Project-Based Learning and Multimedia: What it is?

Background Information• Project-based learning is not a new

educational method. • The use of multimedia is a dynamic new

form of communication.• The merging of project-based learning and

multimedia represents an extraordinary teaching strategy that we call project-based multimedia learning.

• Guidelines for implementing and developing your own units based on this strategy.

• By project-based learning, we mean a teaching method in which students acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planning, and producing some product or performance.

• By multimedia, we mean the integration of media objects such as text, graphics, video, animation, and sound to represent and convey information. Thus, our definition is:

• Project-based multimedia learning is a

method of teaching in which students

acquire new knowledge and skills in the

course of designing, planning, and

producing a multimedia product.

• students' multimedia products will be

technology-based presentations, such as a

computerized slide show, a Web site, or a

video. These presentations will include

evidence that your students have

mastered key concepts and processes

Dimensions of Project-Based Multimedia Learning• Core Curriculum• Real-world Connection• Extended Time Frame• Student Decision Making• Collaboration• Assessment• Multimedia

Core Curriculum•  At the foundation of any unit of

this type is a clear set of learning goals Core Curriculum drawn from whatever curriculum or set of standards is in use.

• Core emphasizes that project-based multimedia learning should address the basic knowledge and skills all students are expected to acquire

• These projects lend themselves well to multidisciplinary or cross- Multimedia Multidisciplinary curricular approaches.

Core Curriculum

multimedia multidisciplinary

Real-world Connection

•  project-based multimedia learning strives to be real.

• It seeks to connect students' work in school with the wider world in which students live.

• You may design this feature into a project by means of the content chosen, the types of activities, the types of products, or in other ways.

• What is critical is that the students—not only the teacher—perceive what is real about the project.

Extended Time Frame

• A good project is not a one-shot lesson;• it extends over a significant period of time.• The actual length of a project may vary with the

age of the students and the nature of the project.• It may be days, weeks, or months. • What's important is that students experience a

succession of challenges that culminates in a substantial final product from which they can derive pride and a clear sense of accomplishment.

Student Decision Making

• students have an opinion• Divide them into “teachers” and “students” based

on a clear rationale (decisions)• Example: A teacher might limit students to a

single authoring program to minimize complications

• The teacher can allow students to determine what substantive content would be included in their projects.

• Students can make decisions about the form and content of their final products, as well as the process for producing them.

Collaboration

• We define collaboration as working together jointly to accomplish a common intellectual purpose in a manner superior to what might have been accomplished working alone.

• Students may work in pairs or in teams of as many as five or six. Whole-class collaborations are also possible. 

Assessment

•  Regardless of the teaching method used, data must be gathered on what students have learned.

• When using project-based multimedia learning, teachers face additional assessment challenges because multimedia products by themselves do not represent a full picture of student learning.

• Students are gaining content information, becoming better team members, solving problems, and making choices about what new information to show in their presentations.

Assessment Have Three Different Roles In The Project-based Multimedia Context:

• Activities for developing expectations;• Activities for improving the media

products; and• Activities for compiling and disseminating

evidence of learning.

Multimedia

• In multimedia projects, students do not learn

simply by “using” multimedia produced by others;

they learn by creating it themselves

• As students design and research their projects,

instead of gathering only written notes, they also

gather—and create—pictures, video clips,

recordings, and other media objects that will later

serve as the raw material for their final product.

Why Use Project-Based Learning?• Identifying, organizing, planning, and

allocating time, money, materials, and workers.

• Negotiating, exercising leadership, working with diversity, teaching others new skills, serving clients and customers, and participating as a team member.

• Selecting technology, applying technology to a task, and maintaining and troubleshooting technology.

Teaching the New Basic Skills, Richard Murnane and Frank Levy (1996) describe three skill sets students need to be competitive for today's jobs:

•  Hard skills (math, reading, and problem-solving skills mastered at a much higher level than previously expected of high school graduates);

• Soft skills (for example, the ability to work in a group and to make effective oral and written presentations); and

• The ability to use a personal computer to carry out routine tasks (for example, word processing, data management, and creating multimedia presentations).

Summary

• Project-based multimedia learning is one instructional strategy that you can use in a school year that may also include non-technical projects, lecture and note-taking, rote practice, writing, and artistic or creative work.

• What they will be doing includes: Planning and organizational skills

• Learning to present information in compelling ways• Synthesizing and analyzing complex content and data

• Practicing research and technical skills

• Learning how academic subject matter applies to the real world

Related URLs to PBL• http://www.edutopia.org /project-based-

learning http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/p http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/