Deep Learning thrives during Learn@Home

Screen Grab of a student's Deep Learning Online Project

June 24, 2020

By Heather Michel
PVNC Learning Consultant

At the outset of the school shutdown, PVNC devised and implemented a four-phase learning plan for the remainder of the 2020 school year.

The final phase was designed to engage students in community-based rich learning experiences that would transcend the boundaries of traditional classrooms.

The Deep Inquiry Learning framework was utilized in order to complete Phase 4 of our Learn@Home plan.

Classes were invited to join boardwide deep inquires for the month of June.

Over 75 classes participated in these inquiries or over 700 PVNC students who created enjoyable and memorable collaborative inquiry experiences this June.

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Primary classes learned about local bird species in their own backyards. Junior students discovered what was hiding in the surface water near their homes. Intermediate and high school groups investigated the financial and environmental impacts of online shopping.

Each inquiry included prompts to address curriculum expectations in language, math, religion, science, social studies, and art.

The results were astounding. Students from around the school board collaborated with each other to answer their own deep questions. Information was transmitted through digital maps, documents, and art tools. Each division created partnerships with community experts to seek the answers to their deep questions. Inventions, essays, drawings and even memes were created by students so that they could share their new ideas with a variety of audiences. One class even shared their learning with their Mayor!

Learning Support Services provided deep inquiry lesson plans to the classroom teachers, EAs and RECEs and the participating educators were thrilled by how many of the Catholic Graduate Expectations their students were modelling as they worked together. All 75 of the participating educators expressed both their gratitude for being included in the experience and their hope that there would be similar Deep Inquiry Learning opportunities offered in the fall.