Project-Based Learning

Technology's Role in Project-Based Learning

One of the promising capabilities of project-based instruction is that it can assist the process of moving learners away from an environment where they are passive recipients of information to an environment where students actively engage in discovering, creating, and using new information. Proponents of this type of engaged learning advocate transforming the classroom from one where the teacher is the all-knowing dispenser of knowledge to a classroom where learners take control of their learning and the teacher facilitates this process. Although technology is not required for project-based instruction, this article will describe how technology can complement and assist this type of engaged learning.

An excellent starting point for obtaining information on engaged learning is the landmark publication, Plugging In: Choosing and Using Educational Technology (Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, & Rasmussen, 1995). This publication provides a background on how technology can be used to engage students in their own learning and transform the roles of both learner and teacher. Plugging In also provides excellent tools such as the Indicators of Engaged Learning and Indicators of High Technology Performance. These instruments can assist programs in evaluating their current use of technology and assist in their technology planning efforts. Recently, the National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL) modified the indicators described in Plugging In to reflect the characteristics and needs of adult learners and included the revised indicators in NCAL's ALL-Tech Practice Guide (Stites, Hopey & Ginsberg, 1998).

Engaged learning has its roots in Constructivism. "Constructivism describes that people learn knowledge effectively if they are personally engaged in constructing meaningful projects" (Graham Zaller). Constructivism proposes that the instructor's role become that of a facilitator who encourages collaboration among learners and shows learners how to construct knowledge. Technology, used effectively, can assist instructors in developing an environment where meaningful learning takes place.

According to researcher Barbara Means, we should be asking the following question about technology: "Is the student controlling the technology and making the decision ... or is the technology making the decisions with the student providing responses on demand?" (Means, 1998) When computers were first introduced in classrooms and learning labs, technology was most often used to support passive learning and the factory model of education. Students were faced with screen after screen of drills and ESL and ABE learners were often confronted with multiple choice questions that only required them to select an answer. If the student chose the incorrect answer, there might be a short explanation of why the answer was wrong, but there was no real engagement of the student - the computer software was in control of the session.

In the engaged learning model, the role of the computer changes. The computer "is not a device for delivering instruction, but a richly supportive environment for learning" (Garrett as cited by Graham Zaller). With the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web, computers now link learners to information on topics from every country in the world. This type of technology incorporates text, image and sound, and provides learners with the tools to create rich environments. The learner gains control over their own learning and chooses "what is relevant to learn" (Graham Zaller). The following sites are Web-based resources for projects being created by and for adult learners.

Susan Gaer's e-mail Projects Home Page provides an excellent example of creating an environment that engages the learner. This site demonstrates various projects that learners have become involved in that use prior experience and facilitate the creation of new learning. These projects do not require the use of technology, but when technology is added, such as the use of the World Wide Web to present student creations, a richness is added to the process and learners gain a new sense of audience and new skills are developed and reinforced. When technology is "used to enhance project- oriented learning ... student-developed products can take on new meaning and depth. Real-world applications and uses of technology is one of its greatest strengths" (Means, 1998).

The MUJER (Mothers United for Jobs Education and Results) Web site is another excellent example of project-based learning. The adult learners attending Anson Green's adult education class in San Antonio are creating Web pages that contain their personal stories and project publishings. Anson facilitates a process where students determine what their project will be and then they work together to complete the project. In developing the project, students learn to use word processing and clip art software to develop their stories and place them on the Web. These adult learners are using technology effectively to enhance their projects and their learning.

Finally, adult educators don't have to be experts in technology to begin incorporating technology into project-based instruction. "Teachers don't need to know how to use every piece of software, but they need to have used some software and feel confident that they can figure things out" (Means, 1998).

Project INTER-ALT, a special project funded by the TEA Division of Adult and Community Education, assists teachers in becoming more comfortable with technology by providing technical assistance and workshops for Texas adult educators interested in using technology in their program. Project INTER-ALT also has training resources available online at http://www.ideal.swt.edu/interalt and will host a three day Technology Institute for adult educators on July 21-23 in San Marcos.

Stanley Ashlock has worked in adult education for eleven years, during which the past six years he has assisted adult educators in using technology for their own professional development and for developing literacy in the classroom. He currently is the project director for Project INTER-ALT (Interactively Advancing Literacy Through Technology). This project is housed at the Center for Initiatives in Education at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.
Web Site: http://www.ideal.swt.edu/interalt

Gaer, S. (1999). e-mail Project Home Page
[Online] http://www.otan.dni.us/Webfarm/e-mailproject/e-mail.htm

Graham Zaller, L. (n.d.). The Theory: Constructivism, The Challenge: Culture, The Medium: Information Processing Technology

Green, A. (1999). Mothers United for Jobs Education and Results
[Online] http://members.aol.com/CulebraMom/mujer.html

Jones, B.F., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1995). Plugging In: Choosing and using educational technology. Washington, DC: Council for Educational Research & Development
[Online] http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/edtalk/toc.htm

Means, B. (1998). Technology and constructivist learning. New Leaders for Tomorrow's Schools, v. 5 (1)
[Online] http://www.ncrel.org/cscd/ pubs/lead51/51means.htm

Stites, R., Hopey, C.E., & Ginsburg, L. (1998). Assessing lifelong learning technology (ALL-Tech): A guide for choosing and using technology for adult learning (Practice Guide PG98-01). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, National Center on Adult Literacy
[Online] http://www.literacyonline.org/