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4/24: What do you need to know to successfully implement "Creating a Better Tomorrow" with your students? 

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4/24: What do you need to know to successfully implement "Creating a Better Tomorrow" with your students? 

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4/27 What is ONE action you'll take as a result of your learning today? 

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4/27 What is ONE action you'll take as a result of your learning today? 

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5/1 What insights or tips do you have to help make students work public, both at the end and along the way?

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5/1 What insights or tips do you have to help make students work public, both at the end and along the way?

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5/4 How do you make student learning and work public? 

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5/4 How do you make student learning and work public? 

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ShareYourLearning Resource for making student work public, virtually!

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ShareYourLearning Resource for making student work public, virtually!

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Now, more than ever, students need to feel like their learning is connected to the world around them. Virtually sharing their learning through online exhibitions, student-led conferences, and presentations of learning connects students with an authentic audience for their work. Ways to

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5/6 Who or what would you like to appreciate or prop? 

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5/6 Who or what would you like to appreciate or prop? 

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PBLWorks was proud to collaborate with a number of national and international partners and hundreds of educators to develop the Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning. The framework describes six criteria, each of which must be at least minimally present in a project for the student learning experience to be judged "high quality." While High Quality Project Based Learning experiences can absolutely be implemented powerfully in low- or no-tech environments, there are many ways that technology can be used to support each HQPBL criterion and deepen learning. In this post (based on a session we facilitated at ISTE 2019), we'll explore each criterion for HQPBL, discuss the kinds of digital tools that can support the criterion, and share examples.

Intellectual Challenge and Accomplishment
Students learn deeply, think critically, and strive for excellence. From the Framework:
Projects should not just be "fun activities" or "hands-on experiences" requiring minimal intellectual effort. A high quality project requires students to think critically about a complex problem, question, or issue with multiple answers, and then work on that project over the course of days, weeks, and even months. To complete a project successfully, students need to learn important academic content, concepts, and skills. They should also be challenged to produce the highest-quality work possible and guided and supported as they try to do so.

Digital tools that support this criterion include tools that enable peer feedback, critique and revision, in-depth exploration of discipline-specific content, and opportunities to explore high-quality models of excellent work in the discipline.
One of the best ways to deepen student intellectual engagement within a project is through well-structured classroom discussions about the content and themes of the project. Parlay Ideas is a really wonderful tool for managing, deepening, and assessing classroom discussions. The tool enables and enhances virtual or blended discussions.

In a classroom characterized by intellectual challenge, students understand that the first draft should never be the last draft. Providing and receiving quality feedback from adults and peers should be a natural part of student life. Kaizena is a Google Doc add-on that permits anyone shared on a Google Doc with the opportunity to provide voice recorded feedback, tied to evidence of skills on a rubric.

Authenticity
Students work on projects that are meaningful and relevant to their culture, their lives, and their future. From the Framework:
To motivate students and show them the relevance of what they are learning in school, projects should be experienced as "real." A high quality project reflects what happens in the world outside of school. It uses the tools, techniques, and technology found there. It can make an impact on other people and communities, and it can connect to the interests and concerns of young people. Students' voices should be heard in a project, and they should be able to make choices about their work.

Authenticity in projects is supported by digital tools that mirror the tools that adults use in the professional world to accomplish similar work. For example, students might leverage 3-D modeling tools like SketchUp or AutoCAD that are also used by design, engineering, and technology professionals in the world outside of school. Additionally, digital tools can be used in the classroom to connect students to people and places in the world beyond the classroom. Tools like Nepris can help make these connections. Nepris connects educators and learners with a network of over 27,000 industry professionals, and offers daily opportunities to join live, virtual chats with professionals on a variety of topics that prepare students for college and career

Public Product
Students' work is publicly displayed, discussed, and critiqued. From the Framework:
In traditional schooling, most learning occurs in a private relationship between a teacher and learner; students complete work individually and show it only to the teacher. In a high quality project, students make their work public by sharing it not only with the teacher but also with each other, experts, and other people beyond the classroom. This occurs both during a project, as part of the product development and formative assessment process and at its conclusion, when the product is shared and discussed with an audience. This public process and final presentation encourages students to improve the quality of their work and demonstrates what students know and can do.

There are a wide range of digital tools that can support students' development of public products. Anything that involves content creation, including video tools, infographics, presentation tools, and virtual museum creators can be really helpful for in this area. Social media tools can offer another powerful way to make work public.

Audio recording tools like Soundtrap or GarageBand can be great resources for students to use when creating podcasts as products. (Check out John Derian's recent blog post about podcasting in PBL for more guidance and resources.) Another powerful tool to support public products is Canva, a free graphic design product that allows students to collaboratively create and organize products such as infographics, posters, invitations, presentations, and flyers. Canva also integrates with most social media apps and sites for ease of sharing.

