Project-Based Learning Around the World Part 2

By Kristen Weatherby Project-Based Learning Around the World Part 2

ISTE and Microsoft’s Partners in Learning joined to create project-based curriculum that can be adapted for classrooms across the globe. In our second installment, we look at how these PBL lessons are being localized and used in Estonia and Hong Kong.

n Part 1 of this article, I in- troduced you to Microsoft’s Iworldwide K–12 education initiative, Partners in Learn- ing, and gave you some background as to why Microsoft was interested in developing project- based learning curricula for teachers to help them better integrate technology into learning and teaching (L&L, February 2007, pp. 12–16). We discussed the part- nership with ISTE in creating project- based learning curriculum as part of Partners in Learn- ing and explored the use of the curriculum in Denmark, a country that has a long history of integrating technology into education and is a longtime supporter of project-based learning. It’s time for you to get your passports ready once again, because this article will take you on a trip to two very different locations and two very different education systems, both making great use of the project-based learning curriculum. First, we’ll continue to head east from Denmark to

images: ©istockphoto.com/jgroup ©istockphoto.com/lucato Estonia, and then we’ll cross Asia to Copyright © 2007, Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with Permission. Requests for Reprints should be directed to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. 26 Learning & Leading with Technology | March 2007 ISTE and Microsoft’s Partners in Learning joined to create project-based explore the use of project-based learn- are teaching. By far, most teachers are and so on) surrounding technology in curriculum that can be adapted for classrooms across the globe. ing in Hong Kong. Pack your bags and not confident enough to do this and all of the nation’s schools. One of the In our second installment, we look at how these PBL lessons let’s go! save it to do administrative classroom other mandates of the TLF is to be the tasks. The reasons for this are as they link between the Ministry of Educa- are being localized and used in Estonia and Hong Kong. Estonia? Estonia! are in many countries: the average tion and corporations who want to When I told friends and family that age of Estonian teachers is about 50 provide resources to Estonian schools. I was traveling to Tallinn, Estonia, in and many don’t want to change, and This is how Microsoft and Partners in April, 2006, the common response I the state-mandated curriculum is so Learning were able to enter the scene received was, “Where?” Estonia is the packed already that there isn’t time for in Estonia. smallest and northernmost of the three new content. Baltic states (Lithuania and Latvia are As a result, 25% of students in Es- Project-based Learning in Estonia the others). It’s directly across the Bal- tonian schools spend only about 30 Estonia’s education system has been tic Sea from Finland, and the Estonian minutes to 2 hours on a computer at undergoing a process of curriculum language is very similar to Finnish. school each week. reform for the past several years. The population of Estonia is about 1.3 Since 1995, the curriculum used in million, making it about the size of San A Tiger’s Leap to 21st-century Skills schools has been largely decentral- Antonio, Texas. Estonia regained its This little country is not content with ized, with teachers and schools having independence from the former Soviet these statistics, however. The govern- some freedom to use the materials Union in 1991 and became a full mem- ment recognizes that Estonia does not they want to accomplish the goals set ber of the European Union in 2004. have many natural resources to offer forth by the Ministry. However, much Here are some fast facts on Estonia: the global market, and has decided to of the curriculum that is available is invest in human capital, in the form of very fact-centered and does not allow • 601 primary and secondary schools a trained IT workforce. For that rea- students to learn skills they’ll need • 170,994 students (2006–07 year) son, in 1997 Estonia’s Parliament made in the real world, such as working in • 15,800 teachers what was at the time an unprecedented teams, creative thinking, delivering There are approximately 19,000 declaration that access to the Internet presentations, and so forth. Project- computers available in Estonian is considered a basic human right for based learning is not very popular in schools. Of those computers, only Estonian citizens. Since then, progress Estonian schools yet; currently only about 9,300—roughly half—are avail- has been made all over the country— those teachers who know about it are able to students, giving Estonian from large industries such as banking choosing to use it with students. schools an overall ratio of 18 students to remote villages—in getting technol- In February of 2005, I brought two per PC in schools. Most computers ogy and the Internet integrated into all ISTE trainers—Lynn Nolan, senior in schools (approximately 60%) are aspects of work and daily life. director of education leadership, and located in computer labs, with only To help with technology integration Mila Fuller, director of strategic initia- about 28% in classrooms and the re- in schools, the Tiger Leap Foundation tives—to snowy Budapest, Hungary, to maining 12% in administrative offices. was created. The TLF is responsible participate in the second regional Part- Today, almost every school in Es- for the strategy, planning, and all tac- ners in Learning curriculum training. tonia has a few teachers who are able tical matters (purchasing computers, Attending that training were represen- to integrate ICT into the subjects they providing professional development, tatives from