Combining technology and PBL in teaching unit 12, english textbook 10

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1.
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1
1.1. Reasons of choosing the theme......................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study............................................................................................1
1.3. Objects of the study........................................................................................1
1.4. Methods of the study......................................................................................1
1.5. New ideas of the study...................................................................................2
CONTENTS OF THE STUDY.............................................................................2
2.1. Theoretical background..................................................................................2
2.2. Practical background......................................................................................4
2.3. Combining technology and PBL in teaching Unit 12, English textbook 10
(Tiếng Anh 10), Education Publishing House.......................................................5
.......................................................................................................................6
(Teacher give out many driving questions to students).................................6
2.3.2. Step 2: Discusing the Criteria for Evaluation......................................6
.....................................................................................................................14
“Music conveys our hopes and dreams” (Group 3 with their project and
presentation)................................................................................................14
2.3.6. Step 6: Reflecting on the Process and Evaluating the Process.........14
2.4. Results of combining technology and PBL in teaching unit 12, English text
book 10, Education publishing house..................................................................16
3. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................17
3.1. Conclusion....................................................................................................17
3.2. Suggestion....................................................................................................18
REFERENCES......................................................................................................1
APPENDIX 1 : PROJECT TEAM WORK PLAN................................................2
APPENDIX 2: GUIDELINES FOR POWER POINT LAYOUT.........................3
APPENDIX 3: GUIDELINES FOR ORAL PRESENTATION............................4
APPENDIX 4: CHECK LISTS FOR POSTER....................................................5

APPENDIX 5 : ASSESSMENT FOR GROUPWORK SKILL............................6
APPENDIX 6: TEACHER AND PEER’S ASSESSMENT..................................7
APPENDIX 7: The talk of the group 3 about “Music”.........................................7
APPENDIX 8: The talk of the group 4 about “Music”.......................................10


INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons of choosing the theme.
Up to now, English which is used very popularly in Vietnam is an
indispensable international language. English is one of the compulsory subjects
at high schools. It has been used for Final Examinations to evaluate students’
level of knowledge. Therefore, whether students are proficient at English or not,
bases mainly on teaching methods. Being proficient at English means students
are good at both received skills – reading and listening, and productive skills –
speaking and writing. These four skills are integraded in a lesson to improve all
these skills for the students because one certain skill can be used to improve the
others. Language teachers; therefore, should find out the most suitable methods
– from the curricula, pedagogies, school environment and settings, assessments
and extra-curricular activities to concretely bridge theories and practices.
Moreover, there is no doubt that using technology in teaching and learning
English always brings us surprising results. Students can search information
with a laptop or a computer connected to the internet.
Basing on these facts, I forcefully chose and applied a combination of
technology and Project based learning (PBL) in teaching many units in English
textbook, Education Publishing House, with the aim of enabling my students to
“experience what they are learning about and the opportunity to relect on those
activities” [5], since “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created
through transformation of experience” [4].
In what follows I shall present the theme “Combining technology and
PBL in teaching unit 12, English textbook 10” that I have applied in teaching

English in many classes with the aim of helping students focus on learning
English at High school.
1.2. Aims of the study
My theme focuses on making clear about some issues below:
- What is PBL?
- Why is a combination of technology and BPL?
- How is technology and PBL combined?
1.3. Objects of the study
10th grade students in classes 10A1, 10A11 in Hoang Hoa 4 High school,
Thanh Hoa province are the objects chosen for my study. The students are in the
first year of high school, tending to focus only on their main subjects in the
National Examination and English is not really their interest; therefore, they
complete the tasks in their English text book in a passive way.
1.4. Methods of the study
In order to collect a number of information, compare, and then, analyse
data my study is conducted by qualitative methods. By using the combination of
these methods, my theme will make clear the questions in this topic, and reach
effectively the targets of the essay.
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1.5. New ideas of the study
With a laptop or a computer connected to the internet, students working in
groups search, choose, compile and arrange information related to their project.
Then they complete their presentation on slides of the power point software with
the teacher’s instructions.
CONTENTS OF THE STUDY
2.1. Theoretical background
2.1.1. What is Project-Based Learning?
Project-based learning hails from a tradition of pedagogy which asserts that

students learn best by experiencing and solving real-world problems. According
to reseachers (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Thomas, 2000), projectbased learning essentially involves the following:
• Students learning knowledge to tackle realistic problems as they would
be solved in the real world.
• Increased student control over his or her learning.
• Teachers serving as coaches and facilitators of inquiry and reflection.
• Students ( usually, but not always ) working in pairs or groups.
Teachers can create real-world problem-solving situations by designing
questions and tasks that correspond to two different frameworks of inquiry-based
teaching: PBL, which tackles a problem but doesn’t necessarily include a student
project, and PBL, which involves a complex task and some forms of student
presentation, and/or creating an actual product or artifact. experience” [1].
These inquiry-based teaching methods engage students in creating,
questioning, and revising knowledge, while developing their skills in critical
thinking, collaboration, communication, reasoning, synthesis, and resilience
(Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008). Although these methods of inquiry-based
teaching differ slightly, for simplicity they’re combined in these pages and
reffered to as PBL. [2].

