The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies has announced the launch of Smithsonian Quests, a digital badge program that fosters project-based learning. Smithsonian Quests inspires students to explore their own ideas and interests online, in school, at home and across the nation. The quests connect and reward learners of different ages and in different regions as they learn through discovery and collaboration.
The Smithsonian Quests program encourages students to have a greater curiosity about the world by presenting learning challenges that have real-world applications. Students complete a series of online activities and submit their work for review by Smithsonian education experts to earn digital badges. A wide variety of activities are offered that include creative writing, photography, oral histories and graph-making. The cross-curricular, standards-aligned program aims to prepare students for college and future careers by incorporating knowledge and skill-building into the quests. Teachers can also earn digital badges for their work.
Information and registration for Smithsonian Quests are available at http://smithsonianquests.org/