Project Based Learning

When first I heard the expression 'digital storytelling' I understood it to refer to fictional writing. At the time I believe it did but now it covers all manner of writing and what have we always got our children to do to demonstrate learning? Retell what they have been taught. This doesn't necessarily move us far along Bloom's Taxonomy so what's the alternative? Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) have presented a reworking of Bloom that is suited to an age where material is deconstructed and reconstructed i.e. mashed. Creating, that 21 century skill, is at the apex.

This site has great ideas, how to's and inspiring examples for digital storytelling

Jennifer Wagner, creator of ProjectsByJen, has been succesfully encouraging teachers since 1999 to use online projects in their PreK-6 classrooms. Using various ideas, Jennifer will help you understand how online projects will help you make the most of your time in a variety of ways. Winning numerous awards for her creative ways in encouraging teachers to collaborate, her teaching style is very user friendly, creative, and personable.

good work

Edutopia post about sticking with PBL, even when it's hard, with hat tip to Bianca's Blog.

Bottom line the assessments need to be a tool to measure learning and growth and not as a way that set students up for failure. Assessments need to be used by the teacher as well as the student to guide student learning. Assessments are a tool and   not an end to themselves

Thoughtful response by Don Tapscott to NYT story on tech-distracted teens

Very interesting.

And, unlike the NYT article, the author references the studies he cites.

In this Edutopia post, I share ideas from teachers who are using today's headlines to design relevant projects. The challenges: maintaining student attention once the news cycle ends, and going deep into content areas. Pls share more ideas in comments.

"Are you ready to solve the challenges of space? Join the RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge! This is a unique education initiative that targets students in grades 9-12 and encourages them to explore and build skills essential for successful careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through two phases of project-based learning and team competition"

50 Excellent Open Courses on Teaching With Technology September 8th, 2010 | Author: admin The information below is taken from a recent posting on www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.com. It is a listing of 50 free online courses that are offered on a wide variety of instructional technology topics. The courses are free, self-directed, and accessible over the internet.  Rather then listing a few examples in this posting I decided to paste all of the links below.