Challenge Based Learning

Challenge Based Learning (CBL) provides an excellent template for students to provide solutions to big problems that they care about. When thinking about big ideas such as air, water, democracy, or animal life, students can be overwhelmed about how to make a beneficial impact in these areas. CBL provides students with a way to break down the topic and find a way that they can make an impact. I think this could be very beneficial in the classroom. Teachers will be able to help guide students through the process, but the ideas and the work come primarily from the students. This is also a great way to use Web 2.0 apps, such as Google Drive, where students can collaborate any time of the day or night.

I like that this promotes student activism in the classroom and shows students that even kids can make a difference in the world if they work together. What makes CBL truly beneficial for students is its structure. Starting them off with a big idea that they find interesting and then having them create guiding questions to narrow down their interests. I also enjoyed that in Apple's article regarding CBL, they have students develop a few different solutions to their problems and test them out with small groups. I like this, because students are able to see which ideas are effective and which are not. This way they are moving forward with an idea that they feel will work.

This is a great way for students to learn about topics that interest them, but also apply the knowledge they learned to a project that they care about.

Combining iPads and Literacy in the Classroom

I found these articles incredibly informative, and helpful. I have always seen teachers using ipads in their classrooms, but have been a little wary of how useful they can be. Reading these articles showed me that ipads can be not only very educational but also very reinforcing for students. Students are excited to use the ipad, even if the activity they are doing on it is reading. The article did a great job showing a variety of ipad apps and going into decent detail on how effective they are in the classroom. I was interested in the iBooks app and the ability to pre-load the ipad with books the students can read. This would be a very effective tool in any classroom, because it can accommodate students who may need larger text.

I liked the connection to transliteracy as well. When educating children today we need to make sure they are not just able to read, but able to effectively use technology in an educational or work setting. Having ipads in the classroom is a great way to reach both learning standards and technology standards. One important take-away I gained from this article is to carefully monitor what the students are doing with the ipads. Even though they are using educational apps, the teacher must make sure that the apps are at the students' level. Ipads can be a great way for teachers to combine multiple standards at once, but should also be actively monitoring and assessing their students to make sure they are actually reaching those standards.