Yes, we’re talking “real world” again. But there are three main reasons I continue emphasizing taking learning outside the classroom and bringing “the outside” into the classroom as part of a series dedicated to Understanding by Design and Project-Based Learning. 1. The life-long learning implications when students see beyond the what of school to the why of it. 2. Student investment increases when communities and shared experiences are an integral part of their school day. 3. Increased motivation when students realize their impact on the world and carry that belief into their communities.

One of the main reasons why teachers hesitate when thinking about community involvement is that it can feel overwhelming. Whether it be scheduling, transportation, or cost, many valid explanations exist for limiting projects to the classroom or the school itself. Yet, with Project-Based Learning, involving the larger community in student learning is an absolute requirement, as doing so helps students to connect classroom learning to real world problem-solving. Not only does this support greater understanding, it requires students to continuously learn and think in new ways to fit the diverse needs of their communities.

Teaching online during COVID created new opportunities for bringing experts from around the world to speak in classrooms virtually. Were we to design “Game On!” today, I can imagine a host of people from international game designers to schools across the country that we could bring into the classroom virtually. How incredible would it be to design games for a school in another country and have them create a game for you? Or to get a virtual tour of a board game design facility from a real-life designer? The possibilities for community engagement have broadened beyond what I once thought possible.

When designing the Game On! curriculum – you can check out the first two posts of this series here (Part 1) and here (Part 2) – we knew that students would have the opportunity to engage with various grades within our lower school in a meaningful way. Not only would our fourth graders interview a classroom teacher on their educational needs, but they would also return to the classroom to test a prototype before presenting their final game to students. While these interactions were crucial and reflected our mission to support learning within our school community, they alone did not sufficiently bring in the “real world.” Connecting with the larger community provides a diversity of perspectives otherwise unreachable. And learning from experts and consumers challenges students to think outside the box and motivates them to succeed.

We first turned to connections to real-life game designers to facilitate broader community outreach. Fortunately, we had many! One of our team members had previously worked on coding a successful video game. One teacher’s partner worked in game design. And a graduate of our school was now a graphic designer. Suddenly, we had a panel for students to learn from and resources for actual game development. All of our guests presented their work and experience and supported students in developing their games by providing feedback and ideas. It was incredible to see our students stand up a little taller, speak a little louder, and truly own their games in the presence of such expertise. Students also received feedback from our gaming experts readily. I witnessed a group creating a game through the coding application Scratch workshop a glitch in a character’s movement with a real video game designer. Another group took notes as an expert provided feedback on the length of their game and offered tangible ideas to shorten it.

Including these community experts in our curriculum made the students themselves feel like experts. While we were fortunate to have these resources at our fingertips, I believe most communities are full of experts. I highly recommend looking for previous students, coworkers’ families and friends, and actual coworkers when attempting to find real-world experts. Three tips for tapping into community experience:

• Include a “call for experts” in your classroom newsletter, blog, or whatever format you use to reach out to student families. 
• Make an announcement in a school assembly asking for teachers to think of friends and family with relevant expertise. 
• Connect with expert student alumni through your database — students love to come back to their old campus to share their knowledge and experiences. 
• Let experts help in any way they can: offer anything from a 15-minute video call to an in-person presentation and consultation with students. 

In addition to our gamer expert panel, we included a family and friends day celebration. Students need to feel recognized for their work on projects at this scale. And they must be celebrated for their process and not merely the final result. Fourth graders showed off their unboxing videos, demo projects, and finished games. While not every child had a family member or friend that could attend, we asked the adults to roam around and experience the broad range of games so all students felt included and had the benefit of feedback and encouragement. When bringing in family and friends, we made explicit our expectation that this was intended to be a celebration of learning led by students and not the space for excessive critique, feedback, or calls for revision. 

Community engagement is a critical element of both PBL and UbD. In Game On! we purposely included our school community, real-world gaming experts, and family and friends. Each element served a different purpose for students’ learning. Involving the school proved to students that their work is valuable and necessary. Our gaming panel both demonstrated the real life applications of game creation and created an environment for students to take ownership and pride in their work. And finally, our friends and family celebration showed students that their work deserved celebration. Who knows? Maybe, years from now, one of our original Game On! students will return as a panelist. Community outreach is a process of giving and giving back, and we can only hope that our students will carry their learning out into the real world and then, someday, back into the classroom itself.