EduCon 2.8

Preventing a Zombie Apocalypse will be both the context of the session's activities and a metaphor for the understanding of student engagement. Engagement is not something which can be mandated or enforced; it is a result of the planning and design work of the teacher, and every aspect of the learning environment affects it. We’ll begin with an exploration of a classroom activity which could be adapted to any level. After some group processing of the task, we’ll have a whole group discussion of the educational “diseases” which create zombies in the classroom. Finally, we’ll design the cure by exploring four specific elements of the learning environment: classroom culture, physical space, teaching, and assessment. The designs will be compiled in a Google Doc to be shared and archived.