Today I am speaking with Ron Fortunato, President of Trillium Learning and employee of NASA AMES research center. Listen to learn how you can get more information about to get your students more engaged in REAL projects!

• Project-based vs activity-based projects.
• Coupling students with real-life working projects.
• If students are able to keep up with the real-world work, they are given an opportunity to be at the table.
• Relationships with NOAA, NASA, and other institutions.
• Identify real problems, and get students involved in those projects.
• How Ron got involved with NASA.
• Winning a proposal with NASA: Pick a project they would have done.
• Meeting with the scientists that put Viking on Mars.
• How predicting earthquakes works.
• First earthquake sensor ever created installed in Kodiak.
• Real world projects cross many disciplines.
• “We don’t learn a darn thing when we do something right!”
• Rapid prototyping process - iterate and learn piece by piece.
• How students have actually discovered that earthquakes were coming with up to 48 hours notice.
• NASA gave actual reviews to high school students.
• Life-saving potential of predicting earthquakes is very important.
• Kodiak, Ketchikan, Craig, Copper River, and Old Harbor have the earthquake systems installed.
• Tasks and organizations for students are similar to tasks given to scientists.
• NASA Directors sit in with students on status reviews.
• Other projects kids can get involved with. Nano-agriculture
• It looks like chaos at first, but then it becomes transformative.
• Challenges of doing real-time and real-world project-based learning.
• Teachers need to adapt to this new way of doing things.
• School board has to support the project.
• Build a foundation so the entire district can participate. Ramp Up!
• How to make it for more than just the gifted or smart kids.
• 6th grade class suggesting how to improve the sensor.
• The process of learning how to learn.
• Trainer of Trainers model.
• You move at the speed you can go.
• Contact Ron
• What to do to start: Look at local organizations and what problems they’re trying to solve.

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