Saturday 9 February 2013

Providing students control over their learning

This year I decided that I would be more flexible in how I would have my students hand in their projects. I decided that I would allow my students to hand in projects in the format in which they felt comfortable using. After teaching them a few web 2.0 tools, such as toondoo and prezi.  I gave my students a mini project in which they were to write about their family, I gave them the criteria and then I I told them that they could choose the format they wanted to: such as glogster, prezi, toondoo or any other web 2.0 tool they were familiar with.

It was incredible to see the various ways students chose to do the project. I had about 30 students and I had about 10 or more use a web 2.0 tool and the rest still chose to do it by hand.  It was interesting for me to mark and it was great to see that they included all the required criteria  even though it was done in a different format.

I believe that giving them choices is important because it allows them to have some control in terms of how they want to show their learning. I think this is definitely something I will continue doing in my class as it helps students feel more engaged in their learning because they have a say in how they can demonstrate their learning.  I also love that the format they choose to do their project also makes their project a little more personal. I believe that students would be more likely to hand in projects if they have a say in the format of their project.


Here is an example of one using toondoo.

      

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