Reflection 6

As students gain more experience in project-based learning, they will better understand themselves. By using technology you can see your learning growth over time and where you struggled. For example, a blog offers students space where they can reflect over time about what they have learned. You can identify your strengths and weaknesses through self-reflection and by having peers comment on your posts. There are also online survey tools such as ProfilerPRO, which will help you identify your interests, strengths and weaknesses. Some software’s also help track trends and helps students see how their self-assessment compares to the larger group. This software will help provide you with the tools to become a better learner.

A great way to start a project is by first activating students background knowledge. It is important that you relate what the students already know to what they are going to learn about. KWL (Know Wonder Learn) charts are very effective when starting a new area of study. The goal is to get the students excited and interested in what they are going to learn. Another effective way to get students minds ready for a project is by telling the students about upcoming projects earlier. If next week we are doing a astronomy project, I might tell students to start looking at the stars at night. This way they are building interest in upcoming class topics and can make connections in class.

 It is a necessity to teach the fundamentals first. Students need to be pointed in the right direction initially so they learn what the teacher is trying to get across. After the teacher introduces the fundamentals students can move on to the more student-driven part of project based learning. It is especially important to teach students the skills needed for using technology software such as audacity. Without the fundamentals the project will move at a much slower pace and might not be good quality work.

Technology is not the project, however it is how the project gets done. When deciding to use a new technology in a classroom you have to plan ways for students to effectively learn how to use it. Asking yourself questions like: “What tools are best for the job?”, “What do my students already know?” and “What they will need to know?” will help you determine what technologies will be most beneficial. It is important to find out what your students are already experts at. If they are experts at PowerPoint then for group presentations have them use PowerPoint. In order to get the best project results you need to take into consideration what technologies work best for the project focus and what technologies the students are experienced with.

The key to promoting inquiry and deeper learning is by questioning. Questions require students to use their own experiences to connect to the topic. In order to comprehend anything you are thinking about questions in your mind. When you don’t understand a topic in class you have to ask a question so you can make a connection. This helps them relate what they are learning in class to previous experiences that will make them more interested. Hypothetical questions extend student’s thinking even farther. For example, “What if the Romans hadn’t invaded the British Isles?” Questioning is the key to deeper learning.

This chapter directly relates to what we are working on in class. The technologies used in class best fit the needs of our group projects. Some of the technologies we have used before and others we haven’t. The technologies that we haven’t used before Connie has taught us the fundamentals so we can complete the tasks. The project is very open regarding guidelines. This way we have choose topics that interest us and we will provide the best results.