Reading Reflection 8

1. Technology makes it easy to branch out and make connections beyond the classroom. Digital tools allow for sharing among colleagues, parents, students, and others. One great example of technology that helps make connections beyond the classroom is blogging. Blogging is an easy and excellent way to communicate with an audience and connect with others. Blogging and other communication tools are important because it allows each student to have a voice in the classroom. Other ideas to branch out include digital stories, researching, and others.

2. The EAST Initiative Model demonstrates the benefits of using technology to solve problems and improve their community. It is a great idea that allows students to collaborate, research, and display their work by use of technology. EAST Models can be seen in many schools today, and the teachers must let the students take the lead when it comes to accomplishing their goals--an example of PBL. EAST was built on four main ideas: Student-driven learning, authentic project-based learning, technology as tools, and finally, collaboration.

3. Letting students lead is essential in project based learning. As teachers, we need to understand that sometimes students are more capable of leading their own project than we are. We don't necessarily need to be the designer of the project--we should listen to our students and let them explore their options of projects that meet their interests. It's important to let students be in charge of their own learning

4. The first concept from this chapter that I could relate to our project is the use of digital stories. We are working on digital stories right now in order to introduce the main topic of our project. Another concept that can be used in our project is letting students lead. This is a neat way to see how students collaborate and learn on their own terms.