Chapter 8: Building Connections and Branching Out

     There are some great ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom. One, connecting with experts, is a great resource and should eventually become second nature when student inquires are made. Expanding the learning circle implies not only including other classrooms or the school in aspects of the project, but crossing city, state, even continental borders in order to expand learning. Communicating project findings in the community can mean a plethora of things and details, but can be as simple as addressing an issue within the students' own community. Letting students lead the project can be a daunting idea, but can yield amazing results in student learning, as well as their feelings of self (self-esteem, self-worth, etc.). Another important branching opportunity is to just let some projects run their course; while some projects might have a very obvious endpoint, others might not answer all the questions posed and may lead on for an extended period of time.         
     The Environmental and Spatial Technologies Initiative (or EAST) has been a great advocate for using technology to solve real-world problems and improve communities. Started in 1996, EAST has now grown to reach over 260 schools and communities and has branched to include all ages and grades. The EAST model is made up of four ideas that have remained original since its inception:
1. Student driven learning
2. Authentic project-based learning
3. Technology as a tool
4. Collaboration
This initiative has grown an expanded since its founding, and has not only helped students and communities, but taught teachers a new way of leading their classrooms and aiding education,
     The first idea in the EAST model, student driven learning, requires that students be responsible for their own learning. There are so many benefits to allowing students to take the reins: increased interest, increased responsibility, heightened level of accomplishment, calls to action, etc. The list of benefits far outweighs the list of drawbacks; once you become comfortable with teaching and know that students can handle the responsibility, the anxiety of a student-lead classroom will ebb.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project. This chapter on branching out relates to our project because it gives us two points of view: one as a teacher, and one as a student. As a teacher, it's easy to see how these elements can come together in project-based learning, but some of the major concepts listed can seem daunting (student-driven learning, communicating with experts, etc.). On the other hand, through the eyes of a student, it's easy to see how we might be responsible for our own learning and progress, find channels to branch out and apply our project to the community, and so on. When these two points of view are melded together, a picture of how PBL could work in our future classrooms seems a little more realistic.