collaboration rubric

Are learners working together?

For collaboration to take place, learners must work with others in the learning
activity. To meet this level of collaboration, learners must work in pairs or groups to:

• Discuss an issue,
• Solve a problem, or
• Create a product.

When learners work together, they may be working face-to-face or using technology
to share ideas or resources. Their collaboration might also include people from
outside the class, including:

• Learners from other classes,

• Children from another school,
• Community members, or
• Experts in the field.

The following scenarios don't meet the requirement of learners working together:

• Learners doing their work alone

• A whole class discussing an issue
• Each learner creating his/her own story and sending it to the educator
for feedback

The following scenarios meet the requirement of learners working together:

• Pairs of learners giving each other feedback

• A small group discussing an issue together
• A learner using Microsoft Teams to interview a peer in another town via
the Internet
• Learners using OneNote to share their story and give each other
feedback

Do learners have shared responsibility?

To reach a deeper level of collaboration, learners also need to have shared

responsibility for their work. They have shared responsibility when they work in pairs
or groups to develop:

• A product,
• Design, or
 • Response.

Shared responsibility is more than simply helping each other. Learners must
collectively own the work and be mutually responsible for its outcome. If the group
work involves learners or adults from outside the class, this qualifies as shared
responsibility only if the outside participants are mutually responsible for the
outcome of the work.

The following scenarios don't meet the requirement for shared responsibility:

• Learners giving each other feedback. This activity structure implies that
one learner “owns” the work and the other is only helping.
• A learner interviews a peer in another country about the local weather.
This is a task that learners conduct together, but they do not have
mutual responsibility for its outcome.

The following scenarios meet the requirement for shared responsibility:

• Learners conducting a lab experiment together. Learners have joint

responsibility for carrying out the lab experiment.
• A learner working with a peer in another country to develop a joint
website using Microsoft Office 365. The learners share responsibility for
the development of the website.

Do learners make substantive decisions together?

At a deeper level of collaboration, learners also need to have the opportunity to

make substantive decisions together. Learners make substantive decisions together
when they must resolve important issues that will guide them as they work together.
Substantive decisions are decisions that shape the

• Content,
• Process, or
• Product of the learners' work.

Learners make substantive decisions regarding content when they use their
knowledge on a topic to make a decision that affects the academic content of their
work together. For example, a group taking a stance on a topic they will write
about is making a substantive decision together. Similarly, a
group deciding on a hypothesis that they will test in an experiment meets the
substantive decision requirement.

With regard to process, to make substantive decisions together, learners must plan:

• What they will do,

 • When they will do it,
• What tools they will use, and
• Who will complete each task.

Finally, to make substantive decisions about their product, learners must make
fundamental design decisions that affect the nature and usability of the product.

The following scenarios don't meet the requirement for substantive decisions:

• Learners working together to identify capital cities of countries in

Europe. This decision doesn't affect the rest of their work.
• Pairs of learners choosing which animal they will study. Learners will
probably make this decision based only on personal preferences, not on
their knowledge of the subject.
• Teams assigning roles to team members based on the list of roles the
educator has defined. The educator has planned the process of their
work, not the learners.
• Pairs of learners selecting a color scheme for their presentation.
Decisions about surface features aren't considered substantive decisions
that fundamentally affect product design.

The following scenarios meet the requirement for substantive decisions:

• Learners in teams are preparing for a debate and must decide what side
of the issue they will argue. This is a content decision that will shape their
work together and learners must negotiate their ideas.
• Pairs of learners are developing a presentation about climate change and
must decide what causes to write about. Learners must decide together
what the most important causes are; this decision will shape their
presentation.
• Teams are conducting a research project and must decide on their own
work plan and roles on the team. Learners must plan the process of their
work.
• Pairs of learners decide how to shape their presentation to a particular
audience. This is a fundamental design decision that will affect the nature
of their overall product.

Is learners' work interdependent?

