As a life-long learner and future educator, it is my job to make my self aware of the constant changes made in the world around me. I will be teaching in a classroom of students who have almost unlimited access to information at their fingertips, literally. As a result of the wide-spread use of technology there will be certain demands of the outside-world for my students as they tackle this changing world after leaving the classroom. It will be my job to prepare them for this transition. I will use Project-Based Learning to facilitate technology-use, collaborative work and creative thinking that will eventually lead to growth, for both myself and my students.
Some issues to this approach are that I may need to reconsider my learning goals, classroom manangement style, how I will assess student learning, and even how I set-up my classroom and communicate with students. However, in my journey to project-based learning I will keep in mind that we, my students and I, are both learning and growing. I will need to get familiar with the 'learner' role again and be comfortable with change as many of the methods I was taught as a pre-service teacher will indefinitely be tested in mapping out my own project-based, technology-enriched curriculum. In modeling my role as a 'learner' it will demonstrate to my students that change is essential for their own future success. I will need to keep in mind that my students are up for the challenge because they live in the real world. While the projects may appear challenging, they are certainly worth the effort,
An example of PBL in action was illustrated in Chapter 1 as readers were introduced to New Technology HIgh, PBL was the framework for the curriculum at New Technology High, where the school population was 400 students. The district was faced with the demands of the 21st century's workforce needs. The district was challenged with creating an infrastructure of learning that promoted technology as a tool for research and problem solving but also for challenging students to think critically and to collaborate as a team. This lead to the New Tech model, in which schools are smaller by design which allows for personalization which transforms the school into a community of learners, both students and teachers working together. This leads to improved effectiveness in teaching. Furthermore, less time is devoted to student management issues which lends more time for learning. At New Technology High students were immersed in real-world learning, technology was easily accessible to all students, good ideas are shared, online tools that made assessing students and providing them feedback were more effective and easier for teachers. and the benefits to teachers were time and incentives to work together.
The benefits of PBL are endless when done correctly. Overall benefits of PBL are that once a project has been perfected and proven effective I can continue to use it for future classrooms or as a reference and resource to other teachers. Additionally, it leads to stronger communication skills of the students who are often grouped with other students and are pushed into working collaboratively. PBL creates student-driven classrooms by placing the focus on them which promotes inquiry and connection-making. In this method, students will develop a greater understanding of the world and the way it works.