Chapter 8 of Reinventing Project-Based Learning focused on building connections and branching out. This chapter reiterated much about what I have learned from being an Expeditionary Learning School educator. Students need real audiences in order for products to be meaningful and authentic. Knowing that there is a broader audience beyond the school walls does help students focus more on the quality of work that they are producing.
But having been a part of a school network that believes this, creating an authentic product is difficult and time consuming. It takes careful planning, setting up experts, an audience and then working on the product, with multiple revisions. It is a slow process, but students benefit from all of this work. They experience what it is like to persevere through the learning, planning and multiple revision process. And they feel a sense of accomplishment when all is said and done.
No comments:
Post a Comment