PBL Final Reflection

I  have aligned the bridge project with NETS holding the expectations that my students will be able todemonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes, throught the construction of a virtual bridge as well as use digital media and environments  to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, on our classroom wiki. My students will apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information to learn about different types of bridges and they will use critical thinking skills, to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisons using appropriate digital tools and resources while creating their final smart note book presentation about their bridge design and process. 

My project incorporated various criteria from the final, composite table we outlined as a group in the course Wiki. The bridge project will be academically challenging requiring students to complete research on which type of bridge structure will be the most structurally sound and cost effective to build. Students will build on their knowledge of bridges and create new knowledge through problem solving as a group and they will be engaged through the hands on bridge building process. My students will gain knowledge about technology through the use of online websites, our classroom wiki, and the smart notebook software for the final presentation. Finally, my students will work collaboratively with other students in order to successfully complete all aspects of the bridge project.

From the readings, the website references, and the assignments, I have learned much about project–based learning with technology. I have gained an understanding of the time and dedication it takes to create an authentic learning experience for students. My bag of resources has increased greatly and I have furthered my understanding of how to successfully incorporate technology into my classroom. I will be applying my new knowledge of project based learning by actual implementation of the bridge project in May of this school year. My goal is to evaluate the project design while it is in process and once the students have finished in order improving the educational outcome.

Now that I “know what I know” about project based learning some different steps or strategies I might take in a future project are to collaborate more online and with my fellow colleagues. Working with others opens the opportunities to many ideas and processes that I may not see. I have enjoyed exploring the classroom 2.0 blog and reading about other educator’s experiences. I feel that my students learning will only benefit with my desire to work with others to improve my teaching.

I see several differences using the project-based learning with technology approach to what is typically happening in schools today. The majority of learning is through direct instruction or small projects that are not designed to challenge students with higher level thinking. Additionally, the incorporation of technology is limited not only due to lack of access but also due to the lack of understanding from educators themselves. I strongly feel that project based learning with technology is a teaching and learning strategy that takes time and dedication to become successful. After completing this course my goal is to continue my education about project based learning with technology through implementation of a new project each year. This is an ideal way to build a foundation of ideas and continue to change and shape each project to meet the learning needs of my students. Additionally, working on one new project a year will limit the feeling of becoming overwhelmed. I am excited to begin this process with the bridge project this spring!

Screen Cast Reflection

I have finally finished my screen cast and I am excited to share it with my students. It has taken me multiple and I mean multiple recordings to get to one that I thought was decent. In the future when I am creating a screen cast I will be using an outline of the steps to make the process easier and faster. I struggled with forgetting particular steps especially the little ones that you need to include when teaching students how to complete a task online. I hope that my students will find my screen cast beneficial and I also hope that I will improve! What a process!

Web Page Process Reflection

                I have slowly but surely added, improved and tweaked my webpage. This has not been an easy process for me and although I have struggled I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish at this point. I have included a Picasa slide show along with a power point that will support my bridge project. I have also begun including the required links and have spent a large amount of time thinking about organization.

                Additionally, I have been working on my screen cast to teach my students about our class wiki but have yet to settle on a final version. At this point I am finding the screen cast to be the most challenging aspect of the required elements for our webpage. I am looking forward to becoming more comfortable with the process in order to provide my students with the opportunity to learn at their own pace. I like the idea that they will be able to watch the screen cast and to stop and play it at will, in order to become comfortable with our class wiki! In fact I am eager to share with them that I have just recently learned how to create a web page from a screen cast myself! I just know that they will enjoy the fact that I have learned a new skill in the same manner that they are about to.

PBL Ch. 7 Learning Reflection

As I began reading chapter 7 the following statement jumped out at me; “It doesn’t always unfold the way you expect. This is where the art of teaching comes into play” (Boss & Krauss pg 113). This statement is undoubtedly the truth and in fact things seem to very rarely go as planned! So as I move forward with my project I would like to include the necessary modifications to be prepared for various situations. I have implemented the bridge project once before and have already learned what I need to change in order to ensure that I meet the educational goals.

Providing students with the opportunity to share and discuss their thinking with one another is the first thing that I am changing from my initial completion of this project. This will give students an opportunity to learn more about themselves and each other. I will also be changing the questions I pose to my students, asking more questions that require higher level thinking and inquiry skills. My hope is to include several questions from each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Another important piece that was mentioned in chapter 7 is to assist the kids in focusing on the learning goal and not get sidetracked by the “cool” things in their presentations. I will be requiring a smart notebook presentation, which is a new piece that I am including, in order to integrate more technology. I feel that this maintaining educational focus is a valid point! Students and teachers alike have a tendency to get caught up in the aesthetics of presentations rather than the content.

Additionally, I liked the idea of having the bridge teams agree on their individual roles and create a group agreement clearly defining any consequences for neglecting their job. This seems to be a great idea to manage and prevent conflict amongst the team members. I will be including this process in my project plan.

PBL Ch. 6 Learning Reflection

One piece that stood out to me from reading Ch. 6 is to teach the fundamentals first. This allows the students to be able to be more independent when beginning a project. I plan on teaching both the math and science vocabulary that will be required to complete our bridge project. I will also provide multiple whole group opportunities for my students to learn about and explore our class wiki. This is what I plan to create my screen cast around so that they will have an example to refer to.

I like the idea of setting up a technology playground and having students teach each other. I have several students who have been in a smart technology classroom since third grade and whom are familiar with many applications! The stations I will be setting up are for the class wiki, building a bridge website, and how to search the internet properly for information.

The final section I found helpful in the guidance of improving my outline for the bridge project are the guiding inquiry question starters offered by Joyce Valenza (http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org). These starters will help me form and refine my essential questions providing the students with more room for independent thinking.