(source: )
2


2.1.2. Why is a combination of technology and PBL considered as an
effective and enjoyable way to learn?
The experience of thousands of teachers across all grade levels and subject
areas, backed by research, confirms that a combination of technology and PBL is
an effective and enjoyable way to learn - and develop deeper
learning competencies required for success in college, career, and civic life.
Why are so many educators around the world interested in this teaching method?

The answer is a combination of timeless reasons and recent developments.
• A combination of technology and PBL makes school more engaging for
students. Today’s students, more than ever, often find school to be boring and
meaningless. In PBL, students are active, not passive; a project engages their
hearts and minds, and provides real-world relevance for learning.
• A combination of technology and PBL improves learning. After
completing a project, students understand content more deeply, remember what
they learn and retain it longer than is often the case with traditional instruction.
Because of this, students who gain content knowledge with PBL are better able
to apply what they know and can do to new situations.
• A combination of technology and PBL builds success skills for college,
career, and life. In the 21st century workplace and in college, success requires
more than basic knowledge and skills. In a project, students learn how to take
initiative and responsibility, build their confidence, solve problems, work in
teams, communicate ideas, and manage themselves more effectively.
• A combination of technology and PBL helps address standards. The
Common Core and other present-day standards emphasize real-world
application of knowledge and skills, and the development of success skills such
as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, communication in a variety
of media, and speaking and presentation skills. PBL is an effective way to meet
these goals.
• A combination of technology and PBL provides opportunities for
students to use technology. Students are familiar with and enjoy using a
variety of tech tools that are a perfect fit with PBL. With technology, teachers
and students can not only find resources and information and create products,
but also collaborate more effectively, and connect with experts, partners, and
audiences around the world.
• A combination of technology and PBL makes teaching more enjoyable
and rewarding. Projects allow teachers to work more closely with active,
engaged students doing high-quality, meaningful work, and in many cases to

rediscover the joy of learning alongside their students.
• A combination of technology and PBL connects students and schools with
communities and the real world. Projects provide students with empowering
opportunities to make a difference, by solving real problems and addressing real
issues. Students learn how to interact with adults and organizations, are exposed
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to workplaces and adult jobs, and can develop career interests. Parents and
community members can be involved in projects. [3]

(source: )
2.2. Practical background
Hoang Hoa 4 high school is located in Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa
province. It was built in 1989. At present, the school has 32 classes with nearly
1.540 students.
Almost all students in the school live in the countryside and don’t have
many opportunities and conditions to practice English regularly as well as take
part in extra English classes. Although they are studious and obedient students,
they do not raise the sense of initiative in learning English. They need the
teacher’s help.
Teachers in this school have been trying hard to find suitable teaching
methods and, to a certain extent, these methods can fulfil the aim of helping
students understand and know thoroughly the contents of 16 units and 6 test
yourself units. Nonetheless, how will the class be if these methods are applied in
all the lessons? Will the students find it interesting to learn whereas they can
find the exact answers for the tasks in many reference books? Will the
completing tasks in the text book help students learn how to take initiative and
responsibility, build their confidence, solve problems, work in teams,
communicate ideas, and manage themselves more effectively? Will the students

have chance to build important skills such as critical thinking, problem solving,
collaboration, communication in a variety of media, and speaking as well as
presentation skill? More important, will the students be connected with
comunities and the real world while studying in textbook only?
PBL bearing many good points as mentioned above can bring to a new
change in teaching process. PBL conbined with technology can make students
more active and creative. I therefore forcedly implemented PBL and technology
4


in teaching many units, of which Unit 12, English text book 10, Education
Publishing House brought my students as well as my teaching much joyful
experience and core value.
2.3. Combining technology and PBL in teaching Unit 12, English
textbook 10 (Tiếng Anh 10), Education Publishing House.
The process of a combination of technology and PBL can be varied,
depending on the real situation in terms of students’ ability and the content of
each unit. By my experience in learning and teaching English, instead of
teaching lessons in each units; that means teaching Reading, Speaking,
Listening, Writing skills and language focus in turns traditionally, I have
forcefully and successfully applied PBL and technology in teaching unit 12,
English textbook 10, Education Publishing House in the following steps.
English 10, Unit 12: Music, Page 124
Project: Music
1. Music, which brings us many special benefits, plays a vital role in our
lives. Morever, there are a great number of kinds of music. Each kind
expresses its own emotion. Work in group:
- Discuss the role of music, its good points.
- Name some kinds of music.
Find

out
songs,
pictures
or
photos
of
famous
songs/singers/bands/musisians to demonstrate your opinion in the project.
- Write the slogan and the core value of your project.
2. Prepare and give presentation to your class.
3. Time: 7 days

