Reflection #5

1)  Items that should be considered before starting a project with students:
The first item to consider are the resources needed to keep within budget.  I especially like the idea of using reusable materials from organizations like SCRAP (the School and Community Reuse Action Project) or craigslist to accomplish this budget goal. We can also post a wish list of supplies to parents, or acquire the supplies from local recycling centers.  Other resources are accessible and equitable technology, providing access to experts in the field being studied, technology coordinators and media specialists to help with presentations, as well as the strenghts and interests within a team.  The second item to consider is time management skills.  A great tool to manage time is a project calendar with visual deadlines of big tasks that can be accomplished by meeting smaller deadlines that are all shared with students and parents in order for them to plan ahead, track progress, and discuss delays.  The third item to consider is good team planning, such as how students will be organized based on complementing attributes or  different learning styles, and encouraging commitment to the team through a contract.  I like the idea of contracts because they hold students accountable for their role within a group and that way not one single person ends up having to do the majority of the work load.  The last item to consider is planning for assessment throughout the project using formative assessment, such as quizzes, conversations, and written reflections, and adapt them to meet student needs by using monitoring, observing, interacting, analyzing, and/or reporting, allowing us to monitor students and providing them with critical feedback.  I like the example of Esther Wojcicki, who provides immediate feedback to her students' writing, so they can revise their work before getting off track too far with a shared resource such as google doc.  This form of communication/technology allows students to give feedback to each other as an authentic audience.  Technology like google docs and other forms help support numerous forms of assessment activities, such as surveys, scoring rubrics to promote desired outcomes, and student reflection activities that help with self-assessment so that students can improve and grow.

2.  Teachers' and Students' Management Needs:
For teachers it is the project-management tools and strategies that make their work and communication during a project more manageable.  These include: A) tools for communicating with students and others about the project; B) tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur; C) methods for getting resources to students; D) systems for managing work products; E) structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time; and F) assessment tools and strategies, such as accomplishing project goals, assessing the load balance, and giving relevant up-to-date feedback.  For students, the project management needs depend on the resources and technical supports that we make available for them, as well as our own comfort level with technology.  They include: A) systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work; B) systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts; C) collaboration tools; D) methods for seeking assistance; E) ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice; and F) ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.  I like the idea of providing students with a Learning Management System (LMS), to guide them with all their management needs discussed in the form of assignment drop boxes, grading, calendars, chats, rubrics, presentations, etc. which is considered a project briefcase that students can access anytime for anything they may need or schedule appointments with teachers.  A project briefcase helps us stay organized and on top of what we need to get done, it allows us to monitor the progress and actual use of students.

3.  Technology Applications that should be considered for use in a project:
The book describes several technology applications we should consider, such as  A) web-based applications that include wikis (an easily edited web page with several authors that holds students' digital artifacts and monitors what students are doing / holds students accountable for their learning, as well as their contributions). These can be easily edited by many authors/students.  Once students understand wikis, they can associate them with B) a blog ( an easily edited web page with only one author that broadcasts and shares news related to the project.  You can access blogs by C)
 using web-based "desktop" applications, such as iGoogle, My Yahoo, and Netvibes that are highly configurable in regards to items like Web mail, calendars, notepads, and news and blog feeds, etc..   Additionally, web spaces such as Drupal and Textpattern, which blend content management and blogging to help students collaborate are a great way to make quick changes to organizational structures and are a great tool for students to support their learning. 
4.  How does all this relate what we are doing:
This chapter is informing us about what we need to consider when creating our projects, how to make our projects more manageable, and how to accommodate students' management needs.  Most importantly, it allows us to understand what technology applications to consider for our project, such as wikis, a blog, and web-based "desktop" applications.  In class, technology has been the main focus and so that is something we have become more familiar with, in particular using blogs and desktop applications.  We signed a contract to work together collaboratively in each team, and in our joint effort of creating weather lessons to go with our concept maps, we are developing forms of formative assessment that reflect what we want students to learn.  Feedback from our peers has been our way of formal assessment and self-assessment through self-reflection on our blog that in turn is reviewed for feedback by our peers, and allows for formal assessment by the teacher to see whether we are participating and understanding the tasks in creating our project.  Our teams have had to manage different web based applications, such as Inspiration to create our concept maps, google doc to communicate and collaborate with our team mates, and task stream  to create our lessons, etc.