There is a website I visit quite a bit for the latest information on innovative practices in education. It’s called edutopia.org. For the past 18 months I have spent a great deal of time searching around on this site, reading about many fascinating aspects of project based learning, but not once have I looked into who is supporting the website. It wasn’t until I attended the PBL World Australia Conference the other week that the penny dropped. When George Lucas sold LucasFilm to Disney, he used a large percentage of the money to set up The George Lucas Educational Foundation – edutopia.org is a major part of this foundation. My Star Wars fan heart fluttered in excitement!
As George Lucas says:
“Education is the foundation of our democracy – the stepping-stones for our youth to reach their full potential. My own experience in public college was quite frustrating. I was often bored. Occasionally, I had a teacher who engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. Those were the teachers I really loved. I wondered, “Why can’t college be engaging all of the time?” As a father, I’ve felt the imperative to transform collegeing even more urgently.
Traditional education can be extremely isolating – the curriculum is often abstract and not relevant to real life, teachers and students don’t usually connect with resources and experts outside of the classroom, and many colleges operate as if they were separate from their communities.
Project-based learning, student teams working cooperatively, children connecting with passionate experts, and broader forms of assessment can dramatically improve student learning. New digital multimedia and telecommunications can support these practices and engage our students. And well-prepared educators are critical.”
So now when I watch these awesome movies with my family and hear Master Yoda’s words – they resonate much more deeply, especially the following two quotes:
“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are….a different game you should play.”
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Karen says
I love it. I can’t wait to start teaching in the real world.