PBL and PB&J

"How we use the technology available to us is more important for student learning than how much technology we use."

There is nothing wrong with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, at least for those without complicating allergies. It's a meal and it tastes pretty good, but probably fails to inspire us to think outside the culinary box.

As the quote above from today's reading exemplifies, we are getting plenty of good reminders that what we do as teachers is more about the learning than the technology. The emphasis on Project-Based Learning, though, raises the same questions. A good lecture is a good lecture because it is well-planned, practiced, and speaks to the concerns and interests of the listeners. I believe a good project, likewise, must follow a similar model.

Is it well-planned? Does each layer have new elements for those who will experience it? Have we anticipated at least some of the turns students will take as they give these projects a try?

Is it practiced? Does the project build upon understandings and techniques that students have had a chance to master? Will students recognize challenges and feel they are capable of meeting them?

Does it speak to the concerns and interests of the students? Will students have had a chance to articulate their interests such that the project builds from what they have learned and discussed before? Are new concepts linked to points of familiarity that allow students to see the connections?

Just like a cool technological toy, how much time we spend with PBL will likely be a function of how deep the interest in its use lies within us.

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The assignment questions:

1. How will your project meet your students’ learning styles and needs?

I'm not sure, frankly. I do know, though, that digital video projects have been welcomed by my students ever since I started doing them about seven years ago. These projects ask students to be creative and active, and I do believe that having them work with the content created by their peers in Japan will add another level of interest. I operate under the belief that if they are engaged in and excited about projects that require them to stretch their use of Japanese, then something is going well!

2. How will your project address higher order thinking skills?

It is my hope that our project will give my students the chance to think about something they have done for years in a new way. If our Japanese team members create videos that show a totally different way of approaching math than my students have experienced, it will perhaps allow them to think about how they think in new ways. Teaching Japanese in general accomplishes this on the level of communication - students learn that there are very different ways to approach how one chooses to communicate with others, regardless of the grammar and vocabulary that one uses.

3. How will your project address the skills business and industry tell us are important? (Collaboration, Decision Making Skills, Connecting to the Real World)

I believe that the project will address all of the SCANS skills:

Creative Thinking - Students will be asked to use digital media to convey topics that they have almost surely handled through far more traditional methods.

Decision Making - Students will choose how to create content knowing that their work will represent that of their peers in their schools and even more broadly in their country.

Problem Solving - Students will move from being passive recipients of knowledge to grappling how to convey concepts so that others can learn from their carefully crafted delivery.

Seeing Things in the Mind's Eye - Students will plan video pieces through brainstorming and critique, working together to make their ideas come to life.

Knowing How to Learn - Students will gain the perspective on learning that comes from attempting to teach; many will take their learning from passive to active in the process.

Reasoning - Students will face how others approach topics they learn in entirely different ways. They will have to develop an appreciation for and an ability to communicate about these differences.