Authentic Learning Matrix

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:

 

It’s Your Journey

Explore More Topics

Blog
Building Brighter Futures Together: Insights from the SoCal LiNK Regional Partnership
A fresh model of collaboration is emerging in Southern California; one that unites K–12 education, higher education institutions, and local communities with a shared focus on supporting the whole learner.  SoCal LiNK, Southern California Learning in Networked Knowledge, is a research-practice partnership between the Department of Education Studies at UC San Diego, Learner-Centered Collaborative…
Blog
What is the Purpose of School? A Call for Whole-Learner Outcomes.
What is the purpose of school? For the past four decades, the prevailing national answer—shaped largely by the 1983 report “A Nation at Risk” and documented by historian Patricia Graham—has been singular: Achievement. This focus helped usher in an era of standardization, compliance, and testing. It was designed to respond to global economic anxieties…
Tools
A Learner-Centered Ecosystem
It’s time for a shift from the school-centered education system—where efficiency, standardization, compliance, ranking, sorting, and task completion are top priorities—to a learner-centered paradigm, where we focus on supporting each learner to know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engaged in the world as their best selves. “A Learner-Centered Ecosystem” dives deep…