Co-necting to Kids
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
Oct. 17 � 19, 2001

Presenter: Peter Skillen
Title: Question IT! Examining the Role of Information Technology and Collaboration in PBL

Technology enhances learning! Collaboration enhances learning! Not necessarily! Both are often central to project based learning. Let's critically examine these widely held assumptions.

Many online collaborative projects have recently appeared in education. Much effort and expense have gone into making these successful. Do the educational outcomes reflect this?

Having been a protagonist for both technology and collaboration over the last few decades, it has become clear that the issue is not �Do they help?' but rather �How can we use technology and collaboration to enhance learning?'

Passion, purpose, self-determination and supportive, reflective environments are key to successful projects. Students must be aware of their own knowledge and thinking and that of others in the group. There is a shared responsibility � one that dictates that students not only be responsible for their own learning but also for the learning of others. Students must know how to set their goals, plan their learning strategies, monitor their progress and reflect on the efficacy of their efforts - all within a social context.

Practical tips and techniques will be discussed in relation to classroom projects and also to exemplary online projects such as those of I-EARN, ThinkQuest and Global Schoolhouse. Student work in a multimedia collaborative journal (Journal Zone) will demonstrate how information technologies can be brought to bear on the issues of deeper thinking and curricular outcomes in PBL.

Participants will participate! In this session, we will put the specific collaborative journal techniques to work to achieve a better understanding of the issues.
 

� Logo Computer Systems Inc., 1998-2008. Todos los derechos reservados a nivel mundial. Journal Zone y el logotipo de Journal Zone son marcas registradas de Logo Computer Systems Inc. LCSI y el logotipo de LCSI son marcas registradas de Logo Computer Systems Inc.