Project-Based Learning

Three important things I learned from the reading is that project-based learning has evolved as a method of direction that involves core content by using hands-on learning, projects have open-ended questions that have students investigate, research, or find own solutions, and many trends have helped the adoption of project-based learning for 21st century education. The most important thing I learned is that project-based learning can have challenges for students and teachers but is worth doing.

"Challenge Yourself to Educate Yourself"

UDL Book

My UDL Book

WebQuest About WebQuest

Your Role

___Efficiency Expert

___Affiliator

___Altitudinist

_X__Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Grow School Greens	Colors, breaking down the directions/tasks, making sure all students have a job and know how to perform, "Hot Hints", fun way to learn, Links, great checklists and rubric.	Really long assignment with some difficult tasks to assign to students, could have used more pictures, some website mistakes.
Where is My Hero?	Good links, involves students working together in groups, explains how to research, lots of pictures.	Typos, could have explained work a little better, too short of directions.
Underground Railroad	Very interesting and well explained, assigned each student a different task within a group, lists orders, made it fun for students.	Long directions
Ice Cream	Fun and simple, great directions!	Could use  more pictures and colors.

My group and I decided that the Ice Cream WebQuest was the best one out of the four because it was simple and interesting. It had ways for students to brainstorm and get creative. It also explained directions really well while not making it too long and boring for students! We also decided that Grow School Greens was the worst WebQuest out of the ones we read because it was extremely long. Although it did have detailed directions and was interesting it was somewhat difficult and had some errors on the website.

Bernie Dodge, Department of Educational Technology, SDSU

The Learning Power of WebQuests

Three important ideas/things from the reading today are in a webquest new information is transformed by the learners, real WebQuests have meaningful use of the Web for educational ends, and a teacher’s presentation of Internet experiences helps students develop their understanding of problems, but the most important thing I learned is that the best WebQuests inspire students to see thematic relationships, to take part in the real world of learning, and to reflect on their own thoughts. 

"Work Together to Understand Better"

All Kinds of Kinds

Miranda Lambert is a country artist. One of her many popular songs is called "All Kinds of Kinds" which  talks about diversity. While listening to this song you realize that everyone is different and that you never know what is going on in someone else's life. The music is catching, it has a very nice rhythm. There are probably many different instruments used for this song, a main one would be a guitar. This song describes people from the circus, everyday people (pharmacists, congressmen), and Miranda Lambert herself. This song explains that all people, good and bad, keep the world spinning. When looking up the lyrics it shows that not all people are who you think they are, so you can not judge people just based on the way they appear. This song might inspire some people to not worry about what others think, because you along with everyone else are what keeps the world going. I believe Miranda Lambert wrote this song because of personal experiences, she suggests at the end of the song a moment in her life. This song was written to everyone, mainly explaining that everyone has their own lives that are not the same with everyone else. The music helps the song become more upbeat and catchy. This song is based off of around present time and shows how quickly people judge others. I think this song supports our groups understanding of why teachers need to support diversity in a classroom, because we know not to judge students. You never know what a student has going on in their home life and you have to give everyone a chance to be themselves. Also, you have to show students and remind them that everyone is different and you have to be nice to all peers.

Diversity

I have learned many new ideas about diversity. For example, I along with many others thought of diversity as race or culture. But it exceeds way past that, it involves personalities, view points, back grounds, and lifestyles. Diversity helps with being creative and thinking outside of the box. Diversity makes some people uncomfortable, but when applying diversity it can bring people together and help accomplish many goals.

"Diversity is exploring each other while being yourselves" 

Valuing Diversity

Three important ideas/things from the reading today are that many people mistake diversity to only "race" and "culture", multicultural education is a important part of valuing diversity, and multicultural education also emphasizes the importance of people sharing their stories and learning from the stories of others, but the most important thing I learned today is that building positive peer influence young people will change negative attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors about diversity.