Group items tagged

Enter the Group is a new free service offering collaborative project management for groups. Enter the Group features a calendar, messaging, and file sharing for your group members. If you want to keep your project just between friends, you can create a private group. If you want the whole world to see your project, you can make a public group. Users can also login using FB login/passwords.  I'm interested in checking out the possibility of virtual classrooms and using it to manage PBL projects. This might be a good tool for SISUHSD's emphasis on PBL. 

Information adapted from the Buck Institute for Education's (2011) PBL in the Elementary Grades: Step by Step Guidance, Tools, and Tips for Standards-Focused K-5 Projects

"In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking)."

Edutopia post on Project Based Learning & embedded video of Yong Zhao presentation at ISTE 2012, June 26, 2012.  "What makes someone successful in the 21st century is definitely not your ability to memorize facts. What will make someone successful is your relentless capacity to innovate, to create. It's your ability to network, to make friends from your own circle and from other countries. It's your ability to see through challenges, to look for opportunities in problems, and to take action to change things instead of waiting for someone else to do something, Meanwhile, he added, the U.S. is focusing on the wrong goal by aiming for higher standardized test scores. "Fixing the horse wagon won't get us to the moon," he said, referring to the current educational system as a holdover from an outdated era. 

Check out this great use of Livebinders to help students add content to a curriculum. This teacher did it with 3rd graders...me thinks older students could do even more with it. Great collaborative application and think of the possibilities for PBL. 

"Will you ever just walk into class and ask, "Okay, what do you want to study today?" Of course not. Inquiry-based learning is founded on students taking the lead in their own learning, but it still requires considerable planning on your part. Projects must fit into your larger program structure, goals and plans, but the students will be actively involved in planning the projects with you and asking the questions that launch their individual inquiries." In thinking about PBL and other inquiry-based learning, this post and the graphic of the inquiry process are easy to connect with.

So you have been ordered to integrate technology in you classroom. Only problem is, you only have one computer or have limited access to computers. Here are 10 ways you can use. In addition, these are just great teaching/learning strategies for any classroom and could be used for PBL.  Created by Kimberly Scott - see her blog: www.ingeniousteaching.blogspot.com

A nice blog about PBL for Digital Citizens......

Blog that encourages the use of multimedia to engage students. I like the "Free Resources" section on "Student News" and "Digital Storytelling". Some good ideas for students to do news shows. 

Problem-based learning and project-based learning provide a rich opportunity for students to deepen their knowledge, expand their repertoire of technical skills, and enhance their appreciation of thinking tools, processes and strategies. The larger goal is for enhanced performance under challenging conditions that demand strategic reasoning, insightfulness, perseverance, creativity, and craftsmanship to resolve complex problems.

A project-based-learning teacher and coach writes about "the most effective tool for organizing content and motivating students to think hard."