PBL – the best teaching method in the 21st century instruction Let me start this article with what Obama says in a speech at the Center for American Progress : “ Let’s be clear — we are failing too many of our children. We’re sending them out into a 21st century economy by sending them through the doors of 20th century schools.” This is a true statement issued from the lips of a political person rather than an educator. There is a profound disconnect between what students are being taught and what the actual world is demanding of them as adults. There is a huge need for a total reformation of school systems and curriculums to better fit in the 21st century education. Today, however, I am introducing you to a teaching ,or better say, instructional method that is called Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning or PBL in short is “ an instructional approach built upon authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation. Projects and activities are the keys to a better understanding of PBL. Some features of PBL
Flipped learning: A response to five common criticisms One of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what “flipped learning” is. Over the past few years, the Flipped Learning method has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures to be viewed in new locations. While the debate goes on, the concept of Flipped Learning is not entirely new. Dr. Eric Mazur of Harvard University has been researching this type of learning since the early ’90s, and other educators have been applying pieces of the Flipped Learning method for even longer. It’s our opinion that one of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what Flipped Learning is. Dr.
Inquiry Learning Ideas for Math and Science With iPads Digital Tools Laurie Sullivan/Flickr By Sam Gliksman The following is the second of a series of excerpts from Gliksman’s book iPad in Education for Dummies. We tend to split science and humanities as though they were separate branches of life. Today’s interconnected world demands that the doctor, engineer, pharmacist, and scientist increasingly master skills that used to be classified within the domain of the arts. More than any other academic disciplines, science and math draw their meaning by relating to life in the “real” world outside the classroom. Granting students the freedom to inquire and explore makes them the investigators of life’s mysteries. This chapter looks at tools that can be used with the iPad to help you investigate phenomena and collect data. Whether it’s geometry, physics, or chemistry, scientific method starts with research, discussion, and the development of a hypothesis about the phenomenon being examined. Submitted by: Dr. Submitted by: Dr. Related
How Does Project-Based Learning Work? Tools for understanding the process of planning and building projects. Project-based learning, as with all lessons, requires much preparation and planning. It begins with an idea and an essential question. When you are designing the project and the essential question that will launch the activities, it is important to remember that many content standards will be addressed. With these standards in mind, devise a plan that will integrate as many subjects as possible into the project. Have in mind what materials and resources will be accessible to the students. Teacher Eeva Reeder developed and implemented an architecture project for her geometry students. Here are steps for implementing PBL, which are detailed below: Start with the Essential Question The question that will launch a PBL lesson must be one that will engage your students. "Questions may be the most powerful technology we have ever created. Take a real-world topic and begin an in-depth investigation. Design a Plan for the Project
Flipped Classroom How flipping works for you Save time; stop repeating yourself Record re-usable video lessons, so you don't have to do it again next year. It's easy to make minor updates to perfect lessons over time once the initial recording is done. Let students take control of their learning Not all students learn at the same pace. Spend more time with students Build stronger student-teacher relationships, and promote higher level thinking. Other teachers are doing it, you can too Stacey Roshan found that the traditional classroom model wasn't cutting it for her AP students, so she flipped her class. Watch Stacey's Story Crystal Kirch started using videos as instructional tools in her class but soon realized the real value of flipping lectures was being able to spend more face-to-face time with students. Read Crystal's Story Tools You Can Use
5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners The humble question is an indispensable tool: the spade that helps us dig for truth, or the flashlight that illuminates surrounding darkness. Questioning helps us learn, explore the unknown, and adapt to change. That makes it a most precious “app” today, in a world where everything is changing and so much is unknown. And yet, we don’t seem to value questioning as much as we should. For the most part, in our workplaces as well as our classrooms, it is the answers we reward -- while the questions are barely tolerated. To change that is easier said than done. How to Encourage Questioning 1. Asking a question can be a scary step into the void. 2. This is a tough one. 3. Part of the appeal of “questions-only” exercises is that there’s an element of play involved, as in: Can you turn that answer/statement into a question? 4. 5. If the long-term goal is to create lifelong questioners, then the challenge is to make questioning a habit -- a part of the way one thinks.
