Reflection

How has your thinking about inquiry-based learning changed during this semester? What aspects of the course were most useful to you? Why?

I think I had a pretty good understanding of what inquiry/project-based learning was prior to this class, however I learned an enormous amount about how to implement this learning model in a way that is effective for student learning. It was interesting to think deeply about the relationship between I/PBL and technology, and to learn some specific ways technology can be used to support this learning model. Our readings and conversation about assessing student learning in an I/PBL model was especially helpful for me---I am not as confident in my ability to assess learning because my particular role at the school doesn’t require any formal assessment for grading purposes. However, I feel that my understanding of what an assessment is, and how to implement it is much, much more developed as a result of this course. Because of this course, I now include assessments in all of my teaching, often through reflective writing or peer evaluations that serve as evidence primarily for the learner themselves to see their growth.

What new technology tools have you learned during the course? Which were most valuable?

I loved using Voicethread for a whole lesson---I had never interacted with that tool for such a sustained period, and I feel that my understanding of what it is and how is works is much deeper and more nuanced as a result of that experience. Of course, my district canceled our subscription shortly after I finished this course, but I hope to advocate for it to be reinstated in the future. I also appreciated the experience of using a Google Site as a wiki---I’ll be interested to see if/how the new iteration of Sites supports that use, because it seems like a really different model to me. I took the time to redesign my final project site when the new Google Sites was announced, and I'm glad to have put in the extra effort of working with the new tool because it gave me significant experience with the new version, which I later applied in both redesigning my own library website and mentoring teachers who were required to set up new sites at the beginning of this year.

I also think this course was one of the most effective that I have taken at building a community of learners online---I appreciated that we experimented with a wide variety of technology to accomplish this, and that we branched out from the typical Blackboard discussion boards that most courses use. This class really “puts its money where its mouth is” in accomplishing the learning goals---even as a confident, experienced technology learner, I felt that I was pushed and challenged to explore and experiment with new things.

How did you feel about your final project?

I feel good about my final project overall. I felt constrained by the reality that this is a project I am actually going to implement in collaboration with several other teachers, and as a result I didn’t have the freedom to make it a truly superior, Gold Standard PBL project. However, it is an indication of the depth of my understanding of what Gold Standard PBL is that I can recognize the ways my project falls short. For example, my classmates gave me some really excellent feedback on how I could shift the core purpose/question of my project to make it more real world and concrete for my students, but making that shift would have changed the standards addressed by the final product---and the final product, per my collaborators, really needed to address the nonfiction ELA standards we selected together. So, I think I could have made a better PBL project in a more abstract context, but in my concrete context I believe I did the very best I could.

All that being said, when I compare this work to my first-ever project design back in summer of 2014 when I took my first Library Instruction course, my skills are infinitely more advanced and my understanding of curriculum design is much, much more developed. I’m particularly proud of the way I’ve incorporated a variety of technology tools into the project, using them to make the learning experience more effective---my ability to do this was in large part thanks to this course.

I also think I did a great job incorporating a wide variety of assessment tools into my project. Like I noted earlier, our learning about assessment really resonated with me, and I think my increased understanding and ability is reflected in this final project.

Overall, I felt that all of the learning activities built on one another, helping me to add depth to my understanding of PBL throughout the course. I liked taking on my own inquiry project early in the course, and being charged with reviewing and evaluating others’ work from the very beginning---it made it easier to more objectively reflect on my own work. This is definitely a skill that must be developed over time.