Engaging and motivating the Net Generation is a constant consideration for today’s teacher. Teacher evaluations, classroom management, and simply doing what we love to do – teach, guides this process. The question is how do we engage diverse learners in an age where teachers are expected to incorporate guidelines and standards for state assessments, adhere to curriculum, and do this within a limited budget?
The answer may be in authentic learning activities and assessments. As a vocational teacher, what I teach has real world applications, but tell that to the student in the Med Terms class who thinks that learning the difference between –ology and –ologist really doesn’t matter. Or to the student in the Level 3 class who says, “I know how to behave, I’m just bored and I won’t act like this when we go to clinical.” The pen and paper test that I give students at the end of each unit is one way of assessing and it serves its purpose to prep students for a standardized assessment that incorporates three years of study. But to really engage and get students motivated about learning and give them the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, authentic learning activities and assessments put the learning in the students’ hands and makes them the creator of their own knowledge levels.
So what is the best way to go about developing authentic learning activities? Andrew Miller’s Edutopia blog, “Bringing Authenticity to the Classroom” is one resource for teachers looking for ideas. Another is OER Commons. OER Commons has a wealth of free resources for various subject areas.