|
Education Classroom Library
 eZedia and Project-based Learning
December 2001
By Drs. Jane & Michael Madden
Francis Marion University
No educator needs to be told about the challenges facing today's classrooms. Children from widely differing backgrounds, learning styles, problems, skills, and talents enter our schools every day. The challenge for teachers is to make ideas come alive for all their students. Multimedia and project-based learning offer a rich environment for nurturing the kind of learning that can engage the greatest variety of students in the classroom.
Project-based learning is not intended to replace traditional teaching. In fact, it is an ideal partner rather than a replacement. Students need the opportunity to apply what they have learned previously in formal instructional processes. The best opportunities occur when there is genuine problem-solving and learning in a real-world context.
Project-based learning can become even more exciting and dynamic with the incorporation of multimedia. Until recently, that would have been a daunting task for any educator. However, eZedia puts powerful tools into the hands of some of our youngest constituents. Now, the focus for students is on communicating - where they've come from; what they've experienced; how they express their knowledge; and, what new questions they have. The incorporation of multimedia allows them to put their ideas in motion. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has helped teachers to be sensitive to the fact that students learn differently and eZedia opens the door to self-expression for this broad range of learners.
One of the best resources we've come across to help teachers organize successful project-based learning experiences, especially at the K-6 levels, is the work of Dr. Sylvia Chard, Director of the Child Study Center, at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her web site, http://www.project-approach.com, is a marvelous resource, providing step-by-step structure for understanding, planning, implementing, and evaluating project-based activities.
Dr. Chard organizes a project-based approach into three broad stages - beginning, developing, and concluding a project, with specific types of activities associated with each. This same structure provides a natural framework for developing an overall eZedia project to communicate classroom happenings. Incorporated into that could be the individual and group projects.
At each stage, the classroom teacher and the students can capture images and artwork via cameras, digital and 35 mm, scanners, digital camcorders or regular camcorders, music, and voices telling the tale of their learning adventure. Not only do these elements serve to enhance the project, but also to aid students in recalling the various activities and experiences. For some students, these shared multimedia events, combined with direct experience, may be the anchor they need to develop more sophisticated concepts.
For teachers in the United States for whom grant-funding is a perennial issue, Dr. Chard's site also provides a strong theoretical foundation tied to applied situations that would be eminently fundable. As more and more schools face the challenge of increasing numbers of at-risk students, the combination of multimedia and flexible opportunities for learning can become core components in writing winning proposals.
About the Authors
Dr. Jane Madden is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Francis Marion University and is the Director of the Grants Development Program on campus. Dr. Michael Madden is a Professor in the School of Education. Both are the co-authors of two successful Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grants. eZedia has been a research partner in both federal grants. No remuneration was received for the writing of this article.
We would like to thank Dr. Sylvia Chard for her kind permission to include information on her site in this article.
|
|
|
|
|
Education Program 
Classroom 
Enhancing Learning in Science with eZedia and PASCO