January 29, 2009 - Creative Learning Systems Announces New Curriculum for SmartLab 21st Century Learning Labs

Learning Launchers™ and SmartLab ePortfolio System™ introduced to support project-based learning and assessment of 21st century skills

LONGMONT, Colo. (January 29, 2009) - Creative Learning Systems today announced the release of a new curriculum system for its SmartLab™ 21st century learning labs. The new curriculum consists of two elements, Learning Launchers™, to guide project-based exploration of applied technology, and the SmartLab ePortfolio System™, to document learning and assess 21st century skills.

Learning Launchers™ provide guided, project-based activities utilizing a wide range of applied technologies to develop 21st century skills. Learning Launcher collections will be available for each technology tool regularly available in a SmartLab. Each collection will be comprised of Learning Launchers in three levels to bridge learners from traditional to self-directed learning. Consistent with Creative Learning Systems' emphasis on student-centered learning, all three levels will encourage autonomy and self-direction. Level 1 Learning Launchers will provide more support for foundational learning through presentation of basic content and more closely-guided project activities. Level 2 Learning Launchers will support transitional learning with less direct instructional support and more open-ended projects requiring complex objectives. Level 3 Learning Launchers are targeted towards self-directed learners and provide complex problems and design challenges requiring the advanced application of technology.

Learning Launcher collections are currently available for MS PowerPoint, MS Publisher, Adobe PhotoShop, solar energy exploration, Vernier scientific probeware, Zometool, laser communication, Fischertechnik robotics, and SimCity. Additional Learning Launcher collections will be released as available.

Complementing the new Learning Launcher curriculum is the SmartLab ePortfolio System™, a toolset to help learners develop 21st century skills and assess their performance. As students progress through their SmartLab learning experience, the ePortfolio system helps them create an electronically linked portfolio of their work. This portfolio structure allows them, as well as their parents and teachers, to easily track their educational progress.

Through the use of sample templates, students learn how to set proper objectives, establish a specific project plan, deconstruct their learning process, and communicate their project outcomes using written, oral and advanced media. An integrated assessment rubric provides students and teachers with a framework to assess each of these 21st century skills which, according to a recent survey of educators, is one of the most important challenges facing schools today.

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