Announcing Edutopia's Project-Based Learning Camp

Join us for a month-long, online project-based learning workshop, facilitated Suzie Boss, Edutopia blogger and co-author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning. Participants will work together to brainstorm on the design of a project that challenges students to respond to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. By the end of the four weeks, you will have developed a project plan, including time lines and assessments. More importantly, you will have explored a variety of resources and met a community of others who are interested in using PBL to develop students' problem-solving skills.

Likely outcomes? Collaboration, creativity, and confidence about moving ahead with your project this fall.

We plan to organize camp conversations around the oil spill topic, but expect discussions will branch off in a variety of directions as participants focus on particular content areas or grade levels. If you have another topic in mind, you can certainly bring your project idea to the camp. It's all about providing you with support, structure, and helpful feedback during the project-planning process. And because it all happens online, you can work from anywhere, at any time that's convenient for you.

Project-Based Learning Camp Schedule

Week One: Welcome to PBL Camp (July 12 - 18)
Brainstorm: How can we use an event like the oil spill to challenge students to use their own problem-solving strategies? What big ideas are people thinking about for projects? (For example: Anyone anticipating a service-learning angle or nature-writing project?)

Week 2: Digging into Projects (July 19-25)
Project research: As we explore resources together, what ideas do you see that you want to borrow or adapt? What roles do you imagine your students playing (researcher, advocate, inventor, activist, journalist, artist, policy maker)? Plan ahead: Who’s thinking along the same lines? Who wants to collaborate?

Week 3: Build Your Project Plan (July 26-Aug 1)
Project development: How will you plan an entry event that engages student curiosity and sparks inquiry? How will you connect students with real-world experts? Plan ahead: What are the key content standards you want to address with your project?

Week 4: Preparing for Project Launch (Aug. 2-9)
Timelines and assessments: How will you help your students manage time, meet milestones, and work effectively in teams? How can you prepare students for success by thinking ahead about project management? Plan ahead: Build a project timeline and look for authentic assessment opportunities along the way.

Post-Camp: Project gallery!
View all the final projects online.

PBL Camp is free. Check back, as we'll be posting a link to register very soon!