Global Forum November 7-10, 2011 | Washington, D.C.

Chris Clay Botany Downs Secondary College New Zealand Virtual Classroom Tour - VCT Partners in Learning Global Forum November 7 – 10, 2011 Washington DC

Educator(s) Chris Clay School Brief description of school context Botany Downs Secondary College, Auckland, New Zealand We are a school of 1800 students in a high socio-economic area of our country’s biggest city – Auckland School Website Content/Subject Areas Biological Science Age/Grade level Senior – years Project Objectives Create a community that promotes collaborative teaching and learning Build mutually beneficial relationships between research scientists and high school students Linking Eduational Accomplishments to Real World Needs

Project Description Design of the Learning Environment Linking Educational Accomplishments to Real- world Needs This project started with the creation of an online learning community that promoted asynchronous and collaborative learning. As time has passed, the focus of the community has began to broaden, and now includes actively seeking out opportunities to make contributions to the wider community, whilst developing 21 st century skills. This project now aims to build relationships that ensure our students have authentic learning experiences, whilst our communities benefit from their broad range of skills.

Evidence of Learning Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom Collaboration Linking Educational Accomplishments to Real- world Needs This year was our first opportunity to have students work towards educational goals that also served the needs of our community. The contribution our students made was astounding. We already have plans to expand this for next year.

Evidence of Learning Knowledge Building & Critical Thinking Extended Learning Beyond the Classroom Collaboration Our collaborative learning community Our learning community has been designed to promote active learning and collaboration. Here are some of the ways this takes place. Podcasting Students create collaborative notes Students collaborate through discussion