Reading Reflection 5

There several things needed before starting a project with students. The first thing to think about is what materials will be needed for the project? Make sure you have all materials before starting the project. The second thing to think about is if the project will involve the use of technology that is new to the students or yourself? Make sure to be prepared for the use of unfamiliar tools. The third thing to think about is will you need to expand your students’ access to technology. It’s important to think creatively about how to make access more frequent and equitable. The forth thing to think about is will your students need access to experts to answers and questions that are apt to come up during your project? Consider ways to engage with experts both in person and from a distance.

No matter if a project is small or complex you as the teacher want to make the best use of your time and your students’ time. A way to make the project organized and to manage time is by planning a project with a calendar with milestones along the way. When making deadlines visual, students will manage their time wisely. A good project calendar will help students see the deadlines of upcoming milestones so they can plan ahead, track their progress, and troubleshoot potential delays before they fall behind. Make sure students are aware of the smaller deadlines they will need to meet along the way if you’re planning a project that lasts several weeks. Share the calendar with parents so they are aware what their student needs to accomplish. Learning management systems offer teachers and students another way to organize all the components of a project in an online environment.

The project-management tools and strategies teachers need include:

-          Tools for communicating with students and others about the project.

-          Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur.

-            Methods for getting resources to students.

-           Systems for managing work products.

-          Structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time.

-          Assessment tools and strategies, including:

-          Ways to gauge whether students are working productively and accomplishing project goals.

-          Ways to assess the load balance within a team so no individuals end up doing too much or too little.

-          Ways to give just-in-time feedback on student work as it develops, not just when it’s completed.

The project-management tools and strategies students need include:

-          Systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work.

-          Systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts.

-          Collaboration tools.

-          Methods for seeking assistance.

-          Ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice.

-          Ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.

When planning a project think about how technology could be used in the project. A link of tools together in a wiki could be used, associate them with a blog, or alternatively, use a web-based “desktop” application. Using a wiki, users create pages of shareable content using just a browser and the most basic markup language to format text, add web links, or build new pages. Wiki is used by many collaborators to write together and then pull the contents off the wiki to publish in another form. Wikis are great tools for developing information that flows from many to many. A blog is another technology application that should be considered for use in a project. A blow offers a great tool for communicating about progress or milestones and to broadcast news related to the project.

A concept in this chapter is to invest out time wisely on the “front loaded” part of design before we engage students in project work. It also focuses on what things we need to consider before starting a project with our students. Lastly, it discusses the use of technology we may want to use to manage our projects and maximize learning potential. All these concepts relate to what our group is doing throughout our planning process for our project. One key thing this chapter discusses is the use of a blog in a project. Throughout this course we are using a blog to communicate with others on what we learn and plan to have our students do. Now that I know how to use a blog I will definitely consider using one in a future project for my students.