Originally published on June 28, 2023
Embarking on a journey beyond classroom walls, Michael Olson's fifth-grade class at Folwell Elementary reimagines education by connecting with the world.
During the 2022-2023 school year, these fifth graders innovatively used technology to participate in Virtual Visits, or "Beyond the Classroom Walls" as their classroom calls it. Virtual Visits are live meetings where Mr. Olson and his students engage and learn from individuals in other parts of Minnesota, the country, or even the world in countries such as Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and France.
“The purpose of the visits is to give authentic learning experiences to students,” states Mr. Olson. “Instead of reading about a scientist, we listen to one speak and then have a conversation with them. Instead of memorizing the location of states on a map, we play a game with students in another state that helps us practice map skills and then we engage in conversations where we share about our school, community, and state while learning the same about others. Authentic learning is a great example of deeper learning.”
The meetings held with other fifth-grade classrooms are called "Mystery Meets." Mystery Meets (Zooms, Skypes, Hangouts, etc.) is a game where opposing classrooms join on a video call and attempt to guess the location of the opponent by taking turns asking questions, such as, "are you located west of the Mississippi River?" or "does your state have an ocean coastline?" Participating in these meetings offers students the opportunity to make connections with students from around the world. It provides a deeper understanding of geography and how to apply it in a real-life scenario. Mr. Olson has been able to build a network of teachers using Twitter and Facebook groups to participate in these meets, and this year his class was able to meet with classrooms in New York, Kansas, Ohio, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Illinois, and California.
Along with talking to others from around the world, Mr.Olson's fifth-grade class participated in various live field trips such as asking questions of turkey farmers in Southwestern Minnesota to meeting with a rocket scientist at NASA. They also met with multiple authors from around the country who talked with them and read to them.
“Besides the geography skills practice and research involved with the Meets, we also are practicing many of the speaking and listening reading standards,” says Olson. “When we met with the author Rob Buyea, kids asked many questions about the writing, editing, and publishing process. They also asked him questions about his message and the decisions he made while writing his stories.”
Using technology in this way to meet with mystery guests, have virtual field trips, or meet with authors and experts is an engaging way to build classroom community and belonging, and learn beyond the classroom walls.