21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning | K12 educational transformation through technology Five Best Practices for the Flipped Classroom Ok, I'll be honest. I get very nervous when I hear education reformists and politicians tout how "incredible" the flipped-classroom model, or how it will "solve" many of the problems of education. It doesn't solve anything. It is a great first step in reframing the role of the teacher in the classroom. It fosters the "guide on the side" mentality and role, rather than that of the "sage of the stage." It helps move a classroom culture towards student construction of knowledge rather than the teacher having to tell the knowledge to students. It also creates the opportunity for differentiated roles to meet the needs of students through a variety of instructional activities. 1) Need to Know How are you creating a need to know the content that is recorded? 2) Engaging Models One of the best way to create the "need to know" is to use a pedagogical model that demands this. 3) Technology What technology do you have to support the flipped classroom? 4) Reflection 5) Time and Place
New Classroom Questioning Techniques for the Best Year Ever Teachers ask 400 questions a day -- 70,000 a year, according to The Guardian. While preparing so many questions is a lot of work, you can save time by using some of the questioning techniques (QTs) described below. But first . . . Take the Questioning Quiz QTs have been the subject of hundreds of studies, many of which Kathleen Cotton summarizes (PDF, 161KB). I've worded some of her most insightful takeaways into this short quiz. Question 1 Which is more effective for fostering learning? Answer: "A", Oral questions. Question 2 Should posing questions before a reading be done with students who are: a) Older/better readers? Answer: "A", because young/struggling readers often only read the parts of the text that help them answer the questions. Question 3 Increasing the use of higher-order questions to ___ percent or more is positively related to student-to-student interactions, speculative thinking, length of student responses, and relevant questions posed by learners. Answer: 50 percent. Question 4
Instructional Strategies Online "What children learn depends not only on what they are taught but also how they are taught, their development level, and their interests and experiences.... These beliefs require that much closer attention be paid to the methods chosen for presenting material..." Understanding the Common Essential Learnings, Saskatchewan Education, 1988. (p.10) "The last decades of research in human learning have presented new insights into the ways that learners are active in constructing their own understanding.
How Do We Prepare Our Children for What’s Next? Culture Digital Tools Teaching Strategies Paul Schultz What kids learn at a young age will determine whether they're prepared for a future full of unknowns. When most of us were deciding what to major in at college, the word Google was not a verb. Fast forward a couple of decades (or more) and we see that the career landscape has changed so drastically that jobs need new definitions. Some of us could ask ourselves if we would have embarked upon our current careers had we predicted how the Internet would revolutionize every part of our lives? “We’re 15 years into something so paradigm-changing that we have not yet adjusted our institutions of learning, work, social life, and economic life to account for the massive change.” “We are right on time to give up techno-phobia and to tackle the problems and opportunities of the digital world with good sense, pragmatics, realism, and purpose,” Davidson said. Davidson offers three can-do suggestions for parents: EXPERIMENT WITH SCRATCH. Q. A. Q. A.
The Cycle of Inquiry and Action: Essential Learning Communities Sidebars:The Cycle of InquiryKey to Teacher Inquiry: Framing the Question, Planning the ResearchWhat Counts as Data?Three Ways of Looking at a Colleague: Protocols for Peer ObservationReadings and Resourcs In a true learning community, inquiry becomes everybody's work. Teaching, learning, community involvement, leadership, organizational management and change, professional growth–all take place in a continual dynamic of asking good questions and finding evidence that can guide a school's actions. The kids who skip school, the kids who cut class, and the kids kicked out of class all end up, at some point, in Greg Peters's office at Oceana High School. But prompted by a growing interest in equity at this Essential school, Peters started to wonder whether patterns would emerge if he kept track of who came through his office, and why. As attendance officer he offered extra support and coaching to teachers who were sending students to his office at a higher rate than most. Who Is a Researcher?