Project-Based Learning: Boosting 21st Century Skills in Class
Course Summary
Are you looking for teaching strategies and methodologies that can boost your students’ 21st-century skills? If yes, Project-Based Learning (PBL) can equip you with some keys to make that happen in your class.
This course has been created for global educators from Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary levels who are new to PBL and want to be able to implement it in class to increase students’ motivation and 21st skills.
Research and teacher testimonials tell us that PBL engages students deeply, it gives them a deeper understanding of the topic, builds up key life skills like critical thinking, communication, and cooperation, and can potentially close the achievement gap by engaging lower-achieving students too.​
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You will learn about the basic principles of PBL following the Gold Standards framework, the four stages to implement it, and many strategies for PBL instruction assessment, feedback, and reflection. You will also explore how to manage teams and projects, team formation, scaffolding collaboration, and assessing teamwork in efficient ways. Not only that, but you will explore and analyze curated PBL units and give you opportunities to brainstorm project ideas, share them, and exchange opinions with peers.
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​During the course, you will be guided step by step with small daily tasks to enable you to progressively complete your personal project, the draft of a PBL unit for your classes and gain confidence in doing so.
Book your course
Seville (Spain)
24th-28th June 2024
11th-15th November 2024
Santiago (Spain)
22nd-26th July 2024
Finland edition 2024
(check here)
5 days Price: 400 Euros
(25 hours)
6 days Price: 480 Euros
(30 hours)
*Late fee: 60 extra euros will be charged if paid less than 8 weeks before the course.
Register your interest
Learning Outcomes
​• Define Project-Based Learning (PBL)
• Describe the benefits and challenges of PBL
• Brainstorm project ideas for your class
• Promote efficient teamwork among students
• Promote constant and meaningful reflection practices among your students
• Identify the challenges of designing a PBL unit and ways to overcome them.
• Apply digital technologies to facilitate PBL
• Create a PBL unit for your class
Schedule
Day 1: PBL: A vintage innovation
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-Presentations; Course Introductions
-Team building activities
-Discover what and why PBL.
-Dive into the framework of Gold Standards for PBL and examine examples of curated high quality PBL units.
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Day 2: PBL in action
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-4 steps to success: Launch, Build Knowledge, Develop and Critique and Present.
-Examine high-quality examples that follow the 4 steps
-Teacher personal project: PBL unit (template provided)
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Day 3: Assessment, Feedback and Reflection
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​-Monitor and support student learning effectively throughout all your project.
-Discover the different types of assessment, feedback and reflection strategies for PBL
-Learn about how you can implement them effectively in your classes.
-Teacher personal project: PBL unit (template provided)
Day 4: SEL and Technology ally with PBL!
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​-Explore free digital tools that promote collaboration
-PBL and Social and Emotional Learning go hand in hand
-Teacher personal project: A PBL unit (template provided)
-Critical Friends protocol (Peer feedback)
Day 5: Our PBL Community
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-Building and sustaining our PBL community at school
​-Teacher personal project (time to prep)
-Participants presentations on their personal projects and peer feedback
-Final Reflection.
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Day 6: Cultural experience (Optional added day)
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-Day trip to discover tourist sites
-Exchange of personal and cultural experiences
Your Trainer
Dr. Carolina Castro
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Carolina is an experienced educator with 21 years of teaching career in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education in Europe, USA and Australia. She is a PBL practitioner and researcher, as she has implemented projects in class for more than 8 years and her PhD thesis was on improving students' motivation using PBLL combined with digital technologies.
For the last 5 years, she has trained teachers from Europe, Asia and Australia, and she has collaborated with educational foundations and whole schools around the world. Carolina has a B.A. in English Language and Literature, an M.A. in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Education. Some of her topics of expertise are Project-Based Learning, Project-Based Language Learning, Social and Emotional Learning, Digital tools for education, CLIL, Life skills, Pedagogy and E-Pedagogy among others.
She has presented in academic conferences, professional events for teachers and doctoral seminars around the world, online and face to face. When Carolina's PhD thesis was published, it was one of the few examples in the world of a foreign languages' practitioner using PBLL together with digital technologies sharing her experience.
Essential Info
Duration: 25 hours for the face-to-face option and if you book 6 days the total would be 30 hours.
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Certificate: A completion certificate will be provided when participants attend a minimum of 80% of the course.
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Language: The course will be facilitated in English. Participants need to have a minimum of a B1 to attend.
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Activities: Cultural activities will be included for participants in each course.
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Schedule: Sessions can take place in the morning (9h to 14h) or the afternoon (15h to 20h). The day-by-day timetable posted here is tentative, your trainer will send it to you one week before the course begins and she may change it depending on the group needs accordingly.
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Extra day add-On: All courses can have an optional extra 6th day that will be dedicated to cultural exchanges in an organised day trip excursion.