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Conceptualization notes when I was designing America 3.0
America 3.0 is a course in which students study the history of the United States from 1970 to the present.
Game-based model of instruction and work.
Nearly all work is self-directed, except in "Section J" - which is to say, the entire class working together as if it were one guild (the difference between 5 and 25 man content). Students must always choose what they're learning and how they're learning it.
Students level as they quest to become "level 100."
When students "do" they connect by means of tags to "knowing"
"Scratch work" goes in the Schoology page
"Finished work" goes to the Tumblr page
Students are required to attain a minimum of 100 achievement points in each branch of the knowing and the doing trunk
Every 100 achievement points = 1 level?
So, the minimum work grants 12 levels
BUT THEY ONLY EARN "GRADABLE" POINTS ON "DO" ACHIEVEMENTS / KNOWING EARNS NO POINTS, but are required to earn a particular grade.
You can't achieve level 100 without getting a boss win on one branch of knowing and 2 branches of doing
You can't "know" without a "do." Without a "do," there's no way for anyone to know what you "know."
Quest lines form up into 2 main trunks:
Knowing
Doing
The Knowing trunk asks students to demonstrate that they know X about Y.
The Doing trunk asks students to demonstrate that they can acquire knowledge X in a particular way or transmit or pass on their X knowledge of Y in a particular way Z.
KNOWING
A3.0 is about the history of the United States after 1970, but America 2.0 remains a strong part of the course and the thinking about the time period.
You must reach level 10 in every branch of knowing.
You must reach level 20 in four of six branches.
You must reach level 50 in two of six branches.
You must reach level 100 in one of six branches.
Levels 1-10 deal with America 2.0: background, status, circumstances, conditions, figures, realities.
The Knowing trunk further subdivides into the following branches:
Social Change and Reaction
Level 1: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of Black America in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 2: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of women in America in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 3: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the conditions facing Native Americans in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 4: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of Mexican Americans (or another immigrant group) in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 5: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the conditions facing gay Americans in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 6: Derive 3 common threads between the experiences of these groups.
Level 7: Choose 3 from previous levels (Black America, Women, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, gay Americans). What were the triggering event or events that stimulated a new consciousness for these groups in America 2.0? Why these events and DO.
Level 8: What, if anything, is common between these triggering events?
Level 9: Gather 15 pieces of data that inform you about the state of "mainstream" America in America 2.0. What does "mainstream" mean in this case? Derive what is common between your data points and DO.
Level 10 BOSS: What qualities of the mainstream were the disenfranchised entranced by or interested in attaining for themselves? How were the disenfranchised resisting the power of the mainstream? What about the mainstream were they reacting against? DO
Level 11: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American military servicemen between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 12: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American family life, marriage and childhood between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 13: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American religious and spiritual life between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 14: Derive 5 common threads between your data points.
Level 15: Gather 4 pieces of data that inform you about the change in the state of Black America between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 16: Gather 4 pieces of data that inform you about the change in the state of women in American between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 17: Gather 4 pieces of data that inform you about the change in the state of Native Americans between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 18: Gather 4 pieces of data that inform you about the change in relations between native-born Americans and immigrant Americans between 1970 and 1980 and DO.
Level 19: Gather 4 pieces of data that inform you about the change in conditions for gay Americans between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 20 BOSS: In the transition from America 2.0 to America 3.0 many norms were destabilized. What norms were being destabilized between 1970 and 1980? What was in transition? What was stable?
Level 90 Question: Gay Marriage
SCR BOSS WIN: Choose one of the following socially constructed concepts (parenting, family, gender, sexual orientation, adolescence, work) and trace all of the ways in what that concept has changed since America 2.0 began to give way to America 3.0. Trace the development of the change in your chosen concept through each of its major crisis points, how the American people have stimulated and resisted the change and speculate based on reason and sound evidence how you believe your chosen concept might continue to develop over the next ten years.
Culture
Level 1: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American popular music in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 2: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American film in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 3: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American television in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 4: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American fiction (novels, poetry) in America 2.0 and DO.
