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Project based learning is a great tool to motivate students by relating lessons to real world issues. This article provides project examples and benefits of project based learning and why it should be a part of classrooms.

iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is the world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the Internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world. iEARN Collaboration Centre are the most comprehensive resources for international collaboration in teaching and learning. More than 100 projects completed with teacher resources and teaching guides, this is the website for K-12 teachers to collaborate on-line for students projects exchange and teaching ideas exchange. Get to know what other teachers and students are doing in topics we are interested in are eye-opening. Students can have real time exchange for video, idea and resources under teacher's supervision.

The projects you will find here have been curated by BIE and were gathered from online project libraries. They are easily searchable by subject area, and are a guide to PBL lessons to be used or to inspire lesson plans.

Coordinate projects/assignments/work

Edutopia is a great resource for lesson plan ideas and professional development. This article offers project-based learning opportunity for students learning simple circuits.

As an "online work platform with a new take on how everyday work gets done," students could use Podio as a school social network devoted to thier studies. Much like a Facebook account, students would use Podio to complete assignments and discuss classroom content. This collaborative tool can also be used as a place students could use to complete projects and group work assignments. This sort of experience would be effective for teachers looking to have students working with other students from different schools/districts on a common project. This could be useful with Project Based Learning assignments as well.

I see that Podio is targeting higher ed students, and wonder whether it would be to risky to use it in k12. See: http://blog.podio.com/2011/11/16/podios-free-university-program-supports-students-the-real-future-of-work/ There's no teacher control board as there is in Diigo, for example.

Week 9: This is a great website to connect students to real life math problems. By doing math with real life problems students are problem solving like they would in a word problem, sometimes without even knowing it. This site gives sample lessons and projects to help teachers and parents connect math to the real world. Math covers so many topics that hopefully you can connect to your students that like music, design, weather and so much more.

The different resources on this site that give activities and ideas to introduce real world math situations to students gives an alternative way to teach mathematical concepts. Teaching these math concepts from multiple perspectives increases the chance of student success. By connecting math to the real world, students will become more invested in their learning.

This website provides links to many different websites that provide activities that students can participate in that will help them incorporate real world math problems. The article was sectioned off into four distinct sections including collections of real world math problems, online math activities, math collaboration, and more real world math activities. This is certainly a website that is worth saving and coming back to over a course of the year as there are many valuable resources that can be used.

This is an online platform for educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more. This would allow students to display knowledge and skills to create multimedia projects. It allows students to use animations, web cams, audio, attachments and blogs in the creation of their projects. It also has a feature that allows students to share their work with particular individuals or social networks. A subscription to this tool is as cheap as $10 for a whole year. They have other levels for pricing as well.

Example of how Voicethread can be used for a K-3 classroom project. After students researched a fish, they drew a picture and scanned it; then they each talked about it on a classroom voicethread compilation.

This is a resource for teachers who are not sure or need help organizing a proper rubric for assessing student work that is created with technology. I like how the site is organized; it is very user friendly. As noted by Edtechteacher.org, as time progresses, students will become more and more capable of using different technology platforms. Therefore, teacheres must be prepared to grade it.

This article discusses project-based learning in 6 steps. Ways to infuse technology into lessons.

This provides excellent resources to support the Common Core initiative. It stresses the case for an interdisciplinary approach to learning and suggests that  "to prepare our students for an integrated world, we need to break out of the separate-discipline mentality and develop more holistic and problem/project-based approaches. "

Example of how a poster project can address all modes of communication.

Student Engagement The video is appropriate for grade 9-12 and it covers social studies literacy. Moreover, the video provides strategies that educators can employ to challenge, engage and empower students. This is done by introducing students to topics that affect them every day. This is a good instructional tactics that can be employed by my team. During our review, we realized the important of student's engagement and team work to learning and understating the topics in the assessment data that we reviewed. Having students work in groups and on projects goes a long way to improve collaboration, team building and learning among students. In addition, students were given complex topics to explore and they were introduced to research paper. Educators can use the protocol to determine the level of engagements, design innovative curriculum and instructions, and increase students strategic reasoning skills. For instance, educator may use some assessment tool like quizlet live to build collaborative learning and engagement among students. Student can become innovative through learning from the real-world related concepts or hands-on activities. The protocol can serve as blue print in this regard.

WEEK 8 - (Chris Baugher, Patricia Bankis and A. Burns) Assessment is the key to good instruction. It shows us what students know and allows us to adjust our instruction. Assessment is tied to learning goals and standards, but students must own the assessment process as well, as they must be able to articulate what and how they are being assessed -- and its value.

This article provides five useful strategies to help students improve and to improve assessments. There are two key factors in this article which ring true for me. The first is "formative assessment and feedback along the way" (Miller 2015) where students are given specific feedback on their assessment on how to improve and continue forward (Miller 2015). "Formative assessment allowed students to experiment and, yes, sometimes fail. However, they were given the tools, both through feedback and instruction, to improve and move forward to success." (Miller 2015). What this entails if differentiated instruction; something my district and school are pushing for. The second is "student ownership of assessment process" (Miller 2015). Giving students choice, options, and freedom allows students to take ownership and responsibility for doing something all while doing their best on it. In addition, students will know more about what is being asked of them or what they're supposed to do in order to earn a higher grade or preform the task more effectively. "These methods mean that assessment is no longer done to students, but with them, putting the focus on the student and learning" (Miller 2015). Hopefully with these implementations and integration, students can feel the focus from assessment scores to learning content and gaining understanding.

This article is useful when considering big picture assessment objectives. In my own experiences, I have touched upon each of these strategies when conducting an assessment, but I've never built each of them into one assessment. The (5) strategies mentioned in this article include: Aligning Essential questions at the beginning of a unit to standars, building in written assessment components for students to describe/explain in writing, creating performance and project-based assessments to demonstrate understanding and application of concepts taught, regular and on-going formative assessments and feeback to help teachers to better tailor instruction to meet each learner's needs, and involving students in the decision-making process when choosing activities and when determining diagnostic measurement tools. As a World Language teacher, I think that these tasks which are challenging in themselves to build into curriculum, become extremely difficult in the L2 setting. I'm wondering how L2 instructors find themselves doing each of these things on a regular basis. Do they conduct all of it in L2, as it is suggested that L2 teachers do, or does some of this end up being done in English?

Week 8- Article posted by Concordia Online Education in Teaching Strategies and shares 4 effective learning models (hands-on learning, collaborative projects, experiential learning, and direct instruction) that educators can use when engaging their students. Not only does the article define what these 4 models are and why they are important, it also provides examples of how these 4 models have been used in the classroom.

The Policy Conference is the most important European conference dedicated to sustainable energy policy issues. Sessions organised by the European Commission and energy stakeholders debate new policy developments, best practices and sustainable energy ideas, while networking events forge alliances. Awards for outstanding projects begin the week.