"Where do you want to go today?" Article - Jenna Fudge

I found this article to be very interesting. Before reading this I had never heard of "inquiry-based" learning before. The article described it as the students being responsible for formulating engaging questions and then participating in experiences to answer them. I thought it was great that this kind of learning involves some kind of action. For example the student who studied the idea of using horses as therapy for special ed kids. After visiting a special stable the student then made brochures about it and took interested kids to the special stable. I think it is so important that these kids are taking what they have researched a step further by putting it into some kind of action.

I also thought that this learning is very meaningful to the students. They are able to pick a topic that they are interested in. The option of choice makes this meaningful as well. The kids feel like they have a say in the things they are learning and spending their time researching.

I thought the focus of technology in this article was interesting as well. The article made it clear that computers are not the focus of the learning but instead the "vehicle for getting to the destination". I remember when I was in school the teachers were very leery of us using the computers and the internet was basically there to be used as a last resort. The computer is full of so much practically endless information and should be thought of as a valuable resource. Along with technology resources the students also used live resources such as visiting the actual places of interests and interviewing the people who knew about them.

I thought this article was very interesting. Inquiry-based learning is something I will definitely be using in my future classroom. I also think it's great that students today have so many resources available right at their fingertips and think any available resource is always worth looking into.