Level 5: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the state of American visual arts (painting, photography) in American 2.0 and DO.
Level 6: Derive 3 common concerns/foci/approaches between these different cultural media.
Level 7: Find and defend your choice of 2 cultural artifacts that were culturally transformative in each of the 5 modes and DO.
Level 8: What, if anything, is common between these transformative cultural artifacts?
Level 9: What was the reaction of mainstream culture to these transformative moments?
Level 10 BOSS: Contrast the different concerns/foci/approaches/obsessions/anxieties expressed by transformative and mainstream culture. What is common between them? What's different? What is the transformative trying to transform? What is the mainstream trying to preserve? DO
Level 11: Gather the 4 most influential musicians in America between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so? Were they Americans?
Level 12: Gather the 4 most influential films released in America between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so?
Level 13: Gather the 4 most influential television programs in America between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so?
Level 14: Gather the 4 most influential pieces of American fiction between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so?
Level 15: Gather the 4 most influential pieces of American non-fiction (documentary film, monographs) between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so?
Level 16: Gather the 4 most influential pieces of American visual arts (painting, sculpture, video arts, photography) between 1970 and 1980. DO: What made them so?
Level 17: Derive 5 common concerns/anxieties/foci between these different cultural media.
Level 18: Whose stories are being told in the media you identified at level 17? DO.
Level 19: Gather 8 examples of "fringe" cultural practices in America between 1970 and 1980.
Level 20 BOSS - By 1980, significant cultural transformation was well underway, not just on the fringes but also in the mainstream. What were fringe movements protesting against in the cultural sphere? What were they angry about? What made their vision of the United States fringe, and how would they have transformed society had they won?
Level 30 - public intellectuals
Level 90 Question: Network Cultures (microcultures)
Culture BOSS WIN: In the transition from America 1.0 to America 2.0, major disruptions in social relations and "social truth" led to the widespread adoption and embrace of fringe cultural practices. In many cases, these fringe practices died out (Fourierism), but in other cases, they survived into our own age (Christian Science). Trace the phenomenon of cultural resistance to the mainstream and/or the emergence of cultural anxiety in the transition from America 2.0 to America 3.0, and speculate based on reason and sound evidence about the likely survivability of at least three cultural expressions in 2100.
Politics in the Age of Reagan
Level 1: Who were the presidents of the United States during the Democratic hegemony?
Level 2: Gather 8 pieces of data that illustrate the policies advocated by only the Republican Party in America 2.0 (before 1964) and DO.
Level 3: Gather 8 pieces of data that illustrate the policies advocated by only the Democratic Party in America 2.0 (before 1964) and DO.
Level 4: Gather 8 pieces of data that illustrate policies advocated by both the Republican and Democratic parties in America 2.0 (before 1964) and DO.
Level 5: During the period of Democratic hegemony (1933-1969), which states consistently voted for the Republican candidate? Which for the Democratic? Did these states consistently elect Senators and Governors who matched their preferences for President? DO.
Level 6: What patterns do you discern in the data you gathered for level 5?
Level 7: Gather 3 examples of Republican policies implemented under Democratic administrations and vice versa and DO.
Level 8: Gather 6 examples of political forces advocating change that were brought to bear against the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations and DO.
Level 9: How successful were the political forces you identified in achieving their goals in a timely manner?
Level 10 BOSS: Gather 6 planks of the Democratic and Republican campaigns for president in 1964. What makes Barry Goldwater's nomination to be the Republican candidate in 1964 a watershed event in American politics. Why? How was he different not only from the Democrats but from other Republicans?
Level 11: Gather 3 examples of media use by the Democratic and Republican campaigns in 1964.
Level 12: Gather 3 reasons why Lyndon Johnson's reelection campaign was doomed in 1968. DO.
Level 13: Gather 3 ways in which the Eugene McCarthy campaign was in contrast to the 1964 Democratic platform. DO.
Level 14: Gather 5 ways in which the Robert Kennedy campaign was in contrast to the 1964 Democratic platform. DO.
