Key Information, Barriers

Administrative and Technological Barriers

Students may not perform as well on standardized tests
PBL is not related to the state and district standards
It take too much planning and implementation time
Not enough technology available and no money to buy more
Taking students on the Internet could pose a risk
School culture—the expectations for all teachers to teach the curriculum the way the other teachers do
Knowledge and skill level of teacher
Class size—do you need smaller classes to do PBL?
Costs

Communicate with administration about: visions for increasing student learning, common goals based on state and district standards, budget needs, timelines, plans for sharing computer labs, using online software, plans for teaching internet safety, share ideas on how PBL enhances relationships with the community, the importance of teaching students 21st Century workplace skills through PBL
Administration doing weekly or monthly walkthroughs of the classrooms
Staff development and coaching from more advanced PBL teachers about organizing and planning projects, aligning to learning standards, timelines, data collection, creating evaluation rubrics, connecting to the real world
Collaboration between teachers and teams in Professional Learning Communities-brainstorming ideas, barriers, and solutions, selecting solutions, evaluating solutions.
Recognition of the good PBL projects-collecting data on project success, sharing information on projects that work
Have students work in cooperative groups-roles in groups-floating peer helpers

Teacher skill level
Too few computers-low numbers of computers, broken computers, missing computers, laptop computers that are not charged
Not enough computer lab time
No money for new software
District firewall
Sites go down

Building and District technology assistance and support
Teacher technology training through staff development
Ask your Professional Learning Community or Personal Learning Network for assistance
Ask students for help
Communicate with administration about need to access to certain Web sites to enhance learning and teach 21st century literacy and workplace skills
Write grants for more computers, ask PTA to sponsor some, ask businesses to donate
Use free software on the Internet
Put lab sign out sheet on server for all to access so teachers can book computer labs ahead
Install building-wide wireless computer access, obtain laptop computers and laptop computer carts capable of charging wireless laptops