Connected Learning

 

The idea of Connected Learning is so fascinating, especially with the demographic of my students. Almost every student who comes through my door has had a negative experience with traditional education. Once they get comfortable and begin to share their reasons for not completing high school, words and phrases like bullying, invisibility, trauma, sickness, pregnancy, detention, etc start to be heard.  Many of my students feel judged for one reason or another and it snowballed into a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.  For many of them, the situations may have been completely out of their control but the damage done to their confidence was lasting.

I love the idea of Connected Learning for my students because it makes learning fun.  It shows them that they can be lifelong learners and that they have the ability to reach their academic goals.  At Parkland College Adult Education, we use Connected Learning in three ways.

1) Bridge Courses - Each semester we offer various Bridge Courses that combine the GED content our students need to obtain their HS Diploma and the entry-level college material for a field of study of their choice.  This semester we are offering Bridge Courses in Health, Manufacturing, Business and Information Technology.  For example, the students in the Health Bridge begin their path to certification as a CAN.  They can choose to continue and finish that certification once enrolled in Parkland or they can choose to continue on for a nursing degree.

2) College and Career Readiness (CCR) – Our regular GED classes have transitioned to CCR classes, meaning the students learn not only the GED content but also explore skills for the workplace of college placement.  This can include resumes, cover letter, applications, financial aid, career cruising, etc. I consider this Connected Learning because we start by finding out the students’ individual interests and work around those.

3) Content Areas – I teach three content areas: Language Arts, Social Studies and Science, as well as the U.S. Constitution.  I try very hard to make these Connected Learning by bringing in not only the student’s experiences but also their interests.  An example might be when we are practicing presentation skills, I have them create a slideshow (workplace skill) around a social justice, constitutional or citizenship topic they are passionate about (connected learning). Many times they share personal experiences. They also have to write an overview of their presentation (communication and essay skills) and they have to upload both to COBRA (college campus software skills). They don’t realize it at first, but these often end up being what they write about for the GED test or for a college placement exam or application.

Connected Learning is also used in my classroom for group discussion. Because I teach adults, the conversations can get very in-depth and personal.  Many of the topics we discuss lead into personal stories that always enhance the material of the lesson. Many of my students have shared experiences in real-world situations so I feel like once the classroom has a sense of community, connected learning takes place almost on a daily basis.