1. Description of some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom.
When working on a Project-Based Learning project or unit it is a great real-world and learning experience for children to ask experts questions about their field of work. This is a great way to incorporate inquiry into a PBL project. Asking your students' parents if they are experts in this specific area is a great place to look for volunteers. I love the collaborative idea of having pre-service teachers to aid in classroom projects. Implementing projects that include pen-pals and interaction with international students provides real-world experience and gives students a diverse outlook on life.
2. Description of the EAST Initiative Model.
EAST or Environmental and Spacial Technologies is a network of schools that use technology as the driving force for educating their students. They use technology to solve problems that students are interested in and to makes improvements to their communities. Students are introduces to professional level programs such as: CAD and GPS. They are able to interact with these programs on a daily basis to solve problems. EAST started in 1996 and now includes 260 schools in seven different states. EAST was designed and centers around four essential ideas: student-driven learning, authentic Project-Based Learning, technology as tools and collaboration. It is also important that teachers support and are trained in the Environmental and Spacial Technologies curriculum prior to implementing it.
3. Discussion on some reasons to let students "lead" their projects.
When allowing students to take charge of their own learning it creates a meaningful and more in depth learning process than a set, by the books project that is the same for each student. Students are able to use their personal interests as the main topic of their project. As future teachers, we want to make sure that students are understanding the objectives, but we also want to give them room to learn things on their own. Inquiry and Project-Based Learning are great ways to let students experience different programs, learn from different sources and make learning more meaningful to them.
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
Collaboration is a big part of our over-all project. Our group is always coming up with different ways to incorporate discussion and working with others. We have discussed collaborating with an elementary school in Colorado and comparing our vegetable growing results with students in different areas of the country to see how the climate affects the plants. Also, making sure that our students keep open communication with their pen-pals is important to know how each region of our nation differs and how people differ in other regions.
Technology is also very important to our project. We have used several different programs such as: Audacity, online blogs, Google documents and Excel, etc to drive the learning during our projects. We are able to have freedom with our project which makes it that much easier to accomplish our goals.
You listed some great concepts when talking about the different ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom. I loved your idea about asking the students’ parents if they are experts in any specific fields. As teachers, it’s important for us to learn about different models and concepts to further our students’ learning. It seems like you really grasped what the EAST Initiative model is all about. You have a great point about finding the balance between getting our students to understand the objectives, but also give them the opportunity to find their own learning path. Great, well-thought out responses!
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