Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age

by Suzie Boss

Lead students through powerful learning experiences with Reinventing Project-Based Learning, a guide for educators, administrators and professional development specialists who want to make the shift to a more student-driven learning model. Explore proven strategies for overcoming the limitations of the traditional classroom, including a wealth of technology tools for inquiry, collaboration and global connection to support this new vision of instructional design.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Technology, Professional Development, Teaching

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Petra Willemse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the basics of PBL. Some resources are outdated now (sample websites and tools), but it creates a good starting platform for understanding the concepts.

[Viet Dung Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Reinventing project-based learning" offers me numerous insights about project-based learning, so many aspects to consider to initiate a project that meets all hallmarks of project-based learning.

If you read "Thinking through project-based learning", which was published in 2013, you will see a broad view of how to apply project-based learning in general and in some specific disciplines with lots of tools to support teachers. "Reinventing project-based learning" came out before in 2007 concentrating on how a project progresses, from the 1st idea about the project to time to reflect the journey of students and teachers. Each stage of the project is presented in detail with examples, therefore the book is so helpful to anyone who wants to start project-based learning at his/her school.

One thing I love about the book is that it reminds me about 1 vital skill I want to teach my students but I forget to teach myself: collaboration. Right in the first chapters, the authors expressed how essential it is to create a learning community, which benefits both educators and students.

In the end, I wonder that PBL is not actually new, it was suggested by some educators in the 20th century, why such an innovative idea has not been spread widely. I stuck to traditional education for my whole life in school. Because it is too difficult for most educators, or there are too many constraints educators to have to follow. After all, there is a slow education development in a rapidly changing world.

[Bill Seitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

For teachers seeking a CheckList-type book about how to structure student projects within the standard constaints (only have normal-class-schedule-time-slot plus homework to deal with, don't even use 100% of classtime, etc.), this is a handy book. It gives you nice phases, meta-questions, thinking-taxonomies, etc.

If you, on the other hand, believe that "real" constructionist project require changing the meta-game, this book won't take you very far. (It's possible that some of the online resources it refers to go farther...)

So this is kinda the equivalent of the book that helps you run more effective meetings, vs ReWork (from the 37signals crowd) that says "Meetings are toxic!".

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

You think you know project-based learning until you read this book. This book was a great review of what you already knew and really made you think about the details of a great project. A lot of planning goes into a fantastic project and it pays off with the quality of the kids work. Reinventing Project-Based Learning will get you started if you are new to project-based learning, brush you up if you are rusty, or help you fine-tune your projects. You really can't go wrong no matter what stage you are at with project-based learning. I heartily recommend it!

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just started reading this book and it's amazing! There's so much info in it that I find myself having to put it down in order to process everything. There is a wealth of information just in the introductory chapters and a ton of online resources to look into!
This would be a fabulous book for collaboration and professional learning communities! It could also be an invaluable resource for our IB program especially in the area of creating student online portfolios and exhibits and in so many other areas!

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an OK book but it was too much of an overview to help me with actually designing the PBL style for my classroom.

Teachers that don't have a good sense of tech or digital tools could really use it, though...because it was full of ideas for integrating tech. I already have my ideas about that and I couldn't really use any of the things that were suggested. This might have been helpful to me if I had read it earlier in my PBL reading instead of here at the end.

[Carrie Honaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the practical approach I normally favor in pedagogy books and had some of the underpinnings behind PBL, but the resources were mostly outdated and I felt that it was more of a book for teachers who had never integrated technology. Most of what was discussed already goes on in my classroom and I has hoping for something new. It was alright.

[Pedro Reynolds-cuellar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good discussion around the topic of PBL. It highlights numerous strategies and ways for integrating technology into classrooms. It will be especially useful for readers looking for a PBL conceptualization that they can expand into their specific context. There are not many detailed guides to deploy PBL, but it's a great starting point.

[Holly Esterline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, clear, practical advice on setting up project-based learning in your classroom; lots of examples of teachers who are doing it well and resources for learning more; talks about every step from planning to reflecting on the finished project and using that information to plan the next one; highly recommend this book

[Jeffry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about incorporating technology into Project-Based Learning. It's starting to get a little long in the tooth but the foundational concepts and ideas for the classroom remain relevant. Found myself marking many pages to refer back to later.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Practical applications for the classroom but still mildly boring.

[Daniel Sadicario · Rating 2 out of 5]

Classic pedagogy book with good philosophy but lacking great, original suggestions on how to put it all into motion.

[Duong Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tựa sách hơi kêu.
Đọc được nhưng không quá thích.

[Navasota ISD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Available for checkout at NELC.