Level 15: Contrast the Robert Kennedy who ran for president in 1968 with the Robert Kennedy appointed Attorney General in his brother's administration in 1960. DO.
Level 16: Assess why the Democratic convention of 1968 transpired as it did. DO.
Level 17: Gather 5 planks of the George Wallace campaign and DO.
Level 18: Gather 6 decisions taken by Richard Nixon as President of the United States. DO: How many of your 6 decisions gathered were congruent with Johnson Administration policies?
Level 19: Contrast the 1972 Democratic campaign of George McGovern with that of Lyndon Johnson in 1964. DO
Level 20 BOSS: Assess the impact of the Watergate Break-in on your understanding of Richard Nixon as president and his administration's response to Watergate on Americans' relationship to politics and leadership.
Level 90 Question: "Having Your Cake and Eating it Too"
Politics BOSS WIN: You are the campaign manager either for the Obama re-election campaign or for the campaign of his Republican opponent (if you select this option, you must also select the candidate). Construct a winning campaign for your candidate. This must include issues, approaches to media, approaches to social media, opposition research, spending plans, fundraising plans, travel plans, electoral college projections, debate preparation, constituency management and outreach, contingency plans in the result of foreign crises (if you are the president) or selecting a vice presidential running mate (if you are the Republican). For purposes of this BOSS WIN, you must explain the historical reason for each of the decisions you make.
Economics, Finance, Labor and Industry
Level 1: What were the 10 largest US corporations (by gross revenue) in 1900? 1970?
Level 2: What were the 5 largest unions in the US (by total membership) in 1900? 1970?
Level 3: Derive 3 common threads that link the corporations and DO.
Level 4: Derive 3 common threads that link the unions and DO.
Level 5: Derive 3 common threads that link both the corporations and the unions and DO.
Level 6: Using yearly data points, graph US exports and imports in whole dollars between 1945 and 1970. DO by drawing conclusions about US economic health and activity based on your graph.
Level 7: Particularize your level 6 draft by separating out the top 10 countries to whom we exported and from whom we imported, draw conclusions about US economic and foreign relationships and DO.
Level 8: Particularize your level 6 draft by separating out the top 10 goods and services we exported and imported, drawing conclusions about US economic health, productivity and consumer demand and DO.
Level 9: Using yearly data points, derive an understanding of US public finances between 1945 and 1970. Public finances encompasses taxes raised (and from whom), public spending (on what) and public borrowing (how much and from whom?).
Level 10 BOSS: What was the state of American capitalism in 1970?
Level 11: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the conditions of American agricultural and factory workers between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 12: Gather 8 pieces of data that inform you about the conditions of American service sector workers between 1970 and 1980. DO.
Level 13: Using yearly data points, graph the percentage of Americans working in manufacturing between 1970 and 1980 and DO.
Level 14: Using yearly data points, graph the percentage of Americans working in the service sector between 1970 and 1980 and DO.
Level 15: Using yearly data points, graph average salary, vacation time, health-care benefits and pension access in the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy between 1970 and 1980 and DO.
Level 16: Gather 6 consequences of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and the 1979 energy crisis.
Level 17: Assess the impact on the international financial system of the 1973 embargo and DO.
Level 18: Assess the impact on American economic competitiveness of the 1973 embargo and 1979 energy crisis and DO.
Level 19: Contrast the public finances of the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations. DO.
Level 20 BOSS: By 1979-1980, the US economy was in a disastrously weakened state. What made it so? What were the conditions that created "stagflation?" What decisions were responsible for it? What changes would you advice the incoming Reagan Administration to make to combat the problem?
Level 90 Question: Legacy Systems
EFLI BOSS WIN: Bring the federal budget into balance, explaining how you do so, who pays and why, the social consequences of your decisions and short, medium and long term EFLI consequences of your decisions. For purposes of this BOSS WIN, do not consider politics, but you must explain how and why the nation made the decisions you are now correcting.
Foreign Policy (Facing Down The Soviets and then Facing Down Ourselves)
Level 1: Gather 6 examples of US responses to the real or perceived threat posed to the US by the Soviet Union before 1970. DO.