Collaboration
Students collaborate with other students in person or online and/or receive guidance from adult mentors and experts. From the Framework:
Projects may be done as an individual activity, but in today's world - and workplace -- it is important to learn the skill of collaboration. In high quality PBL, some project work should be done as a team. This does not mean simply dividing up project tasks, completing them individually, then putting it all together at the end with no synthesis or discussion. When students truly collaborate, they are contributing individual voices, talents, and skills to a shared piece of work, while respecting the contributions of others. In some projects, students also collaborate online with students in other schools, and work with adult experts, community members, and organizations.

Collaboration can be supported by digital tools in a variety of ways. Students should be able to leverage online tools to work together on shared products, engage in synchronous or asynchronous communication with external partners, and recognize and celebrate effective feedback.

Write About is a classroom writing community and publishing platform. Students can join authentic writing communities, safely connecting with a local or global audience to write, read, and comment on one another's work. Another tool that expands opportunities for collaboration beyond the classroom is PenPal Schools. This site enables students to connect with pen pals their own age around the world to discuss specific projects and topics.

Project Management
Students use a project management process that enables them to proceed effectively from project initiation to completion. From the Framework:
Whether it's on the job or in their personal lives, people work on projects, and it helps to know how to manage time, tasks, and resources efficiently. In high quality PBL, students learn and make use of project management processes, tools, and strategies similar to those used in the world beyond school. Students may also follow the steps of design thinking as they manage projects.

Digital tools that support project management in the classroom include tools that help students break complex projects into parts, track tasks dependencies and timelines and curate resources, and support design thinking processes such as prototyping and testing.

Tools like Trello not only support project management processes, but are used in many workplace environments outside of school. Trello is a visual collaborative project management tool that allows students to create, edit, and move cards to track tasks. Students can comment on cards, assign due dates, and tag or assign specific team members. (Learn more about how to leverage tools like this for project management in another great blog post by John Derian).

For resource/research curation and organization, tools like Webjets can be powerful. Webjets is like a huge digital whiteboard with multiple interactive cards that can be organized freely or grouped together easily. A card can contain an image, an embedded video, a live Google Doc, an attached file, or a table containing a variety of elements organized into columns.

Reflection
Students reflect on their work and their learning throughout the project. From the Framework:
Learning is reinforced by reflecting on what we know and do. In a high quality project, students learn to assess the quality of their work and think about how to make it better. They pause regularly-not just at the end of the project, but throughout the process-to think about what they are doing and learning. By reflecting on what they have accomplished, students retain project content and skills longer, develop a greater sense of control over their own education, and build confidence in themselves.

Meaningful and varied opportunities for reflection throughout a project are critical to student learning. Digital tools that support reflection in PBL enable students to collect and look at their work and learning experiences over time. Reflection tools might also allow students to set and track progress on goals, and finally, effective reflection tools enable multiple means of expression (e.g., written, verbal, visual), so that students can focus on ideas and meaning-making rather than struggling to express themselves.

Flipgrid is one example of a powerful tool for reflection in PBL. Flipgrid enables asynchronous video-based discussions. A teacher can post a video prompt and then collect student responses in video form. Another reflection tool that is particularly supportive for even very young students is SeeSaw. This tool invites students to demonstrate and reflect on their learning in a variety of ways, including drawing, voice recording, photos, videos, document uploads, annotations, and any combination thereof. Students can compile their work into digital portfolios, explain their thinking and reflect on how their work has changed over time. Seesaw also offers great family communication tools that enable teachers, families, and students and/or critique, discuss, and revise.

Infinite Possibilities...

The tools we've provided here are just examples. We know that there are many digital resources and applications that can deepen and "supercharge" Project Based Learning, and we encourage you to select tools based on the needs of your students, the requirements of your project, and the resources available at your school site. When you do incorporate tools into your projects, consider using the HQPBL framework as a guide and an inspiration-- how can the digital tools you use help to enrich the student experience in these six ways?

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Supercharging HQPBL: Accelerating Project Based Learning With Digital Tools

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A list of tech tools teachers and students can use to support each of the 6 criteria in the Framework for High Quality PBL.

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Making Work Public While Teaching & Learning Remotely 

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Making Work Public While Teaching & Learning Remotely 

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As the school year approaches the home stretch, many PBL students are preparing to present and showcase their work.

This may take the form of an exhibition of senior projects or capstone projects, which should be a culminating high school experience. If designed with the Gold Standard Project Design Elements in mind, these can be the ultimate Project Based Learning experiences where students often design, plan, and implement their own projects.

