Not all service learning involves face-to-face interaction. With digital tools, can work alongside our communities from a distance.
At ACS we define learning as ‘growth and development in knowledge and understanding, skills and dispositions’ to include a knowledge and understanding of literacy, numeracy, core knowledge, and understanding in each subject area.
Skills develop each student’s academic, physical, and social abilities through active participation and dispositions. This presents opportunities, both within and outside of the curriculum, to recognise and develop positive characteristics such as resilience, confidence, perseverance, and responsibility. These characteristics have many key components in common such as caring for oneself, caring for others and the environment, student voice, reflection, cultural sensitivity and many more. Academic connections, including standards, trans-disciplinary connections and age-appropriate continuums and progressions form the foundation for all service learning.
Structured opportunities to think, talk and write about the service is essential to self-understanding and building a sense of efficacy. The balance of reflection and action allows a student to be constantly aware of the effects of their work – on themselves and on others. Students are introduced to concepts and experiences that have the potential to increase their sense of community and can provide opportunities for the development of positive behaviours, developing a sense of caring and responsibility and understanding the value of being a good citizen.
Not all service learning involves face-to-face interaction, or direct person to person projects and with the digital tools at our disposal there are many opportunities to work alongside our communities from a distance. Students can be actively engaged in research and planning before taking action through digital solutions to support others, whilst continuous reflection encourages students to be open-minded regarding their personal meaning schemes (concepts, beliefs and judgements) and meaning perspectives (assumptions about how the world works and our ways of judging information).
Online digital peer tutoring (for ACS and our wider community), positive and sustainable fundraising, the creation of resources for partner schools and interacting with partner organisations and individuals to enhance understanding and awareness are vital aspects of all service learning work and using modern technologies effectively we can greatly enhance this experiential learning journey.