Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Students as Self-Designers of Their Learning

Student creation of blogs, websites, and digital stories epitomizes self-directed learning. Take a look at how some students design their learning. Examples include blogs, websites, and digital stories.


cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Spree2010


I collected this list for a workshop for social studies and art teachers, and the student examples are from social studies, English, and art classes. Review a few of the student examples, and let us know what you think of integrating these kinds of projects in the classroom.






Blogs from Mike Gwaltney's Students (created with WordPress)
Digital Stories:
  • See digital story examples on Government Gabfest Blog--Paul Fitzpatrick's students
Student Projects from Mike Gwaltney's Class Inspired by 2013 National History Day Competition (collected on a joint Blogger account)
  • Turning Points in American History (students selected to create a video or website)--they posted links to their projects on a collaborative class Blogger account. You will find numerous examples of websites and digital stories. In most cases, students used Weebly for their websites.
Websites (created for high school English classes using Google Sites)
E-Portfolio (created with Wix)----shared by Vicki Davis
To follow Mike Gwaltney on Twitter: @MikeGwaltney
To follow Vicki Davis on Twitter: @coolteacher

5 comments:

Victoria Guerrera said...

I like the idea of high school students getting the experience with creating their own websites. I wish I had done this in high school because it leads to really creative ways of presenting ideas. As an English teacher, I would love to create a class website with my students; it would definitely create a more interactive classroom!

Unknown said...

I like the idea of using a blog in my math classroom. Writing is such a great way for students to refine their thinking and solidfy some of the more abstract ideas.

Samantha said...

I think that students creating their own blogs and posts does show that they are taking control of their own learning. My 1st graders started blogging about a month ago and they really caught on to the concept quickly. Students are able to respond to the question I pose and then respond to their peers comments. I have to admit I had low expectations for their first blogging entries and was pleasantly surprised with what they produced. Best yet, they are loving the experience and are constantly wanting to see if the blog has been updated.

Unknown said...

I like the idea of blogging. When I was in high school for one of my English classes we had a classroom blog; it was created and administered by the teacher. It was a success it gave the students a way to ask questions and post their thoughts. I would definitely like to incorporate a blog inside of my future classroom as Vicky stated it would help create a more interactive classroom.

Unknown said...

I think that using a classroom blog is an awesome idea. It gives students the chance to share their work with others, which I believe will in turn increase their personal investment in their work. I always invest much more time and effort in my own work when I know others will be looking at it, and from my experience most student are the same way. I took a look at the Turning Points in American History blog, and the work posted on there was VERY well done- I LOVED the film on the effect of television during the Vietnam War. Blogging gives students the opportunity to showcase their skills with technology, and I think that is invaluable in today's classroom.

Blog Archive

Contributors