Project Based Learning Survey Responses

Bianca Hewes is an English teacher in Australia active in Edmodo, on Twitter (@BiancaH80), and with her own blog encouraging professional reflection on project based learning, and employing technology to engage students. She recently asked for stories about project based learning (PBL) to support her graduate research. Here are my responses to her questions. How have [...]

Posted by milesmac on March 19th, 2012 | No Comments Posted in Pedagogy

Minecraft 06: Lessons Learned doing History with Minecraft in the Middle Years

  Shortly after embarking on the project with our donated set of non-networked laptops, students asked if they could bring their own devices. A few students even figured out how to get an old WiFi router I had kicking around to serve as a hub for their server hosted on a Nintendo DS. Other students [...]

Posted by milesmac on February 10th, 2012 | 5 Comments Posted in Gamification, Projects

Minecraft 05: Students Start Virtual Project Based Learning

"Reconstruct an ancient Greek structure to scale. Later, you will take a visiting student on a virtual guided tour explaining everything you know about the building and its' purpose in ancient times. Your visitor should be amazed at how smart you are." That is the educational Minecraft project, in a nutshell. There aren't a lot of criteria. I [...]

Posted by milesmac on January 9th, 2012 | 1 Comment Posted in Gamification, Projects

Project Based Learning: Early Humans

Having tired of the evolution charts and polysyllabic mouthfuls of species, I suggested to my grade 8 students that we try something different. I proposed we do a SimSurvival project within which we would learn about human evolution and the rise of civilizations in an open simulation. The scenario is simple: for whatever reason, some [...]

Posted by milesmac on December 14th, 2011 | 4 Comments Posted in Pedagogy, Projects