EDTECH 542 The Teacher's Role in Project Based Learning

One of the greatest challenges for an instructor in a PBL unit is to adapt to the role of facilitator. Reflect on the following:

• Will my role in the teaching/learning process change?
• What are the skills of effective facilitation?
• Will the students develop the competencies and skills needed to be successful?
• What changes will you need to make in order to become an effective facilitator in your PBL unit?

I recently read a posting in Edutopia about the role of the teacher and how it changes even within the PBL realm.  Teachers can be the developer of the unit on one hand, to one who creates the infrastructure and sets guidelines on the other.  The latter has a highly student-managed PBL, where they create the essential question, find the standards they are addressing, and create a project that has both real world impact and a service component.

 

The former, although still a PBL, is very teacher-driven, allowing little choice and opportunity for unique outcomes.  The teacher still desires control in this instance.

 

In a PBL setting, teachers need to create environments where 1) students know time off task is not an option; 2) project development and problem solving takes place within the work group; 3) collaboration skills are taught and adhered to; 4) all options remain on the table until proven unsuccessful. In other words, FAILure (First Attempt In Learning) is desirable.

These are skills students need to succeed in the world. As a former junior high teacher, too often I experienced students who feared testing the waters. They thought that if they didn’t have specific guidelines with only one correct outcome, they were sure to fail (meaning get a grade unacceptable to themselves and their parents). They weren’t learning driven, but approval and fear driven.  That’s not how to succeed in the world.

I hope in using the PBL model with teachers is help them create environments that develop these global skills.  It’s about helping teachers move forward in creating units, coaching and providing support when things don’t work as hoped. It’s also about training teachers to FAIL too, to problem solve, and to collaborate with others so they experience the skills that they want their students to achieve.

EDTECH 513 - "Easy Peasy iPads in the Classroom" Podcast

This week, we were to develop a plan for a podcast series, then produce an initial podcast for that series. I am moving to a new position at a school that is rolling out iPads 1:1 for students. It seemed like a natural for me to create a podcast series that would focus on simple, effective ways for the teachers using iPads to learn tips to better integrate them into classroom process, student workflow and into the academic curriculum overall. So, I envision a weekly podcast series entitled "Easy Peasy iPads in the Classroom." The first week's podcast focuses on a basic component of classroom workflow, which is getting students work conveniently, and simply, from their iPad to the teacher so the work can be assessed. This episode uses Google Docs and Gmail as the focus for that student to teacher workflow.

Click on Easy Peasy iPads in the Classroom to download and listen to my podcast.

One big take away for me from this assignment is that, in hindsight, it would have been a much more effective result if this podcast was, instead, a multimedia presentation of some type. Verbalizing instructions about setting up labels and folders in Gmail, without any sort of visual cues, is a tough way to learn something. It would have been much more effective with a couple of simple screen shots to assist the learner in understanding where to click, what pop up or other information on the screen to expect. A few key screenshots would also make it easier for the learner to understand the overall order of tasks to accomplishing setting up the process correctly. Simply giving them visual reference points ("pages" in a presentation, for instance), that they could flip back and forth within would have made the learning process much easier. So, I believe the Message Design could have been further worked to truly see what I should have included (the visual components) before I created the audio-only version.

EDTECH 542 - Reflection on Designing Integrated Curriculum

Option 1: Designing Integrated Curriculum At some point you may consider including other disciplines in your project (if you haven't already). Watch the video below on Designing Integrated Curriculum and reflect on the benefits of interdisciplinary projects and the challenges in implementing them. How might you go about making this a reality in your school?

Watching this video was very inspiring. What these teachers are doing is something I hope takes place in our school. Nothing in our students’ lives happen in isolation, why should it in school? These interdisciplinary learning opportunities offer the ultimate in real life content integration and critical thinking. One area we see more of this happening is in STEM (or STEAM) instruction. Integrating math with science and technology seems like a natural fit, and very applicable in real life. It also makes sense to add ELA and history into the mix.

As a teacher I can see the benefit of working with a team. Often teachers work in isolation, as I did as the only 7th grade social studies teacher at our school. The opportunity to team-teach a combined ELA/social studies block was both invigorating and challenging, and it better replicated what happens in the business world. We planned, implemented, and revised instruction as necessary. We used a webquest model, integrating collaboration and technology into the students’ day. I’m not sure the students would have had as enriching an experience if either one of us tried to do it on our own.

The challenges hinted at in the video can’t be ignored. As one teacher said, you have to work harder and smarter, especially on the front end. Personalities have to be complementary, and teachers have to handle their share of the planning, implementation and other work load. Teachers have to be open to criticism (hopefully delivered appropriately). Administration has to be supportive; open to scheduling changes this type of instruction may cause. They also have to be open to providing planning time for teachers.  Parents and students need to be included in the conversations, as they too are important stakeholders in the program.

EDTECH 542 - PBL Assessment reflection

Discuss how your planned assessments meet the key requirements for effective assessments. Reflect on how you might adjust your teaching during your project to allow more student input in the evaluation process.

The assessments included in my plan meet most of the key requirements for effective assessments.

Assessment is for students.

The two formative assessments allow my students (who are teachers) the opportunity to collect resources that will they can refer to when creating lessons or providing counseling to their own students. They help the teachers assess their own digital footprint, which provides context to what their students are experiencing.

