To me, it seemed at first that Problem Based Learning would be extremely hard to do as an online process. I had to really dig into the resources that Kevin provided to start to understand how it might actually work online.
Once I was able to comprehend the process, I started to see how it could work online, making sure that you give precise directions to the groups to make sure they understand what is being asked of them. Also I think another thing would be to make sure there are easy ways for the group to communicate online, whether it would be through programs such as Elluminate, Second Life, Groove, Google Docs, etc... When we discussed this in my group it became apparent to me that it would be easy because of the vast amounts of online tools that people now have available to them.
When I thought of online tools to use for PBL, I thought it would be tough for schools or students that might not be able to afford programs such as Elluminate. Even now, that is no longer a barrier due to the fact that there are wonderful, free, online tools.
I also agree with one of my classmates in that communication is a key with PBL, to make sure that students are clear on what is being asked of them to do, since they will have to work together as a group, research the problem at hand and come up with solutions.
I believe that this is an excellent way for students to work on critical thinking skills as well as learn how problem solving is achieved in the "real world" versus someone telling them how to do it.
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Hi Carma,
ReplyDelete"Free" tools! I totally agree that barriers are being broken with so many great free tools. Yes, the stuff that we have to pay for is great (like Elluminate), but there is so much open source stuff out there. Just in the past few weeks of being in this course, I've been exposed to so many free tools I didn't even know existed. This is definitely a plus in these hard economic times for schools, especially for those trying to use the PBL model.
Mary Ellen
I also agree that there are a wealth of online tools. If most of the work could be done at school (say during classroom time at the computer lab or library), it would work out fine. However, students who don't have computers at home would have a lot of problems and then there is the issue of internet access and computer performance. For example, I have used Google Wave and the interaction is very slow and choppy on my computer and I have a 'decent' computer and high-speed internet.
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