don’t consider myself particularly tech savvy, and I didn’t really know what to expect as a fellow. In a way, I think that has been an advantage to me because I felt I was more open to learning and observing rather than producing.” - Marie Tesi

Likewise, during her experience as a Teaching Fellow with the Project Exploration in 2012, Stephanie Madziar’s experience led her to discover her own passion for entomology— reminding her that the connections between everyday experience and meaningful learning are integrally connected.

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“To be a part of this program has been a truly life-changing experience for me. I am training for the Chicago marathon and went for a run tonight. During the run, I couldn’t help but notice a dead cicada on the path. I stopped dead in my tracks to look at it. I just had to pick it up so that I could pin it into my insect collection. A mile later, I noticed a bunch of milkweed by the edge of the path. Again, I stopped, but this time to look for monarch butterf ly eggs and caterpillars. There I was, in my running clothes, knee deep in weeds, carefully checking the back of every milkweed leaf. I had to laugh to myself to see how much I have changed! I can’t even look at f lowers anymore without observing and trying to identify the bees that are pollinating them.” - Stephanie Madziar (from a blog post, August 6, 2012)

Gina Tesoriero, a special education and STEM teacher who partnered with HIVE NYC and Maker Corps members in the Maker Street Team shared the following about her experience of the peer learning that contributed to her professional development. “My first experience with coding was a two-day design challenge where teens worked with professional programmers and open government data to build digital prototypes to solve real NYC problems. Although I was new to the world of coding I was able to help students plan out their ideas while learning so much from them!” - Gina Tesoriero

Andrew Adler was reminded of the challenges and frustrations that students encounter while cultivating new skills, and the patience that hands-on learning requires. His experience in a nontraditional classroom also introduced him to new project-based strategies that can be integrated into more traditional spaces. He was challenged to help his students think about how to create things they would want to show others, but also to help youth take risks and challenge themselves throughout the learning process. You can download a recording of Andrew’s reflection about his learning over the summer from Dropbox.

“I think that there is something to be said about learning something that you are not exactly comfortable with or actually knowledgeable about. . . . I think that sometimes we educators forget that the most important part about being an educator is being a lifelong learner.” - Andrew Adler

Through involvement with summer learning programs, teachers can cultivate their own passions and find new ones. Teachers in this context not only guide, but also model genuine interest-driven learning. Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform | NSLA 6

Youth as Leaders Through the Connected Learning model, teachers enter into summer learning programs as co-learners and facilitators. This approach provides students with unique opportunities to demonstrate leadership and direct the learning environment by choosing topics based on their personal interests. Teachers provide the resources, mentoring, social supports, and safe environment needed to cultivate their interests. Outside of the traditional dichotomies of teacher-student, a positive learning environment is created that helps to translate passions into opportunities for the future. Interest-driven learning is an impactful experience for youth, forging pathways to pursue careers in science as well as helping to develop research skills for a wide range of academic disciplines. Over the past two summers, students explored questions that intrigued them and the Connected Learning environment provided the structure within which their curiosity could develop and thrive.

“My participation in VVP has helped improve my research skills, my confidence and my global awareness. These skills will help me with my future goals. By researching I can learn more about my options, the confidence will help me become more assertive and reach for what I want to achieve in life.” - Keisha “My goal later in life is to become a pastry chef and I can use the computer to design cakes to make my clients have an idea of what the cake is going to look like instead of drawing out the whole cake. Saves time!” - Shareece “The skills I developed in VVP help with my understanding of team work and that you cannot always do things on your own. Sometimes you need that extra help to get that project done the right way… This film was made to inform all the people in the world about the crisis we all face because we are all one people no matter the race or place you were born.” - DJ

Visit the Project Exploration website to find out more about interest-driven student research projects. In 2012, Walleska Lantigua participated as a teaching fellow in the Virtual Video Project (VVP), a two-week intensive program in which youth used digital media to address social and global issues. VVP utilized Second Life, a website where users produce 3D virtual worlds, to create a virtual United Nations. Youth researched environmental issues pertaining to climate change for various countries, created avatars as United Nations representatives, and developed a script for a United Nation’s meeting focused on environmental issues. To assist youth in constructing their 3-D world, Global Kids connected with an expert in Second Life implementation who lived in Scotland. They used Skype to link him to the classroom to assist youth with the project. Through the project youth cultivated planning skills and expressed their ideas with creativity and imagination.


