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"As a learning strategy, inquiry-based learning is all about learners constructing their own understanding and knowledge through asking questions. Unlike traditional learning methods that focus primarily on drills, memorization and rote learning, inquiry-based learning is essentially student-centered. It starts with posing questions and directly involves students in challenging hands-on activities that drive students to ask more questions and explore different learning paths. In today's post, we have assembled a collection of some useful web tools and apps that support the ethos of inquiry-based learning.  Using these tools will enable students to engage in a wide range of learning tasks that are all driven by a sense of inquiry and questioning."

"Be impressed with what physics based puzzle apps can do to help your kids excel when it comes to understanding physics. Puzzle apps make learning physics fun. Let your kids' creativity soar when they become tiny physicists to solve their physics apps and puzzle apps. Physics apps are the answer to making an otherwise boring subject exciting. Pique their interest by reinforcing the information they learn in school in a fun way. Kids love puzzle apps, so getting them to learn required material will be easier than ever. Try the best physics based puzzle apps on the market and watch kids learn with ease."

"Despite the popularity of project based learning, a lot of teachers haven't gotten around to trying it yet. You've been meaning to; you just haven't had time to learn how. Or maybe you're doing something you call project based learning, but you have a nagging feeling that you might not be doing it quite right. If any of this sounds familiar, then this will help. One reason PBL might be hard for some teachers to start is that there's just so much stuff out there about it.  Who has time to wade through it all? To solve this problem, I went out in search of the clearest, most authoritative information on PBL and put together a collection of materials that will help you get your feet wet, plus links to more resources for when you're ready to dig deeper."

"Projects in the classroom are as old as the classroom itself. "Projects" can represent a range of tasks that can be done at home or in the classroom, by parents or groups of students, quickly or over time. While project-based learning (PBL) also features projects, in PBL the focus is more on the process of learning and learner-peer-content interaction that the end-product itself."

"he term "project-based learning" gets tossed around a lot in discussions about how to connect students to what they're learning. Teachers might add projects meant to illustrate what students have learned, but may not realize what they're doing is actually called "project-oriented learning." And it's quite different from project-based learning, according to eighth grade Humanities teacher Azul Terronez."

"While not new, project-based learning has become a popular method to try and move beyond surface-level learning. Many teachers are trying to figure out the right ingredients for strong projects that interest and engage students, while helping them meet required learning targets. But implementing project-based learning well isn't easy, especially when many teachers are more accustomed to direct instruction, when they can be sure they've at least touched on all the topics in the curriculum. On top of the push toward  projects, some educators are also embracing maker-education, a distinct but often overlapping idea. "There's a lot of research out there about integrating making into project-based learning to ramp up what students are learning in the core content areas that they're going to be tested in," said Michael Stone, an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, who taught high school in Tennessee."

"When you can get students talking and teaching each other, adding movement or gestures into the process, the students learn and retain more. Whether you call this process "Brain-Based Learning" or "Whole-Brain Learning," the concept is the same. The goal of brain-based learning is to "engage your learners and do it with strategies that are based on real science" (Jensen). Their learning increases because they are engaging more parts of their brain during the teaching process."

""Project based learning's time has come." Educators across the nation have been realizing the potential for powerful deeper learning when project-based learning (PBL) is employed. We have witnessed schools that are wall-to-wall with projects, blended classrooms engaging in PBL and organizations that are helping to create high leverage engagement opportunities for all students. Leaders at schools and organizations across the United States and around the world are helping to continue to build and sustain the PBL momentum. Their vision for what PBL can be in, and can bring to, their communities is astounding. At PBL World, a conference focused on innovations in project-based learning, we heard inspiring messages about what's possible in PBL."

"We have posted about Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand site before. It is a fantastic resource for mobile learning. He does a lot of work around iPads but is interested in ensuring that the learning is authentic. Here is has put together a compilation of apps specific for those school working in the Project Based Learning arena. Make sure that you check out the rest of his site -"

"In our new conception for Gold Standard PBL, we have created two separate but related components of the model: Essential Project Design Elements, and Project Based Teaching Practices. We call them the Essential Project Design Elements because that's precisely what they are - not the "elements of PBL" the instructional methodology, which is a much broader topic than the design of a project itself. The Project Based Teaching Practices expand on what it means to implement PBL well, beyond designing the project. You can read more about our new model in another post, but as you can see in the diagram below, while some of the familiar "8 Essential Elements" remain, others are gone. Let's explain where they went and why."

"s a professional artist, deepening the ways in which seemingly disparate objects and processes are interconnected through locating, and mapping their intersections has been one of the main elements of my studio practice. The Fab Lab tools and working processes create an environment that is well suited to investigating those types of intersections. In an effort to integrate Fab Lab tools centered on craft, and studio-based processes into the classroom, I have been working to implement a Mobile MakerCart at a project-based K-8 charter school. In addition to introducing craft-based physical computing projects to the children, a guiding principle behind the MakerCart is to give teachers the opportunity to develop familiarity with the MakerCart's tools and processes in order to be able to envision the ways in which they might be able to develop their own curriculum for use in the classroom."