Given the current context of learning during a global pandemic, teachers and students may find themselves rethinking what these experiences can and will look like. This also presents the opportunity to consider how our real-world context might reshape their project work.

For example, some of the teachers I support with implementing the senior capstone projects in my district have offered students the opportunity to pivot their projects. This gives them the freedom to consider how they are feeling about their work and its importance and ask themselves "How does the state of our world, community, and education right now matter to them and their work?" This freedom to change and lack of constraint may result in an even more engaging or meaningful experience for the student.

Many students are likely disappointed at the prospect of not being able to share their end-of-year work in person with other people. However, we have an opportunity for students to reflect on project work and consider or reconsider the following questions:

1. Who is the best audience for sharing what I have learned?

Audience is an inherent part of both authenticity and public product, two of the design elements of Gold Standard PBL. Students must reflect on how to "make their work public by explaining, displaying or presenting to an audience beyond the classroom." The audience now may be different than what was originally planned or intended.

Similarly, students may wonder how their project is still "meaningful and relevant" and who might be interested in their work. In many PBL experiences, students share their work with a panel or an audience in a live presentation. Considering this question again asks students to reach out to those in the community whom they may have not connected with-but who may actually represent an even more authentic audience.

While the school buildings and classroom doors are currently closed, there are people in the field who are still very much connected and interested in what students have learned or created. For example, if their project focused on addressing mental health advocacy for teens, they might connect with a practitioner in that field to share their findings and conclusions and learn about telehealth work that is currently happening. If the student's project resulted in advocating for a policy change, then the audience may be the policymakers. Students might consider writing a letter or sharing their plans/ideas/findings in writing with legislators or other changemakers.

2. What is the best tool or way to share what I have learned?

Many PBL experiences and capstone projects culminate in a presentation of learning or showcase of products to the public-perhaps families, other students, and educators. Though that face-to-face format for sharing work is not currently available, students and teachers alike now have an opportunity to approach this differently.

This new reality for students might include trying out a new tech tool that they hadn't considered prior to the school closure. Many ideas for this are suggested by PBLWorks National Faculty in a previous blog post on Using PBL in Remote Learning. Additionally, Common Sense Media has a comprehensive list of presentation tools to consider.

One way to consider this is to think about the purpose for sharing the learning and what tool would be best.

For example, if a student's project results in curating a set of resources or ideas into a visual presentation, they might consider creating a Padlet to share; they could do this in a low tech way, as well. If a student wants to have a live audience to engage with, then the teacher might set up a Zoom call or Google Meet, using the security and privacy features available to them. If a student wants to provide a presentation of their learning that is available to be shared, then they might utilize Screencastify or another screencasting tool. Ultimately, the goal is for students to have the opportunity to share their learning with others in a way that makes sense.

3. How will I gather feedback and reflect on what I have learned?

As these projects switch gears and move into a virtual or remote context, the opportunity for feedback and student reflection will continue to be essential. When others acknowledge and take interest in our work in person, much of that comes through face-to-face interactions. While that is not available in social distancing, feedback remains an essential part of the growth process of such a culminating experience.

Teachers can consider alternate opportunities for students to provide feedback to each other and opportunities to reflect. For example, Flipgrid offers an effective tool to pose questions for feedback and reflection.

While the presentation or public product component of these projects will not be the same as once envisioned, the learning can be just as powerful. Ultimately, the hope is that as educators, we can continue to engage and empower our students, by supporting them and honoring their experiences, interests, and hard work.

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Senior Projects & End-of-Year PBL: Making it Public in Remote Learning

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This may take the form of an exhibition of senior projects or capstone projects, which should be a culminating high school experience. If designed with the Gold Standard Project Design Elements in mind, these can be the ultimate Project Based Learning experiences where students often design, plan, and implement their own projects.

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4/29 What tip, resource or best practice would you share to structure remote student work time? 

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4/29 What tip, resource or best practice would you share to structure remote student work time? 

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5 Tips for Preparing Students to Present 

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5 Tips for Preparing Students to Present 

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How to Prepare Students for Explaining Their Work in Public

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A teacher explains how he uses discussion protocols during projects, plus presentation scripts and small-group audiences to ease the pressure.

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Project Zero's Thinking Routines Toolbox...AMAZING RESOURCE! I can see how many of these would benefit our project. 

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Project Zero's Thinking Routines Toolbox...AMAZING RESOURCE! I can see how many of these would benefit our project. 

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https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines#PerspectiveTaking

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Edutopia Article: Making Student Work Public 

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Edutopia Article: Making Student Work Public 

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The Share Your Learning campaign highlights the value of having students present their work to authentic audiences.

