Starting with the definition of the term "innovative," I'd like to say that for people who have been integrating technology and focusing on Project Based Learning and the like for years, perhaps my question and research is NOT innovative! However, given that I am really making a concerted effort to listen to my students, take their ideas and interests into account, and asking them to incorporate creative, web-based tools into their work, I think the innovation is there. For the past six months, even if the text or tasks that I had my students work with this year were similar to last year, I have really added technology in a way that I had never done before, and the students have taken notice. I have also gone from always assigning the pairs or groups to allowing them to choose with whom they work. Like everything else that is new, the excitement of working with friends has waned so now they are able to focus more on the work, and I do feel that individual agency has increased as a result. Of course, it could also be the fact that we're heading into the end of the year, so students who have not done well the first half are really trying to make more of an effort.
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Kirstin
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