Reading Reflection 8

1. There are many ways to build connections outside of the classroom. One of these ways is encouraging students to use digital tools to branch out and share ideas with others. This could be done through blogs or digital story telling projects. Both of these methods allows students to gain an authentic audience that is outside of their own classroom. Another way to build connections outside of the classroom is to have students talk with an expert in the field of their study. When trying to learn about a topic it is natural to contact an expert, so by having students do so they are creating that connection with someone who knows more than they do about the topic, who is out of the classroom, and may come into play later down the road. Lastly, a different way to build connections is to have students work with students outside of their classroom. By having the students talking to their peers who aren't involved in the process they will get to see different thoughts and opinions on the matter than what they normally get to see in the classroom. These peers can be from a different grade, or even a different country if using digital tools comes into play with this idea as well.
2. The EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technologies) Initiative Model is a network of schools who are using technology to sole problems and make changes within their communities. An example of an improvement made to their community is the middle school and high school class that paired together to create a documentary on a Japanese-American internment camp which most people in the area had forgotten about. The four basic ideas for the EAST model include 
1. Student-driven learning: Students need to be responsible for their own learning. 
2. Authentic project based learning: Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities. 
3. Technology at work: Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems. 
4. Collaboration: When students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects they accomplish more than one person can do alone. 
3. By allowing students to lead their own projects they take more ownership of their learning. When students come up with the idea themselves, it is something that interests them making the learning more enjoyable and students will want to learn more. By having students wanting to learn more, more inquiry happens. Thus making the whole project much more authentic when the students lead it. 
4. This chapter is relivent to our project because we are encouraging our students to create those bonds outside of the classroom. We want them to talk to experts in the field, use digital tools to make connections, and talk to their peers (inside and outside of our school) about what they know about certain topics.