“The biggest thing I took away from participating in VVP was knowing that technology can be used to bring awareness to a topic. With the film, we didn’t just lecture the audience with tons of information. Instead we created a story and used technology to its full potential to bring awareness to climate change.” - Javon

Watch a Virtual Video Project video on the Global Video Online Leadership Blog.

Global Kids’ programs also provide opportunities for youth leadership that transcend the walls of the program. Ben, a high school student, talks about his experience in the Game Design Camp at Global Kids during the summer of 2013. The program not only helped him to build skills necessary for his career aspirations, but gave him the confidence to share these skills with peers outside of the program. Watch Ben’s video on Dropbox to hear more about how this peerlearning environment cultivated the confidence necessary to teach the skills he had learned.

During 2013, students in Chicago also had an opportunity to express themselves by creating videos related to topics based on their interests. Kelly Fischer and Daphne Whitington worked as Teaching Fellows with Street Level Youth Media, helping lead a video production course for 30 high school students and recent graduates. Each group selected its own topic. The topics included gun violence, originality, making choices, and creating goals. Students created storyboards to illustrate various technical elements that would be used in production and wrote their own lyrics for a full-length song. Kelly worked with the youth as they filmed on location and recorded tracks.

“I was particularly impressed with the students’ ability to approach people on the streets and eloquently request an interview for their project. Although they got a lot of refusals, they continued to persevere and stay positive.” - Daphne Whitington

Watch the final student videos on Vimeo.

Watch the video on Orginality

Watch the video on gun violence

Watch the video on choices

Watch the video on dreams


leveraging community resources Engaging teachers in summer learning programs creates opportunities for effective partnerships.

When school-year teachers partner with community-based organizations and out-of-school time providers, it maximizes impact, creating more quality opportunities for youth. In addition, the collective knowledge and resources developed through partnerships provides a stronger network of social support for youth.

“Hive NYC and the Maker Street Team were phenomenal partners in the execution of high-quality, hands-on ‘Maker’ events for all of NYC Summer Quest’s middle school participants. By working together, we provided over 600 middle school youth with innovative, imaginative, fun, and engaging opportunities for making and learning!” ~ Alice Tan, NYC Summer Quest Program Watch the videos on dropbox to see the 2013 Hive Maker Party in action.

During 2013, Teaching Fellows with the Hive NYC Maker Street Team partnered with leaders from the NYC Summer Quest program to develop “maker” activities. Partnerships like these programs leverage a variety of resources, knowledge, and experience that increase youth access to new opportunities and expand programming. Not only did the collaboration enable NYC Summer Quest to offer new activities, but teaching fellows gained a great deal from the cross-sector relationships. Watch the video of Monica’s reflections on Dropbox.

Partnerships were also integral in the Chicago programs. LaTina Taylor and Zarah Carranco both worked as teaching fellows at the Chicago Public Library (CPL). During 2013, CPL partnered with two other Hive organizations to offer collaborative summer programming—Iridescent, a nonprofit team of engineers, scientists, anthropologists, and educators, and The Museum of Science and Industry. Zarah worked with youth in the library to create innovative physics experiments using the Curiosity Machine program. Youth watched videos of science in action with lessons led by professional scientists and engineers. They were then guided to produce their own models of the science concepts using materials from their homes. They uploaded videos and photos of their projects to the Curiosity Machine so that engineering mentors could provide feedback on their work. LaTina worked with youth in the library to help implement the Museum of Science and Industry “Full STEAM Ahead” program. After reading children’s books with the youth, she guided them through interactive challenges—including the creation of silent movies— that related to the books they read.

Youth team leader guides team members while creating a professional website for the Englewood Arts Festival. 9 Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform | NSLA

Watch a youth-created silent film on Dropbox.

Through a partnership with the Englewood Arts Festival, teaching fellow Anthony Britton led a website development project with students at the Englewood Codes Summer Project. The Arts Festival needed a website for the 2013 event, and youth worked in teams to develop websites based on the Arts Festival committees’ specifications. The websites were judged by the festival committee and community members, and the winning website was used to promote the festival. The committee also displayed all of the website submissions at the festival and as a result, several community organizations contacted the Codes Summer Project to request websites designed by the youth.

