Distance Learning for Teachers: Part 3 - Setting Up Projects

March 20, 2020 / Oskar Cymerman

Distance Learning For Teachers - Projects

“Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.”

— Dee Hock

This is the third post in the Distance Learning for Teachers series. You can check out Distance Learning for Teachers: Part 1 - Hyperdocs and Distance Learning for Teachers: Part 2 - Activities here and here.

Let’s be real. While we don’t know exactly how long general social distancing and school closures will last we can use the 8-week CDC recommendation to guess that we need to prepare for about two months of distance learning.

Considering some states (Minnesota is one of them) where infections haven’t even begun to peak and we are likely to see the curve grow exponentially before it eventually flattens, it’s easy to forecast a scenario of 10-12 weeks of distance learning. In a nutshell, we might not open school doors to students for official classes until the 2020-21 school year.

But no matter the state you live and work in, preparing daily lesson plans, communicating with students, parents, and colleagues, keeping records such as attendance, going through assignments, grading, and setting up different online structures to make distance learning work in addition to taking care of our stuck-at-home children will be challenging.

The teaching community will get it done - no question about it. But I think it’s important for our sanity to plan a few learning activities that will lighten the load. Enter distance learning projects.

STEP 3: Setting Up Projects

Here’s what my first distance learning lesson/project for my Principles of Engineering class looks like:

Engineering (Robotics) Distance Learning Project

During the first activity, students click on the blue A Brief History of Robotics video link which takes them to the video I uploaded to EdPuzzle and added questions to. They watch it, answer questions, and move on to the 6 Types of Robots activity which is a quick reading that introduces them to the types of robots. The main purpose of these first two activities is to acquaint students with the concept of robotics and the types of robots we manufacture.

The project that follows is intended to have them dive in - they might not become experts in all the robot types but by examining one type more closely and creating a digital product on it they will learn the reasons for having robots and the basics of how they are made and how they work. The image below shows the complete directions for the project.

Notice that I differentiated by allowing each student to pick the type of product he or she wants to create (Adobe Spark video, web page, brochure, or poster).

I also gave students a rough schedule to follow. This is something we might normally communicate verbally on a daily basis as students work on the project in class. Although some (read most) students will choose to procrastinate while distance learning, it’s important to still give them some structure they can follow if needed. I think it will be even more important to scaffold learning and assignments while learning remotely.

In addition, I gave them the starting steps to Adobe Spark so they don’t have to wonder about how to get going. Most of my students have not used Adobe Spark before but I am confident they’ll figure it out. Having a concrete staring point will help as it is often the first step that’s the most difficult one to take. Once they start, they will discover that many online apps and tools are intuitive to learn and use.

Funny note: two students already requested access to the document as I mistakenly posted the link as “private.” They’re not even supposed to start until Monday 3/30. My guess is they are getting bored. Let’s give them something meaningful and fun to do.

The Benefits of Doing Distance Learning Projects

Creativity

Learning 21st Century Presentation Tools (vs. creating PowerPoints and Google Slideshows every time)

Learning the content in a fun way?

Less time spent grading and planning daily activities

Key Points

Set up your project with 1 or 2 front-loading, content-rich activities.
Be detailed in your directions and remember to scaffold.
Projects are fun for students and help teachers stay sane (allegedly).

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Hi! I'm Oskar. I teach, write, and speak to make learning better.

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