Lessons on social learning
Notes from the DIY Camps pilot
In January we embarked on an experiment in social learning. After 3 years building an app that empowered kids ages 6–14 to learn on their own, we wondered whether there would be an appetite for them to learn together and be paired with an awesome mentor. We named our new app DIY Camps and we launched a pilot in April.
We got a lot of things right in that pilot but we quickly learned that a few of our core hypotheses did not pan out. I’m sharing those lessons here hoping they might short circuit the learning curve for colleagues who are similarly trying to invent new resources for education.
1. Coming up with the right metaphor for online learning proved to be tricky
One challenge we faced was finding a metaphor that represented both the optimistic potential and the substance of online learning. We landed on “camps” because they are a symbol of a truly infectious form of learning. Camps are a place where anyone can start the day having never done cooking or duct tape design and end the day with a triumphant sense of accomplishment because they dared to try. Camps are where most of us got our first taste of autonomy while simultaneously building new sets of skills and friendships. We hoped to take the spirit of camp-style learning and bring it online.
Our camp metaphor was tremendously successful throughout the summer and enrollments quickly swelled but those same families started pausing their subscriptions once August rolled around. It turns out the term “camp” is so strongly associated with the warm-weather months of summer that it was hard for families to imagine continued participation in them all year round. We are still exploring alternative metaphors that can stand the test of time.
2. Synchronized learning experiences proved to be tricky
We began with the best of intentions. We hoped to create learning communities that allowed kids around the world to connect with each other for month-long learning sprints around topics they were passionate about. Kids signed up for a camp topic of their choice then a new session began every Saturday. In theory, this allowed a cohort of kids to get to know each other well and emerge from the month with a new set of friends.
Kids did indeed make new friends. Better yet, sharing a one-month journey together resulted in a strong momentum that propelled group participation. Kids felt a sense of urgency to share their projects because they knew a community of peers were waiting for them and that time was finite.
However, no matter how much we emphasized that participation in our daily challenges was entirely optional, our monthly schedule caused anxiety for our families. If they took a vacation or a kid got sick they stressed about missing out on the experience. We quickly realized that we needed to switch to an on-demand model and abandon the monthly cohorts. Our next task is to figure out how to drive collaborative learning that isn’t linked to a schedule.
3. Kids didn’t just want to participate, they also wanted to lead
During our pilot phase, our mentors provided the primary source of feedback on every post. This gave participants consistent input everyday and established a rhythm of both encouragement and help so kids could advance their skills.
However, when we launched a Harry Potter-themed camp called the Online School for Wizardry and the most amazing thing happened. As kids registered they instantly started creating their own challenges for each other. In the week leading up to the first session, we received 173 posts from kids which was 15x our usual pre-camp participation! They created tutorials teaching each other how to make dragon’s blood; they did their own movies and costumes; they asked each other questions about their favorite characters. They were so enthusiastic about the camp topic that they started leading it before it even began. The overwhelming volume of spontaneous sharing pointed to how hungry kids were for learning opportunities around topics they are passionate about. The same kids that might need reminders for school assignments were volunteering to learn Latin in order to create their own spells. Furthermore, it was clear that kids wanted opportunities to mentor each other, not just be mentored.
We wondered how kids within our community would approach being mentors on a day-to-day basis so we invited them to try their hand at leading moderation throughout September. Not surprisingly they not only jumped at the opportunity but they also did an outstanding job providing encouraging, positive and genuine responses to each other. Better yet, participants in our camps consistently got input from multiple perspectives, not just our lead counselors.
We are now busy building tools to help kids take a more active mentorship role on an ongoing basis. We look forward to continuing to evolve our app to become an even stronger learning community. In the interim, we are inspired by what our community is teaching us.
