January 2009

Students are in it Together with Project-based Learning

TAF Academy, Andrew Miller, Teacher

What do you do when you encounter that one team member who just doesn’t pull her weight? It’s a common problem in our fast-paced world, where life has become project-oriented and deadline driven. Everyone’s in the same boat but your oar seems a bit sodden as you watch your co-worker casting for trout or working on her tan. How do you hold her accountable? Why didn’t she ever learn the rules that you follow?

Hold them accountable, but bring on the fun

Andrew Miller, one of TAF Academy’s ninth grade English and Social Studies teachers, believes that project-based learning holds everyone accountable for themselves and the group in which they find themselves. In fact, Technology Access Foundation is so strongly committed to project-based learning that they created TAF Academy centered on that theme; four additional public schools based on this model are in the developmental stages. Technology is the key to it all and Miller uses the Digital Learning Commons (DLC) to make it happen and make it fun.

“There is an instant buy-in with technology. Everything is in the workspace, online. They prefer to go and look it up rather than me giving them a packet of paper. My students will say, ‘I don’t want to look at a paper.’ But, if that same information is in an online workspace, it just hooks kids. I’m not sure why…,” Miller muses, “I think there really needs to be a case study about why online has such a positive connotation. They associate it with only good things.”

Integrate the DLC right into the project

For every project, Miller makes a workspace in Catalyst Tools and integrates other DLC resources, such as library databases or teaching resources into that workspace. “I try to have all of my research accessed through the DLC, and I instruct my students on how to use the different research tools,” says Miller, “The biggest success story is that they take that workspace and make it the “go-to” space for all the sheets or references or links they need. They also create a workspace for the team itself and create a contract of the rules of their group which they sign. They use discussion boards to communicate about the work or issues that arise.”

Miller tries to make the activities as technologically stimulating as possible. The groups still have to read the assigned book, but they might collaborate to make a podcast, create a blog, or some other outlet for writing that uses online tools. The DLC and an open mind take the “formal” out of essay writing. Miller still makes them write traditional essays to build skills, but he uses supplemental tools to “show that it is all writing—good writing—and online is just another way to write.”

What if someone isn’t rowing the boat?

There is no where to hide in Miller’s rowboat. Students who are home sick can access project status in an instant and upload their assignments to stay on track. The team member down with the flu, or a bad case of procrastination, is held to task by his peers within the team workspace. It’s genius. Ultimately, Miller wants them come to their own understanding that goofing off is a waste of their time.

He elaborates: “We even had a few students who were suspended for behavioral issues, and we talked about how to solve the problem for the teams because I did not stop the project or change their deadline. So, they reflected and came up with a plan to talk daily and give the people at home a way to stay involved. It is just evidence that they’ve owned the process. They give me access and I can see what they did, share it with their parents, and monitor their choices throughout.”

Relevant learning leads to integration

Miller says that his students love Catalyst Tools and using discussion boards. The relevancy of project learning and technology has led his students to use the DLC for activities beyond assignments.

Reflecting on this success, he says, “They are making workspaces for everything now. We were doing a creative writing project and some of the kids made their own creative writing workspace totally outside of our class where they share their writing with each other. They said, ‘Look what we did!’ Another student made a current events workspace where she posts articles and makes discussion boards. Kids go there to comment or just say hello. It’s kind of cool.”

Integration inspires creativity. Creativity inspires involvement. Involvement inspires community success, not just within Miller’s classroom but well beyond.

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