The purpose of this session is to provide attendees with project-based learning ideas that integrate technology in addition to addressing the NETS-S (Refreshed) and 21st Century Skills. The introduced strategies have all been used with students in kindergarten through college and attendees will have the benefit of seeing student-made samples of each strategy. In addition to the student-made samples illustrating benefits of use at given grade levels and content, the session will provide examples (without samples) of ways the strategies may be used across grades and subject areas. Through this delivery method, participants will learn the versatility of the methods and begin to identify means of adjusting the strategies to additional content at their preferred academic levels. Introduced strategies will include use of video, audio, blogging, podcasting, page-layout software, digital photography, and slideshow software.

Following attendance at this program, participants will:
- Define project-based learning within a technology and standards-based framework;
- Identify specific project-based learning methods that effectively integrate technology; and,
- Provide examples of technology-based student-led learning projects for all grades and content areas.

Outline

1. View sample student-made project (“Mixed-Up Chameleon”)
2. Introduction to session
3. Benefits of using project-based learning strategies
a. Define PBL
b. Relate PBL processes to NETS-S (Refreshed), 21st Century Skills, and subject-specific content standards
c. Explicitly relate “Mixed-Up Chameleon” to NETS-S (Refreshed)
4. The strategies (For each, introduce the strategy, provide a student-made sample, and offer suggested uses for the strategy across grades and disciplines)
a. Video Methods
i. Adapting literature into first-person using video (“Mixed-Up Chameleon)
ii. Research-based videos (Mabry video)
iii. Self-expression videos (“Holiday Explorations” and “Patriotic Music”)
b. Audio
i. Mock audio interviews (“Lewis and Clark”)
ii. Process-practice songs (e.g., Civic Vocabulary; Fraction Rap)
iii. “Day in the Life” podcasts (TBA)
c. Blog-based mock journaling (TBA)
d. Digital scavenger hunts (“Geometry”)
e. Mock newspaper reports using page layout software (TBA)
f. Virtual museums using slideshows (“Native Americans of the Colonial Era”)
5. Group brainstorming (Invite attendees to offer additional suggestions)
6. Closing and question/answer period

Supporting Research

The National Educational Technology Standards (International Society of Technology in Education, 2004a, 2004b, 2007) are unique from other content-area standards because they cross all subject areas. There is an expectation that teachers of all disciplines use the standards for productivity and instructional purposes and that they prepare their students to competently use technology by integrating the standards throughout instructional delivery. Likewise, there is an expectation that teachers prepare students for success in the 21st century by ensuring they are competent in use of 21st century skills and tools (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004).

Some subject-specific standards also directly address technology integration. For example, standards presented by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics as early as 1989 noted the importance of integrating technology into mathematics curricula and included an expectation that technologies be available when teachers deliver instruction. The Council states: “Calculators, computers, courseware, and manipulative materials are necessary for good mathematics instruction; the teacher can no longer rely solely on the chalkboard, chalk, paper, pencils, and a text” (National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, 1989, p. 253). The National Council for the Social Studies Standards (1994) offers another example. It addresses the content of technology by recommending students learn about a core theme of “Science, Technology, and Society” that includes standards such as: “Seek reasonable and ethical solutions to problems that arise when scientific advancements and social norms or values come into conflict” (p. 43). In addition to curricular standards, social studies teachers are expected to integrate technology into their instructional delivery. In 1994, powerful social studies education was defined in the following way by the Task Force on Teaching Standards for Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies (1992):

"Integrated social studies teaching and learning include effective use of technology that can add important dimensions to students’ learning. Teachers can provide students with information through films, videotapes, videodiscs, and other electronic media, and they can teach students to use computers to compose, edit, and illustrate social studies research reports. Computer-based learning, especially games and simulations, can allow students to apply important ideas in authentic problem-tackling or decision-making contexts. If students have access to computerized databases, they can search these resources for relevant research information. If they can communicate with peers in other states or nations, they can engage in personalized cultural exchanges or compare parallel data collected in geographically or culturally diverse locations." (National Council for the Social Studies, 1994, p. 165)

Bringing together expectations of content-specific technology-infusion and pedagogical methods is the newly coined field of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, or TPCK (Harris, Mishra, & Koehler, 2007). Despite the call for greater technology integration in K-12 classrooms, teachers tend to neglect using technology in their classrooms, or they tend to use technologies ineffectively (Cuban, 2002). Project-based learning is one method for addressing the need to teach content while engaging students with 21st Century Skills.

References:

Cuban, L. (2002). Oversold and underused. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2007, April). Teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge: curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, Il.
International Society of Technology in Education. (2004a). National educational technology standards for students. Retrieved March 28, 2005, from http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_stands.html
International Society of Technology in Education. (2004b). National educational technology standards for teachers. Retrieved March 28, 2005, from http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html
International Society of Technology in Education. (2007). National educational technology standards for students, refreshed. Retrieved September 6, 2007, from http://www.iste.org/inhouse/nets/cnets/students/pdf/NETS_for_Students_2007.pdf
National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (Ed.). (1989). Curriculum and evaluation standards for school mathematics (1 ed.). Reston: National Council of Teachers for Mathematics.
National Council for the Social Studies. (1994). Expectations of excellence: Curriculum standards for the social studies (No. Bulletin 89). Washington, D.C.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2004). Partnership for 21st century skills. Retrieved March 27, 2005, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Task Force on Standards for Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies. (1992). A vision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: Building social understanding and civic efficacy. Approved by the NCSS Board of Directors: National Council for the Social Studies.

Presenter Background

Christy Keeler, Ph.D.
With specialties in instructional technology and social studies education, Dr. Keeler is a frequent presenter at educational conferences including NECC, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Computer-Using Educators (CUE), the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), and others. In addition to her presentation schedule, Dr. Keeler is currently engaged in field-based educational research and she serves on many national, state, and local educational boards and committees. Dr. Keeler is published in peer-reviewed academic journals and is currently employed as a pedagogy scholar for a Teaching American History Grant. As such,she teaches courses offered through the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Heather Rampton, M.S.
Ms. Rampton has a background in video-development and educational theatre. Upon completing her teaching credential in 2005, she accepted a position as an elementary school teacher in the urban Las Vegas area. In her work with at-risk youth over the last two years, she has had the privilege of integrating technology with primary-level instruction. Her efforts and successes earned her the CUE-SN Multimedia Award for Elementary Schools and the Southern Nevada Council for the Social Studies’ First-Year Teacher-of-the-Year Award. In her second year of teaching, Ms. Rampton is already engaged in professional development, having received rave reviews during her local web-development presentations. Ms. Rampton also serves on the local CUE Board.