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"As an "Instructional Innovator" in my district, I was asked to implement project-based learning in my classroom. As a new teacher, currently in my second year of teaching fifth grade, I was nervous and excited at this prospect."

"The Google Docs collection provides a streamlined, collaborative solution to writing papers, organizing presentations and putting together spreadsheets and reports. But besides the basic features, there are lots of little tricks and hacks you can use to make your Google Docs experience even more productive. Here are 100 great tips for using the documents, presentations and spreadsheets in Google Docs."

"Conclusion All these projects embody three elements that are fundamental for successful virtual communities: Content in context: The value of educational content depends on the context in which this content is going to be used. For example, information about the nature of water pollution in both Sao Paulo and San Jose is dynamic because it is being gathered and analyzed by the students themselves, as well as engaging students in finding other resources on the Web to assist their analyses. Creativity in communicating knowledge: All the national curriculum standards include enabling students to use a broader range of media and methods to communicate their knowledge than traditional standardized tests. It is well known that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it (or communicate it) to others. New interdisciplinary fields of inquiry (such as chaos and complexity theory) require that students find new ways to use computers and multimedia to visualize and communicate data and patterns. The creation, sharing, and use of various forms of knowledge in multiple media support the important idea of encouraging students to communicate their knowledge and understanding to an authentic audience of their peers, teachers, and professionals. Collaboration for building communities of learners: Effective participation in the global economy means being able to work collaboratively with a wider diversity of other people. Business and industry have continually purported that today's schools need to prepare students to work collaboratively in teams (colocated or virtual) as one of the top priorities for educational reform. The Internet, along with Web-based tools and resources, is among the best vehicles we have for achieving this goal -- and, in the process, can also help build sustainable learning communities."

"Project-based learning is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively explore real-world problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge."

"Educators and researchers share their views on why project-based learning is an important learning strategy for classrooms."

Project-based learning offers promise as an instructional method that affords authentic learning tasks grounded in the personal interests of learners. While previous research has presented results of learning gains, motivations and teacher experiences, still limited empirical research has presented the student perspective in project-based learning. This research sought to explore how learners created projects. Using a case study design and five purposively selected participants from eighth grade geography, five themes emerged: (1) internal influences, (2) external influences, (3) beliefs about projects, (4) tools for technology-rich environments, and (5) learning outcomes and products. The first four themes describe influences to shape the fifth theme, learning products. The term learning products was used to describe both the learning garnered by the participants and the learning artifacts the participants produced as part of the instructional unit. Implications for practice and future research are considered.

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