The strongest learning activities are designed so that learners' work is

interdependent, requiring all members to contribute for the team to succeed. Too
often, a group of learners may share responsibility for an outcome, but in practice
the work isn't divided fairly. One or two learners may do all the work for the team.
It may be challenging to design learning activities that require the participation of all
team members. To meet this criterion, learners must produce an interdependent
product. This may be a presentation that they each share in developing and
presenting, or the responsibility of a decision that requires information to
be distributed across all team members.

Most interdependent work involves two levels of accountability:

• Individual accountability: Every member of the team is responsible for a

task that he or she must complete for the group
to succeed; therefore, the role of each learner on the team is essential.
• Group accountability: Learners must work together to produce the final
product or outcome; they must negotiate and agree on the process
design and conclusions of their work.

The work must be structured in a way that requires learners to plan together
and consider the individuality of each member’s work so that their product or
outcome is complete and cohesive.

The following scenarios do not meet the requirement of interdependent work:

• Group members work together to research frogs, but each learner

conducts their own dissection and writes their own lab report. Learners
work together on the research component, but the products don't
require input or participation from others.
• One learner uses a device to plot coordinate points and create a star
shape with input from group members. Only one learner is plotting
coordinates; the others may contribute, but they could also disengage
without preventing the group from completing the product.
• Learners each create a webpage about the history, culture, attractions,
or accommodations of their local area that will be linked to the class
homepage. Learners don't have to strategize together in any particular
way.

The following scenarios meet the requirement of interdependent work:

• Group members each research a different internal system

(e.g. circulation, digestion) of frogs. Learners then work together to
dissect a frog and write a lab report about the dissection,
identifying the parts of the frog and the systems to which they belong.
Learners rely on each other's work to successfully identify what they see
during the dissection.
• Learners each use their own networked device to contribute coordinate
points that collectively create the shape of a star. Each learner's
contribution is necessary so the group can create the completed shape.
 • Learners create a tourist website presenting the history, culture,
attractions, and accommodations of their local area. Everyone might
create a different piece of the overall website, but learners need to work
together to determine how to organize the information to create the
best possible website.

Communication rubric
Is the communication extended or multimodal?

With the first question, the communication may be either extended or multimodal. 

Extended communication is when learners must produce communication that

represents a set of connected ideas rather than a single simple thought. In written
work, extended communication is the equivalent of one or more complete
paragraphs. In an electronic or visual media work, extended communication may be:

• A sequence of video
• A podcast
• A slide of a presentation that connects or illustrates several ideas

However, a single text message or a tweet isn’t extended communication. Electronic

communication qualifies as extended only if it produces an outcome that
requires learners to connect the ideas they have discussed. The duration of an
electronic chat is irrelevant in evaluating extended communication.

The following scenarios don't require extended communication:

• Learners participating in a webinar where they listen to presentations by

peers from a sister city and asking follow-up questions
• Learners solving a geometry problem but not writing a proof
• Learners posting a one-sentence comment in response to a recent news
article of their choice
• Learners holding a video call with peers from another school to talk
about a novel they’ve read

The following scenarios require extended communication:

• Learners hosting a webinar to present on different topics about their city

to peers in a sister city and answering follow-up questions
• Learners writing an extended proof to demonstrate the solution to a
geometry problem
 • Learners writing a letter to the editor in response to a recent news article
of their choice
• Learners holding a video call with peers from another school to create a
plan for a joint performance on a novel they’ve just read

Multimodal communication includes more than one type of communication mode

or tool used to communicate a coherent message. For example, learners might create
a presentation that integrates video and text or embed a photograph into a blog
post. However, the communication qualifies as multimodal only if the elements work
together to produce a stronger message than any one element alone. Additionally, if
the learning activity allows learners to choose the tool or tools they'll use to
communicate, it’s a multimodal communication opportunity.

The following scenarios aren't multimodal communications:

• Learners creating a radio advertisement for their invention. The learning

activity doesn’t offer learners any choice regarding the type of media.
• Learners writing lab reports about their science lab on density of
matter using only narrative text.
• Learners producing a podcast on a hurricane for their journalism class by
writing a script with which to record the audio podcast. The story is the
same whether written out (in the script) or spoken (in the podcast).

