Quest 2 LearnGiantommaso D’Astolto (Nest Group)

Quest 2 Learn

Description/1(Service, target users and main actors)

• American learning system school, which aims at creating critical thinking and respect for someone else’s point of view, by pursuing a “learning by doing” teaching approach

• It currently serves students in 6th and 7th grade, but the goal is to involve students till the 12th grade

• It is run by a private foundation and the supporting team includes other foundations, universities, private firms and non-profit organisations.

Description/2(didactic objectives and business model)

Quest 2 Learn

• The aim is to involve students in choice making, problem solving, seeking content knowledge and considering someone else's point of view.

• The mission is "to learn for design, innovation, complexity, credibility, judgement and critical thinking with technology and smart tools in order to be prepared for college and the world of work".

• The business model is based on the fees paid by families (it is a private school) and on voluntary contributions.

Contributors’ classification (Donors,Patrons, Benefactors)

Quest 2 Learn

Browsing the websiteHomepage

Quest 2 Learn

• In the top-left corner we have sections for:

- Getting to know the system

- Checking the curriculum

- Applying for a position (student/ teacher)

- Downloading material

- Browsing the calendar

- Contacting the staff

• The rest of the page is intended to present the service and to show pictures of the experience

Browsing the websiteHomepage

• Students, parents and in general whoever is interested can check the upcoming events on a Google calendar. This allows the stakeholders to keep updated on what’s going on and to respect the deadlines

Current agenda

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Browsing the websiteCalendar

• In the member’s area students can access to a social network named “Being me”. The tool is meant to strengthen the relationships within the community and to ease the communication among members

Homepage of “Being me”

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Browsing the website“Being Me”

• In the website we can also find a section explaining what learning labs are. These are technological environments where students learn by playing role-games and interpreting real-life professionals

Students in action in a Learning Lab

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Browsing the websiteTeaching approach

Strengths/1

• Students are supposed to create their own tools, thus challenging their critical thinking and learning from what they are doing

Quest 2 Learn

Students creating their own tools

Strengths/2

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• The game-based learning approach is very stimulating, with students pretending to be professionals in different scenarios. This kind of approach usually increases problem-solving and choice-making skills

A student involved in a game

Strengths/3

Quest 2 Learn

• The school also offers subjects related to topical issues, such as Health and Wellness. This kind of topics are something that kids perceive as involving and linked to their daily life

Weaknesses• The service is mainly provided “on

site”, therefore students need to be physically present in order to attend lectures

• We can guess that all the provided material, the facilities and the staff that operates are quite expensive, which makes the systems hard to replicate in public schools with budget constraints.

A lecture performed on site

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Conclusions & take-aways

• The school prepares students to enter the world of work and colleges with an open-mind and proactive approach

• Great focus is given to learning by doing and team-working

• However, the model generates some costs that we should cut if we want to replicate it in public schools

Quest 2 Learn

Students work together most of the time