Digital Tools to Advance Sustainability Literacy – Green Schools Conference and Expo (May 2018)

1. Digital Tools to Advance
Sustainability Literacy
Julie A. Evans, Ed.D., Chief Executive Officer, Project Tomorrow
jevans@tomorrow.org / @JulieEvans_PT / http://www.tomorrow.org/
and
Jenny Wiedower, K-12 Education Manager, U.S. Green Building Council
jwiedower@usgbc.org / @mygreenschools / https://learninglab.usgbc.org/
2018 Green Schools Conference and Expo

2. Learning objectives
• Describe the higher order thinking skills that are essential to
education for sustainability
• Identify strategies for helping students develop critical thinking skills
• Identify digital tools that will support critical thinking skills
• Discuss the ways to assess quality of digital tools
• Help educators develop comfort using digital tools

3. Skills for sustainability literacy
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
• Environmental Education (EE)
• Education for Sustainability (EfS) • Knowledge
• Attitudes
• Behaviors
• Skills – Thinking Skills
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Creativity
• Critical thinking

4. Skills for sustainability literacy
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Source: Education for Sustainable Development SOURCEBOOK, UNESCO, 2012

5. Skills for sustainability literacy
• Environmental Education (EE)
Source: Guidelines for Learning, NAAEE https://cdn.naaee.org/sites/default/files/learnerguidelines_new.pdf

6. Skills for sustainability literacy
• Education for Sustainability (EfS)
Source: Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning, JSE, 2017

7. Who else agrees that critical thinking is key?
• P21
• Common Core
• Next Gen Science Standards
• Buck Institute
• Speak Up 2017 research findings
• AACU Employability report (2013)
• EIU 2015 employers study

8. WHY IS CRITICAL THINKING IMPORTANT TODAY?
1. Information intensive society and economy
2. Accelerating pace of change
3. Employability

9. WHY IS CRITICAL THINKING IMPORTANT TODAY?
▪ 72% of employers say critical thinking is key to their
organization’s success
o But only half say their employees are good
critical thinkers
▪ 93% of employers say a candidate’s competencies
with workplace skills such as critical thinking are
more important then their undergraduate major
Sources:
• American Management Study, 2012
• AACU Survey, 2013

10. WHY IS CRITICAL THINKING IMPORTANT TODAY?
▪ 75% of employers want education institutions to
place a higher emphasis on these students’ skills:
o Critical thinking
o Complex problem solving
o Written and oral communications
o Applying knowledge in real world
situations
Source:
• AACU Survey, 2013

11. WHY IS CRITICAL THINKING IMPORTANT TODAY?

12. Skills % of District
Admin
% of
Parents
% of
Community
Members
Critical thinking and problem
solving
92% 88% 79%
Working with diverse groups of people 91% 77% 75%
Collaboration and teamwork 88% 78% 69%
Creativity and innovative thinking 74% 74% 67%
Technology skills 74% 74% 60%
Ability to work independently 76% 72% 73%
Communications – written skills 69% 66% 57%
What skills are most important for students’ future success?
Source: Speak Up 2017 Research findings
406,000 respondents nationwide

13. CRITICAL THINKING AS A WORKPLACE SKILL
http://cte.ed.gov/employabilityskills/

14. ❑ What does “critical thinking” really mean?
“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined
process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Source:
Scriven & Paul, 8th Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and
Education Reform, 1987

15. ❑ What does “critical thinking” really mean?
“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined
process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Source:
Scriven & Paul, 8th Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and
Education Reform, 1987

16. ❑ What does “critical thinking” really mean?
“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined
process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Source:
Scriven & Paul, 8th Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and
Education Reform, 1987

17. ❑ What does “critical thinking” really mean?
“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined
process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
Source:
Scriven & Paul, 8th Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and
Education Reform, 1987

18. ❑ Best ways to help students develop those skills
Recommended strategies for classroom teachers:
▪ Do not always jump in to help students with answers
▪ Engage students in brainstorming about new activities
▪ Provides opportunities for questioning and inquiry
▪ Leverage activities that support classifying and
categorization, comparing and contrasting
▪ Enable connection-making – how does this influence that?
▪ Allow for peer learning, collaborative problem solving
Sources:
• Partnership for 21st Century Skills
• TeacherHub

19. CRITICAL THINKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Our focus today:
✓ Categorization and classification activities
✓ Making connections between ideas and concepts
✓ Creating content as a way to apply knowledge to create
new meaning
✓ Inquiry activities and self-reflection that document thinking
processes

20. CRITICAL THINKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT
✓ Categorization and classification activities
Why important?
o Requires close observation
o Facilitates identification of features and attributes
o Sorting process exercises how to discover, understand and apply
rules to a problem
o Comparison amplifies understanding of differences and similarities

21. CRITICAL THINKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT
✓ Making connections between ideas and concepts
Why important?
o Seeing patterns is a key first step in the process
o As children get older, move from the concrete patterns to making
connections between abstract concepts
o Basis for creativity – finding novel connections and alignments
beyond what we see
o Develops cognitive flexibility

22. CRITICAL THINKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT
✓ Creating content as a way to apply knowledge to create
new meaning
Why important?
o Process of synthesis and interpretation with an audience in mind
o Promotes new questions, i.e., what is appropriate representation of
these ideas, how can I tell the story of my ideas?
o Applying knowledge to get beyond self
o Development of authentic learning experiences

