Introducing TAF Academy 3D Learning
Artifacts from the Japanese Consulate students visited the first day of the pilot.
Knowing that students learn deeply and are motivated by rich learning that involves authentic, hands-on experiences connected to their content, TAF Academy desires to provide students access to a rich kind of learning.
This year TAF Academy is excited to announce and begin implementing a new model of learning for high school students called 3D learning. Created by TAF Academy Dean of Students Ryan Preis, 3D Learning involves a blend of three dimensions of education: classroom based learning, online learning, and field based learning.
To implement this new model TAF Academy launched a pilot of the 3D learning model on February 24th, 2014 that will run through March 7th, 2014.
This pilot involves 9th and 10th grade students engaging in a variety of educational experiences that are both on campus and off campus. The on campus experiences involve the project-based learning environment that TAF Academy is accustomed to. The off campus learning, for which students will need a field trip permission release, involves a style of learning new to TAF Academy and entails a combination of learning activities that are designed by the teacher and by individual students.
Using such tools as Adobe Connect, Vimeo, Camtasia, and Oovoo, students will engage in learning activities off campus for the entire day and access their classes and needed content virtually. These learning activities are designed in part by the teacher and in part by the student as they seek out experiences connected to their classroom learning and projects. Students will:
- Participate, view, and use instructor provided online content
- Design personal field trips to accomplish required project and subject area deliverables
- Submit assignments electronically
- Interview industry professionals and/or experts working in an area of social concern chosen by the student
- Interview a stakeholder involved in a social concern of the student’s choosing
- Record video footage of their experiences
- Collect data samples from community sources and research
- Engage in community service
- Develop quadratic equations to model data related to a specific social concern
- Engage in subject area (Geometry, Algebra 2, Humanities, World Language and Digital Arts) activities tied to academic standards.
Students will culminate their learning in a documentary video that shares their learning. The student documentaries will be shown at a local movie theater.
[…] TAF Academy holds high academic expectations for all students including a required, common, rigorous course of study, on-time graduation, and preparation for post-secondary success. All 8th grade students take Algebra I, and high school students take four years of math and science. Ninth and 10th grade TAF Academy students just completed a 2-week learning project that allowed them to explore their ideas outside of the classroom. This model, called 3D Learning, allowed the students to customize their learning by combining field studies with their classroom learning, as well as online or virtual learning and site-based learning. Read more about 3D learning on the TAF blog. […]