Innovation Academy: Designing Meaningful Learning

OVERVIEW

Through the Roosevelt Innovation Academy and the IA Online at the American School in Lima, Peru, we have made a commitment to designing learning pathways for our students that are meaningful and impactful. We do this by 1) putting relationships and belonging at the center of the learning experience, 2) empowering students with greater agency over their learning, and 3) challenging them to use their learning to contribute to our community.

We have also made a commitment to sharing our learning with other schools so that we can all learn together. With that in mind, we are excited to offer a three-session learning design camp this September and October. Each session will be two hours in length and cover the different topics outlined below. Teachers and administrators will also be placed in learning design teams that remain together over the three sessions to support each other in developing or redesigning learning experiences at their own schools. We also encourage participants to read chapters from “The Power of Meaning” by Emily Esfahani Smith over the course of the three weeks.

OUTLINE

SEPT. 18 |  DAY 1: Designing Meaningful Learning Online & On Campus

Problems we will tackle:

• What can the core pillars of a meaningful life teach us about how to design more meaningful learning experiences?
• Which projects in the Innovation Academy have been the most and least meaningful for our students?
• How do we assess learning in more meaningful ways?

SEPT. 25 | DAY 2: Designing for Belonging and Psychological Safety

Problems we will tackle:

• How does vulnerability help us create a sense of belonging online and off?
• What are the learning benefits of creating trust, connection, and psychological safety in our classrooms, programs, and schools?
• What are the pros and cons of cohort-based learning?

OCT. 2 | DAY 3: Designing for Purpose and Student Agency

Problems we will tackle:

• How do we design authentic learning experiences that enable students to contribute to something beyond themselves?
• How do we make room for students to identify and lean into their purpose?
• How do we reframe some of our dysfunctional beliefs around learning and help students do the same?

FACILITATOR

• Corey Topf
• Corey is the founder of the Innovation Academy at the American School in Lima, Peru and Director of the Innovation Academy Online; he is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of Iowa.

DATES & TIMES

• Session 1: Saturday, September 18th
• Session 2: Saturday, September 25th
• Session 3: Saturday, October 2nd
• All sessions will run from 11 AM EST to 1 PM EST