the TLF, who were there to learn more about the curriculum and determine whether it could be There are approximately 19,000 computers available in a good fit for Estonian schools. After Estonian schools. Of those computers, only about 9,300— the training, the people from the TLF roughly half—are available to students. were among many countries that made the decision to use this project-based curriculum locally. Copyright © 2007, Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with Permission. Requests for Reprints should be directed to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. March 2007 | Learning & Leading with Technology 27 The Making of ProjektiPaun teacher he trained felt that they could (roughly the size of Phoenix, Ari- When the TLF team returned to Es- make at least one of the projects work zona), most of which is uninhabitable, tonia, they worked with Microsoft’s in their subject area, commenting that rugged mountains. local academic program manager, “Even the physical education teacher Here are some fast facts about Hong Lina Abola, to begin creating the would like to work with the project of Kong: project plan for the localization and World Heroes Hall of Fame adopting • Population: 6,940,000 implementation of the curriculum. it into Famous Skiers from Võrumaa • 1,286 primary and secondary The foundation nominated experts or something of that kind.” schools to do the translation and localiza- The only problems that occurred • 50,801 teachers tion work. They found that unlike were with the format of the training. • 936,015 students the Danish team, they didn’t need Although many teachers thought the to make any major changes to the two-day training wasn’t long enough As Hong Kong was for years a Brit- content. The localization team simply and wanted even more time to de- ish colony (it is now a Special Admin- added some local Web sites and ref- velop and share ideas, some teachers istrative Region of China), its system erence materials in Estonian for the weren’t comfortable with the format. of education for primary and second- students and teachers to access. As it The training was designed to put ary schools largely resembles that of was in Denmark, the curriculum was teachers in the students’ shoes, with England. English is still used by more renamed, “Projektipaun,” which in the trainers walking teachers through than 30% of the population, and all Estonian roughly translates to “Project the projects as if the teachers were the education materials must be produced Backpack.” The finished curriculum students. One trainer commented, in English and Chinese. was printed in hard-copy books and “There were teachers who started to The computer-to-student ratio in posted online to a national Projekti- play along enthusiastically and some Hong Kong is similar to that of the paun Web site. Final materials were who considered it to be a waste of United States. There are 7.4 PCs per reviewed for quality by the TLF and time... They were like schoolchildren student in primary schools and 4.6 were then translated into Russian, as who think that once they are ready, PCs per student in secondary schools. approximately 30% of Estonia’s teach- they can leave.” All of Hong Kong’s teachers have basic ers still speak and teach in Russian. Nonetheless, the positive feedback IT literacy skills, and 89% of them Once the curriculum was localized, far outweighed the negative, and Mi- have intermediate skills. In addition, representatives from the TLF began crosoft and the TLF have plans to con- nearly 100% of teachers are able to executing the national training pro- tinue these trainings in Estonia. They successfully integrate technology into gram. Regional “master trainers” were are taking the next step of approach- teaching and learning—rather than trained in the use of this curriculum in ing the pedagogical faculties of uni- just using it for administrative class- the classroom and are responsible for versities to discuss how to integrate room tasks. training all teachers in their respective this curriculum in the universities’ It’s obvious that technology is a regions. The master trainers generally programs for training future teachers priority in Hong Kong schools, and work with 12–14 teachers in each free, in Estonia. there is a reason for that. There is two-day training session. After each much competition among schools course, teachers have to complete a Journey Across the World to Hong Kong due to the fact that parents have a free course evaluation to receive a certifi- We’re now going to take a quick trip choice of where to send their children cate of completion and professional (if that’s possible) across the globe for school. Because Hong Kong has development credits for attending the to Hong Kong, which is located on been suffering from a low birth rate training. China’s southeastern coast and is for years, there are more schools than made up of 237 islands and one main- are needed for the number of stu- What Do the Teachers Think? land portion of land. The total area of dents. On average, 10–20 schools are From October 1, 2005, to April 10, Hong Kong is only 422 square miles closed each year by the Education and 2006, the 24 master trainers conduct- ed courses for 1,000 Estonian teachers. Overall, the teachers responded very Although many teachers thought the two-day training wasn’t long favorably to the materials, with 89% of enough and wanted even more time to develop and share ideas, them agreeing that they can use these some teachers weren’t comfortable with the format. materials in their everyday work. In- deed, one trainer reported that every Copyright © 2007, Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with Permission. Requests for Reprints should be directed to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. 28 Learning & Leading with Technology | March 2007 UAT-lrn_lead 11/22/06 10:31 AM Page 1