The following scenarios are multimodal communications:

• Learners creating a print, radio, or television advertisement for

their invention. The educator designed the activity to allow learners
choose what type of media they wish to use.
• Learners writing lab reports about their science lab on density of matter,
including narrative text and visual evidence of what the learners saw in
their experiment (such as drawings or screenshots of real time
data displays). The activity requires multiple modes of media that work
together for a more complete description of the experiment.
• Learners producing blog posts on a hurricane for their journalism class,
including a written description of the conditions and additional audio or
visual media. The activity requires multiple modes of media to add depth
to the learners' descriptions.

Does the communication provide sufficient supporting evidence?

Communication requires supporting evidence when learners must explain their ideas
or support their thesis with facts or examples. The evidence must be sufficient to
support the claim that the learner is making. In this instance, a thesis is a claim,
hypothesis, or conclusion. Learners must have a thesis when they:
 • State a point of view
• Make a prediction
• Draw a conclusion from a set of facts or a chain of logic

The following scenarios don't require supporting evidence:

• Learners writing an essay about global warming. They may complete this
activity with a set of facts. They don't have to state and support a claim,
hypothesis, or conclusion.
• Learners deriving a mathematical equation and computing the equation
without explaining their logic.
• Learners writing a blog post listing the main themes in Alice in
Wonderland.
• Learners writing a journal entry from the perspective of a slave. They
must describe their day with historical accuracy, but they don’t state or
support a perspective about their imagined life.
• Learners using Flip to video themselves solving a
mathematical problem and stating the steps they took.
They don’t narrate their reasoning process. 

The following scenarios do require supporting evidence:

• Learners writing an essay about why global warming is a problem. They

must state and defend a claim about global warming.
• Learners describing their derivation of a mathematical equation and
explain the logic that brought them to this conclusion.
• Learners writing a blog post about the main themes from Alice in
Wonderland with examples from the story to illustrate their point.
• Learners writing a journal entry from the perspective of a slave. They
must state a perspective or a point of view about their imagined life and
describe their day with historical accuracy to support that perspective.
• Learners using Flip to video themselves solving a mathematical problem,
including both the steps they took and their reasoning.

Is the communication designed appropriately for a particular audience?

At its deepest level, skilled communication requires learners to ensure their

communication is appropriate to the specific readers, listeners, viewers, or those with
whom they’re communicating. It’s not enough for learners to communicate to a
general audience such as the Internet. They must have a specific group with specific
needs in mind to shape their communication appropriately. When they communicate
with a particular audience, learners must select the tools, content, or style they'll use
to reach that specific audience. They must consider:
 • What tools the audience has access to or will use regularly
• The relevant information they need to present for their audience to
understand their thesis
• The formality or informality of the
language appropriate for the specific audience

To qualify for this level of skilled communication, the learning activity may specify a
particular audience, or learners may select their own audience. It's ideal, but not
essential or always possible, for the audience to see the communication.

When designing learning activities, the requirement is that learners must develop
their communication with that audience in mind. For example, learners may develop
some type of activity to teach younger children how to divide fractions. They'll decide
what medium to use to reach those learners, such as a podcast or a game.
Additionally, they must also consider what type of language and content the children
would understand and relate to. This satisfies the requirement even if the
younger learners never use the podcast or the game. Many educators find it useful to
specify an audience of a different age or background than the learners themselves.
This highlights the need to think about:

• The audience they’re communicating with

• What they'll and won’t understand
• What they might find interesting

The following scenarios aren't designed for a particular audience:

• Learners creating a video about their school using appropriate imagery

and evidence, but with no specified audience
• Learners writing an essay about their ideas for improving a particular
product
• Learners completing a "rocks and minerals" science project. The learning
activity requires them to communicate a central finding, include rock and
mineral samples, narrative text and/or audio information, but the
educator is the only one who will see it.

The following scenarios are designed for a particular audience:

• Learners creating a video about their school, using appropriate imagery

and evidence, to welcome incoming learners
• Learners writing a letter to a company suggesting improvements to a
product, considering the arguments and perspectives that will be most
compelling to that company
• Learners designing a "rock and minerals" exhibit for the town library. The
learning activity requires them to communicate a message through the
 exhibit, which must include samples, different media to capture visitor
interest, and take-home pamphlets for visitors

Knowledge construction rubric

Does the learning activity require knowledge construction?

