Christopher Stevens Youth Network: Global
Connections 2.0
iEARN -Jordan Workshop
Khitam Al-Utaibi
iEARN-Jordan Representative
February 23rd, 2013
Amman, Jordan

My Name Exercise

International Education and Resource Network
Learning with the world, not just about it

Learning with the
world, not just about it…
2 million Students
40,000 Educators
130 Countries
300 Projects
30 Languages

Since 1988, a global network of 130 country programs has emerged…

global project model:
meets educational objectives, addresses issues, topics and
challenges that young people care about
Millennium Development Goals
Project

Projects in all Curriculum Areas
Arts & Literature
Social Studies
Math & Science
Languages & ESL
Adaptable to meet national (state) standards

Collaboration Centre for communication and
sharing

iEARN is…
The largest project-based
K-12 network in the world!
25,000 schools and youth organizations in 130 countries.
www.iearn.org
Collaboration in Education Works!

iEARN-Jordan
• Started in Jordan in 1999 and was coordinated by different administrations on
small scale.
• In Sep 2009, iEARN –Jordan was approved by the iEARN International Assembly
and now is coordinated by Ms. Khitam Al-Utaibi.
Achievements:
– Video Conference Seminar between Department of Education -US and
Jordan Ministry of Education for high school students to talk about Global
Warming . Ten Students from public schools in Directorate of Education -
Amman 1st. (Dec 2009)
– Workshop for 11 teachers from private schools in Amman. (Dec 2010)
– Workshop for youth specialized in IT. (Feb 2011).
– Workshop for Al-Hassad Private School teachers (March 2012)
– Presentation in the ALC Conference
Where you can find us:
You may find us on our Facebook iEARN-Jordan. Visit, like and share! Thanks!

Navigating the iEARN
Collaboration Center

Examples of iEARN Online Projects
• Beauty of the Beasts
• Future Citizen Project
• My City and Me
• To Dam or Not to Dam (Rivers), That is the
Question

Online Course
• Mechanisms
– Six weeks course with instructions, papers to read and
assignments
– Participating teachers follow the instructors guidelines
and can send emails for any inquiry
• Where?
– On iEARN professional Development Center
• How?
– Teachers submit their completed assignments on
weekly basis
– Teachers who complete the course will take certificates

Online Course
Teachers who will participate in the Online Course , iEARN-
Jordan Representative will provide necessary support as
needed.

Coffee Break

Research on the Role of Student
Characteristics in Project-Based Learning
• There is a frequently voiced claim that
Project-Based Learning is an effective
method for prompting heretofore
reluctant and disengaged students (e.g.,
low-achieving students) to become
motivated and engaged learners (Jones
et al., 1997).

Challenges and frustrations!
Where do they come from?
• The formal education system:
– Human: Teacher, Supervisor, Principal, student
– Facility: classrooms, computer labs, science
labs, library, other (gym, music room,)
– Curriculum: standards, textbooks, e-content
– Technology and applications:
internet?, intranet?, video conferencing, online
courses, distance collaboration
• Home, neighborhood, self, etc!

How can we bridge the gap?
An Introduction to Project –Based Learning

Introduction to Collaborative Project Based Learning through iEARN
Handout 9.1 Steps to Planning Successful Online Projects
• Project Planning
a. Be familiar with the topic you will teach; consult textbooks
and other resources for teachers
b. Establish a working environment with co-teachers
c. Brainstorm ideas
• Project Design
a. Define the goal of the project - It is very important that
the student goals you specify for the activity are:
– Tied directly to the curriculum
– Could not be accomplished at all, or as well, using more traditional learning
tools. The collaboration must bring added value either in content or process.
b. Think about the project activities. If this is your first
attempt at bringing collaboration into your class, aim for
creating a short activity.

