Below are notes form the Project-based Learning Session hosted by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss, authors of the ISTE publication Reinventing project Based Learning at ISTE2010.

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Birds of a Feather Session – Encouraging Project based Learning
Jane Krauss & Suzie Boss

Thing that most of what we see as PBL in our schools is simply fact-finding and presentation. The difference to higher order thinking in PBL is the driving question.

Differentiation happens more naturally. It’s also not so exposing of student weaknesses. It should have a place for kids to meet the project with their skills rather than the other way around. Give students choice.

It’s important to understand the difference between teacher-directed projects and student-initiated. All projects won’t be successful…important to learn from mistakes. Real life can be mirrored – it’s full of failure.

Good to package project…eg. “Figures of the Renaissance” vs “Mingling at the Renaissance Ball” – creates student interest.
Important element is that kids drive instruction, not teacher. Find things that interest them. (e.g. use comparing phone plans to learn about slope. Make it REAL!

Set expectation: eg. Every teacher in the building will be involved in a parent exhibition of student work…teachers wanted to show interesting stuff…sharing of results…contribute to body of knowledge…interesting work comes from projects.

Classroom 2.0 Ning – subgroup called “PBL – Better with Practice” (some great examples, sharing and conversations there)

Motivation for teachers will come through kids; improved attendance, etc… “If you’re bored, they’re bored!”…teachers must be learners too!
Exercise/Challenge: Looking at the current gulf oil spill, how might you come at this? (conversations at table)

Students can have different questions/projects based on their perspective

Relevance for students “What if it happened to us?”

Tags: iste10

I hope not!

At yesterday’s Edubloggercon10, the first circle I participated in was one titled “Are Wikis Dying?” It was suggested / moderated by Jeff Utecht (check out his thoughts on the session here) and was even attended by James and Adam from Wikispaces.

Jeff first started thinking about wikis and their future based on some conversations around the use of emerging Google web tools with teachers at his school in Bangkok. There can be no doubt that the emergence of web-based publishing tools of all sorts are/will have a tremendous impact as we shift to change the story of teaching and learning. The discussion was lively (and respectful), with many people sharing their experiences with both wikis and google apps.

In my experience, the real power of wikis is two-fold, the ability to embed other web tools with ease to create a dynamic story and it’s ease of use.  While Google Docs (and I use them regularly for many purposes) are powerful for collaboration, I think there are some things they don’t do as well as a wiki. And thus the point that I think many of us arrived at / reinforced yesterday – the tool has to match the application.  What wikis, google docs and all the other current and emerging tools give us is options.

Teachers often ask me about whether they should use a blog, a wiki or another tool. The answer is simply “YES!”. However, in order to suggest a specific tool(s) for them and their students, the real question is what do you want to accomplish? The tool will hinge on the learning activity.

Are wikis dying? For me the answer is a resounding NO! At least not anytime soon.  As Adam and James so aptly pointed out, all tools evolve. Wikis will also evolve, but the idea of a collaborative, shared space where students (and teachers) can quickly publish to the web and share their learning using a variety of tools, wikis are alive, well and thriving, another powerful web-based tool for our learning.

I am a huge wiki fan. I promote them heavily and believe they are the most powerful web tool for our classroom. In fact, I do many workshops each year on wikis and their use entitled Ten (Not-so) Secrets About Wikis.  It’s always a hit and teachers quickly see the power in the tool.

Image: Where to Find a Good Wiki, Uploaded to Flickr by CogDogBlog, Creative Commons license

Tags: iste10, ebc10, ebc10wikis

View from Hotel, Denver and the Mountains

I’ve been to ISTE before, but never had the chance to take in EduBloggerCon. Yesterday, that story was interrupted.

When making plans for this year’s event, I booked my flights to arrive in town in time for EBC, and I wasn’t disappointed. First of all, EBC is about learning. To have the time to meet, chat and listen to people – some of whom I knew before, some not – was great for my own learning. Secondly, it’s about the social interactions that help grow networks. It’s a whole lot easier to connect with another teacher using twitter or skype once you have met them face-to-face.

I’ll blog a bit more about the sessions later, but for now, thanks to those of you who contributed to my own learning yesterday through the conversations. EBC10 won’t be my last!

Tags: technology, education, whipple, learning, iste10, ebc10

Well, I’ve made it to ISTE2010.  I decided to drop by the Opening Session. I wasn’t going to as I was hoping to catch up on some blogging from yesterday’s EduBloggerCom, but Richard Byrne  from Maine opined that the speaker Mario Armstrong was worthwhile, so here I am! Here is a summary of the session….

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks at work. We’ve been busy putting together some summer PD, including our showcase event for our new 1:1 schools in our district and around the province – One-to-One Bootcamp for Teachers.

To say I am excited about what is happening in New Brunswick is an understatement. There is a real move here, a current that is growing stronger by the day, led by people who get it at the departmental level and supported by a cadre of change agents in districts and schools across the province.

We announced the One-to-One Bootcamp on Monday, and today we’ll pass 100 teachers who have registered, indicating their willingness to give up their time to start to piece together their personal story of change in their classrooms and schools. This number is exciting, but we want more (although I think my boss might be a bit nervous that we have created something we can’t manage!!). Today I sent the following email to colleagues at three schools in my district that I have worked with over the past few years (and all of whom will be involved in one-to-one initiatives next fall) and my technology mentor colleagues across the province.

Hi guys…

Next year might very well be the most exciting and important year in New Brunswick education history. The move from a traditional story of school where teachers and texts are the source of information and the audience for most student content is contained by the walls of the classroom is about to be challenged and interrupted by a new model of learning for the 21st century, a model where students can connect with information and individuals outside their classroom to create their individual stories of learning and have a global audience for their content.

SMART Boards and other technologies are powerful, but they don’t necessarily change the game.  One-to-one learning environments absolutely cry out for a new way of teaching and learning. Many teachers and students are about to embark on an exciting new journey where they will join together to learn, where the lines between “teacher” and “learner” become blurred. It a shift that is both exciting and absolutely necessary to transform our schools to places that help prepare our kids for THIER future…a future that is information-rich, digital and connected…one where individuals will work, play and learn in a global community.

I would hope that you could encourage teachers to check out the One-to-One Bootcamp for Teachers to be held in Fredericton in August.  It will not only begin to give teachers some practical ideas about what teaching in an environment where digital connectivity is ubiquitous and the student is the center of learning, but will also allow those of us who will be involved in the one-to-one movement around the province an opportunity to come together and start to build a professional / personal learning network to support a new model of learning for the 21st century.

http://1to1bootcamp.wikispaces.com

Educators across New Brunswick are invited…hope to see you there!

Yours in learning,
Jeff

You see, there’s one thing that we – as change agents for a new vision of school – need to do, and that is to promote and push new ideas and opportunities, without regret! It’s up to us to be the salespeople for our students and a new story of learning.