Slides for a session on Passion-Based Learning at the Lausanne Laptop Institute, 2012. More session info/resources available here: http://pwoessner.wikispaces.com/Passion-Based+Learning

1. Fostering Digital Literacy Through
Passion-Based Learning
Patrick Woessner
Lausanne Laptop Institute 2012
http://bit.ly/passionbasedlearning

2. Session Goals
 Identify key elements of Digital Literacy
 Recognize the importance of passion in learning
 Empower students to identify their passion
 Design learning experiences that leverage passion to
foster Digital Literacy
 Enable students to share their passion with the world

3. Session Goals

4. What is Digital Literacy?
 “A person’s ability to perform tasks effectively in a
digital environment... Literacy includes the ability to
read and interpret media, to reproduce data and
images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate
and apply new knowledge gained from digital
environments.”1
 What is your definition of digital literacy?
 My definition: “Digital Literacy is participatory
culture.” 2

5. Why Digital Literacy Matters

6. What is Passion?
 “ A strong inclination toward an activity that people
like, find important, and in which they invest time
and energy.”4
 What is your definition of passion?
 My definition: “Passion is motivation in action.”

7. Why Passion Matters

8. Factors that Influence Learning
School-Level Factors:
• A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
• Challenging Goals and Effective
Feedback
• Parent and Community Involvement
• Safe and Orderly Environment
• Collegiality and Professionalism

9. Factors that Influence Learning
Teacher-Level Factors:
• Instructional strategies
• Classroom management
• Classroom curriculum design

10. Factors that Influence Learning
Student-Level Factors:
• Home Environment
• Learned Intelligence and Background
Knowledge
• Student Motivation

11. What Motivates Students?

12. What Motivates Students?
 “Students respond positively to tasks that they perceive as challenging but
“do-able” and that have relevance (value) to them. Also, creative tasks,
which provide the student a degree of freedom in their resolution (e.g.,
creating artworks that use design principles and functions to solve specific
visual art problems embodied in the standards; composing a musical
composition) can be a source of personal pride and intrinsic motivation.
 To maximize motivation, then, teachers should develop tasks that are
authentic, appropriately challenging, relevant, and creative.”7
Passion Motivates Students!

14. Digital Literacy Framework: UbD
Stages of Backwards Design
2.Identify desired results.
3.Determine acceptable evidence.
4.Plan learning experiences and instruction.
Establish Curricular Priorities
Worth being familiar with
Important to know and do
Enduring understanding

15. Digital Literacy: Essential Questions
Over the course of this semester, you
will work toward answering two
essential questions:
How does technology affect and
reflect who you are as a person and
learner?
How does your passion affect and
reflect who you are as a person and
learner?

16. Digital Literacy: Enduring Understandings
To answer these important questions,
you must come to understand that:
learning can be informal, social, and
networked.
information serves as the basis for
understanding our world.
content creators have rights; content
consumers have responsibilities.
learning and expression styles affect
how we acquire/process knowledge and
demonstrate understanding.

17. Digital Literacy: Evidence/Outcomes
By the end of the course, you will be able
to:
identify your personal
interests/passion(s).
communicate and collaborate in an online
environment.
locate, evaluate, utilize, and cite
information.
identify your personal learning and
expression styles.
create and share a product that answers
the essential questions.

18. Digital Literacy: Course Outline
 Learning Styles
 Passion-Based Learning
 Networking
 Social Bookmarking
 Effective Search Strategies
 Website Evaluation
 Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative
Commons
 Expression Styles
 Final Product Presentation

19. Digital Literacy: Course Outline
 Learning Styles
 Passion-Based Learning
 Networking
 Social Bookmarking
 Effective Search Strategies
 Website Evaluation
 Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative
Commons
 Expression Styles
 Final Product Presentation

20. Digital Literacy: Student Workflow
Course Materials Student Work
Schoology (Learning Network) Wikispaces (Research Project Pages)
Private to Course Public to School

21. Lesson: Learning Styles
Learning styles address how students acquire understanding and are
frequently divided into three main types: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The
C.I.T.E Instrument9 organizes and refines these styles into nine major categories
as they relate to information gathering, work conditions, and expressiveness.

22. Learning Styles

23. Student Learning Styles: Class of 2017

24. Lesson: Passion-Based Learning
Passion-Based Learning is an experience that empowers students to Discover
and Consume, Communicate and Connect, and Create and Produce based on
their deep-seated interests.
The primary purpose of the Interest-A-Lyzer10 is to identify students’ interest
areas is to stimulate thought and discussion. Students not only come to know
themselves better, but also get a chance to share their discoveries with both
teachers and peers.

