Examples of Project based learning in Drupal

I've been spending some time looking at how people are learning in the Drupal community in various ways. I'm inspired by the initatives to provide context to learning through community-centered projects.

Last year, at the Drupal n'Go challenge in Galway, we attempted to get the proverbial two birds with one stone: build websites for worthy not for profits, and give new Drupal users hands on experience as the 2nd day of our DrupalCamp. We built our model on the Drupal 'n' Go event organised by the French community. Other communities have continued to build on this idea, and find some success. For example, Florida DrupalCamp's Coding for a Cause

After participating and leading other Drupal events, we really wanted to ensure new users got hands-on experience at the event. Not to be too harsh on our Ireland team, but I don't think we cracked it that time. The pressure of the short timeline meant that people worked to their strengths doing what they knew, rather than focusing on obtaining new skills.

There is a solution: work on a longer time frame. Three such projects come to mind.

Drupal Open Garden Project

Chacha Sikes is preparing a summer Drupal training initiative which involves making a distribution for home gardeners, city or community gardens. The training will combine real-time collaboration, code review and mentorship.

This sounds alot like how a developer learns Drupal independently "in the wild", but in Chach's project, there will be more support. For example, she explained to me that "instead of giving you a cold CVS account rejection, [the mentors will] give you tips & tricks". Read more about the Drupal Open Garden Project, also known as Hot and Dirty Drupal Developer Summer Garden Project

Drupal Kata

Yesterday I spoke with Gus Austin, who is a familiar face in the Drupal Dojo and in the community. I asked him about Drupal Kata, wanting to understand how it all works.

Drupal Kata is an idea and format for project-based learning in Drupal. His other bird is that the participants will contribute installation profiles and features back to the community. For example, if they build a site for a band, they can release a feature or installation profile that can make it easier for cash-strapped bands to build an online community.

In fact, the Drupal Dojo is an example of a collaborative Drupal Kata project.

Open Source Opens Doors for Youth

At DrupalCon SF, I was so excited to meet Nancy Brink, the programme manager at EPA.net. She works with young adults in disadvantaged communities and CivicActions on a project which exposes young people to career opportunities by training them in Drupal. [read more on the CivicActions blog] You can read about the project, but also hear directly from the young people themselves from the video from SF DrupalCon. The participants "own and operate a for-profit business providing professional Drupal services to their community. Their first client: themselves."

CivicActions provided some training in Drupal, but they focused on giving the learners context for learning, making it practical rather than "abstract".

All of these are examples of project based learning

Project based learning

Project based learning draws on the complexities of real-life ill-defined problems and the learner's motivations and focus. The learning experience is therefore, perfectly tailored to the learner's needs. It's more like real-life. Project based learning is a term used on formal education where they adopt informal learning practices to make student learning experiences more relevant and practical.

Projects provide context for learning. Think of it this way, when was the last time you learned something? Felt that light-bulb go off? You probably finally figured out a solution to a nagging problem or got an answer to a burning question. And you really only get those good questions and problems in context. Learning is situational.

In the context of a day long work shop or an evening course, we might not get the chance to create the right learning situation to generate that burning question or need.

So project based learning can provide the context. For community learning initiatives, it's ideal, because you're collaborating together on a common goal. This develops a common dialogue amongst learners.

And in these examples, the developers are also getting bonus outcomes for the community or for struggling not for profits.

If you're interested in finding out more, check out Civic Actions' GeekforGood.net, or apply to be a mentor on Chach's Drupal Open Garden Project.