In the fall of 2016, the Ministry of Education of British Columbia, Canada enforced a new curriculum developed for students in kindergarten to grade nine. With this new curriculum and its implementation, came questions and inquiries from administrators and educators on how to effectively and cohesively incorporate the big ideas, curriculum competencies, and new content in the context of public, private, and distance learning classrooms. The new curriculum, across the grade levels, contains consistent themes and integrated threads framed with intentions of individualized and inquiry learning. Story-based learning, place-based learning, and a meaningful use of technology can be found across the curriculum requiring educators to thoughtfully consider the how and why of instruction.
THE PARTS: Story, Place, and Technology
Story intersected with learning is not a new phenomenon. Research indicates that engaging with a narrative is highly beneficial for learners. The use of story not only helps learners to make connections and assimilate ideas, it also increases motivation and the meaning-making process (Hamilton & Weiss, 2015).
While story has been present in the act of learning since oral culture preceded the written word, place-based learning is a more contemporary idea (Hupp, n.d.). Recent literature supports place-based educational approaches asserting that place-based learning "re-connects students to place as a personal and specific entity central to the learning process, identity, and relationship formation" (Goralnik, Dobson & Nelson, 2014, p.183).
One goal that effective 21st century BC educators strive for is to integrate meaningful uses of technology into their classrooms. Technology in education is not to be used for the sake of using technology, but rather for a grander purpose, to access a higher idea, to require deeper thinking, and to grow the learner in competencies. Ideally, technology use should require students to think purposefully about how and why they are using technology while inquiring, knowledge building, problem solving, collaborating, and self assessing (Holder, 2017).
Is it possible to combine these threads of learning into a seamless whole?
THE WHOLE: ARIS Software - Connecting Story, Place, and Technology
BC educators need to be brave. Not brave in the sense of risk-tasking, but brave in the sense of trying something new. They need to be encouraged and equipped to step out of traditional ways of learning and embrace research-based technologies that afford integration and a motivation for learning.
What if I were to tell you that an open source software is available for educators to use to seamlessly intersect story, place-based learning, and a meaningful use of technology?
What if I were to tell you that this software is free, and is specifically designed to be simple enough for both educator and student to learn with ease?
What if there is a BC high school teacher who is a testimonial to the potential and value of this tool?
Meet Craig Brumwell - a history teacher at Kitsilano Secondary School who, while working through a graduate course in Educational Technology, desired to provide a situated learning context for his students. He chose the black and white photos that lined the hallways of his school as the story; he used the school and its grounds as the place; and he choose to use ARIS software as the technology. Brummell is not a educational game designer, he is a high school history teacher with a passion for his subject area and a willingness to brave new technology.
To be further inspired by Craig Brumwell's achievement, read his story here: Teacher Craig Brumwell Designs a Mobile Game with ARIS to Create Emotional Impact for His Students