23. CRITICAL THINKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT
✓ Inquiry activities and self-reflection that document thinking
processes
Why important?
o Critical thinking = evaluative thinking
o Learning that is active, persistent, self-directed
o Provides an emotionally supportive learning environment
o Promotes development of a growth mindset through self-reflection

24. What is best way for students to develop these skills?
Method % of
District
Admin
% of
Parents
% of
Community
Members
Get work experience – internships 77% 78% 75%
Participate in project based learning 75% 59% 46%
Use technology within classes 72% 66% 52%
Participate in school leadership 69% 63% 57%
Work on group projects in class 63% 59% 49%
Participate on a team – sports or academic 56% 66% 51%
Use technology outside of school 47% 50% 42%
Take CTE classes 46% 43% 44%
Source: Speak Up 2017 Research findings
406,000 respondents nationwide

25. ❑ How digital tools can support your efforts in the classroom
Let’s think about:
▪ Reflection activities
▪ Peer review activities
▪ Digital storytelling
▪ Content creation
▪ Small group activities
▪ Discussion forums
Source:
• Northwestern University Education Blog

26. POLL: WHAT DIGITAL CONTENT ARE YOU USING
WITH YOUR STUDENTS?
Videos
Games
Content subscriptions
Software/apps for skill development
Online curriculum
Animations/simulations
Online textbooks

27. Teacher perspectives and usage of digital materials
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Online textbooks
Animations & simulations
Online curriculum
Software/apps for skill development
Content subscriptions
Games
Videos
Digital content usage by grade level assignment
Gr 9-12 Gr 6-8 Gr 3-5 K-2
What digital content are you using with your students?
Elementary teachers are using more games, content subscriptions, software/apps
and online curriculum than secondary level teachers.
No significant differences by type of community – urban, rural or suburban.

28. Survey Audience # of Surveys
Submitted
K-12 Students 340,927
Teachers & Librarians 34,833
Parents 23,159
Administrators 3,249
Community Members 4,611
About schools and districts: 3,641 districts, 10,619 schools
29% urban, 34% rural, 37% suburban, 68% title 1 eligible
National participation in Speak Up 2017: 406,779

29. Teacher perspectives and usage of digital materials
What are your goals with using digital content and tools in your classroom?
Teacher instructional goals by grade level assignment
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Teacher
background
material
Assess student
knowledge
Illustrate concept Differentiate
instruction
Activate students'
knowledge
Engage students
K-2 Gr 3-5 Gr 6-8 Gr 9-12
Teacher instructional goals:
▪ Use content as background
material for lesson plan
development
▪ To assess student knowledge
▪ To illustrate concept a concept I
am teaching
▪ To differentiate instruction
▪ To activate students' knowledge
▪ To engage students

30. Teacher perspectives and usage of digital materials
What are your goals with using digital content and tools in your classroom?
Supporting various classroom models by grade level assignment
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Project-based learning
activities
Small group instruction Remediation activities Facilitate class
discussion
Whole class instruction
K-2 Gr 3-5 Gr 6-8 Gr 9-12
Support various classroom models:
▪ Project-based learning activities
▪ Small group instruction
▪ Remediation activities
▪ Facilitate class discussion
▪ Whole class instruction

31. What do teachers say is the value of using technology within learning?
Top benefits identified by teachers:
Benefits All teachers Science
teachers
Teachers in
STEM
Academies
Increased student collaborations 54% 63% 64%
Better student comprehension 53% 62% 56%
Creativity skill development 46% 44% 58%
Critical thinking and problem solving skill
development
43% 46% 54%
Ability to apply knowledge to practical
problems
43% 52% 56%
Greater ownership of their learning 40% 39% 50%

32. Teacher perspectives and usage of digital materials
What do you need to use digital content and tools more effectively?
Need K-2
Teachers
2017
Gr 3-5
Teachers
2017
Gr 6-8
Teachers
2017
All teachers
2015
Class set of mobile devices for student use 69% 62% 51% 59%
Professional development 54% 54% 52% 52%
List of district recommended resources 47% 45% 36% 31%
Curated set of resources by grade level and subject 40% 40% 36% 25%
Online tools to organize digital content 36% 40% 38% 28%
Classroom management strategies 32% 30% 32% 26%
Teacher evaluations on content usage 25% 27% 27% 21%
Rubrics for evaluating quality of digital content 21% 26% 28% 21%

33. YOUR TURN!

34. www.learninglab.usgbc.org

35. 500 + lessons
in english /
español

36. project-based,
real-world action

37. student
leadership
sustainability
literacy

38. curriculum from 11 education partners

42. Your turn!
1. Study “Green Mapping” lesson and worksheet
2. Talk with group about how the lesson meets your
table’s critical thinking skill development criteria, how
it doesn’t
3. Select a spokesperson to represent your group’s
findings concisely!

43. Questions?

44. Digital Tools to Advance
Sustainability Literacy
Julie A. Evans, Ed.D., Chief Executive Officer, Project Tomorrow
jevans@tomorrow.org / @JulieEvans_PT / http://www.tomorrow.org/
and
Jenny Wiedower, K-12 Education Manager, U.S. Green Building Council
jwiedower@usgbc.org / @mygreenschools / https://learninglab.usgbc.org/
2018 Green Schools Conference and Expo