Level 2: Gather 4 examples of US interventions into the affairs of nations in Europe before 1970. DO.
Level 3: Gather 4 examples of US interventions into the affairs of nations in Central/South America or the Caribbean before 1970. DO.
Level 4: Gather 4 examples of US interventions into the affairs of nations in Asia before 1970. DO.
Level 5: Gather 4 examples of US interventions into the affairs of nations in Africa before 1970. DO.
Level 6: Derive 6 common principles that link these US interventions.
Level 7: What did the US mean by the terms: domino theory and containment?
Level 8: Gather 6 examples of US actions before 1970 that specifically illustrate the notions of the domino theory and containment and DO.
Level 9: Gather 6 examples of US actions in South Vietnam before the Tet Offensive that illustrate the principle of containment.
Level 10 BOSS: Support or deny: There was never any hope for a United States victory in the Vietnam War.
Level 11: Gather the top 3 foreign policy initiatives of the Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations. DO.
Level 12: Derive common principles between the three administrations. DO.
Level 13: Gather the top 3 opposing initiatives of America's adversaries in the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations. DO.
Level 14: Gather 6 examples of non-domestic terrorism in the Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations. DO.
Level 15: How was the concept of terrorism understood in the 1970s? Who experienced it?
Level 16: Gather the top 3 foreign policy initiatives of the Reagan Administration. DO.
Level 17: Gather the top 3 opposing initiatives of America's adversaries in the Reagan Administration. DO.
Level 18: Contrast the foreign policy objectives of the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations. DO.
Level 19: Compare the foreign policy achievements of the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations. DO.
Level 20 BOSS: At the Reykjavik Summit, Soviet leader Gorbachev offered total nuclear disarmament to President Reagan. Reagan ultimately refused. Would any of Reagan's three predecessors have taken the deal? Make the case to President Reagan that he SHOULD take the deal and why he should do so.
Level 90 Question: Al Qaeda
FP BOSS WIN: Advise the president (in the mode of NSC-68) regarding the most serious foreign policy challenges facing the United States, in your judgement, between now and 2025 and what he/she should do to ready the nation for them.
Technology
Level 1: Gather 10 examples of technology that defined the American experience of technology prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 2: Derive 4 common threads between the 10 examples from level 1 and DO.
Level 3: Assess 2 ways in which technology changed American society prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 4: Assess 2 ways in which technology changed American culture prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 5: Assess 2 ways in which technology changed American politics prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 6: Assess 2 ways in which technology changed American labor/economics/work prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 7: Assess 2 ways in which technology changed American foreign policy prior to 1970 and DO.
Level 8: To what extent was technology a prime mover or change agent in American society between 1945 and 1970?
Level 9: Which innovation had the greater influence - the ENIAC, the transistor or the space program?
Level 10 BOSS: How much influence does technology that predates 1970 have in your daily life? Cite specific examples and demonstrate how your life would be diminished without these technologies. What technologies that predate 1970 no longer have a role in your daily life?
Level 11: Gather 5 examples of large or "national-scale" technology in 1970 and DO.
Level 12: Gather 5 examples of small scale or "personal" technology in 1970 and DO.
Level 13: Gather the 5 biggest technology companies in 1975 and DO.
Level 14: What were these technology companies doing?
Level 15: Compare/contrast these companies' similarities and differences and DO.
Level 16: Microsoft was founded in 1975. Gather 3 examples of how it was/is different from the examples you gathered in level 11 and level 12 and DO.
Level 17: Apple was founded in 1976. Gather 3 examples of how it was/is different from the examples you gathered in level 11 and level 12 and DO.
Level 18: To what extent do Bill Gates and Steve Jobs articulate a similar vision? DO.
Level 19: To what extent do Bill Gates and Steve Jobs articulate a different vision? DO.
Level 20 BOSS: Microsoft and Apple are radically different entities than any that had appeared previously in American technology life. Why?
