EEND 678 Course Reflection

While reflecting on this class, one article that really was meaningful to me was, “35 Leaders on the Successes and Challenges of Project Based Learning.” I found this article to be so meaningful for a few reasons. One reason it really stuck with me was the honesty of the people interviewed. I feel like often times the successes and the amazing possibilities of technology are presented, but rarely are the very realistic challenges discussed. For example one Blossom Johnston states, “The work we've funded in this space in Idaho over the past 4 years point to a few key lessons. But, first of all we've seen that this is a really difficult learning approach that requires a lot of time, effort, resources and support to implement.” I think it is really important to acknowledge while we are trying to implement these amazing concepts there is a lot of time and effort involved. I feel like often times we are expected to do amazing things, without any consideration or acknowledgement of all the work behind the scenes. This article is great because it speaks to the amazing possibilities of technology in the classroom without ignoring all the effort and challenges behind the scenes.

One discussion that I felt was truly meaningful was “Feedback on a Flip.” Flipped Learning is a concept that I was had heard about but found to overwhelming to try to tackle. I found the discussion with my peers really beneficial. It was great to hear their different ideas of how to make this “big idea” work for them in their classrooms. I also really enjoyed seeing their Flipped Videos. It was great to see the variety of topics as well as different tools and programs that people decided to use when creating their Flipped Video. It provided me with lots of ideas and inspiration. I feel that prior to the discussion and the sharing of the videos the concept of Flipped Learning seemed overwhelming and I wasn’t sure how to do it “right”. The discussion with my colleagues helped me to realize there are so many ways to explore with this topic and doing it “right” may look a little different in each classroom.

I feel that I have truly grown as a connected educator through this class. I have really pushed out of my comfort zone for many projects during this class. Project Based Learning and Flipped Learning are two huge buzz words that I had heard about, read about, and decided were beyond something I could tackle. However, through this class I have been forced to push out of my comfort zone and tackle these innovative approaches to learning. I am so excited to implement my PBL next year and share my knowledge with my teammates and hopefully create additional units together. Similarly, from discussions with and examples from my classmates I have gained so many ideas of ways to flip learning in my classroom. I look forward to exploring this concept with my students next year and make it work for my classroom.