Lesson 4: Instructional Design, Part Two
We began this week with location, assessment, and adaptation of lesson plans which were already created. We'll end the week with a more in-depth look at what makes a good Project-Based Integrated Technology Lesson Plan, and create a complete plan of our own to be used in the classroom.
Project-Based Learning
This week, we start digging into the meat of Teacher's Net - learning to locate and assess online (read FREE) sources of integrated technology and project-based lesson plans, how to adapt them, and how to put them into use. We began this week with location, assessment, and adaptation of lesson plans which were already created. We'll end the week with a more in-depth look at what makes a good Project-Based Integrated Technology Lesson Plan, and create a complete plan of our own to be used in the classroom.
The benefits of project-based learning are many, including:
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Accommodation of differenet learning styles and approaches
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Making content more meaningful and applicable to the student
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Development of higher-order cognitive skills, life skills, technological skills, and self-management skills
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Allows students to dig more deeply into a topic and expand their interests
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Greater retention of topics learned
- Helps students to gain confidence and improve social and collaborative skills
Older students, from about the fifth grade and beyond, are able to take initiative and direct their own learning to some extent, assuming responsibility for what they learn. This allows them to realize that they have decisions and choices about their learning, something which creates better success.
Furthermore, by integrating technology into this project-based approach, we are equipping students with real-life, work-related skills.
Preparation and Materials Needed:
In all lessons in this course, if you have problems downloading a file that I have linked to, try this method: Right-Click the link and choose "Copy Shortcut". Then, Right-Click in your browser's address bar and choose "Paste". Hit the enter key on your keyboard. This should bring up a dialogue that asks where you want to save the file to.
***Note: all books and reading assignments are optional and are provided as additional information for the student.
- A computer with Internet Connection and Printer
- Microsoft Word™
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- WinZip