Level 90 Question: Technology and Flattening (Friedman, c1)
Technology BOSS WIN: Technology is, arguably, the single biggest change agent in the last half-century, perhaps initiating the transformation of America 2.0 to America 3.0 by itself. Based on reason and sound evidence, how might technology transform American society, culture, politics, economics or foreign policy between now and 2025. Your answer must integrate technology and one other knowledge tree, and it must base its claims on the ways in which technology has already transformed that area.
DOING
The Doing trunk further subdivides into the following branches:
Reading
Critical Writing
Critical Speaking
Modeling
Collaborating
Integrating
Reading - the foundation of all knowledge (that which is cited)
Short, short reading - Twitter (140 characters)
Short form - blog postings, news articles, infographics, 5 minute films (200-1000 words)
Medium form - "the long blog," journal articles, 30 minute films (1000-5000 words)
Monographs - books, generally, always longer than 5000 words, feature-length documentaries (60 minutes+)
To earn achievement points in reading, you have to convince me through another "do" that you've read enough and well enough to understand whatever it is you were reading. If so, you earn:
5 points for 25 examples of short/short
15 points for 10 examples of short
30 points for 3 examples of medium
50 points for 1 example of a monograph
Personal Reading Wins (last level = epic)
Follow and cite 50 (100) (250) (500) Twitter feeds and/or Tumblr blogs (20/30/100/300)
Follow and cite 20 (30) (40) (50) RSS blog feeds (50/100/300/500)
Read and Cite 5 (10) (15) (25) longer blogs or journal articles (100/200/400/600)
Read and Cite 2 (3) (4) (5) monographs (200/400/800/1000)
Group Reading Achieves
Read 10 journal articles in every "knowing" discipline (500)
Read 2 monographs in every "knowing" discipline (1000)
Critical Writing - one foundation of expression (where one cites)
Short, short form - tweeting
one very simple idea
Short form - blog postings (200-500 words) - the 2 minute movie
one simple idea, explicated
Medium form - the short paper, the "long blog" (1000-2000 words), the 7 minute movie
one complex idea, explicated with depth
Long form - the long paper (2000+ words), the webpage, the 20 minute movie
one highly complex idea, explicated along multiple arcs
Achievement points in writing are earned in in clusters of 1000 points. 1000 points are earned for:
1 long form mode = 3 medium form modes = 10 short form modes = 100 short, short form modes
Personal Writing Wins:
1 of each form = 500 points
EPIC win = 5 long-form critical writes
Group Achieves in writing:
Post to a blog of your own creation for 30 consecutive school days (500) / 60 consecutive school days (750) / 90 consecutive school days (1000)
Critical Speaking - the other foundation of expression (where one cites)
Short, short form - answering one question (or asking one)
Short form - speaking about a subject for 2 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 5 minutes)
Medium form - speaking about a subject for 5 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 10 minutes)
Long form - speaking about a subject for at least 10 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 20 minutes)
Achievement points in speaking are also earned in clusters of 1000 points. 1000 points are earned for:
1 long form mode = 3 medium form modes = 10 short form modes = 100 short, short modes
Group achieves in speaking are earned by putting together roundtables that are filmed and shared. A 15-minute roundtable discussion would earn 500 points.
Personal Speaking Wins:
Speak in public in front of more than 200 people or document more than 1000 unique downloads of a video you made
EPIC win = speak in front of more than 1000 people or get more than 10,000 unique downloads
Modeling - a non-written form of expression (where one cites)
infographics, visual and/or performing arts, mind maps, photography, film
Because modeling is idiosyncratic, modeling points are earned on a case-by-case basis after discussions with me where I approve the scope of the project and assign it points. Some examples of 500 point achievements in modeling are:
1. An infographic (see examples in the Schoology forum) on a complex idea, like use of technology by seniors.
2. A photo essay illuminating Jewish-African American relations in Los Angeles.
3. A curated (photos found, but not taken by you) photo essay on Native American resistance to cultural assimilation.
4. 5 minutes of a short, creative film about high school students responding to 9/11 on 9/11/01.
5. A 3-4 minute pop song, written and performed, which speaks to a social problem in the USA.
Modeling projects can be done by ALTs as well - the complexity of the work proposed generates the achievements.
