Moore Than Just X: Tech Tools to Support PBL

Whether Project-Based Learning or Problem-Based learning, it can be difficult to implement in the classroom, especially when you are trying to come up with interactive and engaging activities on your own. That's why, with the help of the resources I've shared and the tools to come, I'm hoping you feel a little more at ease about taking this big step.

Students have become more and more enamored with technology as the years have gone by, so why not indulge them a little bit? Think about this like being a parent putting shredded vegetables into a meatballs: using technology looks like just a fun treat for the students, but really has so many educational benefits. The use of technology by both students and teachers alike has saturated classrooms lately, but it is important to make sure we aren't just using technology for technology's sake. There are many available resources and tools for us to take advantage of as educators, and it is important that we are mindful of what we select and purposeful with their implementation.

Some Affordances of technology include:

Automating & Computing: Technology is able to generate information for us that may be difficult or otherwise time consuming

Calculators, Drawing Tools, Geometer's Sketchpad, etc.

Representing Ideas & Thinking: Technology is able to help us visualize our thoughts.

Digital Charts and Graphs, Images you can generate and alter, Applets from Illuminations and other sources, etc.

Accessing Information: Technology helps us to access information on a wide variety of subjects, from teaching to learning.

Educational Blogs, online databases, Pinterest, Curriki, Dr. Math, SmartExchange, etc.

Communicating & Collaborating: Technology enables us to work with others to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and more while being in remote locations.

GoogleDrive, DropBox, Prezi, etc.

Capturing & Creating: Technology can be used to create videos, graphic designs, animated comic strips, lesson plans and so much more!

Digital Cameras, Smart Phones, iPads, YouTube "Capture", EduCreations, etc.

Being deliberate with your technological choices is important to ensure that it is helping to facilitate the learning that you want to happen in your classroom during that particular activity or lesson. Some technology is helpful for you as the teacher on the back-end of things, other technology is helpful for students and their practice with procedures or concepts, and others are helpful for both. Below, you'll find links to tech tools that cover a variety of aspects of mathematics that you can integrate into a PBL/PrBL classroom. For additional resources for PBL, Math PBL, and PrBL check out those Pages with links to those posts as well.

Each tool and resource has been evaluated by me, and a few of my classmates (as noted in the evaluation). Evaluations for general resources will include what you can find there, some helpful links and ideas of how I use it to support and supplement PBL. For specific the specific tech tools listed below, I will include potential Learning Activities (LA), Technological Affordances, NCTM standards, Proficiency Standards (PS) and other helpful information for using the tools in the classroom, whether you are using PBL/PrBL or not!

Algebra Resources