"Word Clouds.  We've seen them, we've done them, many of us wear the t-shirt.   It's a quick and easy way to create a graphic based upon text.  Essentially, the size of the word is based upon the frequency of the text.  Many teachers use word clouds to  have students analyse their writing or to create a poster/graphic based upon key words. But, suppose you worked a little mathematics into it! Jason Davies has actually worked a lot of mathematics into his Word Cloud Generator.  Just start with this little protractor at the bottom of the screen."

"Project-based learning is a matter of identifying needs and opportunities (using an app like flipboard), gathering potential resources (using an app like pinterest), collecting notes and artifacts (with an app like Evernote), concept-mapping potential scale or angles for the project (using an app like simplemind), assigning roles (with an appp like Trello), scheduling deadlines (with apps like Google Calendar), and sharing it all (with apps like OneDrive or Google Drive). With that in mind, below are 30 of the best apps for getting this kind of work done in the classroom, with an emphasis on group project-based learning apps for both Android and iPad (and even a few for plain old browsers)."

"It takes time to build up a strong inquiry-based teaching practice, to learn how to direct student questions with other questions, and to get comfortable in a guiding role. But when Laufenberg talks about what it takes, she makes it sound easy. We've broken her advice down into digestible tips for anyone ready to jump in and try for themselves."

"Project based learning (PBL) is perhaps the greatest resource hardly being used in UK schools. Teachers are increasingly being asked to do more with less, and there's never been a better time to reinvent classroom learning than now. Despite the mounting pressures on schools, a huge advantage all still hold is in the freedom to deliver the National Curriculum by how they see fit. There's also a wealth of research to support PBLs uptake in the classroom:"

"A few years ago, I began shifting to a play-based approach in my kindergarten classroom. Research extolled the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional benefits of play and called to mind Friedrich Froebel's vision of kindergarten as a place where play and learning go hand in hand.  As I made small changes in my classroom, I began to understand that play is a primary and integral mode through which children make sense of the world, and that it is essential to their development and well-being. In addition, it supports skills like collaboration, communication, and creativity. Offering play can feel challenging when mandated programs and standardized tests are requirements of many school districts, but play-based learning is an effective practice for deepening understanding and engaging children. The key is finding a balance between academic expectations and the developmental needs of young students."

"Explicit Teaching in Problem-based Mathematics offers a re-imagining of what it means to engage in "direct" instruction. Rather than a separate pedagogical approach, explicit instruction is an integral part of problem-based learning and instruction. Animation and video are used to feature educator moves that support students to "notice things they would not otherwise see." Think uncovering. Think making visible. "

"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

"As an administrator, whenever I walk into a teacher's classroom, one of the first things I almost always subconsciously look for is whether or not the students are engaged in inquiry. However, telling a teacher, "Your students need to engage in more inquiry," is comparable to letting a comedian know she needs to be funnier or asking a pizzaiolo to make a better dough. And, vague directives in the absence of explicit instruction typically generate anxiety. To avoid these anxieties, and for progress to actually take place, we need to drill down to the nitty gritty and be as explicit as possible. In other words, we need to be explicit about being explicit and leverage specific strategies to comfortably move forward for the benefit of our students. With these thoughts in mind, I've been obsessing over inquiry's common denominators - the strategies or drivers we should always consider when implementing an inquiry-based lesson. That being said, here are the six drivers of inquiry-based learning. And, while I don't think every lesson or activity must have all six, I do believe that once we (and our students) become comfortable with an inquiry approach, all drivers will naturally find a way into learning experiences on a regular, if not daily, basis."

"Working as a productive and sensitive member of a team is looked upon by STEM-based companies as being a requirement to being an effective and contributing employee: As technology takes over more of the fact-based, rules-based, left-brain skills-knowledge-worker skills-employees who excel at human relationships are emerging as the new "it" men and women. More and more major employers are recognizing that they need workers who are good at team building, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity, according to global forecasting firm Oxford Economics. Other research shows that the most effective teams are not those whose members boast the highest IQs, but rather those whose members are most sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. (http://fortune.com/2015/03/05/perfect-workplace/) In academia, the majority of research in STEM fields is conducted through collaborations and working groups, where a diversity of ideas need to be proposed and analyzed to determine the best strategy(ies) for solving a problem. In the technology sector, product development is done as a team, with specific roles for each individual but its success is predicated on each member of the team providing a different skill set / perspective. Thus, students who are interested in both academia and industry will benefit from learning how to successfully work in a diverse team. (https://teaching.berkeley.edu/diversity-can-benefit-teamwork-stem#sthash.mHRBJQtV.dpuf) What follows are some team building activities that use collaboration to explore and solve STEM-related challenges. Note that most of them require minimal supplies - costs."