There is so much to say about student-directed learning. Generally speaking, when learning activities are truly student-directed, classrooms are transformed, as are students. Self-led learning experiences, in short, give students choice, voice, and autonomy. 

These learning experiences can also be done just about anywhere on earth - in a classroom, remotely, out in the backyard or school yard, on the road, traveling around the world, and more because they are designed around personal interests and circumstances.

Several years ago I showed a news segment to my advisory/PBL students about the Syrian refugee crisis. A student of mine approached me after the activity expressing her interest in the topic. 

This student chose to design and conduct a project-based learning experience about Syrian refugees. She wrote the driving question for her project, decided to create an interactive, animated timeline to demonstrate the events that led up to the crisis, organized and executed a pie fundraiser to raise money for the cause, and distributed her timeline and marketing materials to neighboring community members to raise awareness and raise some money. All her choices.

Most of the inquiries that I get from educators are about experiential learning and how it can be worked into curriculum. The good news is that it's a great learning tool for people of all learning environments, backgrounds, skill levels, and interests, and it's fairly easy to implement if you know the essential components. ​

I almost dropped out of teaching school. I don't like to say that because I'm not a quitter. I never have been, but it's the honest truth. I wondered if I could have a full time career doing something that just wasn't sitting right with me. My own experience was telling me that learning comes from direct involvement, but I wasn't observing that in practice.

Here's my story: ​

My husband and I made the goal of visiting every US national park as a family before our children turn 18. My children are also distance learning at the moment and my husband and I both work from home, which makes road tripping, especially to outdoor destinations, appealing. We are, as I write this, in Great Smoky Mountains National park. I am literally typing away as my two exhausted children are passed-out beside me.  

I have been heavily involved in my school's travel program since I began teaching there 13 years ago. I have taken groups of high school students to California, Hawaii, Colorado, Florida, Texas, New York City, Costa Rica, and more. I have seen how travel can impact a person. Learning, relationship-building, character development and more emerge in a way that is entirely unique to travel.

I always pair travel experiences with student-led project-based learning. Each learner asks a driving question about their destination and explores that question while traveling. They organize authentic learning experiences, interview local experts, include the community, and so on. 

For example, my biology students and I took a trip to Costa Rica to study tropical biology. One of my students focused her independent PBL experience on the problem of primate death from electrocution. She found a primate sanctuary called the "Sibu Sanctuary", organized a visit, interviewed the sanctuary staff, and used their expertise to develop an awareness campaign. 

Try starting with the following FREE resources. You can also look back at the dozens of educational travel posts right here on this blog by clicking on the "Student Travel" link to your right.

Grab my student-led project-based learning tool kit, a guide that helps students design, plan, and execute their own project-based learning experiences 

You can also subscribe here to get my digital project-based learning portfolio where students can showcase all of their project-based learning experiences and outcomes, as well as access to my experiential learning resources library. Here you can find an experiential learning activity planner, which would be helpful for educational travel. 

7. Ecology Scavenger Hunt

This is another activity that does not require travel, but would be a great supplement to any nature trip, such as this family trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

8. Endangered Species Project

Yet another project that doesn't require traveling, but would be an awesome addition to an outdoor travel experience where students can connect with conservationists, naturalists, politicians, landowners, and more to learn about local endangered species and protection efforts. They might even collaborate with local experts. My family and I came across California condors on our hike through Zion National Park today. California condors have a long and complicated history and have been on the endangered species list for decades. If I were doing a project on this endangered species in Zion I could talk to the naturalists, hunters, landowners, park visitors, bird enthusiasts, and more to gather information from various interests. 

We don't have condors in Minnesota, so traveling to where they are and studying them in their natural habitat makes the learning experience more meaningul. 

9. Graphic Organizer for Student-Led Fundraisers

Get young travelers invested in the experience by asking them to play a role in fundraising. Traveling isn't cheap, which is one of the reasons my travel resources are free! Let students take some ownership by organizing their own fundraisers. They can use this graphic organizer to brainstorm ideas and organize details. 

10. Project-Based Learning Check-In Form

This free resource is a digital check-in form for project-based learning experiences. Students can communicate periodically with their instructors about project progress from home or from abroad. This feels especially important right now when distance learning families are hitting the road for vacations and/or remote learning, like my family is doing right now. Consider assigning students self-directed project-based learning to do while traveling, and use this check-in form to communicate their progress with you. 

Introducing Driving Questions for Inquiry Activities:

Last week's blog post was about making detailed observations to inspire inquiry investigations. These observations lead to driving questions.

But what is an inquiry question? How is it different than any other kind of question? How do you write questions that lead to a deep and meaningful inquiry learning experience? Keep reading! ​