There are so many answers to this question! A few articles and videos summarized will help me to answer this question.
The video Project-Based Learning for Teachers explained the ideas of PBL. I think one of the most important concepts is what your students gain from this type of learning. At 1:34 it begins to tell of all the skills students can acquire by using PBL. Those are as follows:
- Collaboration skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Career and life skills
In PBL: What Motivates Students Today it is great for us to hear what really allows students the opportunity to learn. To summarize the answers in this video I would say were positive feedback from teachers, being able to achieve what they want in terms of college and being successful after college, parents enforcing good grades by allowing extracurricular activities or taking away fun activities. Positive enforcement seems to be the overarching theme in this video. Students want to do well when they are rewarded with things like "class money", "going into the garden", or receiving candy. Students also enjoy when the class is interesting like "music Mondays" and "whacky fact Wednesdays". It is important to keep students motivated to do well and want to keep learning.
Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration In Project Based Learning gives a few really great websites to use as an educator in PBL. For instance they talk about using Skype in the classroom. A lot of educators have been able to allow students to collaborate with other students from around the world through this educational version of the video call program.
Another cool website that I had never heard of is Wall Wisher where you can post virtual sticky notes for others to see. It looks like it might have been changed to be called "Padlet". The website gives you the option of using it for work or in school. This might even be a useful tool for teachers in the same grade or school to collaborate on their lesson plans with one another! There are many other useful websites to check out on this site!
In a high school two students were able to come up with a solution to the ever lasting problem of watery ketchup! They spent time sketching possible solutions to diminish the watery part of the ketchup. Through their schools technology they designed the perfect ketchup cap. The school homes a 3D printer which allowed them to print their design. These students really enjoyed that they were able to have a class that was interesting and, of course, this was through project based learning!
In Seven Essentials for Project Based Learning this article discusses "[what students] need to know, a driving question, student voice and choice, 21st century skills, inquiry and innovation, feedback and revision, and a publicly presented project".
The main theme and start of any PBL seems to be the driving question. Why is that? This article suggest that "A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge".
To the beginning there must be an end, the audience. In this article their audience consisted of " parents, peers, and representatives of community, business, and government organizations". Of course, you could have any audience including just the class, the school, parents, or any combination! I think having an audience really pushes students to strive towards their best work.
Sarah, I like how detailed your post is! I got many of the same conclusions and I really enjoyed this assignment. I agree that it is so important that we need to keep students learning and motivated. Nice post!
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