March 2006 — Features
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25 Tools, Technologies, and Best Practices
Putting PBL to Work in Schools
11 ] A Real-World Focus. The Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center in Fort Worth, TX, distinguishes itself with its focus on PBL, making connections to real-world experiences, and collaborative learning. Projects are chosen for their educational value and also for their value to others. There are interested audiences beyond the teacher—and those are reached with project information in the form of brochures, museum-like exhibits, and newsletters. Carlson students are studying Texas history by replanting a prairie, studying the flora and fauna involved, and making connections with Native American ways of life. For a look at an inspired student project, go to it.ftworth.isd.tenet.edu/101.
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] A Family/Community Partnership. Learn about a breakthrough
college preparatory program that sends students out to work two days a week
with mentors in business, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.
Families and the entire Providence, RI, community are made part of the program.
Authentic assessment through portfolios and rigorous exhibitions keeps kids
on their toes. And the depth and breadth of projects is startling: Students
have created workshops in biology; writing and producing public-access TV shows;
and designing, constructing, and installing solar panels at a Met school. Visit
www.metcenter.org.
13 ] High Tech at New Tech High. You won’t find any teachers handing out daily assignments at New Technology High School in Napa, CA. Instead, you’ll find students working on long-term projects that may include a written essay, development of a Web site, and a PowerPoint presentation or photo essay. Students present their work in an oral report, either individually or with the group involved. Computer technology and Internet savvy are part of the process, along with time-management skills and group collaboration. To learn more about this techie PBL environment with a Silicon Valley focus, visit www.newtechhigh.org.
14 ] Immersion in the Adult World. High Tech High School in San Diego is designed more like a workplace than a traditional school. Students there still take a full complement of traditional academic courses geared to the admissions requirements of the University of California, but in addition, each student has a personalized learning plan. Teachers, students, parents, and workplace mentors meet two or three times a year to create the plan—choosing projects, courses or seminars, college courses, and internships. The plan includes goals and timetables. To see how immersion in the adult world becomes a model for performance-based student work and assessment, go to www.hightechhigh.org.
