EDTECH 542 week 2 learning log

Assignment: Post a reflection regarding your research this week on Project-Based Learning. What were you able to find? How do you think PBL will fit into your teaching style? Do you have an idea for a project? If so, begin articulating it now.

I have found that there is so much more information, models, and research supporting Project-Based Learning than there was when I first began my study of it a few years ago. This is very encouraging in light of other changes in education, including the implementation of Common Core, changes in standardized testing procedures, and the integration of technology in classrooms.  I believe that teachers that integrate PBL into their classrooms will produce students who will be better prepared for the challenges of college and career.  They will internalize the skills of perseverance, inquiry, and determination - skills that children have when young, but somehow are squelched by their education system as they grow older.  As Sir Ken Robinson said, the education system has anesthetized our children’s ability to be creative, and we as teachers need to find ways to “wake them up.”  Project-Based learning can (when done well) do that,  as it offers opportunities for students to use their innate creative skills to demonstrate learning.  It also allows students with different learning styles and learning challenges options to “show what they know.”  By design, PBL provides differentiation that traditional classroom teaching can not.

If I was currently teaching students, I believe PBLs would fit well into my teaching style.  Much of the work my students did in the past was of this style - unique creative outcomes, collaborative teamwork, some connection to students’ lives, reflection on learning.  

Because I will spend much of this coming year teaching teachers, my PBL for this class will address adult learners.  Specifically, I will create a project based on ISTE*T standards for promoting digital citizenship and developing digital age learning opportunities. My goal will be that teachers learn more about digital literacy resources so they can instruct their high school students how to be better digital citizens.  As my (new) school has just adopted a 1:1 tablet program, I also want this to be an opportunity to teach the teachers how to use some of the tools on their tablets.