The computer-to-student ratio in Hong Kong is similar to that of the United States. There are 7.4 PCs per student in primary schools and 4.6 PCs per student in secondary schools.

Manpower Bureau of the Government To make it useful for Hong Kong (Hong Kong’s Ministry of Education). students, the curriculum needed to be The threat of closure causes much translated into Chinese, but even the competition among schools to attract English version needed to be altered more students. Schools have found to make it more appropriate for local that teaching 21st-century skills and needs. The localization partner also integrating technology into learn- added some local resources for each ing can be a powerful way to attract learning project, including, for ex- students, as parents see their children ample, the Hong Kong Space Museum learning relevant skills and staying in the projects on “Space Exploration” engaged in these schools. and a local Olympic hero, Lee Lai-San, in the “Heroes and Leaders” projects. PBL in Hong Kong The finished curriculum was post- Teachers in Hong Kong are already ed to the government’s password- familiar with the concept of PBL, protected curriculum portal (http:// and it is being promoted by the gov- ms.hkedcity.net) for free download by ernment and by some school leaders teachers as a resource to complement as an alternative to traditional cur- their existing curriculum. Microsoft riculum. As a result, many teachers Hong Kong has also distributed it to are choosing PBL curriculum to use 100 schools as part of a curriculum in their classes. package that includes another piece of Microsoft’s academic program Partners in Learning curriculum de- manager in Hong Kong, Mei Mei Ng, signed to teach schools how to set up reviewed the new curriculum and student-run technical support centers. thought that it would meet a variety The materials are being enthusiastical- of needs in Hong Kong’s primary ly received by schools that are eager to schools. First, the curricula cur- attract new students, and I’m looking rently available for primary schools forward to reading the research that The University of Advancing Technology (UAT) provides is either purchased from third-party shows what the teachers think after students a diverse, exhilarating environment where the publishers or developed by the teach- using the curricula in the classroom. best elements of a college education collide with an ers themselves. There isn’t a strong unrivaled passion for advancing technology. framework for ICT integration in Kristen Weatherby is academic programs manager for much of this curriculum. Because Microsoft’s worldwide K–12 We need the very best technology integration and engag- education initiative, Partners ing students are such priorities for in Learning. Prior to joining professors and instructors schools wanting to avoid closure, Microsoft, Weatherby was a to continue this vision. middle school English and Ng and her team determined that this French teacher. She holds an curriculum would be a good fit for MA in Education from the University of Michi- If you are committed to expanding the field of Hong Kong schools. gan and a BA in English from the University of technology (online or on-campus) through research Washington. and sharing of knowledge we invite you to explore the teaching opportunities at UAT. Let us know what you think about this issue of L&L. Go to www.iste.org/LL and click on the link under Visit www.uat.edu or email Dave Bolman, Provost “How Are We Doing?” to take our short reader survey. at [email protected]

Copyright © 2007, Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with Permission. Requests for Reprints should be directed to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. March 2007 | Learning & Leading with Technology 29