Introduction to Collaborative Project Based Learning through iEARN
Handout 9.1 Steps to Planning Successful Online Projects
c. Choose the final report format
– Writings
– Art project (wall chart, poster, mural)
– Electronic (slide presentation, website, audio, video)
– Performance (debates, games, interviews, panel discussions, plays, songs)
d. Choose appropriate assessment methods
e. Construct appropriate assessment tools
– Assessment rubrics
– Peer evaluation forms
– Self evaluation forms
f. Describe teacher and student roles
g. Decide on student groupings

Introduction to Collaborative Project Based Learning through iEARN
Handout 9.1 Steps to Planning Successful Online Projects
h. Create student support materials, such as:
• Handouts containing instructions
• Project submission forms
• Sample student work
i. Look into resource or technology availability
j. Map out the time line for the project and specify time
frame for each task
k. Consider balance between homework vs. schoolwork
l. Create a group action plan
m. Create a personal action plan

Introduction to Collaborative Project Based Learning through iEARN
Handout 9.1 Steps to Planning Successful Online Projects
3. Call for Collaboration
– Find teachers who are willing to get their students to participate in your project
– Write an invitation that describes who you are, where you are located, why you
are doing this project (as part of your curriculum), what the project is
about, when the project will start and how long it will last.
– Be prepared to answer inquiries from other teachers.
4. Implementation
– Start the project with an opening activity
– Initiate communications
– Communicate regularly
– Keep communications alive
– Have students write progress reports
– End with a final, tangible product such as a report, a video, a list of
“winners”, shared results, content analysis or a web page.
– Schedule a closure date and make sure all class contributions are received in a
timely fashion.

Introduction to Collaborative Project Based Learning through iEARN
Handout 9.1 Steps to Planning Successful Online Projects
5. Facilitation and Collaboration
a. Revisit group and personal action plans
b. Adjust schedules and activities, as needed
5. Evaluation
a. Assemble outputs into a portfolio
b. Reflect on experiences
c. Assess student learning
6. Dissemination
a. Share experiences with colleagues through publications and
presentations
b. Update the Project Website

Is PBL Worth's Doing?
It Really, Actually Changed My Life

Jordan Education Reform for
Knowledge Economy
• Knowledge Economy
• 21st century Skills
• Ways of Thinking

Education Trends in 21st century
http://www.p21.org/

Project Based Learning Life Cycle
1. Planning
2. Design
1. Goals and objectives
2. Activities (collaboration)
3. Final product
4. Assessment methods and tools
5. Roles (teacher & student)
6. Grouping strategies
7. Support material
8. Resources and technology availability
9. Timeline and timeframe
10. Balance between homework vs. schoolwork
11. Group action plan
12. Personal action plan

Project Based Learning Life Cycle
3. Call for collaboration
4. Implementation
5. Facilitation and collaboration
6. Evaluation
7. Dissemination

The Coming to California Project
A twelve-week interdisciplinary United States
history and English project for 11th and 12th
graders. The project focused on immigration into
California and included a class mosaic as a
product.
Source: The Project Based Learning
Handbook, Buck Institute for Education. The
Arabic version of the Handbook will be issued by
March 2013.

The Coming to California Project

Driving Questions
How can we answer the Driving Question?