25. Interest-A-Lyzer Sample Questions
 You are a photographer and you have one picture left to take on your roll of
film. What will it be of? Why?
 Teenagers in your community have been asked to prepare individual time
capsules for future generations. You are allowed to include 10 personal
possessions that are representative of you. What would you include in your
capsule?
 You have written your first book which you are ready to submit for
publication. What is the title? What is the book about?

26. Lesson: Networking
Information sharing (networking) will prove to be more than a passing fad for
Generation Y as the habit has grown to become an integral part of how
burgeoning and young adults find information, seek help, sustain and nurture
friendships and remain engaged with their communities.11

27. Digital Literacy Learning Network Profile
 The first step in learning to network
is to create a profile.
 Schoology provides a safe, “walled
garden” approach to networking.
 Students can view their classmates’
profiles and begin making social
connections based on mutual
interests
schoology

28. Digital Literacy: Topic Outline
 Learning Styles
 Passion-Based Learning
 Networking
 Social Bookmarking
 Effective Search Strategies
 Website Evaluation
 Copyright, Fair Use, and
Creative Commons
 Expression Styles
 Final Product Presentation

29. Digital Literacy: Research Project
 Learning Styles
 Passion-Based Learning
 Networking
 Social Bookmarking
 Effective Search Strategies
 Website Evaluation
 Copyright, Fair Use, and
Creative Commons
 Expression Styles
 Final Product Presentation

30. Digital Literacy: Research Project

31. Managing the Research Process
 Wiki permissions can/should be
managed to afford students privacy
 The History, Discussion, and Notify
Me tabs make it easy to monitor
and comment on student work

32. Supporting the Research Process
 Each student completed a Google Form on which she identified her passion.
 Affinity groups were created for each topic within Schoology.
 Students joined the affinity group relevant to them. This space became a
source of student-led support and inspiration.

33. Lesson: Expression Styles
Unlike learning styles, which focus on how students acquire and process
information, Expression Styles reflect the types of products students prefer to
create to demonstrate their understanding.
The My Way…An Expression Style Instrument, developed by Karen Kettle,
Joseph Renzulli, and Mary Rizza, identifies 10 broad categories of
products/forms of expression.13

34. Expression Styles

35. Student Expression Styles: Class of 2017

36. Technology to Support Expression Styles
Shared Document for Technology That Supports Expression Styles

37. Final Project Requirements
 Your research project will culminate in a final product that will be shared with
your advisory. Although you have a great deal of flexibility, your final project
must:
 Reflect your preferred expression style (e.g. if Written Expression is your
preference, your final product should take a written form) and have been
created (at least in part) by technology (e.g. no dioramas).
 Address/answer (directly or indirectly) all six driving questions
1. What is your passion and why is it more than a mere interest for you?
2. Who or what got you interested/involved in your passion?
3. What aspect(s) of your passion would you like to learn more about?
4. What would other people need to know about your passion in order to understand it?
5. How has your passion influenced/affected the St. Louis area?
6. How does your passion affect and reflect you as a person and as a learner?
 Be uploaded/embedded/linked/displayed on your personal Digital Literacy wiki
page and include a description of the project (i.e. what the project is all about).

38. Final Project Assessment
 All final projects, regardless of topic or form, were presented in advisory and
graded using a common rubric.
 Providing a rubric helps ensure that (1) students clearly understand the
requirements/expectations and (2) all topics/products are valued equally.
Assessment Categories

39. Final Project Assessment

40. Final Project Examples
Expression Style: Artistic
Passion: Animation
Technology Tool: Pencil

41. Final Project Examples
Expression Style: Audio/Visual
Passion: Dance
Technology Tool: Prezi

42. Final Project Examples
Expression Style: Written
Passion: Creative Writing
Technology Tool: Myebook

43. What Did the Students REALLY Think?
 Several months after the course ended last year, a brief,
anonymous survey was sent to all students:
 How important was the role of passion in your learning?
 Did you notice a different level of commitment or
engagement during this passion-based project compared to
past project work?
 How many other times in your schooling have you had a
chance to formally explore and share your passion with
others?

44. Student Survey Results: How important was the
role of passion in your learning?
 My passion moves me along and keeps me happy and helps
me to learn. I can think in terms of my passion to understand
something better and that helps me learn.
 Very important. Passion is everything.
 Learning my passion was important to me because I got to
learn how I learn and more about my self that I didn't realize
before.
 It was very helpful for extending my learning in other subjects
 It was very important because the fact that it was about me
made me more motivated to research and participate.

