Reflection #1

1.  As we journey through Project Based Learning (PBL), I agree that we need to keep in mind that today's students are up to the challenge of the digital world and its tools for inquiry/research, collaboration, and communication with varying levels of readiness.  In my pre-internship in a fourth-grade classroom I have observed first-hand how projects are worth the effort, because they engage all students and allow teachers to be learners and help us find new ways to engage with students through technologies that make projects more authentic, meaningful, and rigorous.  I had students research a project on the Earth, Sun, and Moon and create brochures online and present them.  Hence, we need to keep in mind that students live and learn in the real world and real-world projects can help diverse learners meet instructional goals in various contexts.  The book suggests that by engaging actively in the 'edublogger' community, we can offer improvements, share our strategies and ideas, reflect on our teaching practices, and work collaboratively to create such good projects for our students.  Is that, however, really the only way?   

2.  I agree that in the PBL approach, the overall benefits are that the teacher is no longer the content expert and student-driven learning is emphasized.  The learning communities come together to discuss, debate, and exchange ideas in PBL projects that shape the centerpiece of the curriculum and help students master the big ideas through deep meaningful learning.  I like how students produce authentic products by investigating open-ended questions through real-world projects/activities that allow for student choice based on their importance and practice the strategies of authentic disciplines, by collaboratively working together.  Technology is integrated as a tool for discovery, collaboration, and communication where students get to experience learning in a new way.  This in turn allows us to achieve learning goals in new ways by collaborating and implementing these projects across the globe.  I particularly like the fourth-grade project where students become "important detectives" to figure out where in the world familiar objects come from by tracking shipments in real time and trade information and artifacts with students in other countries and how it keeps evolving with better technology.  I agree that PBL prepares students to thrive in an ever-changing world and helps them with every aspect of designing, implementing, and assessing projects that meet the complex needs of the digital-age learner in order for students to make connections they would not otherwise see.  However, what happens if we need to solve a problem without technology available?

3.  I like how in the PBL approach, students benefit because they pursue their own questions to create their own meaning. Students access and analyze information from all corners of the globe, and connections amongst students and experts are made in real time.   I recognize that PBL increases student motivation, problem-solving, higher-order thinking skills, collaboration, participation, information fluency, digital citizenship, and creativeness.  I have gathered that students will learn how to work as a team to solve problems, collaboratively find answers, and learn to deal with change. I agree that with the PBL approach and the most important benefits where students develop good communication skills, good inquiry skills, students learn to be flexible with their working hours because they know other people are relying on them to meet their deadlines, thus teaching them responsibility, that the world does not simply revolve around them, and that through communication with and understanding of other people, individuals can do something about changing the world. 

4.  I believe that issues that need to be considered in the PBL approach are that it takes time to develop new instructional strategies, because students have to learn these new skills.  As teachers we need to collaborate with other specialists and teachers to effectively plan and prepare a project.  As teachers we need to be comfortable in the learner role, because the learning curve to master new technologies to get the job done can be steep and we may run into challenges, need to conduct more research, or seek out expert advice.  I agree that in the beginning we won't know all the answers, and adapting to change is essential for our learning and our student's learning.  The book emphasizes that we need to consider our learning goals, the way we talk to students, our classroom management style, the physical arrangements of the class, how we think about assessment, what work/artifacts to collect, and how to communicate with parents and colleagues to defend the 21st-century project approach. I agree that unless the whole school is convinced of PBL, it can be more challenging, in particular overcoming parents' reservations about technology to get the project started.  How can you make certain that all students are allowed to participate and that your principal is on board with time consuming projects when one has to meet deadlines and mandated testing?     

5.  I like how "New Technology High" believes that real-world learning offers benefits that textbook-based instruction cannot match and it drives the entire curriculum model to support the workforce needs of the 21st Century.  I like how technology is encouraged and everywhere and textbooks are rare, but is not the main focus and simply considered a tool. One of my professors once said: "You are as smart as the technology you are using" and I whole heartedly agree with that statement in today's technology driven world.  It is convenient how students can access their projects on any computer that is connected to the Web, even at home and online assessment tools are encouraged to give students feedback on their projects.  This is also possible, because the student body size is kept small and teachers know their students well, allowing less time on student management issues, thus allowing more time for learning.  I like how students are included in fixing the holes in possible projects and how teachers are encouraged with incentives to work together with a focus on instruction.  I think it is cool how the entire school with the help of the school district in Napa, California has students think critically, collaborate as part of a team by using technology as a tool for solving real-world problems/issues and in turn receives financial support to establish a cutting-edge infrastructure for learning.  I wished that teachers everywhere could be encouraged to experiment and be innovative, something that is not widespread in the public school system in order to share what works and does not.  However, I don't believe the classroom sizes will be small where I will be teaching and this model sounds like it works there because the whole community is behind it, but can it truly work for any community?