Read and Reflect #5

There are several things to consider before starting a project with students.  What materials will be needed for the project?  It is important to look at what you have and what you need, in order to assure you will have all the resources needed to complete the project.  It is important to keep in mind whether or not students will be using technology they are already familiar with or not.  Another thing to keep in mind is if your students will need to access experts to answer questions that may come up while working on a project.  It is also extremely important to plan for assessment so you can monitor students' progress throughout the project.

Teachers' project management needs include:

• tools for communicating with students and others abut the project
• tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur
• methods for getting resources to students
• systems for managing work products
• structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time
• assessment tools and strategies

Students' project management needs include:

• systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work
• systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts
• collaborative tools
• methods for seeking assistance
• ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice
• ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

Some technology-based applications that should be considered for use in a project include a wiki, a blog, Drupal or Textpattern, and personalized web pages.  A wiki is an easily edited Web page.  Students are able to edit and change it from wherever they are.  A wiki is a great tool to use in collaboration and in a team work project.

There are several topics in this chapter that relate to the group project we are doing.  The most important that stood out to me were knowing what resources you have and what you need as well as students' familiarity with technology being used.  It is important to consider how you may acquire resources that you don't already have.  It is also important to consider the technology you will be using as you may need to plan for some extra time spent going over it if the students have never used it before.