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For Your Convenience the following has been copied from the web site of San Mateo County's Project Based Learning with Multimedia. You may visit their site by following the link above. (Note: The original pages copied here had many links. Many of the links now lead to their main pages because their web sites have changed. Links that lead to another site should open a new page. To return here simply close the page.)

Planning and Implementation Overview

Steps for Planning and Implementing a PBL+MM Project

A note on using the Challenge 2000 MMP Website to plan for PBL+MM

There are several approaches to planning out a successful PBL+MM project. The following steps are one framework for planning. This framework is meant to help you plan your project and utilize the Website materials at each step. The framework is structured enough to guide your process, and flexible enough to adapt to your practices and needs. At the end of this page you'll find a table outlining three examples of how this framework could be applied, with links to narrative examples of how these steps could be carried out by different teachers doing very different types of projects.

Six Basic Steps

1. Decide on the project
2. Draft time frame
3. Plan activities
4. Plan for assessment
5. Begin project with students
6. Finish project and reflect

1. Decide on the project

May include: Identifying what content will be incorporated, identifying any constraints, deciding on multimedia component, deciding on scope of project, looking over PBL+MM components and deciding on major goals of project.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: Why do Project-Based Learning? (includes description of main PBL components), Planning Guidelines, Dimensions of Planning, Discussion Guidelines, Classroom Examples.

2. Draft time frame

May include: Deciding on length of project, writing down some due dates or checkpoints for project goals to be completed, allow room for flexibility, growth, and changes in project.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: Dimensions of Planning.

 

3. Plan activities

May include: Browsing the Challenge 2000 Website for appropriate activities, selecting a few, adapting a few, drawing on own activities, borrowing and adapting other teachers' ideas, deciding when in project time frame to use activities.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: Entire Curriculum Activities Section, including Media Literacy Activities, General Activities, Production Activities, Technical Activities, and Technical Help and Other Resources.

4. Plan for assessment

May include: reviewing or drafting some assessment goals (answering the question of what to assess), planning out what assessment tools to use, adding assessments to time frame.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: PBL+MM Guide Activities with Strong Assessment Components, Notes on Rubric Development, Questions for Student Reflection, Assessing Student Work with PBL.

 

5. Begin project with students

May include: Discussing goals with class, allowing for flexibility, keeping eyes and ears open for what is working and what is not, remembering to give students time to get the swing of new practices, adding activities or backtracking to strengthen group skills or management skills, sticking to original time frame or discussing and planning out any revisions to it. Students may also contribute to some of the initial planning of the project.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: Technical Help and Other Resources, including the Video Guide, Web Tutorials, and Storyboarding Guide.

6. Finish project and reflect

May include: Presenting finished product in a special forum, discussing or writing about highlights of project, discussing or writing about suggested improvements for next time, taking time to write down personal reflections on project and things to remember for next time.

Useful Challenge 2000 Website pages: (for students) Questions for Student Reflection, (for teachers) Forums and Chat Rooms, PBL Project Database. Also, generate discussion on the Challenge 2000 MMP Listserv.

Summary of Sample Project Descriptions

Because of the significant variation in projects, the above steps will look differently depending on the type and scope of the project, the grade level,the subject matter, and the teaching style of the participating teacher. Below are three examples of how the framework and Website could be used in three very different projects.

Project Title	Grade Level	Subject Matter	Medium Used	Scope/ Length	Constraints and Negotiables
Writer's Yearbook	4th grade/ Elementary	Language Arts	Web	Medium	In-Between
Interactive Quiz	7th grade/ Middle School	Math	HyperStudio	Short	Many Constraints
Civics Project	12th grade/ High School	Social Studies - Civics (Gov't)	Various, incl. Video, Web, Powerpoint	Long	Many Negotiables

Why do project-based learning?

Project-based learning (PBL) is a model for classroom activity that shifts away from the classroom practices of short, isolated, teacher-centered lessons and instead emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered, and integrated with real world issues and practices.

One immediate benefit of practicing PBL is the unique way that it can motivate students by engaging them in their own learning. PBL provides opportunities for students to pursue their own interests and questions and make decisions about how they will find answers and solve problems.

PBL also provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. Students apply and integrate the content of different subject areas at authentic moments in the production process, instead of in isolation or in an artificial setting.

PBL helps make learning relevant and useful to students by establishing connections to life outside the classroom, addressing real world concerns, and developing real world skills. Many of the skills learned through PBL are those desired by today's employer, including the ability to work well with others, make thoughtful decisions, take initiative, and solve complex problems.

In the classroom, PBL provides many unique opportunities for teachers to build relationships with students. Teachers may fill the varied roles of coach, facilitator, and co-learner. Finished products, plans, drafts, and prototypes all make excellent "conversation pieces" around which teachers and students can discuss the learning that is taking place.

In the school and beyond, PBL also provides opportunities for teachers to build relationships with each other and with those in the larger community. Student work-which includes documentation of the learning process as well as the students' final projects-can be shared with other teachers, parents, mentors, and the business community who all have a stake in the students' education.

Components of project-based learning

The Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project specifically focuses on project-based learning supported by multimedia. Seven features have been identified as key components of this project, for use in describing, assessing, and planning for multimedia projects.

• Curricular content is the PBL feature for which teachers and students may be held most accountable. Successful integration of content learning requires projects to be based on standards, to have clearly articulated goals, and to support and demonstrate content learning both in process and product.
• The multimedia component gives students opportunities to use various technologies effectively as tools in the planning, development, or presentation of their projects. Though the technology can easily become the main focus of a given project, the real strength of the multimedia component lies in its integration with the subject curriculum and its authentic use in the production process.
• The student direction component is designed to maximize student decision-making and initiative throughout the course of the project-from topic selection to design, production, and presentation decisions. Projects should include adequate structure and feedback to help students to make thoughtful decisions and revisions. By documenting students' decisions, revisions, and initiative, teachers (and students) will capture valuable material for assessing student work and growth.
• PBL accommodates and promotes collaboration among students, between students and the teacher, and ideally between students and other community members as well. This component is intended to give students opportunities to learn collaborative skills, such as group decision-making, relying on the work of peers, integrating peer and mentor feedback, providing thoughtful feedback to peers, and working with others as student researchers.
• The real world connection component can take on many forms, depending on the goal of the project. PBL may connect to the real world because it addresses real world issues that are relevant to students' lives or communities. A project may be connected to real professions through use of authentic methods, practices, and audiences. Real world connections might also be made by communicating with the world outside the classroom, via the Internet or collaboration with community members and mentors.
• An extended time frame builds in opportunities for students to plan, revise and reflect on their learning. Though the time frame and scope of projects may vary widely, they should all include adequate time and materials to support meaningful doing and learning.
• With its innovative approach to learning, PBL also requires an innovative approach to assessment. Just as learning is an ongoing process, assessment can be an ongoing process of documenting that learning. PBL requires varied and frequent assessment, including teacher assessment, peer assessment, self-assessment, and reflection. Assessment practices should also be inclusive and well understood by students, allowing them opportunities to participate in the assessment process in ways not typically supported by more traditional teacher-centered lessons.