2. Project Based Lesson Workshop for Educators
For the final project for EDTECH 554 I have developed a professional training workshop that would
educate the teachers at my school in project based lessons. There are ten elementary teachers that are
at a tier 2 in technology integration and this workshop will assist them in moving into the tier 3 level of
technology integration.
The Workshop would be conducted over a teacher in-service period for 1.5 days. The technology
group at our district will conduct the workshop. The topics that will be covered in the 1.5 day workshop
are: Project Based Learning; What it is and Why I Need It, Pedagogical application of Project Based
Learning; Application of PBL Across A Wide Variety of Disciplines, Integrating Curriculum Standards with
Projects, Differentiated Instruction for All Learners, Networking Projects across the grades, Types of
projects, the School as a Three Dimensional Textbook, the Critical Role of Technology in PBL, Real World
Problem Solving, Critical Thinking Skills, and Inclusion.
Project Based Lessons improve Student’s learning and differentiate the learning by:
Project Based Learning has the potential to increase a student's feeling of responsibility for, and control
over, his/her own learning. Project Based Learning may be used with all learners it gives structure to
those who desire it, flexibility to others, and also allows time for building skills that are personally
challenging. Project Based Learning can be used for students with special needs, it can help learners
target certain skills, and also help improve metacognition, self-regulation, and motivation.
Project Based Lessons with improve teacher effectiveness by:
We are expecting the teachers to adopt a project-learning approach in their classroom. We are
supplying a workshop in project based learning to give the teachers the tools to integrate technology
into their learning environment. The goal of infusing project based lessons into the curriculum is to
assist students in exploring, investigating, and understanding their world while developing 21st century
critical thinking skills. We believe that project learning is an effective way to integrate technology into
the curriculum. A typical project can easily accommodate computers and the Internet, as well as
interactive whiteboards, global-positioning-system (GPS) devices, digital still cameras, video cameras,
and associated editing equipment.
The project based lesson workshop will also enable teachers to acquire the level of technological
integration to move them into a three tier level of technology use.
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3. Activities that are planned include:
The workshop is designed to give educators the pedagogical knowledge, understanding, and
foundational basis of the Project Based Learning methodology. They will receive practical teaching and
learning strategies with “hands-on” project based experience in the sessions, and view real students
conducting real projects in and out of real classrooms (video). Participants will then create and refine
their own projects.
Outcomes:
•
Philosophy, principles and practices of Project Based Learning
•
Application of PBL across a wide variety of disciplines
•
Essential role of Projects in fostering inclusion
•
How to integrate curriculum and standards with projects
•
How PBL supports differentiated instruction and multiple learning styles
How will learning be measured?
Learning will be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative data will be collected
from a pre assessment of the teachers’ skill at project based lessons. The data will be collected from a
survey developed based on prior knowledge of the pedagogical framework of project based lessons.
The pre and post assessments can be compared for improved knowledge. The qualitative assessment
can be through observation. Each teacher will be required to complete a project based lesson during
the school year. The principle will observe and offer a formative assessment of the lesson.
During the workshop formative and summative evaluations will be given. The formative evaluation will
include feedback to the participants during the workshop. The summative evaluation will be a survey at
the end of the workshop in which the teachers can respond to their learning during the workshop.
How will you measure the outcome on student learning?
An effective assessment program will involve:
•
Multiple strategies to demonstrate growth and performance,
•
The assessment will be in alignment to the stated goals.
•
Projects in which students create multimedia presentations, Web pages, artwork or songs will
be evaluated differently than traditional written or word-processed papers.
•
Assessment strategies will include performance tasks, teacher observations, personal
communications, some standardized testing, and student and teacher developed evaluation
rubrics.
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4. How will you know if learning returns to the classroom?
The principle will work with the teacher and the technology staff to develop and implement a project
based lesson in alignment with the curriculum. The teacher will be assessed based on the criteria
addressed in the workshop. The principle will observe the teacher conducting a project based lesson.
The teacher will be able to use the assessment as a formative assessment and continue and use the
information to develop their skills in project based lessons. The teachers will also be giving updates and
sharing their projects specifications during the collaboration meetings during the year.
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5. References
Critical issue: Providing professional development. Retrieved from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te1000.htm
Guerilla educators. Retrieved from http://guerillaeducators.typepad.com/ge/2009/08/project-basedservice-learning-workshop.html
Project based learning. Retrieved from http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/students.shtml
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