Project-Based Learning: Preparing students for the 21st century

Dear World Wide Web, 

After reading a blog post on Edutopia by Beth Holland, I wanted to post on Project-Based Learning.

Has a student ever asked you, "Why am I learning this?" or "Why do I need to know this"? or "When I am ever going to use this knowledge in real life?" Education should not be about memorization or standardization. Instead, students should be engaged and excited about what they learning. Project-based learning allows students to research a particular topic for an extended period of a time, allowing students to engage in challenging and complex problem solving. 

As Holland laments, project-based learning "encourages students to engage in inquiry, explore real-world contexts, and share their learning. As an instructional framework, it allows teachers to achieve these goals while still meeting curriculum requirements." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzCGNnU_WM

As the above video illustrates, project-based learning begins with an authentic question or a real-world problem that needs to be solved. It is important that the driving question is something interesting to the students so they are compelled to learn. This gives students ownership of their learning and gives them the critical thinking skills they need to be productive and active 21st century citizens. 

I believe that project-based learning helps to tackle many 21st century literacy's. For example, as the above video illustrates, project-based learning often explores environmental concerns. Project-based learning allows for the students to actively engage in the environmental concerns happening within their community and they work to solve the problems. This leads to environmentally literate students who can eventually make a change in the world at large. 

Here  is a list of what is required to begin project-based learning. 

1) A need to know

2) A driving question 

3) Student voice and choice 

4) 21st century skills

5) Inquiry and innovation 

6) Feedback and revision 

7) A publicly presented product 

Thanks for reading! 

With every good wish, 

Miss Roberts