Aaron Lee’s project with Adler Planetarium demonstrates the value partnerships provide. Youth utilized state of the art equipment at the planetarium, which enabled them to test their concepts in hands-on experiments. Youth participated in balloon launches in which data-gathering devices were sent a mile above earth to collect data from various layers of the atmosphere. Students collected data from the devices once they returned to the ground. Lee said that there was so much excitement in the chase as the young scientists trailed the balloons for miles, often retrieving them from rural farms and country highways. Aaron’s teaching fellowship with Adler Planetarium created an opportunity for a partnership between his school and Adler Planetarium, providing his students with hands-on learning during the school year. His experience demonstrates that the relationships cultivated during out-of-school time can be maximized for the school year so that students have greater access to resources and expertise.

Watch the balloon launch on Dropbox.

bridging interest and opportunity Bringing Connected Learning from the summer space into school-year classrooms demonstrates the value of digital media in expanding opportunities for youth and preparing them for the 21st century.

Educators have too often felt overwhelmed by new technologies, believing they can serve either as a distraction or a detriment to genuine and engaged learning. The Summer Pathways for Innovation project challenges this assumption by integrating technology with meaningful learning experiences for youth. As a result, teaching fellows learned the great value of digital technology. Technology capitalizes on student interest, creating an ideal environment within

which engaged learning can happen. Furthermore, digital technology is a vehicle to build stronger pathways to both education and workforce opportunity for students. Through an array of digital experiences, students can develop civic responsibility and social connections. In addition, digital technology can provide greater equity in access to opportunity for all students, and new ways to recognize and value student contributions.

Digital Resources: In addition to the online resources provided throughout this report, there are a number of other digital media tools listed below that youth and teaching fellows explored during the summer of 2013. Some of these were used in the curricula that fellows developed, and all of these online resources can be adapted for a variety of classroom settings to facilitate Connected Learning. •

Webmaker Tools (Thimble, X-Ray Goggles and Popcorn) for building and remixing the web

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Meemoo.org for creating GIF files and short animations

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iStopMotion for creating stop-motion animated videos

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Scratch for programming and game design

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Makey Makey an Arduino-based physical computing platform that can turn anything into a game controller

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littleBits small magnetic circuits that snap together easily with no soldering required. Each bit has a function (light, sound, sensor, etc.)

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The Fluid Ether physics simulation game developed by Iridescent

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Aris for creating and playing mobile games, tours, and interactive stories


In 2012, Yiram Aldouby joined Global Kids as a Teaching Fellow for their Race to the White House program. During the program, youth selected issues that they felt would be most important in the upcoming 2012 presidential election, and attached each issue to a geocache device. Geocaching is an outdoor scavenger hunt in which devices are planted in various locations and tracked with GPS devices. Coordinates for the device (cache) are logged on the geocaching website, and anyone can log onto the website and seek caches that are logged. The youth in this program logged their geocaches with specific instructions. If the finder thought that the issue in the cache was important, they moved the cache closer to the White House. If they did not think that it was important, they moved it further away. Once the cache was moved, the finder was asked to log the new coordinates. The program provided students with an opportunity to explore contemporary social and political issues through digital technology. Learning the new technology provided an important vehicle for providing students a voice, encouraging collaboration and teamwork, and cultivating confidence and leadership skills. Yiram shared the following:

“From the onset, the students demonstrated a quick grasp of the content and the ways of harnessing technology towards getting their chosen topics out to the world. It was also great to see individual growth within the group, as students were given the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue about social issues that are of importance to them, and everyone took ownership in designing and implementing the different roles and activities necessary for a successful workshop. In addition to gaining valuable experience with public speaking, leadership opportunities, and learning to work as a team while negotiating their individual voices, students were also engaging with the New York State Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards inherent to the workshop activities.” - Yiram Aldouby

Elizabeth McChesney also experienced that incorporating digital technologies into Chicago Public Libraries’ summer programs provided strong support for core educational goals.

