Reading Reflection 1

   1)   One of the major things that a teacher that is new to PBL needs to remember is that they are no longer the content experts for their students. The students that they are teaching have now shifted into the content experts in the field. The teacher must also adapt to the students formulating their own questions to pursue, as opposed to the teacher being the one to propose the questions for the children.

   2)   There are many benefits for students who engage in PBL. First, students are engaging in real world problem solving, not just book work. Second, students get the chance to work in collaboration with other students. Finally, they are introduced to forms of technology that they may have not know before, and learn how to be proficient with it.

   3)   As students participate in PBL, real world problem solving strategies are the main thing learned throughout this process. The PBL approach allows students to broaden their horizons in ways that traditional curriculums wouldn’t allow.

   4)   One of the key issues when discussing PBL, especially with technology in use, is a student’s parent. In order to successfully integrate technology into PBL the parents need to be on board. At first parents may see it as video games or web surfing, but once they see the benefits their children will reap from using next technologies the possibilities are endless.

   5)   New Tech High is putting PBL into effect as a cornerstone of their curriculum. Students are selected by lottery to attend the school and participate in heavy project based learning. This new type of teaching has showed positive benefits to the schools students, and is giving them real word skills that jobs are looking for.