Written by Debbie Harris, Tech Tools brings you excellent technology tips to inspire you and add creativity to your teaching.

Yes, you can integrate authentic project-based learning (PBL) in your religious school. Here’s how you can leverage technology resources to make it happen.

Student-driven education

 In PBL, students work on a project over an extended period of time that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. But PBL is not just giving students an opportunity to create some kind of project. It’s really about student-driven choices.  In a PBL environment, students decide for themselves exactly what they’re going to research and plan how they’re going to share what they learn with others.

Digital Tools

Goal setting, accountability, and reflection are critical components of PBL, and there are some useful technologies that can help with those elements. 

  • - Google Docs: By sharing documents, students can easily collaborate with each other, teachers, and other congregational adults.
  • - Google Forms: Create accountability by asking students to regularly complete a simple and short form detailing their accomplishments, reflections, and their plans for the next steps.
  • - Presentation tools: Students can present that they’ve learned through Google Slides, Sway, Google Sites and Adobe Spark products.
  • - Project management: Good organization is the key to a successful PBL experience. One of my favorite tools for this is Trello, a free and simple tool to create and manage to-do lists for their projects. 

More Resources

If you’re interested in getting started with PBL, here are some additional online resources:

 

Transforming Synagogue Education through Project Based Learning

Prizmah: Getting Started with PBL

Debbie Harris is the Director of Educational Technology at Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and blogs at http://www.museforjews.com. Reach her at deb@debharris.com

 

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