#ELTchat Summary Wednesday 13 March 2019 Project-based Learning
from Teachthough blog post “13 Brilliant Outcomes Of Project-Based Learning”
Participants
@Marisa_C @SueAnnan @fionaljp @JonjoTESOL @Michael37093679 @ClareBurke_ELT @patrickelt
What is Project-Based Learning (PBL)?
@jonjoTESOL and @fionaljp started the chat by deciding a good place to start would be with a definition. @fionaljp tweeted a link to a post by Katherine Bilsborough on the British Council BBC Teaching English website.
Not sure I have. #ELTchat Have done project work . Maybe we should start with a definition – What is Project-Based Learning?https://t.co/BTpfvXL2QF
— Fiona Price (@fionaljp) March 13, 2019
Katherine defines Task-Based Learning and then defines Project-Based Learning by comparing the two approaches. Both take the task as the central focus and both are learner-centred approaches. She suggests that PBL could be considered as being even more learner-centred as the task is extended beyond the lesson (and possibly beyond the classroom) for a specified length of time – possibly the duration of the course, the term or the academic year.
@jonjoTESOL asked whether PBL is simply practising the language as opposed to learning the language and @patrickelt responded by saying: ‘Some models have a language learning focus post task and I think this can work. By doing the task, learners can see the gap between what they wanted to do and what they needed to do so may be more receptive to language focus.’
Arguments for PBL
@jonjoTESOL quoted John Dewey as an argument for PBL:
An argument for PBL:
John Dewey: “education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself” – love that! #eltchat
— Jonjo Murphyجونجو (@jonjoTESOL) March 13, 2019
PBL can bring life into the classroom.
See Katherine Bilsborough’s post for more advantages of this approach.
Possible Problems
The following specific aspects of PBL were mentioned as being possibly problematic:
- The teacher’s role
- An extended timeframe
I feel TBL has a wee bit more input from the teacher at the start. I can also control how long it lasts.#ELTchat
— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) March 13, 2019
There is a time factor in PBL which makes it very different to just how we handle lessons – starts in class but goes out of class and possibly for an extended period of time #eltchat bringing back some tangible product which needed language to be achieved
— MarisaConstantinides (@Marisa_C) March 13, 2019
With continuous enrollment, I think it would be difficult to get much momentum for projects IMHO #ELTchat
— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) March 13, 2019
Examples of PBL in ELT classrooms
@jonjoTESOL asked ‘Does anybody have any examples of PBL that they are proud of? I’d love to see the final results of some’ and he received the following replies:
I have done breakfast television with a group of exam students who were here for ages.
They enjoyed the work out of class and then presenting their programme to other students #ELTchat— Sue Annan (@SueAnnan) March 13, 2019
@Marisa_C Not on hand – but an example: my Ss on an English for Teachers course undertook all the planning and writing of a one-day conference on PBL – programme, blurbs, letters, emails, abstracts invitations posters etc those were the final products of their work. (English for Teachers Course at my centre)
@fionaljp I have set tasks where the focus is on investigating and responding to an question or challenge.
Here is a PBL framework with detailed explanation and a list of useful references at the end with links to ideas for implementing PBL in the classroom #ELTchat : https://t.co/vSHikq0A6E
— Fiona Price (@fionaljp) March 14, 2019
Please let us know in the comments below if you have any examples of using PBL in the ELT classroom. Looking forward to hearing…
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