by Katharine Isbell
If you use project-based learning in your teaching, you already know the benefits of student-centered learning that is interdisciplinary and integrated with real world issues. The incorporation of an Internet component into project-based learning is a great addition to any teacher’s classroom repertoire. Whether students are using the Internet for research or producing a website to publish their project results, an Internet component can enhance their organizational skills, connect them with real audiences and others doing similar research, and foster a better understanding of the World Wide Web and how its members — including your students — share responsibility for its content. The following sites offer project ideas that will help you get started.
New York City’s PBS affiliate, WNET Channel Thirteen, has a fantastic on-line educational section linked to its website. Of particular interest to environmental educators are the “What’s Up in the Environment” pages, where you will find all the material you need for 10 projects on water, land, air and energy. The projects are intended primarily for middle school students, but can easily be modified for other age groups. Each begins with an extensive description of the project’s objectives, standards, time and materials needed, computer requirements, and lists of on-line resources for both students and teachers. The procedures for each project are organized according to the basic steps of any scientific investigation: state the problem; research and hypothesize; plan the experiment and gather data; and analyze the data and make conclusions. The project design also has two additional steps — “take action” and assessment — that help students to reflect on what they gained from the project. Overall, this is a great site for any educator who wants to bring project-based learning into the classroom, but especially helpful for those who aren’t quite sure how to start.
Skewl Sites is a portal site designed and maintained by teachers whose goal is to find and present the best in educational websites. While the site appears not to have been updated in the last year, it does contain a rich and varied assortment of projects. Teachers may want to use this site to get an idea of the range of possibilities that project-based learning offers. A word of warning, however: the quality of the linked sites is hit or miss. For example, some of the sites created by younger children contain animated gifs or music that provides little in the way of content.
One of the best places to find and view the end results of project-based learning is the Thinkquest site. Sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation, Thinkquest is an international competition that challenges teams of students and teachers to build websites on educational topics. In the Think-quest library of winning websites, I found over 150 student-designed sites dedicated to environmental issues, truly awesome examples of what kids can create with computers. Go here for inspiration, and perhaps to enter one of the competitions, which begin every six months.
In the Canadian SchoolNet GrassRoots Program pages, it is possible to view a variety of projects wholly dedicated to environmental issues in Canada. The GrassRoots Program and its industry partners provide funding to Canadian educators and students who are working on innovative collaborative learning projects involving information and communications technologies. All of the projects must culminate in the creation of a website. Not all the links were functioning when I visited, but the sites I was able to view were very well-designed and contained a great deal of information.
And, finally, of critical consideration is how you will assess not only the end product, but also the content knowledge and skills acquired by the students during the course of a project. For educators who would like to know more about project-based learning, the San Mateo County Office of Education has an excellent, well-organized, and informative site entitled Project-Based Learning with Multimedia. The site contains definitions, examples, activities, additional links, and even technical support for any teacher or administrator who wishes to implement project-based learning.
As always, please let me know of any interesting sites that you run across in your web surfing. I’ll be happy to share them.
Katharine Isbell teaches Spanish at Wylie High School in Wylie, Texas