Activities that require knowledge construction ask learners to interpret, analyze,

synthesize, or evaluate information or ideas.

• Interpretation means drawing inferences beyond the literal meaning.

For example, learners might read a description of a historical period and
infer why people who lived then behaved the way they did.
• Analysis means identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships
to one other. For example, learners might investigate local environmental
factors to determine which are most likely to affect migrating birds.
• Synthesis means identifying the relationships between two or more
ideas. For example, learners might be required to compare and
contrast perspectives from multiple sources.
• Evaluation means judging the quality, credibility, or importance of data,
ideas, or events. For example, learners might read different accounts of a
historical event and determine which ones they find the most credible.

Not all learning activities that are commonly described as research involve
knowledge construction. Learners who look up information and then write a paper
that describes what they found are merely reproducing knowledge—not constructing
knowledge. They are not interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating anything.
If, however, they write a paper comparing and contrasting information from multiple
sources, they are constructing knowledge.

Additionally, if an activity asks learners to practice a procedure they already know, or

if the activity gives learners a set of steps to follow, the activity doesn't require
knowledge construction. To determine whether learners might already know a
certain procedure, consider what is typically expected of learners of their age.

The following scenarios don't qualify as knowledge construction:

• Learners writing a paper describing the crime a character committed

• Learners using Bing to search the internet for information about local
activities to help the environment and giving a presentation to describe
what they found
 • Learners familiar with the barometer using one to measure atmospheric
pressure
• Learners who have already learned the definition of "parallel" using the
definition to decide whether several sets of lines are parallel

The following scenarios qualify as knowledge construction:

• Learners using details in a story to infer the reasons why a character

committed a crime
• Learners using Bing to search the internet for information about local
activities to help the environment and analyzing it to find additional
ways to help
• Learners comparing different explanations for changes in atmospheric
pressure to determine which explanations are credible
• Learners who have not learned about parallel lines examining several
different pairs of lines to develop a definition of "parallel"

Is knowledge construction the main requirement?

The main requirement is the part of the activity that learners spend the most time
and effort on and the part that educators focus on when grading. If the learning
activity does not specify how much time learners spend on each part, use
professional judgment to estimate how long learners are likely to spend on different
tasks.

In the following scenarios, the main requirement isn't knowledge construction:

• Learners spending 35 minutes listing details from a story and

then spending 10 minutes using those details to infer why a character
committed a crime
• Learners earning 70% of their grade for finding information and 30% for
analyzing what they find

In the following scenarios, the main requirement is knowledge construction:

• Learners spending 10 minutes listing details from a story and

then spending 35 minutes using those details to propose why a
character committed a crime
• Learners earning 30% of their grade for finding information and 70% for
analyzing what they find

Are learners required to apply their knowledge in a new context?

Learners apply their knowledge when they use the knowledge they have constructed
in another knowledge construction task in a new context. For example, learners in a
physics class might construct knowledge about heat principles from a study of the
earth's inner core and then apply that new learning to investigate the environment of
Jupiter. The second knowledge construction task deepens understanding because
learners abstract what they learned to apply it in another situation.

It's not enough for the two contexts to differ only in surface features. Learners can't
respond to the new situation simply by applying the same formula. They must use
interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation to decide how to use what they
learned in the new context.

The following scenarios don't require learners to apply their knowledge in a new
context:

• Learners analyzing demographic statistics from their hometown and

then analyzing demographic statistics from a second location of their
choice
• Learners examining photos enlarged at different sizes to develop an
understanding of similarity and then describing their understanding
• Learners in theater class analyzing the characters in a play to learn about
character development and then writing an essay about what they
learned
• Learners designing and executing a procedure for testing the qualities of
the tap water at their school, testing the water, and redesigning the
procedure iteratively until they have accurate data

The following scenarios require learners to apply their knowledge in a new context:

• Learners analyzing demographic statistics from their hometown and

then using their understanding of population trends to develop a plan
for an upcoming housing development project
• Learners examining photos enlarged at different sizes to develop an
understanding of similarity and then applying that knowledge to abstract
geometric shapes, thinking about size, ratios, and angles to determine
which shapes are mathematically similar
• Learners in a theater class analyzing the characters in a play to learn
about character development; then using Microsoft Video Editor to
create their own one act play demonstrating character development
• Learners designing and executing a procedure for testing the qualities of
the tap water at their school, and once they have accurate
data, using that information to determine which water filtration system
would be most appropriate for the school
Is the learning activity interdisciplinary?

