Project+Based+Learning

Currently, I do not utilize project based learning. I do have projects that students do such as planning a wedding, creating a house or researching a topic in my class. I think the closest thing to project based learning is the creating a house/community project. Students create all aspects of their homes, etc., but they do this project individually not collaboratively. I do think that there is a value in creating project based learning because it brings a sense of ownership to the project so students will be willing to complete the projects. One of the downsides of using projects is finding those topics or places that I can integrate project based learning with my curriculum. Once I find them I think it will be easy to utilize these items in my class(es). Another negative aspect of these projects is finding the time within the curriculum to integrate them into my teaching. I think the mindmap42.com would help with these projects by showing the ideas and how they have reached their conclusions. I also think the "Awesome Highlighter" could be used especially to collaborate between different groups.

This meets NETS Standard 4 (Problem Solving, Decision Making & Critical Thinking) since students are solving problems with authentic assessments and real life applications.