“Digital media is a natural extension of the learning that happens in libraries. Our teaching fellows were able to take and expand upon the STEM/STEAM learning in Chicago libraries this summer by layering a digital component into STEM-based activities. With the mentorship of the fellows, we took the reader’s theatre, design challenges, and the book readings and embedded digital competencies in a perfect marriage of connected learning. This is a model that will stand well as a vehicle to help children gain skills in critical out of school time space.” - Elizabeth McChesney, Director of Children and Young Adult Series at the Chicago Public Libraries

photos courtesy of Global Kids

Scott Neagle worked with Global Kids in 2013 using MIT’s Scratch to introduce students to coding and game design. This online tool provides an opportunity for students to problem-solve whenever they encounter bugs within the game. Watch Scott’s video on Dropbox.


digital badges Traditional assessments often fail to recognize important skills and learning that happen in out-of-school time. Because learning occurs in both formal and informal contexts, new resources are needed that can recognize the significant ways that learning happens in the out-ofschool time settings. Digital badging offers a way to credential student achievement for a of variety skills, recognizing competency-based skill development. In addition, it allows teachers to incorporate digital technology into both classroom instruction and assessment in meaningful ways.

The Alliance for Excellent Education and the Mozilla Foundation define digital badges as “credentials that represent skills, interests, and achievements earned by an individual through specific projects, programs, courses, or other activities.” (“Expanding Education and Workforce Opportunities Through Digital Badges,” 2013). Summer is an ideal space for piloting this innovative assessment platform. During 2012, Global Kids created badges for both the Race to the White House program and the Virtual Video Project program. Teaching Fellow Yiram Aldouby aligned the Race to the White House badges with Common Core. During 2013, the city of Chicago took on the task of implementing badges city-wide in their Chicago Summer of Learning project. Additionally, several teaching fellows incorporated digital badges into their curriculum. Jen Lewin reflected that using blogging as a learning platform provided students a voice, as well as greater access to information through an online community of learners. Her project with the Adler Planetarium incorporated digital badging to motivate and guide science blogging.

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“Blogging is becoming an increasing source of information in the digital age. This is a great opportunity for students to find their own voice when it comes to sharing knowledge and expressing themselves. The badges can serve as a digital rubric that sets the expectation for each step of the blogging process with the purpose of rewarding them for their hard work. Students see the badges as a fun alternative to the more traditional assessments used in the classroom.” - Jennifer Lewin

Visit Mozilla’s Open Badges website for more information on how to get involved with Digital Badging.

Watch the video of Stephanie’s workshop on Drobox.


looking forward Over the past two years, the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has provided an opportunity for rich learning opportunities during the summer that have had great impact on the professional development of teachers. The project exemplifies the way that summer is an ideal context for teachers to develop innovative and high-quality teaching strategies that can help transform classroom learning during the school year. In particular, summer learning demonstrates how classrooms can become environments that capitalize on student interest and peer learning opportunities, while at the same time providing the social structures youth need to succeed in life. It is our hope that you will find this report to be a helpful tool, providing strategies, lessons, and resources that help to generate innovation and creativity. NSLA’s teaching fellow program offers one paradigm for bridging various academic settings—both summer and school year, as well as formal and informal settings—but many others are also possible. Beyond the specifics of this particular project, this work provides strong evidence for the value of year-round and integrated support for youth throughout their development. In addition, the lessons learned during this project—about non-traditional, collaborative pedagogies; the value of leveraging a variety of community resources through partnerships; and the important role that digital technology can play as an instructional tool—can be broadly applied to a many different educational contexts. Finally, this report offers examples, personal reflections, online resources, and curricula, all of which can be used to create and advocate for opportunities that help ready youth for the 21st century.


in the news Over the past summer, the partners in the Summer Pathways for Innovation project—including the funders, providers, and fellows—have garnered a lot of attention in the media for their role in providing quality summer learning opportunities for youth. Several highlights are included here, with links to the full articles. From the article: Chicago is the first to launch a citywide system for earning digital badges (for both public and private school students), which, as you may remember are virtual accolades that commemorate skills or learning acquired, much like a Girl Scout or Boy Scout patch. Throughout this summer, students in Chicago will be engaging in summer learning experiences at 140 organizations throughout the city. (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and Mozilla Foundations will support the badging component of the project.)