Interdisciplinary learning activities have learning goals that involve content,

important ideas, or methods from different academic subjects such as mathematics
and music, or language arts and history. Subjects that are typically taught together
do not count as interdisciplinary for the purposes of this rubric.

Additionally, even though learners often use ICT (Information & Communication
Technologies) as a tool for learning in other subjects, ICT is not considered a
separate academic subject within this rubric. For example, learners might build ICT
skills when they do online research for a history project, but this activity
isn't considered interdisciplinary.

The following scenarios aren't interdisciplinary:

• Learners in science class writing persuasive letters to an environmental

organization about the results of their experiment, and educators
grading students only on the quality of their data
• Learners in science class plotting points on a graph and no learning
goals for math are defined
• Learners in physics using ICT to present their work to the class

The following scenarios are interdisciplinary:

• Learners in science class writing persuasive letters to an environmental

organization about the results of their experiment, and
educators grading students on the quality of their data and their writing
skills
• Learners in science class plotting points on a graph and learning goals
for both math and science are defined

The self-regulation rubric

Is the learning activity long-term and do learners have the learning goals and
success criteria in advance?

Length of time is a basic prerequisite for self-regulation. For the purposes of the
rubric, a learning activity is long-term if learners work on it for a substantive period.
An activity spanning five or more days is long-term. If learners complete the activity
within a single class period, they don't have time to plan the process of their work
nor to improve their work over multiple drafts.
The following scenario isn't long-term:

• Learners documenting what they ate on two different days

The following scenario is long-term:

• Learners keeping a journal about their nutrition over the course of a

week

Learning goals define:

• What children will learn in an activity

• How these goals fit with prior and future learning

Success criteria are the factors used to determine whether learners meet the learning
goals. They provide evidence of learners' progress and success in the activity. An
understanding of these factors early in the learning activity is another important
prerequisite for self-regulation. The educator may provide the learning goals and the
associated success criteria. Or, to foster more learner ownership, the class
may discuss the learning goals and success criteria together. When learners know the
learning goals and associated success criteria in advance, they may examine the
progress and quality of their own work as they do it.

Do learners plan and assess their own work?

When learners plan their own work, they make decisions about the schedule and the
steps they will follow to accomplish the task. Planning their own work may involve:

• Deciding how to break down a complex task into smaller sub-tasks

• Choosing the tools they will use
• Creating a schedule for their work and setting interim deadlines
• Deciding how learners will divide work among themselves
• Deciding what pieces of the work they will be do in or outside of class

If a task is long-term but educators don’t give learners detailed instructions and
timelines, learners don’t have the opportunity to plan their own work. Additionally,
learners making decisions about small aspects of tasks doesn't qualify as planning
their own work.

In the following scenario, learners don't plan their own work:

• Over two weeks, learners work in groups to research and debate climate
change with their peers. The educator assigns specific roles to
each learner. Learners follow the steps and timeline provided by the
educator. 
In the following scenario, learners do plan their own work:

• Over two weeks, learners work in groups to research and debate climate
change with their peers. They decide who will research which aspects of
the topic and who will speak at different points in the debate. Learners
also make their own deadlines for completing their research, writing their
speeches, and practicing them.

Do learners have the opportunity to revise their work based on feedback?

Feedback is one of the most significant influences on improving learning. Effective

feedback helps learners to address the gap between current performance and
performance goals. It’s more than simple praise. Comments such as "good job" or
"great work" do little to help learners understand what constitutes great work.
Effective feedback tells learners specifically what they are doing well and offers
specific guidance to help move their learning forward. It’s directly connected to the
learning goals and success criteria. It helps learners be more aware of progress along
a learning path and leads to reflection and planning of next steps.

