With the common core standards on the horizon, project based learning has been given more attention. With that said I have been looking into some schools which have effectively implemented project based learning. In Portland, Maine all middle and high schools have one to one laptops (each child has an Apple laptop). Students use these laptops to investigate and build the projects they are working on. Teachers plan together and work through the project to make sure it is doable before assigning them to students. Students work with the communities and sometimes outside of school to capture images and gather information for their projects. The former governor of Maine Angus King discusses how he began this initiative in 2002 and how students are extremely engaged in learning. (to see short videos, click on the links above.)
