Professional Development Part 2: Transdisciplinary Problem Based Learning

Over the course of the month of May, I participated in the PAST Foundation's P3 class. This was online videos, discussion posts, and "deliverable" which are basically homework assignments, and a weekly, live 1 hour Zoom session (sort of like Skype). PAST's work focuses mainly on educating students by having their projects be focused on a certain problem (world or community). You can read more about PAST here. In addition to the online P3 course I took in May, I also participated in a PD Bridge Program in Mitchell, SD where I learned alongside the students. Read more about that here. 

After coming off such a great two days at New Tech HS the week before, I have to say I was a little disappointed by PAST's programming. The month of May was super intensive with lots of busywork, which is always hard to stay motivated for. I also noticed that PAST talks all about innovation, but our "deliverables" every week were basically virtual worksheets. 

The PD Bridge program I attended was Minecraft for ages 7-14. There were a handful of other teachers there, most from the elementary level. The premise of the camp was for students to pick a real life building and construct it, to scale, in Minecraft. They could pick anything from a horse barn to a castle. In addition to technology not cooperating, it seemed like the teachers were leading the projects instead of the students. This of course goes against the whole point of project/problem based learning. 

I will say that through the PAST Foundation, this was all completely free to me. I didn't pay anything for the online coursework, the camp materials, or an accommodations/meals. That is pretty darn cool! I had the option to pay for 3 graduate credits, but I decided against that and am just taking the 20 CEU hours instead. 

What are some great workshops you've been to lately?