Fifth graders from Sherman Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, spent much of the 2017-18 school year investigating the health of the Salish Sea. As part of an interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) project, they conducted fieldwork and interviewed experts to learn about the coastal ecosystem that is literally in their backyard. To advocate for protections of this rich natural resource, they hosted an education night at a museum that sits on the waterfront.

"Sharing their projects with the wider community makes learning more real," says teacher Julanne Boyd. Since Sherman Elementary adopted project-based learning as a key instructional strategy three years ago, students have gotten used to presenting to public audiences. And teachers have gotten bolder about taking student work outside the classroom. "At first, we were sharing just with our families. More and more, our students want to be out in the community," says Boyd.

To bring similar benefits to many more schools, a national campaign called Share Your Learning aims to have 5 million students across the U.S. sharing their stories of learning by 2020. That will require the participation of 300,000 teachers.

"This could move the needle of what public education can look like," says Mari Jones, co-director of the campaign. Share Your Learning is a project of the Deeper Learning Hub, funded by the Hewlett Foundation.

Presentations of learning "allow students to dig deeper into what education means," says Jones. "It's not just about doing some work, having the teacher see it, getting a grade, and moving on. If we want students to be ready for their future, they need opportunities for communication, collaboration, and all the things that presentations of learning allow students to do."

Jones has seen those benefits firsthand. Before joining the campaign, she taught elementary school for several years in the High Tech High network in San Diego, where student exhibitions attract big audiences.

"Those connections with the community tell students, 'Yes, your work matters. Yes, we see you,'" says Jones. Presentations are springboards for reflection, helping students develop an academic mindset. The experience also prompts teachers to reflect, Jones says. "As a teacher, you think about, what is the work students are sharing? Is it worth sharing? Does it demonstrate what I want to be teaching? If not, how can we make it better?"

Although project-based learning is one strategy that leads naturally to public presentations, it's not the only instructional approach that sets the stage for student showcases. "You don't have to use a particular instructional model," Jones says, "if the outcome is that students are doing some sort of work that matters."

In fact, the idea for the Share Your Learning campaign grew out of conversations among school leaders from the Deeper Learning Network, whose schools use a variety of models. "When they talked about what their schools have in common, these practices for sharing student learning were one of the key pieces," Jones says.

How to Start

Getting started with student presentations doesn't require overhauling how your school operates. Jones suggests "a few simple hacks" that can turn existing traditions into new opportunities to showcase student work and inspire deeper learning. Here are three ideas to help you get started.

From open house to exhibition of learning: If your school hosts an open house, you already have a structure in place for bringing parents into the building. "Often, student work is displayed for these events, but student reflection about the work may be missing," Jones says. "What was the process that led to this product? What was the relevance to the learner?" Inviting students to talk with visitors about their successes and challenges can turn an open house into a meaningful exhibition of student learning.

From parent-teacher conference to student-led conference: Having students lead conversations about their learning changes the dynamic of parent conferences. "This is a relatively easy hack," Jones says, and it gives students more of a voice in their learning. Student-led conferences can work across all grade levels.

From graduation requirements to presentations of learning: Instead of ticking off requirements for graduation, consider how learning would be amplified by having high school students defend their work before a panel of experts. "It's not a far-fetched idea," Jones says, especially as more schools move to performance-based graduation requirements.

"If teachers want to try one of the strategies," adds Michelle Clark, co-director of Share Your Learning, "they will find clear steps." That's important, she adds, because 46 percent of teachers who have signed the campaign pledge so far "are doing these practices for the first time."

By late spring 2018, teacher pledges to join the campaign translated to a reach of 1 million students. Participating teachers are asked to share their own stories and photos from their school events on Twitter using the hashtag #ShareYourLearning. That will help the campaign showcase examples from diverse contexts, inspiring even more schools to take part.

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Sharing Student Work Beyond the Classroom

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The Share Your Learning campaign highlights the value of having students present their work to authentic audiences.

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Remote Learning Resources - Right Question Institute

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The hundreds of free resources you will find on our network will help you easily move into action to learn a strategy one day and facilitate the very next.

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Online / Remote Learning Resources from Project Zero out of Harvard

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The "At Home with PZ" toolbox was developed to help you answer that question. The activities you'll find here provide ways to adapt Project Zero strategies and frameworks for use in different settings: for virtual classrooms and for home learning; guided by a teacher working remotely or by a parent or caregiver in person.

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Here are the resources in one place for this HQPBL Project.

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Please take a few moments to share your feedback on today's learning. We will use it to address common questions and themes in the next session. Thank you!

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Here is the FAQ that we'll develop with each other along the way

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Participant FAQ_Facilitated Online HQPBL Experience 