There is literally no end to the kinds of student innovation happening in global schools. At GEMS Dubai American Academy, the Essential Fluencies are playing a big part in this. We've had the pleasure of working closely with many teachers and students there. As a result, we have seen firsthand the amazing things that are happening. In fact, that's why they created the video below, called DAA Short Stories. See what's happening with future-focused learning at GEMS DAA, and visualize the possibilities for student innovation in your own classrooms.
Special thanks to Paul Myer Hopkins, digital video and innovation instructor at DAA, for sharing this video with us.
DAA Short Stories - Full Movie from GEMS Dubai American Academy on Vimeo.
DAA Student Innovation Video Highlights
Here's what a few of the teachers at GEMS DAA have to say about the incredible work their learners are doing. You can learn more about these stories in the video above.
"One of the things I get to do as an innovation coach is to work with teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. In this case, 5th-grade students are using NAO robots to present their positions on a debate between the patriots and the loyalists. Coding must be done in a sequence, and they must plan out what it will say and how it will move to persuade the audience of their position."—(Scott Macdonald, DAA Innovation Coach)
"This year at DAA we've been encouraged to implement the Future Fluencies in all grade levels. We told our students to imagine you go out to the playground, and all of the equipment is gone. They need to come up with a completely new game, and they get to make up the rules. What we saw right from the start was students taking control of their learning."—(Jaimie Powers, DAA Phys Ed Teacher)
“I’ve taught math at many levels throughout my career. While our topics have real-life applications, there is somewhat of a disconnect in finding the applications that are relevant and meaningful to the students. I challenged students to take responsibility for their learning by taking control and leading. We began to engage elements of the Solution and Collaboration Fluencies. I gave each student group a standard or part of a standard for them to unpack. The groups created presentations through multiple platforms. They were able to define what the standard was asking for and create their own examples of how they may see it in problem-solving situations.”—(Desirae Matthew, DAA Math Teacher)
Explore More Student Innovation
Teachers are passionate about making as positive an impact as possible on their students’ futures. The Global Digital Citizen Foundation works with a lot of educators in a lot of different countries. In our travels, the student innovation examples we’ve seen have been remarkable. To celebrate this we created the GDCF Success Stories to share what teachers and students are accomplishing with the Essential Fluencies.
These case studies are stories of success and of real student innovation and holistic growth. They are about how we work together in modern class environments to create truly transformative learning. So go ahead and get inspired.
Additional Reading
- A List of New GDCF Success Stories With Inspiring Fluency Teachers
- Future Schools Imagined Using the Essential Fluencies of Learning
- 10 High School Student Projects for Demonstrating Altruism
