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Open Educational Resources: Free-to-Use teaching & learning content from around the world

"I travel with a heavy suitcase. Over my 35-year career as a public school teacher and educator at Expeditionary Learning, I have been obsessed with collecting student work of remarkable quality and value. I bring this work with me whenever I visit schools or present at conferences and workshops, because otherwise no one would believe me when I describe it."

"I wrote a blog about one of the pitfalls of personalization for the ASCD Whole Child Blog. Specifically, that pitfall is the lack of engagement. With all the focus on personalization through time, pacing, and place, it can be easy to forget about the importance of engagement. No matter where students learn, when they learn, and the timing of the learning, engagement drives them to learn. When we factor all the pieces of personalization together, we can truly meet students where they are and set them on a path of learning that truly meets their needs and desires. Project-based learning can be an effective engagement framework to engage students in personalized learning."

"Well-designed project-based learning (PBL) has been shown to result in deeper learning and engaged, self-directed learners. Learn more about the five core elements of successful PBL. "

"Students are more engaged when learning relates directly to the world they live in. See how to extend your projects beyond the classroom walls."

"Project-based learning doesn't mean leaving standards behind. Follow these tips to plan projects that challenge your students and align with core learning goals. "

from Common Craft

8 minutes, secular, for teachers

Research shows the efficacy of an authentic form of education that expects students to immerse themselves in a topic and meaningfully demonstrate acquisition of skills and knowledge.

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.

"PBL provides a unique opportunity to help students practice critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. Learn how to optimize the environment for teamwork in your classroom."

"When they are directly involved in planning and steering projects, students are more invested in their learning. Get ideas for empowering your students to work independently."

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

Diane Zimmerman is the Associate Education Director at Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C. She wrote the Project Based Learning section of the lesson plan manual for Building Jewish Identity, Volumes 3 and 4, which will be published by Behrman House in March 2013.