Reflection #8

1.      Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom:

Blogs are a great way for students to connect with real audiences to reflect about what they are learning.  They can be used to find and talk with content experts to find answers to questions or receive feedback.  By allowing students to connect with real audiences or experts, not only in their own school, city, state, or country, but other countries with appropriate digital tools, such as video exchanges, wikis, blog entries, podcasts, and Skype, we are allowing them to expand their learning circle and have other people look at their project(s) and progress.  This in turn will motivate students to take more pride in their work and assume more responsibility, as well as provide them with authentic assessment.  As teachers, we can find experts in parents or people they know by putting out the word on our class website or blogs and create a list of willing experts and contacts.  However, if these experts are not available in person, we need to teach students how to locate these experts through research online and communicate with them efficiently to find the answers they are seeking.

 

2.      The EAST Initiative Model:

The EAST Initiative Model is the Environmental and Spatial Technologies Initiative network of 260 schools (2^nd grade to post-secondary) in seven states that focuses on the benefits of using geospatial technologies and multimedia tools for real purposes to solve problems and make improvements in their communities.  This allows kids to be hooked on significant projects and the community to support them, such as partners from industry and academia.  It is based on four essential ideas:

1)      Student-driven learning. Students need to be responsible for their own learning.

2)      Authentic project-based learning:  Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities.

3)      Technology as tools:  Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems.

4)      Collaboration:  When students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation.

It is critical that teachers receive training and support as facilitators to work with student teams that mainly teach and learn from each other with the help of technology (which they take the lead on when learning about them) to work on authentic projects that are presented at the end of the year to showcase what they have learned .  This model supports student interests by offering technical training led by professionals, along with online courses on specific applications, similarly to our professor offering technical training to us or tutorials.  Overall, the project focuses on collaboration to design a project, implementation and asking questions about what is working and how problems can be solved, as well as real-world issues that students may encounter.   

3.      Some reasons to let students “lead” their projects:

Students will be more passionate about a project if the issue they are tackling connects to their own lives in a meaningful way, such as a disability, their own heritage, or community, etc.  If students can generate their own project ideas they care about, they will feel good about communicating and collaborating with other students and experts that will help them find answers to their issues/questions.  This can be achieved with the help of digital tools, such as blogs, etc.  If students lead their own projects, they are able take charge of their own learning and think about what information they want to share and how they want to present their final presentation/project that reflects their interests, ideas, and what matters to them. 

4.      How do concepts in this chapter relate to our topic/project:

This chapter gives us ideas of how to create a learning environment that supports rigorous, community-based learning which focuses on student-driven learning, real-world problems, using modern and relevant technologies such as blogs, and collaborating with a bigger audience, such as other students and content experts. We are learning that project-based learning is a way for students to connect with real audiences and experts that can be in person, or online in their own classroom or school, or across the globe.  For our project, we are having students communicate and collaborate with students in Sochi, Russia via Skype video chat to exchange and compare information about weather conditions.  We are creating a blog for our students so they can communicate about their ideas and brainstorm about what they are learning.  The chapter directly relates to me writing this blog right now, which I will be posting as a tool for receiving authentic feedback and assessment from an authentic audience, such as you (my peers).  It is a tool to help us evaluate ourselves, as well as our projects.    

References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.