Feedback may come from the educator or from peers. Learners might also have the
opportunity to revise their work based on their own deliberate process of self-
reflection.

In the following scenarios, learners do not revise their work based on feedback:

• Learners studying environmental conservation creating games in

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade where players make decisions to preserve
the environment, posting the first version of their games for classmates
to play without opportunities to receive or implement feedback
• Learners creating PowerPoint presentations about a topic in world
history, giving their final presentation without any opportunity for
practice, feedback, or revision
• Learners writing persuasive essays that the educator will assess
according to a rubric shared with them at the beginning of the learning
activity, then using the rubric only after getting their essays back to see
why the educator gave them a certain grade

In the following scenarios, learners revise their work based on feedback:

• Learners studying environmental conservation and create games in

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade where players make decisions to preserve
the environment. After developing a beta version of their game, learners
trade games with a partner and give each other feedback to improve
their games before submitting them.
 • Learners create PowerPoint presentations about a topic in world history.
They practice their presentations, receive feedback from their educator
and peers, and revise their presentations based on feedback
before giving their final presentation.
• Learners write persuasive essays that the educator will assess according
to a rubric shared with them at the beginning of the learning activity.
They use the rubric to reflect on their own essay drafts and make
revisions.  

Real-world problem solving and

innovation rubric
This 21CLD dimension requires learners to solve a real-world problem with a defined
challenge. Problem solving happens when learners must:

• Develop a solution to a problem that’s new to them,

• Complete a task that they haven’t received instructions on how to do, or
• Design a complex product that meets a set of requirements

Learning activities that require problem solving don't:

• Give learners all the information they need to complete the task, or
• Specify the whole procedure they must follow to arrive at a solution

When learners work on problem-solving tasks, they engage in some or all of the
following activities:

• Investigate the parameters of the problem to guide their approach,

• Generate ideas and alternatives,
• Devise their own approaches,
• Explore several possible procedures that might be appropriate to the
situation, or
• Design a coherent solution, test the solution, and iterate improvements
to the solution.

Is problem solving the main requirement?

To meet this rubric, problem solving must be the learning activity's main
requirement. The main requirement is the part of the learning activity the learner
spends the most time and effort on and is the part that educators focus on when
grading.
In the following scenarios, the main requirement isn't problem solving:

• Learners reading a story and then taking a quiz about what they read
• Learners learning about pedestrian safety by studying a map showing
bus stops and pedestrian crossings
• Learners using Microsoft Excel to calculate the mean, median, and mode
of several sample data sets

In the following scenarios, the main requirement is problem solving:

• Learners being required to rewrite a story from the perspective of a

character other than the narrator
• Learners using a map of a bus route to propose where to add pedestrian
crossings in a fictional town
• Learners identifying appropriate situations for using mean, median, and
mode by exploring several sample data sets in Microsoft Excel

Are learners working on a real-world problem?

Real-world problems are authentic situations and needs that exist outside an
academic context. These real-world problems have several common characteristics.

• Real people experience them. For example, learners diagnose an

ecological imbalance in a rainforest in Costa Rica; they're working with a
situation that affects real people who live there.
• They have solutions for a specific, plausible audience other than the
educator as grader. For example, designing equipment to fit a small city
playground may benefit the children of the community.
• They have specific, explicit contexts. For example, instead of learning
which vegetables grow best in which parts of one's own country, learners
who are engaged in real-world problem solving develop a plan for a
community garden in a public park in their own town. This learning
activity has a specific context, but the other activity doesn’t.
• If learners use data to solve the problem, they use actual data not data
developed by an educator or publisher for a lesson. For example,
learners use real scientific records of earthquakes, results of their own
experiments, or first-hand accounts of a historical event.