Modeling Wins:
Collaborating (all work is teamwork)
Starting an ALT (Accountable Learning Team) and constructing a shared identity
Conducting interviews to gather data
Working together to acquire knowledge and solve increasingly complex problems
Using social media to share and collaborate
Teaching others what you know so that they know it
Collaboration is at the heart of scholarship - what you learn builds upon the learning of others. Starting an ALT in class and agreeing to shared norms would earn 100 achievement points. Each time you work together in your ALT to achieve an objective, you'd earn another 100 points. Collaboration points are earned only when you are interacting with others. If you do not choose to join an ALT, that's fine, you can still earn collaboration points by doing interviews or by building an ALT that has members outside of class (you and some friends from other schools collaborate on a blog, for instance, or you make some movies together).
Integrating (nothing is as simple as you'd like it to be)
Increasingly complex ways of understanding. At its most basic, it draws connections between two different branches of the "knowing" tree (for example, Foreign Policy (War in Iraq) generating Culture (protest music by Eminem). Each new integrated branch adds a level of complexity. It could easily integrate across the "doing" tree as well - your ALT follows 50 Twitter feeds (short, short reading / use of social media) and each week, a member creates a Tumblr posting integrating learning across these feeds (medium form writing, working together, using social media).
Integrating learning across disciplines is exciting, complex work. It is also the most essential thing you can do as a learner if you want to succeed in the 21st century. To that end, here are some examples of integrating that would earn 100 achievement points:
1. Combining 2 branches of the "knowing tree" (politics and culture, for example).
2. Combine 2 forms of social media (Google+ and YouTube, for example).
An example of a 500 point achievement in integrating:
1. Preparing an essay and infographic on Jewish and African American economic success/challenges in LA to accompany your photo essay.
POSTED TO SCHOOLOGY
"DOING"
While knowing is important, you don't earn any points by leveling. You only earn points by showing what you know by doing something with it. You can't execute any tasks in the Doing Tree without having leveled in the Knowing Tree.
The Doing Tree subdivides into the following branches:
Reading
Critical Writing
Critical Speaking
Modeling
Collaborating
Integrating
Reading - Critical reading is the foundation skill. In America 3.0, what one reads is multivalent. It could be nearly anything. Your responsibility is assessing the quality and validity of the source. If you stake your reputation on a bad source, you have to own it. You indicate to the community what you've read by citing it in a different "do."
THAT WHICH IS CITED
Short, short reading - Twitter (140 characters)
Short form - blog postings, news articles, infographics, 5 minute films (200-1000 words)
Medium form - "the long blog," journal articles, 30 minute films (1000-5000 words)
Monographs - books, generally, always longer than 5000 words, feature-length documentaries (60 minutes+)
To earn achievement points in reading, you have to convince me through another "do" that you've read enough and well enough to understand whatever it is you were reading. If so, you earn:
5 points for 25 examples of short/short
15 points for 10 examples of short
30 points for 3 examples of medium
50 points for 1 example of a monograph
Writing - Critical writing is one way in which you might express your ideas. Writing is not just putting words to paper (digital or otherwise). Making a short film with a clear script is a form of writing, because it requires you to structure and articulate an idea and explicate it so that it can be understood by others. Critical writing, in this case, is explicitly not journal writing.
WHERE ONE CITES
Short, short form - tweeting (140 characters-100 words)
one simple idea
Short form - blog postings (200-500 words) - the 2 minute movie
one simple idea, explicated
Medium form - the short paper, the "long blog" (1000-2000 words), the 7 minute movie
one complex idea, explicated with depth
Long form - the long paper (2000+ words), the webpage, the 20 minute movie
one highly complex idea, explicated along multiple arcs
Achievement points in writing are earned in in clusters of 500 points. 500 points are earned for:
1 long form mode = 3 medium form modes = 25 short form modes = 250 short, short form modes
Speaking - Speaking is the other foundation of critical expression. It has different rules and expectations from writing. It can be informal or formal, like critical writing. Speaking is a critical skill for success in all of your future plans. Like writing, speaking without citation (in other words, speaking without a strong foundation from reading) is almost always going to fail to advance knowledge.