From the article: “We want to create a big tent,” said Chris Lawrence, senior director of the Mozilla Webmaker Mentor Community. Mozilla is coordinating the summer campaign together with the National Writing Project, with support from the MacArthur Foundation. The goal is to allow room for multiple expressions of what Mr. Lawrence calls “participatory culture,” while leveraging the power of the Web to create and share information.


in the news From the article: “This is learning that’s not just sitting in a classroom — it’s connecting students with each other, with their communities, and with their interests,” said Robbins, who also planned to visit other city summer programs including ones operated by the HIVE NYC Learning Network and The AfterSchool Corporation.

From the article: “Each place we visited is home to a Hive Learning Network – a collective of organizations, made possible through MacArthur Foundation support, where young people can pursue a diversity of learning experiences in their community. The summer initiatives we explored were anchored by strong collaboration among schools, families, and community-based organizations (CBOs).”


in the news From the article: As the city forges ahead with the digital badge program, the overall quality of summer learning programs is a challenge that still must be solved. “A big piece is getting away from that remedial model,” says Peggy Espada, director of professional development for the National Summer Learning Association.


acknowledgements NSLA acknowledges the Chicago and New York City organizations below for their partnership in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Summer Pathways for Innovation project.

After School Matters® is a non-profit organization that offers Chicago high school teens innovative out-of-school activities through Science, Sports, Tech, Words and the nationally recognized Gallery programs. During the summer of 2013, Street Level Youth Media and Teamwork Englewood worked with After School Matters to create innovative summer programming for youth.

Street-Level Youth Media educates Chicago’s urban youth in media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression, communication, and social change. Street-Level’s programs build critical thinking skills for young people who have been historically neglected by public policy makers and mass media. Using video and audio production, graphic design, digital photography, and the Internet, Street-Level youth address community issues, access advanced communication technology, and gain inclusion in our information-based society.

Teamwork was formed in 2003 as part of the New Communities Program, sponsored by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the MacArthur Foundation. Its goal is to unite the many organizations serving Englewood residents and work toward the common goal of building a stronger community.


The Chicago Public Library encourages lifelong learning by welcoming all people and offering equal access to information, entertainment and knowledge through materials, programs and cutting-edge technology. The Chicago Public Library is comprised of the Harold Washington Library Center, two regional libraries and more than 70 neighborhood branches. All locations provide free access to a rich collection of books, DVDs, audio books and music; the Internet and Wi-Fi; sophisticated research databases, many of which can be accessed from a home or office computer; newspapers and magazines; and continue to serve as cultural centers, presenting the highest quality author discussions, exhibits and programs for children, teens and adults.

The mission of the Adler Planetarium is to inspire exploration and understanding of our Universe. We value: • An engaging, user-friendly museum serving diverse audiences • Excitement and curiosity about space science and space exploration • Programs based on credible science and educational research • Well-managed collections • Adherence to results-oriented planning • A professional work environment and highly motivated, diverse staff • Long-term financial stability and the economic viability of our endeavors.

Project Exploration is a nonprofit science education organization that works to ensure communities traditionally overlooked by science—particularly minority youth and girls—have access to personalized experiences with science and scientists.

The rationale behind Hive is two-fold: First, every day, young people move among learning experiences in a variety of environments. These environments—which can be formal or informal, physical or virtual—are increasingly defined by learners’ personal interests and social networks and less by geographic proximity. Second is the capacity of new technologies and media to provide the necessary integration and coordination between formal and informal education organizations within a community. When they are designed to link together, these multiple environments can create Connected Learning experiences in which youth can more easily participate in accessible, “anytime, anywhere” learning activities by pursuing their interests and following their peers.

Global Kids, Inc.—the premier nonprofit educational organization for global learning and youth development - works to ensure that urban youth have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage. Young people examine global issues, make local connections, and create change through peer education, social action, digital media, and service-learning, while receiving intensive support from GK staff.

NYC Summer Quest is a free, five-week, full-day summer learning program that provides elementary and middle school students with fun, hands-on enrichment experiences while strengthening their academic skills. DOE teachers collaborate with educators from community-based organizations to offer students CommonCore aligned instruction, enrichment activities, sports and recreation, and field trips.