The following scenarios aren't real-world problems:

• Learners rewriting a Shakespeare play in a new rhyme scheme

• Learners using a bus map in a textbook to propose where to
add pedestrian crossings in a fictional town
 • Learners investigating the interaction between green plants and carbon
dioxide in the air
• Learners identifying appropriate situations for using mean, median, and
mode by exploring several sample data sets in Microsoft Excel

The following scenarios are real-world problems:

• Learners rewriting a Shakespeare play for a teenage audience

• Learners using their town's bus routes to propose where to
add pedestrian crossings in their town
• Learners investigating whether growing plants in their
classroom improves the air quality
• Learners analyzing data about the basketball team and using Microsoft
Excel to graph performance patterns for the overall team and
individual player

Does the activity require innovation?

Innovation requires putting learners' ideas or solutions into practice in the real world.
For example, it’s innovation if learners design and build a community garden on the
grounds of their own school. However, simply designing the garden isn’t innovation.
If learners don't have the authority to implement their own ideas, it counts
as innovation only if they convey their ideas to people who may implement the
idea. It’s innovation if learners present their ideas for building a community garden
to local officials who may implement the design. But it’s not innovation if learners
only share their plans with their class.

Innovation also benefits people other than the learners. In other words, it has value
beyond meeting the requirements of a learning exercise. For example, townspeople
who turn the new garden in the public park and teenagers who attend the rewritten
Shakespeare play benefit from learners' efforts. It also counts as innovation if learners
create a project for a science fair or submit an original poem to a regional poetry
contest. Neither are educator-controlled. Both have real audiences who are
interested in and may benefit from the learners' work. 

The following scenarios do not require innovation:

• Learners rewriting the Shakespeare play for a teenage audience but

not performing it
• Learners writing letters addressed to the town council about improving
pedestrian safety, but only giving the letters to their educator to grade
• Learners investigating two or more websites or games, developing a
presentation using Microsoft Video Editor on internet safety guidelines
for parents and learners, but not handing it in for a grade
 • Learners analyzing data about the basketball team and using Microsoft
Excel to graph performance patterns for the overall team and individual
players

The following scenarios require innovation:

• Learners rewriting the Shakespeare play for a teenage audience

and performing it at a local youth center
• Learners writing letters to the town council about their ideas for adding
pedestrian crossings in their town and mailing the letters to council
members
• Learners investigating two or more websites or
games, developing a presentation using Microsoft Video
Editor on internet safety guidelines for parents
and learners, and presenting their products at parent's night
• Learners analyzing statistics on the basketball team's past performance
and creating mathematical models using Microsoft Excel for the coach to
illustrate targeted improvements for both team and individual
performance

Do learners have the opportunity to use ICT?

Learners have the opportunity to use ICT if they must use it or have the choice to use
it to complete an activity. ICT use occurs when learners use ICT directly to complete
all or part of the learning activity. Learners must have control over the ICT use
themselves.

While ICT in teaching is a powerful tool for communicating complex ideas to

learners, it’s irrelevant to this rubric which focuses on learners’ use of ICT.

In the following scenarios, learners don't have the opportunity to use ICT:

• Learners completing a math learning activity using

worksheets that the educator has printed
• Learners studying cell replication by watching the
educator play a virtual simulation of the process
• The educator using Microsoft Word to
make suggestions and track changes to a learner's
writing
In the following scenarios, learners have the opportunity to use ICT:
 • Learners completing a math learning activity using
Excel
• Learners studying cell replication using a software
simulation to explore the process
• Learners using Microsoft Word to edit their writing,
tracking their changes as they go

Does the ICT use support learners' knowledge construction?

Knowledge construction occurs when learners generate ideas and understandings

that are new to them through:

• Interpretation
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
Learners use of ICT may support knowledge construction either directly or indirectly.
For example:

• When learners use a computer to analyze scientific

information, ICT supports knowledge construction
directly
• When learners search for terms related to current
events on Twitter and then analyze people's responses
offline, ICT indirectly supports knowledge
construction. The information they find on Twitter
supports their analysis, so their ICT use
supports knowledge construction.
The knowledge construction supported by ICT must focus on the learning goals of
the activity. Learning to use ICT does not qualify. For example, learners might learn
about PowerPoint as they create a presentation for history class. However, to support
knowledge construction, the use of PowerPoint must help learners deepen their
interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation of historical ideas.
Evaluation of internet resources related to the learning goals is also knowledge
construction. Activities designed to help learners become intelligent, ethical users of
the internet rather than passive consumers of the information support knowledge
construction. For example, learners might find several sources on a topic and
evaluate their credibility before they select which information to rely on.

