A Grassroots Continuing Education Platform
Village Concepts is a post K-12 continuing education platform on subject matters and skills that we need to live productive lives such as health, civics, culture and even some aspects of politics and religion require remaining informed. There are engineers, doctors and lawyers who find trying to answer the questions on Jeff Foxworthy’s “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” can be a sobering experience.
Lifelong learning can increase our sense of self-fulfillment. When we take the time to learn new things, we open our minds and gain wisdom that can help us make the world a better place through social change and other life-affirming endeavors.
Keeping Students Engaged
One problem that educators face is finding opportunities for students they have identified as possessing unique gifts to showcase their skills in a way that makes them feel important and special. Many skills and talents will be required to build the learning environment for Village Concepts: graphic artists, gamers, digital artists, rappers, singers and musicians. Village Concepts will foster an environment where an individual’s gifts will be utilized in a way that can be used on entry-level resumes for someone entering the workforce with little work experience.
Other Learning Modules
While the scenarios presented may seem student oriented, development of educational assets for thos out of school is a primary focus covering topics such as:
- Etiquette
- Grammar
- Financial literacy
- Conflict resolution
- Computer literacy
- Taking care of the elderly. This will include a collaborative space for members to discuss their experiences with taking care of aging parents and to share lessons learned and vetted resources.
Scenarios
Learning Multiplication
A few years ago, I did some substitute teaching. I was teaching multiplication to a group of learning impaired high-schoolers who needed motivation. It was frustrating because I was teaching them how to multiply by 11 which is normally easy, but I was not getting the point of across. I created a google quiz of 10 questions: Multiplication Exam
It worked. The competition served as a stimulant, and I was pleased with the results. That exam is still out on google for anyone to use, however no one would know how to find it because it is not located in larger quiz umbrella with the type of metadata that would allow someone else facing a similar challenge to find it.
The United States Map
I also had to teach them about learning all 50 states and their location. This was more daunting. My experience has been that most adults have a remedial knowledge of the states and their locations. I urged them to learn the states with the song in this YouTube video.
Imagine how useful and relevant a real-time quiz on the states and the state flowers and birds could be while traveling across the Unites States while on summer vacation.
Algebra
When Benjamin Banneker surveyed the city of Washington with Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Banneker became one of the first black civil servants of the new nation. Along with a team, Banneker identified the boundaries of the capitol city. They installed intermittent stone markers along the perimeter of the District of Columbia.
I was a substitute Algebra II and Geometry teach a few years back for grades 10-12. The geometry students had been assigned word problem based on a map of the streets in DC. I later found the following resource: Profile on Benjamin Banner
The site contains a layout map which provides the material for algebraic and geometric calculations, but the historical context presented by the article provides opportunities for teaching American history, government institutions.
The story itself would serve as a great organic learning tool during a trip to DC for not only learning math, but also about American history, the federal government, and how Banneker was able to overcome the obstacles in a society where slavery was still alive and well
Timeline and Milestones
The project was started in August 2024. In its infant stage, this site will serve as a brainstorming hub for what content to include and how to best implement testing scenarios against the content. The fully realized product will be a massive effort requiring input from lots of subject matter experts.
Short Term Goals
In the short term, the learning material and exams will be simple multiple choice. Eventually, the learning modules and test will include images and video. The learning modes will eventually include development of virtual classroom learning via virtual reality headsets.
Immediate Goal: the 2024 election
The more immediate goal will be a website dedicated to civic engagement and the 2024 presidential election: Democracy High Official Site. Social media has, in some cases, intentionally discouraged civil discourse by using political algorithms to present content to users based on biases. Citizens tend to get the news from the people in their own groups and cliques. Many times, the news is misinformation. Democracy High will feature Project 2025 exams and give participants the ability to challenge a friend, preferably friends who are not civically engaged, to take an exam also.