Key points:
Project-based learning (PBL) helps prepare students for college and beyond by actively engaging them in meaningful and relevant projects. In many situations, students will work on these projects for weeks or months at a time, which helps them develop deeper content knowledge as they attempt to answer complex questions and solve real-world problems.
With advances in digital tools, many teachers are finding that using educational technology tools in PBL improves projects by providing direct access to greater sources of information and allowing students to collaborate more easily. Some believe that leveraging the right technology is one of the best ways to support students during PBL activities.
By using technology, students can communicate and collaborate in many new ways. Educational technology tools also allow students to learn beyond the four walls of the classroom, giving them many more opportunities to improve their critical thinking skills and understand real-world situations.
Collaboration in ABP
Collaboration is an essential element in PBL. In the real world, students will often be required to collaborate with others to achieve their personal and professional goals. It is important to teach students the art of effective collaboration when using the PBL approach.
Some refer to this as supporting a project learning community (PLC). When students work together, they foster a shared sense of responsibility that better supports their achievements. With a PLC, students can learn to listen better, they can learn to work as a team and share in the success of others, and they learn to hold themselves and others accountable. These are all important skills to have when moving from the classroom to the real world.
The best way to support PLCs when using the PBL approach is to invest in the right tools for the classroom. This will help you maximize the effectiveness of the PBL method by allowing students to work better together and in harmony.
Below are some educational technology tools that can be used when engaging students in PBL:
ABP Project Designer
PBLWorks, one of the leaders in developing high-quality project-based learning, has created a tool to help teachers plan PBL projects. The PBL Project Designer guides teachers through every step when designing a project, offering tips, instructional ideas, and links to resources.
Collaboration tools
Collaboration tools are perhaps the most important when using ABP. These tools can significantly improve project outcomes by improving communication, critical thinking, and innovations. Some useful team collaboration tools include:
- Asana
- Loose
- Wrike
- lucid spark
- Microsoft Teams
- InVision
These tools offer something unique, whether helping with project management, communication, visual creation, or whiteboarding. These are some of the best tools available today and are already used by some of the top companies in various industries to help their teams collaborate.
The Google platform also offers numerous project-based learning tools which work well in the classroom when students work together on projects. For example, Google Classroom can be used to create project materials. Google Docs and the Explore feature make it easy for students to create documents for their projects and easily cite their work.
In Google Sheets, the Explore feature can also be used to analyze project data using machine learning technology. Google Earth and Google MyMaps are great features to help students when working on projects where they need to explore geographic or even environmental data.
Google Meet is a great collaboration tool that allows students to easily connect through secure messaging and video conferencing.
Translate PBL into real-world solutions
Another benefit of using educational technology in the classroom with PBL is that it can also inspire and enable students to turn their project experiences into real-world solutions, such as creating their own solutions. tech-startup-ideas/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>ideas for a technology startup.
With so much technology and innovation at their fingertips, many students have developed their own startups. Some of the most successful technology companies started at home or in a garage, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Ending
PBL is a powerful teaching method that can help better prepare students for their future. With so many new tools and technologies available today, there are countless ways teachers can enhance the PBL experience, fostering greater collaboration and critical thinking skills that will be vital to success once students leave the classroom.
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