In the following scenarios, the ICT use doesn’t support knowledge construction:

• Learners using Excel to add numbers together

• Learners watching a video about how stars are
formed
• Learners using Microsoft Whiteboard to make a list of
the characters in a novel they’re reading in literature
class
• Learners playing an Xbox driving game
• Learners using Microsoft Word to type an essay they
have written
• Learners using a collage app to create a composite
image of art works by an artist of their choice
• Learners who have already studied triangles using a
graphing calculator to create triangles by entering
angle numbers that add up to 180 degrees
In the following scenarios, the use of ICT supports knowledge construction:

• Learners using Excel to analyze results of an

experiment
• Learners using a computer-based simulation to
investigate how stars are formed
• Learners using Microsoft Whiteboard to create
interconnected plots and character diagrams
for a novel they’re reading in literature class
• Learners using an Xbox driving game to research and
publish the consequences of texting while driving
 • Learners writing an essay on a computer
using Microsoft Word to organize and synthesize their
ideas in writing
• Learners using a collage app to create a composite
image that reflects the style and influences of an artist
of their choice
• Learners who haven’t studied
triangles experimenting with a graphing calculator by
entering angle degrees and hypothesizing the total
number of degrees in a triangle

Is ICT required for constructing this knowledge?

ICT is required for knowledge construction when learners complete knowledge

construction activities which would be impossible or impractical without the use of
ICT. For example, learners may communicate with peers in another country over a
period of two weeks to research the impact of a recent drought on their community.
Mailing physical letters would be impractical in this short time. In this case, email
enables learners to construct knowledge that they wouldn’t be able to do without
ICT. The use of email is therefore required for constructing this knowledge.

Learners may complete many activities that require knowledge construction without
ICT. For example, learners may find information about the beaks of a variety of bird
species with different diets and categorize different types of beaks. If learners use the
internet for this activity, they’re constructing knowledge; but they don’t have to
use ICT. They would be able to achieve the same learning goals without ICT by using
printed books in a library.

In the following scenarios, learners don't need to use ICT to construct knowledge:

• Learners reading the local newspaper online to

research a current event and analyze three stories they
find
• Learners using Excel to compute totals that they'll use
to analyze their data
In the following scenarios, learners need ICT to construct knowledge:
 • Learners using the internet to find newspaper articles
about a current event from three different countries
and analyzing how perspectives are similar or
different
• Learners using a computer-based simulation to
investigate how stars are formed

Are learners designers of an ICT product?

Learners are designers of ICT products when they create ICT products others may
use. For example, if learners record a podcast and post it on the internet,
they’re designing an ICT product. The product lasts beyond the learning activity
and an outside audience may use it.

When learners act as designers, ICT is supporting their real-world problem solving
and innovation. Learners must have an authentic audience in mind, such as a
community that needs the information or younger children who are studying a
concept. In their design, learners must attend to the needs and preferences of that
audience. Ideally—but not necessarily— the intended audience uses the product.
Learners who create a product with no particular audience in mind don’t qualify as
designers.

In the following scenarios, learners aren't designers of an ICT product:

• Learners in a computer programming class creating a

smartphone app that causes the phone to
vibrate whenever the user takes a photo
• Learners using music editing software to create songs
about dinosaurs that they'll post on the internet for
general access
• Learners creating videos of their own interviews with
local community members to submit to the educator
• Learners using the internet to research local food
producers and write a report of their findings to
submit to the educator
In the following scenarios, learners are designers of an ICT product:
• Learning in a computer programming class
designing a smartphone app that may help senior
citizens in their daily lives
• Learners using music editing software to create songs
to educate a children's natural history museum visitors
about dinosaurs
• Learners creating videos of their own interviews with
community members that will air on a local television
channel program about "our community"
• Learners using the internet to research and
communicate with local food producers and then
developing an app to help families in their community
make more local choices when buying their food