Connect
Tools

Authentic Learning Matrix

Learner-Centered Collaborative
Authentic Learning

It is critical for learners to develop skills and competencies in authentic contexts where they solve problems that matter to them. Project-based learning, maker learning, and community- based learning all provide authentic learning opportunities, but can be hard to implement with fidelity without the proper support and enabling conditions in place.

This tool is designed to support teams to develop plans for advancing learners through an Authentic Learning continuum, from connection (transactional engagements with the community) to empowerment (authenticity is embedded in learning). It includes:

  • an authentic learning matrix to help identify where you are currently, 
  • prompts to spark strategic conversations about how to deepen authentic learning and empower learners
  • strategies for consideration

To download this tool and get started, complete the form below:

 

Related Posts
Blog
Making Learning Feel Real With Community Engagement in the Classroom
Written by Kim Landry, 3rd-Grade Teacher, Alamogordo Public Schools We’ve all been there: you’re deep into a unit, the students are engaged, but there’s a lingering sense of “so what?” You want your students to see that what they learn at their desks actually breathes and moves in the real world. One of the…
Blog
The Learning Experience Design Cycle: A Compass for Designing Deeper Learning
As an English teacher co-leading an interdisciplinary project with a science teacher, I had the privilege of working alongside high school seniors as they explored what it truly means to survive. We called it the Science of Survival. Over the course of the project, learners read stories of survival in fiction and nonfiction, interviewed…
Blog
Debunking the Math Myth: How Learner-Centered Classrooms Deepen Understanding
In a learner-centered classroom, math is about more than numbers and formulas—it’s about curiosity, exploration, and making sense of the world.  Picture this: It’s 10:00am in Ms. Kim’s 3rd grade classroom and students are gathered on the rug around a chart. Two students have just finished sharing their strategies with the whole class on…

It’s Your Journey

Explore More Topics

Blog
Building a Public Education System That Learns, Adapts, and Endures
  In 1972, Kodak Research Labs began experimenting with digital photography. By 1975, they had their first battery-powered digital camera prototype. Four years later, a Kodak employee predicted digital photography would be ubiquitous by 2010.  Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. What happened and what can education leaders learn from Kodak’s unexpected collapse? Kodak…
Blog
Making Learning Feel Real With Community Engagement in the Classroom
Written by Kim Landry, 3rd-Grade Teacher, Alamogordo Public Schools We’ve all been there: you’re deep into a unit, the students are engaged, but there’s a lingering sense of “so what?” You want your students to see that what they learn at their desks actually breathes and moves in the real world. One of the…
Blog
Testing Change Helps Educators Learn Their Way Forward
  There’s a paradox at the heart of meaningful change in education: educators need shared direction while maintaining individual ownership within their schools and classrooms. They need coherence across a system and professional learning that honors and grows the ability to adopt new practices for their unique learners and contexts.  Testing change honors this…
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use this site, you agree with it. Privacy Policy