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how does s.o.l.e. work?


A  S.O.L.E. is a classroom based Self Organised Learning Environment  adapted to facilitate student inquiry learning via the internet  Each S.O.L.E. session is focused through a question or provocation.

Each S.O.L.E. session adheres to five key Principles
  • Students self organise - groups; computers; movement; learning direction; behaviours; pace of discovery
  • Learning occurs through lots of collaboration & discussion
  • Teachers transfer the power to learn to students
  • Children are free to observe what other groups are doing and share information with each other
  • Children present their research to the class at the end of the session
The Logistics of a S.O.L.E. session are very simple. The classroom is set up with one laptop for every four students in the classroom. At the start of the session students are asked to respond to a single question or provocation. Students are then free to organize their own groups and decide how they will record their responses. At the end of a research session all students report back their findings. Teachers have very little involvement during the research phase of a SOLE session.

Typically a S.O.L.E. session is structured in the following way
  • Review & briefly discuss the S.O.L.E. Protocols (3-5 mins)
  • Setting a learning goal and linking the question to the current classroom focus. Posing of the initial provocation (5 mins)
  • Collaborative group Enquiry (20-25 minutes)
  • Preparation for information sharing roles (3-5 minutes)
  • Sharing collective knowledge (15-20 minutes)

Through trial and error and classroom based action research we have refined and developed the elements within the S.O.L.E. strategy which we feel are the most effective.
We have delivered hundreds of sessions in schools in Australia and overseas with similar observable elements in student learning, research and effectiveness in discovering answers to problems and challenges.

Pre and post testing provide the teacher with fast, effective assessment of the learning goal and the essential learnings from the lesson. When teachers provide Success Criteria for students it is a simple task for both teachers and students to evaluate the learning.
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From our experiences using Success Criteria at the beginning of the research is something that we have moved away from as we have found that Success Criteria can influence the direction that student investigations take. We now utilise Success Criteria to assess student learning as well as to pinpoint any gaps in the learning which the teacher can then address in a later session. Students still find the essential elements that teachers plan for, as well as other aspects of the topic that are relevant but would rarely be covered by the teacher in a standard session.

Students in our schools participate in a "celebration of learning" where their families are invited to school and where our students can showcase their learning. Parents and friends enjoyed these sessions which are a culmination of a whole term of investigations and learning. Students act as "experts" and run the session. The "celebration of learning" sessions  morning which concluded with a performance and a shared lunch. The students celebrated the culmination of their "mini beast" investigations. They dressed up as their chosen insect or mini beast, as an "expert" they discussed various features of the insects and read some of the information they had gathered. What a fantastic morning. The children were excited, enthusiastic and proud of their achievements.
 Perhaps the most obvious method of evaluating if S.O.L.E. is an effect way of learning is to utilise pre and post testing. We recommend using a simple pre and post test process. We use a proforma for each student to record their prior knowledge. This only takes a few minutes and the teacher can quickly use this information to formulate an appropriate provocation. The pre-test information allows the teacher to more accurately target the focus area for investigation. At the conclusion of the S.O.L.E. session/s a post test can provide the teacher with information of the learning for the individual and the group. If there are gaps in the learning or concepts that are not evident from the post test the teacher can either run another S.O.L.E. investigation targeted to the concept or they can facilitate any gaps in the learning through more direct instruction. This is for the teacher to decide.
You will observe in a S.O.L.E. session student collaboration; you will observe a learning environment where dialogue is actively encouraged.
Through open dialogue and conversations students create knowledge where they all benefit - where improved collective understanding of a topic is the outcome. Students are able to interact with each other to share ideas and opinions. They are able to challenge and question.


They can work out where their own opinions fit with the opinions of others. They can make sense of information as a group and then develop their own personal understandings and connections .

wonderwalls

We utilise WonderWalls for a number of reasons. Firstly to show the learning journey from provocation through to evidence of learning (refer to the S.O.L.E. Spiral of inquiry) These displays and samples of student learning provide a visual record for students showing their learning throughout the investigation.

Students can easily track the learning journey because WonderWalls provide visual cues in each step along the way. Visual cues and prompts help to support recall and memory.

To demonstrate the learning journey we have provided a planner used in Visual Arts at one of our schools.

The planner and thinking of the teacher can then be tracked through the learning process to the WonderWall stage.

We strongly believe that it is important that student's creations or learning samples are displayed around the classrooms and walls as well as captured through various ICT applications. 

What will you see in a S.O.L.E. Classroom?


  • Students begin to share notes they have gathered more freely, recognizing a common goal
  • They begin to follow leads which interest them and become more curious to find out more
  • Discussing the children’s notes and extending their understanding through questioning at the end of each session deepens the children’s understanding and allows the teacher to stretch the learning further
  • The children begin to freely offer ideas as to where they would like their learning to lead them