WHERE ONE CITES
Short, short form - answering one question (or asking one)
Short form - speaking about a subject for 2 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 5 minutes)
Medium form - speaking about a subject for 5 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 10 minutes)
Long form - speaking about a subject for at least 10 minutes without notes (or leading a conversation about a topic for 20 minutes)
Achievement points in speaking are also earned in clusters of 500 points. 500 points are earned for:
1 long form mode = 3 medium form modes = 25 short form modes = 250 short, short modes
Modeling - I define modeling as all non-written, non-speaking forms of expression that nevertheless are doing the same work as writing and speaking. They are still based on critical reading. They intend to convey understanding. They are forms where one cites. Some examples of modeling are: infographics, visual and/or performing arts, mind maps, photography and film.
Because modeling is idiosyncratic, modeling points are earned on a case-by-case basis after discussions with me where I approve the scope of the project and assign it points. Some examples of 500 point achievements in modeling are:
1. An infographic (see examples in the Schoology forum) on a complex idea, like use of technology by seniors.
2. A photo essay illuminating Jewish-African American relations in Los Angeles.
3. A curated (photos found, but not taken by you) photo essay on Native American resistance to cultural assimilation.
4. 5 minutes of a short, creative film about high school students responding to 9/11 on 9/11/01.
5. A 3-4 minute pop song, written and performed, which speaks to a social problem in the USA.
Collaborating - All work, on some level, is collaborative. This is why reading is such an integral skill. Think of it as a form of collaborating with scholars, thinkers, bloggers and others. Some examples of collaborative practice include: starting an ALT (Accountable Learning Team) and constructing a shared identity, conducting interviews to gather data, working together to acquire knowledge (level) and solve increasingly complex problems (defeat bosses), using social media to share and collaborate with people around the country and world who aren't in the class and teaching others what you know so that they know it.
Collaboration is at the heart of scholarship - what you learn builds upon the learning of others. Starting an ALT in class and agreeing to shared norms would earn 500 achievement points. Each time you work together in your ALT to achieve a boss-level objective, you'd earn anywhere from 100-500 additional points. Collaboration points are earned only when you are interacting with others. If you do not choose to join an ALT, that's fine, you can still earn collaboration points by doing interviews or by building an ALT that has members outside of class (you and some friends from other schools collaborate on a blog, for instance, or you make some movies together).
Integrating - By the end of this class, I hope that you'll realize that we live in a world of bewildering complexity and that the process of complexification is ongoing. Nothing is as simple as you'd like it to be and won't be. At its most basic, integration draws connections between two different branches of the "knowing" tree (for example, Foreign Policy (War in Iraq) generating Culture (protest music by Eminem). Each new integrated branch adds a level of complexity. It could easily integrate across the "doing" tree as well - your ALT follows 50 Twitter feeds (short, short reading / use of social media) and each week, a member creates a Tumblr posting integrating learning across these feeds (medium form writing, working together, using social media). Integrating learning across disciplines is exciting, complex work. It is also the most essential thing you can do as a learner if you want to succeed in the 21st century. To that end, here are some examples of integrating that would earn 100 achievement points:
1. Combining 2 branches of the "knowing tree" (politics and culture, for example).
2. Combine 2 forms of social media (Google+ and YouTube, for example).
An example of a 500 point achievement in integrating:
1. Preparing an essay and infographic on Jewish and African American economic success/challenges in LA to accompany your photo essay.
Class Achievements
First to post a discussion topic
First to level 1
First to level 1 in all 6 branches
First to level 5
First to level 10
First to level 10 in all 6 branches
ALT Achieves
Start one
Complete 5 projects
Bring someone from outside into the ALT
Create an ALT Tumblr
Post 25 items to that Tumblr
Earn 100 reblogs
Personal Achievements
Cover image: Dark Falz, the final boss in Phantasy Star (one of the first proper quest/adventure games).
