Resources for Project-Based Learning
Last month we released Projects for all our education wikis. Our intention was to give you a better tool for group work, but, as many of you have pointed out, they’re also great for project-based learning.
Project-based learning, or PBL, grew out of early 20th century education reform, like the works of John Dewey. It generally involves directed, open-ended questions, real-life problem solving, and presentation to an authentic audience. And, of course, it’s a great way for students to build collaboration and 21st-century skills while mastering content.
We’re really looking forward to hearing how you use PBL and the Projects feature in your classrooms. We’re so excited, in fact, that we rounded up a few resources from around the web to help you out:- The Buck Institute for Education is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to 21st-century learning skills, with a focus on PBL. Their site is full of useful resources, research, and teaching materials.
- The George Lucas Educational Foundations’ Edutopia site has videos and real-life examples around PBL.
- PBL-Online is an online laboratory for developing and sharing PBL resources and project ideas.
- This article from Scholastic discusses “The Power of Project-Based Learning.”
- You can also find more PBL Web sites and lesson plans at LearningReviews.
In The Child and the Curriculum, John Dewey observed that, “The logically formulated material of a science or branch of learning, of a study, is no substitute for the having of individual experiences.” We can’t wait to hear what those experiences look like in your classrooms.