45. Student Survey Results: Did you notice a
different level of commitment or engagement?
 Yes, because your passion is something that interests you and
sometimes school projects do not.
 It encouraged me to make it good since it was about
something I loved.
 Yes, because it was on a more personal level, instead of
"homework". Also, it was fun to do because it was about
things we like to do.
 Yes, I learned more because I actually cared about the topic I
was researching and making a final project for.
 No. I say this because I give a full amount of effort and
commitment to ALL of my work.

46. Student Survey Results: How many other times in
school have you explored/shared your passion?
 None. I haven’t had any chances to do that at all so far in my
learning life.
 Not any other ones, it was only this project.
 None other times besides people asking "oh what do you like
to do?" or "what are some of your favorite things?" and stuff
like that.
 Not a lot, if at all.
 This is the first time, and I really enjoyed it!
 Rarely ever. The only times 'passions' come up are with
conversations with friends, and they are usually labeled as fun
activities

47. Lessons Learned
 Students come to us with incredible knowledge and skills that we may
never see because we never ask.
 If we expect students to explore and understand our passions they must
first come to explore and understand theirs.
 The content/skills acquired in a passion-based learning experience are
mastered more deeply and thus can be more easily applied/transferred.
 Students understand that learning is social; they don’t understand how
it translates to school.
 Utilizing different learning styles can help students learn but they do not
help them demonstrate what they know.

48. Making it Work for You
 Focus on student passion
 Connect like-minded learners
 Share their passions with others

49. Questions and Contact Info
 Presentation Resources:
http://bit.ly/passionbasedlearning
 Blog: http://pwoessner.com/
 Email: pwoessner@micds.org
 Twitter: http://twitter.com/pcwoessner
 Skype: pwoessner
 Office: 314-995-7375

50. Works Cited
§ Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L. Flannigan: Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the 21st Century; http://
connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/ConnectingtheDigitalDotsL/39969
§ Jenkins, Henry, Puroshotma, Ravi, Clinton, Katherine, Weigel, Margaret, & Robison, Alice J. (2005). Confronting the Challenges of
Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, available at
http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf.
§ Jenkins, Henry. “The New Media Literacies.” Video. 11 Nov. 2008. YouTube. 14 Oct. 2011. http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEHcGAsnBZ
§ Vallerand, R. et al (2003). Les passions de l’aˆ me: on obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
85(56), 756-767. Retrieved from http://
www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/documents/2003_VallerandBlanchardMageauKoesterRatelleLeonardGagne_JPSP.pdf
§ Motivation Problems Scene from Office Space Movie (1999) | MOVIECLIPS. Dir. Mike Judge. Perf. Ron Livingston. MOVIECLIPS: Movie
Trailers, Previews, Clips of Old, New & Upcoming Films. MovieClips.com. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. http://
movieclips.com/2pyJo-office-space-movie-motivation-problems
§ "Motivation Demotivator® - The Original Demotivational Posters." Despair, Inc. - Creators of Demotivators® Posters, Calendar, Coffee
Mugs, Apparel and More. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.despair.com/motivation.html
§ Source: Kellaghan, Thomas, and George F. Madaus. The Use of External Examinations to Improve Student Motivation. Washington:
American Educational Research Association, 1997. Print.
§ Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2006. Print.
§ Babich, Burdine, Albright, & Randol (1976). C.I.T.E. Learning Styles Instrument. WVABE Instructor Handbook, Section 3, 2003-04. Retrieved
October 17, 2011 from http://wvabe.org/CITE/cite.pdf

51. Works Cited
§ Source: Renzulli, Joseph S., Mary Rizza, Thomas P. Hébert, Michelle F. Sorenson, Vidabeth Bensen, and Ann McGreevy.
Interest-a-lyzer Family of Instruments. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning, 1997. Print. Available online from: http://
www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/CurriculumCompacting/SEC-IMAG/ialsecon.pdf
§ "'Millennials' Leading the Way on Social Media | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project." Pew Research Center's
Internet & American Life Project. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. http://
www.pewinternet.org/Media-Mentions/2010/Millennials-leading-the-way-on-social-media.aspx
§ Hill, Karhmir. "How To Teach Kids 'Digital Literacy'? Build A Private Social Network Playground For Them. - Forbes." Information for
the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Forbes, 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/10/13/how-to-teach-kids-digital-literacy-build-a-private-social-network-
playground-for-them/>
§ Kettle, Karen E., Joseph S. Renzulli, and Mary G. Rizza. "Exploring Student Preferences For Product Development." Neag Center for
Gifted Education and Talent Development. University of Connecticut. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. http://
www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/exprstyl.html
§ "Motivation Demotivator® - The Original Demotivational Posters." Despair, Inc. - Creators of Demotivators® Posters, Calendar, Coffee
Mugs, Apparel and More. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. http://www.despair.com/recognition.html