The Coming to Amman Project

The Coming to California Project
PROJECT OUTCOMES
Content Standards
• Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
• Students write coherent and focused texts that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly
reasoned argument.
• Students deliver polished formal and extemporaneous presentations that combine traditional
rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description.
• Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural to
urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.
• Students analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural
developments of the 1920s.
Skills
• Students will be able to set goals and carry out a project plan.
• Students will be able to deliver an oral presentation in front of a large group.
• Students will be able to generate an interview plan: who, what, where, when, how.
• Students will be able to work effectively in a group and be more disposed to cooperate with
peers.
Habits of Mind
• Students will be more tolerant and understanding of immigrant groups.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Assessments
LEVEL EMPHASIS GOAL VERBS TO USE
1 recognition and recall -- ability Show that you know list, tell, define, identify,
Knowledge to remember facts in the way label, locate, recognize
they were first presented
2 grasp the meaning and intent of Show that you understand explain, illustrate,
Comprehension information -- the ability to tell describe, summarize,
or translate into your own words interpret, expand,
convert, measure
3 use of information -- ability to Show that you can use what has demonstrate, apply, use,
Application apply learning to new situations been learned construct, find solutions,
and real-life circumstances collect information,
perform, solve, choose
appropriate procedures
4 reasoning -- ability to break Show that you perceive and can analyze, debate,
Analysis down information into pick out the most important differentiate, generalize,
component parts and to detect points in material presented conclude, organize,
relationships of one part to determine, distinguish
another and to the whole
5 originality and creativity -- Show that you can combine create, design, plan,
Synthesis ability to assemble separate parts concepts to create an original or produce, compile,
to form a new whole new idea develop, invent
6 Ability to use criteria or Show that you can judge and compare, decide,
Evaluation standards for evaluation and evaluate ideas, information, evaluate, conclude,
judgment procedures, and solutions contrast, develop criteria,
assess, appraise

Assessment
The Central Features of Effective Rubrics
Rubrics recommended for use in the classroom are analytic
rubrics, which break down the tasks in an assignment into
separate categories for assessment. For example, an analytic
rubric for a research paper might contain criteria for five
categories:
(1) content;
(2) Organization;
(3) depth of research;
(4) use of primary resources; and
(5) Writing mechanics.
This breakdown allows teachers to facilitate student learning
during the project by giving students more specific feedback.
Analytic rubrics do not combine independent tasks in one
criteria.

Assessment
ELEMENTS*
Any performance or product can be broken down into a set of elements,
or individual components. These elements describe various
aspects of a product and become the framework for the rubric. For
example, the elements below describe five different ways to evaluate a
presentation of an idea or a product. These five elements can be listed
on the rubric to provide a comprehensive description of performance:
• Impact of performance. The success of performance,
given the purposes, goals, and desired result.
• Work quality and craftsmanship. The overall polish,
organization, and rigor of the work.
• Adequacy of methods and behaviors. The quality of the
procedures and manner of presentation, prior to and during
performance.
• Validity of content. The correctness of the ideas, skills,
or materials used.
• Sophistication of knowledge employed. The complexity
or maturity of the knowledge displayed.

The Coming to California Project
PROJECT EVALUATION
1.Planned as a 10-week project, the Coming to California
Project was completed in 12 weeks, with successful
presentations and a strong a sense of student
accomplishment.
2.A test for content knowledge showed that a majority of
students had mastered test and lecture materials on
immigration and key historical events, such as the
Depression, the New Deal, and the Japanese internments.
3.In presentations, students demonstrated passion,
tolerance, and understanding as they related the journey
and migration stories of the ethnic group they had chosen
to investigate.

The Coming to California Project
…PROJECT EVALUATION
4. Many students were motivated to research their own
family history in California and relate their findings to
immigration topics.
5. As part of the project planning, the teaching team
scheduled one 90-minute period with students to
reflect on the project and evaluate the learning that
had come from the project.
6. The evaluation was conducted in a community
fashion, with students and teachers in a large circle.
Students facilitated the debriefing and recorded the
discussion.

The Coming to California Project
Three management strategies helped make the project successful.
• First, teachers closely monitored the pace and direction of
project activities using weekly progress reports that included
teacher observations, weekly student progress logs, and Friday
debriefings.
• Second, as the teachers mapped out the project, they used five
different grouping strategies to ensure greater productivity and
accountability.
• Third, different learning contexts helped students stay enthused
during a long project. In addition to working in class and at
home, students conducted research in the library and in the
community, presented to other classrooms and to the
community in an all-school assembly, and worked on the mosaic
in a studio near the school.

Thank You 
To know more about iEARN-
Jordan, you may contact me
through email:
iearnjordan@aol.com