This week our topics revolved around learning. This
consisted of the idea that learning is contextual, active, social, and
reflective. We as teachers must keep this in mind when thinking about
instructional design, especially when it deals with technology. “By utilizing
technology in a manner congruent with contemporary learning theories, teachers
can design meaningful modules, lessons, units, and other learning activities
for students” (Bauer, 2014, p. 147).
Project based learning took this idea to the next
level. If every lesson is based on
listening to a teacher, taking notes, and then getting quizzed, we are not
doing our job as teachers to expand learning in our classrooms. The idea of
project based learning is to have students learn by doing. Pairing this with
the concept of backwards design, teachers have the capabilities of creating
lessons that really give meaning to the students before us.
With technology to help us, we can have projects done in a
different way. This was the first time I have been asked to design a WebQuest.
This design was foreign to me, but I soon gained a better understanding of it
and was able to easily think of ways to use it. I thought back to a project I
have done with my students in the past. During our unit on Music in the Movies,
I had my students create a life soundtrack to go along with specific scenes of
their lives as if they were being made into a major film. I have had a lot of
success with this project for students really had to understand the connection
with music to what is being viewed. What
can take this lesson to the next level is using a WebQuest and including more
technology into the project.
I feel that understanding learning and utilizing technology
can only help us enhance our teaching capabilities. I look forward to using
these tools, and I am sure students will love the project based learning it
develops!
Resources:
Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music
learning today. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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