“I’ll Never Go Back”
For years, a high school humanities teacher named Adam thought he was doing a fine job of incorporating technology into his classroom. As computers became more widely available to his students, he made subtle shifts in assignments and expectations to take advantage of new tools. Word processing enabled students to revise their writing without the tedium of repeat typing. The Internet opened new research opportunities, helping him connect students with primary sources. Graphics software made for more compelling presentations. A class Web site helped him communicate about deadlines.
But looking back on his first decade in the classroom, Adam can see that those shifts did not make for a fundamental change in teaching or learning. He was merely layering technology onto the teaching methods he had learned a decade earlier. “None of that was a leap,” he admits. “I didn’t really change what I was doing in the classroom.”
The “big leap” happened soon after Adam gained some hands-on experience using digital media, including cameras and editing software. That got him thinking about the role of video in his classroom. Too often, he had watched his students turn off their critical faculties whenever he showed a video. Now, he began to consider a more active use of video—where students would be directors and critics instead of passive viewers. Many students were already savvy about making their own short films. Some uploaded their productions to social networking sites like YouTube. Why not build on this interest to reinvent a history project for his classroom?
Adam talked through his ideas for a new project with two fellow teachers. His small public secondary school, with about 100 students per grade, puts a premium on personalization, interdisciplinary learning, and teacher collaboration. In this setting, new instructional approaches and technology integration are not only encouraged, but expected. Adam mapped out how his project connected to content standards in social studies while at the same time increasing students’ technology fluency. What’s more, as he explained to his colleagues, he wanted to better engage all students—especially those who were reading below grade level. He planned strategies to differentiate instruction to meet his diverse learners’ needs. Adam’s fellow teachers suspected that students would indeed enjoy the project, but challenged him about how he would assess their performance. During a shared planning period, they helped Adam adapt a scoring guide to meet his requirements.
Back in his classroom, Adam introduced a project where student teams would literally “direct” their own learning. Instead of asking them to write traditional history papers about Prohibition, he had students analyze a selection of film clips that brought this era to life. Then, using editing software and historical photos, they were to create their own short documentaries. They would have to research, write, and record voice-overs to tie their films together. As a result, Adam envisioned his students deepening their understanding of this period in American history and also thinking more critically about media.
There were rough patches during that first video assignment, to be sure, as both teacher and students navigated new ways of working together. The teacher took advantage of his students’ digital fluency, with the video veterans in class helping their peers. For some students, this was their first chance to be a leader in an academic setting. Adam provided plenty of coaching to make sure the focus remained on history and critical analysis, while still allowing students creative freedom to incorporate graphics and music. Struggling readers needed additional instructional support. Adam prepared mini-lessons that targeted specific skills, such as reading newspapers for historical research or reading aloud with confidence to record a voiceover. Working within small teams, students found roles where they could contribute and feel successful. Overall, their documentaries showed evidence of solid research, good writing, and collaboration. Teams were eager to screen their final cuts for classmates, and the post-screening conversations gave students a chance to critique each other’s work—sharing their critical thinking with peers.
At the end of the unit, Adam received a career first: a thank-you note from his students. If he needed more convincing that he was on the right track, that did it. “I’ll never go back,” he said later, “to the way I used to teach.”
Not every successful project ends with a thank-you note. Nonetheless, there are themes in Adam’s story that echo in classrooms around the world. From California to Australia, from Singapore to rural Montana, more and more educators are making a similar shift. They recognize that digital tools are an essential feature of the environment where today’s students are living and learning. What’s more, they see how technology opens opportunities to reinvent projects so that they become more authentically connected to students’ lives. When they succeed in designing an effective project, teachers are wise enough to recognize that they are also changed by their students’ success.
Excerpted from
Reinventing Project-Based Learning:
Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age
by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss
 Available December 2007
Product Code: REINVT
ISBN: 978-1-56484-238-1
ISTE, 2007
Member Price $24.45
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