Project-based learning is not new, so why does it take so much to get it going?
I am fortunate that my daughter attends a constructivist-based, developmental, parent-participation school within our public school district. Teachers at her school use project-based learning, portfolio assessment, small groups, individual conferencing, and regular field trips to ignite student interest and encourage them to engage with curriculum. They also have about 75 hours of parent volunteers per week to help them make those lessons happen, which I think is why it has worked.
How do we support project-based learning in the face of standardized test score mania? I can tell you from personal experience that when you teach in a high-performing district, it's easy to do. In a lower-performing district, there's a lot of drill and kill in a misguided effort to raise test scores. It's frustrating.
http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2605
Technology can certainly help move us toward project-based learning and engagement, because "lectures" can be viewed at home and projects can happen during class with adult mentors to help keep students on track and focused, to help them problem solve, etc. That adult mentor factor is what makes my daughter's school work.
http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2534&utm_source=Committed+Sardine+Blog+Update&utm_campaign=88a3bd2517-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email
Technology as a way to boost engagement. Can technology in itself boost student engagement? Well, it certainly can increase student interest in completing an assignment, but does that necessarily translate to more engagement with the curriculum? As we design lessons (whether they use technology or not), the question to ask is "how does this enhance learning--how does it allow students to connect with material in a meaningful way?" If it doesn't, then we're just using technology as a gimmick. And gimmick's may be fine now and again, but to really impact learning we need to be looking at how we use technology, not just whether we use it or not.
http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/03/why-my-six-year-old-students-have-digital-portfolios/
Getting students engaged in their assessment.
Jacobsen, M. and Friesen, M. (2012) Hands on vs. Hands up: Technology-enabled knowledbe building in high school. Candada Education. Retrieved from http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/web-exclusive-hands-vs-hands-technology-enabled-knowledge-building-high-sch
The technological infrastructure and network designs used in most high schools – built on broadcast media and information delivery assumptions about knowledge flow – are not serving students well. Professionals and outside experts create a firewall by selecting information and ideas, and metering out content in small, manageable, and simplified chunks. Participatory technologies, social media and knowledge building pedagogy disrupt that firewall.
- Audience/learners can talk to each other, build and share information together, and publish ideas and expressions online to a global community.
- Knowledge is created and shared by learners and by teachers.
- Information comes from many diverse sources, cultures, and locations.
- There is immediate access to current information and knowledge.
- An already huge knowledge base grows at an exponential rate.
Amen!
According to a study completed by the authors and others, teachers are using technology to push information to students, NOT to engage with students and allow them to "remix" their knowledge. There is a disconnect here between teachers using technology and teachers using technology in a way that is meaningful to their students.
" Teachers need support to design inquiry-based tasks and assessments that integrate digital technology into one or more disciplines of study. They need to harness their enthusiasm about technology to the design and support of knowledge building work that cultivates genuine engagement with learning.
Great inquiry-based learning tasks – with or without technology – are authentic to the discipline; involve active and participatory student groupings and interactions; are academically rigorous; connect learners to resources and communities beyond the school; provide for elaborated communication and expression; and use assessment of and for learning. Rigorous, technology-enabled learning experiences contain all the components necessary for a strong inquiry: rich, authentic problems/issues/questions to investigate; clear learning outcomes; curricular integration; learning tasks; appropriate use of technology; ways of working and knowing that experts within the disciplines use to build knowledge; and timely assessments with clear criteria to make students’ thinking visible to both students and teachers. In inquiry-based, technology rich learning environments, assessment makes up a large part of the high school day."
Important to keep in mind when planning lessons.
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If we really want our children to face the challenges of the future with confidence and skill, we must teach them not only that they can acquire current knowledge, but also that they can help shape what their society comes to accept as knowledge.[6] Participatory digital technologies and new social media landscapes, combined with engaged teaching and designs for learning, offer new opportunities for knowledge building and interconnected relationships.
Today’s youth will inherit a global, socially connected, and media rich world. The competencies they require to live well differ from those even ten years ago. As our participatory digital world accelerates, high schools cannot afford to stand still."
Finally: sites that list resources I want to check out:
http://www.leadandlearn.com/multimedia-resource-center/video-library
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/03/best-of-web-2012.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29
http://dailytekk.com/2012/03/06/the-50-best-ways-to-curate-and-share-your-favorite-social-media-and-news-content/#.T53rjb8sGjK
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