The assessments also provide teachers the opportunity to build skills. Teachers will be learning how to curate, working collaboratively with others, and understand how to reach out to a larger audience.  Teachers will also have choice throughout the assessments.

Assessment is faithful to the work students actually do.

Teachers will be maintaining both a reflective learning log and a note-taking/curation tool.  They will be using both throughout the process to build content they can use following the completion of their training. Choice in the performance task allows them to demonstrate what they know, not what they don’t.

Assessment is public.

Maintenance of the learning log and note taking/curation tool is required, and there is criteria, but teachers have the freedom to select what they collect and post. The rubric for the performance task is included in the unit. Their peers will view their performance, and hopefully some will be viewed by the student body.

Assessment promotes ongoing self-reflection and critical inquiry.

Opportunities to discuss outcomes with the instructor will be ongoing throughout the unit. I encourage the teachers to continually update their notebook and learning logs, and refer back to them, for their own personal benefit.

How teachers respond to these assessments will allow me to consider if revisions need to take place. Working with professionals, and understanding their schedules and responsibilities will require me to be flexible.  

EDTECH 542: PBL in diverse classrooms

The article I read entitled, Designing Effective Projects: Characteristics of Projects Benefits of Project Based Learning, was published in 2007 by the Intel Corporation as part of the Intel Teach Program - Designing Effective Projects. It provides an overview of Project Based Learning and then discusses the benefits of PBLs for students and teachers. Finally, it defines the challenges both teachers and students may face in adopting Project Based Learning strategies.

Although not explicitly stated, the article outlines why PBLs are ideal for a diverse classroom and for students who, for whatever reason, are not successful in a traditional learning environment. PBLs are not about sitting and listening - skills that teachers know challenge a percentage of learners in every classroom. Because PBLs present real life, relevant questions that allow students to investigate, plan and create solutions, issues that affect traditional classroom learning are not as relevant in a PBL environment.

I can relate to this finding, as it mirrors my experience when 1:1 laptops were first provided to my students.  The students who were most noticeably engaged were those most challenged with traditional learning strategies.  One student in particular stands out in my mind. He was very unhappy in school.  His educational failures were coupled with a lack of friends and frequent teasing.  He really enjoyed working on projects with the laptop computer.  It allowed him to express himself and share his learning in a way he could not with multiple choice tests or writing essays. He learned too that he had choice and options in what he produced - very empowering for a child who previously believed he was at a disadvantage.

Project based learning benefits all students in the same way.  According to the article, research has found benefits that include:

• better attendance, self-reliance, and improved attitude
• greater responsibility for own learning
• academic gains equal or better than other processes
• opportunities to develop skills such as problem solving, collaboration and communication
• opportunities that engage culturally diverse learners

Teachers face a number of challenges in implementing Project Based Learning, and have to be willing to overcome them.  Managing the learning process, as opposed to “telling”, has huge advantages for students, regardless of how diverse the classroom is.  It transforms the classroom into a space where errors allow for reflection, collaboration and change.  There are no predetermined answers, only opportunities to build on previous learning, solve problems and communicate learning in an engaging manner to a broader audience.  

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.  

EDTECH 513: Creating My Learning Log

I am an active blogger and so, have some familiarity with blogging as a tool for learning. I co-author the Common Core and Ed Tech blog, which has been in existence since early 2013. I also read a significant number of blogs to gain knowledge about effective ways to integrate educational technology into the academic curriculum, as that is a major component of my current position as Vice Principal. My new position of "Educational Technologist" for a local high school will involve providing professional development of all shapes and sizes to the staff, and so even more, I will need to keep abreast of ed tech.

As I began to understand more  about multimedia principles, particularly contiguity, in the first part of the course, it provided an opportunity to critique the work that I (and my co-author) have created for the blog. For that matter, the readings gave me more context and background to also analyze other blogs that I frequently read. Here are some findings:

1.  Not overwhelming people with text.  I think that, overall, we do a good job of restraining ourselves and including only the most relevant information for people. Other blogs I read vary wildly in how closely they attend to some basic principals regarding how text-heavy they are. I can think of one very popular blog I frequent often. The content, while excellent, is detracted from by the amount of extraneous information also on the page. There is a certain amount of self-promotion done (for upcoming seminars and such) that I do understand. There is also a LOT of additional 'noise' in the way of ads that run down the right side of the page. Very distracting. I can continue to improve my blog's entries by being mindful of the limitations of text. Which leads to finding number 2...
2. Include visuals to augment the learning/text. I think we do an ok job here. We can improve the likelihood of knowledge gain if the visuals - charts, infographics, video clips - are always relevant. Including a piece of clip art occasionally is fine, but being mindful to always have a point to the additional visual information provided is important.
3. Being mindful of chunking the content so readers, in general, are not overwhelmed by what's presented. Underlying the chunking concept is the fact that readers have very limited processing capability and that needs to be at the forefront of thought when creating a new post.

In future weeks of this course, I hope to better understand other aspects of multimedia presentation. I am particularly interested in using Redundancy and Personalization, as well as finding out more about Worked Examples.

This relates to the label 2.3 Computer-Based Technologies, as we are clearly in the realm of using the computer (web pages via a blog  in this case) to augment learning. Practicing with a blog - a computer-based technology - is a very relevant way to better understand the importance of how technology can impact - positively OR negatively - learning.