2.3.1. Step 1. Breaking real situations related to the content of the lesson.
From my point of view, many students do not identify what they know,
what they need to know and what they are being taught so they find the lessons
boring and meaningless. With a compelling student project, the reason for
learning relevant material becomes clear: I need to know this to meet the
challenge I have accepted.
In this step, as a classroom teacher, I could powerfully activate my
students’ need to know content by launching a unit in a way that engages interest
and inititates questioning. This could take the form of a lively discussion.
Morever, I gave out many driving questions to my students. Good driving
questions capture the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, giving
students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be provocative,
open-ended, complex, and linked to the core value of what you want students to
learn. It could be abstract (What are roles of music in our lives?/); concrete
5


(What are kinds of music?); or focused on solving a problem (Does music bring

us numerous advantages? What are they?)

(Teacher give out many driving questions to students)
2.3.2. Step 2: Discusing the Criteria for Evaluation
In this step, I and my students had to decide that the projects should be
assessed by fullfiling the questions in rubrics including self assessment rubric,
peer assessment rubric and teacher assessment rubric (See Appendix 6) and
checklist.(See Appendix 4)
Once the criteria were clearly defined, the students realized that they might
have to be modified in the future.

(Teacher and students are discusing the Criteria for Evaluation)
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2.3.3. Step 3: Organizing projects
• Dividing the class into 4 groups:
In the first place, I divided my class in to 4 groups of nine or ten, and
appointed the leader of each group.

(Students worked in groups of nine)
Assigning tasks
In the second place, the group’s leaders assigned the task for each
members. In terms of making a project feel more meaningful to students, the
more voice and choice, the better. The leaders should assign the tasks depending
on each member’s ability. Each member had a chance to share what they had
learned with the group. On one end of the scale, groups’ members should also
discuss on how to design, create, and present products. In the middle, I might
provide a limited menu of options for creative products to prevent students from
becoming overwhemed by choices. On the other end of the scale, students could

decide what products they will create, what resources they will use, and how
they will structure their time. Students could even choose a project’s topic and
driving questions. Basing on the topic in units 12, Music, my students chose
pictures to be their final products. During this step, students in each group use
the check list (See Appendix 4) and Project team work plan (See Appendix 1)
and Assessment for group work skill (See Appendix 5) to check the work and
the duty of each member .
•

7


(Groups’ leaders distributed work to members)
2.3.4. Step 4: Conducting the project.

(source: )
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In a project, students should be given opportunities to build such 21st
century skills as brainstorming, negotiating, collaborating, communicating,
critical thinking and using technology, which will serve them well in the
workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the second criterion
for meaningful work—an important purpose. A teacher in a project-based
learning environment explicitly teaches and assesses these skills and provides
frequent opportunities for students to assess themselves.
Being given the Guidelines for the power point presentation layout (See
Appendix 3), the students in each group worked on preliminary sketches until
they decided on a final design. Besides, students gathered information from
many resourses such as websites, newspapers, CD, VCD and their real lives.

They then compiled imformation, deciding on what pictures, songs and
information to paste on slides of the power point presentation. Finally, they
decided on how and where to put information, songs and pictures on it. During
this step, Check list for power point presentation (See Appendix 4) was also
used to check the tasks of all the members.

(Students gathered information, songs and pictures with a laptop connected
to the Internet )

9


(Students compiled information, songs and pictures)

10


(Students prepare for their presentations)
During this step, I served as an observer, moving from group to group to
guide the students' work. As I did so, I asked myself the following coaching
questions:
• Are the students attentive and working together cooperatively?
• Do the students have a clear understanding of the task?
• Does each student have ownership of her role within the group?
• Are any groups stumbling in a way that is blocking their work due
to heightened emotions?
• Are the resources that students use suitable for their comprehensive level
of understanding?

11

(Teacher as an observer guides the students' work)
I as an observer obtained a clarity of purpose throughout this process.
Prompted by the coaching questions and the checklist, the students used their
own intellects to solve problems while attaining a higher level of learning.
2.3.5. Step 5: Presenting the project.
In this step, students were aware of the ways their presentations meet the
criteria of assessment. The teacher-coach using Teacher’s assessment (See
Appendix 6), observed how engaged they were in presenting their projects. Each
group in my class showcased its power point presentation to the class,
explaining how the product was achieved as well as presenting the content, the
core value of the project. Not one student was absent on the day of the
competition.
Here, I enclosed three video clips and two power point presentations
presented by my students in a CD Rom (see the CD Rom) and a talk of group 3
about “Music” (see Appendix 7 and 8) .

12


“Music makes us happy and excited” (Group 4 with their project and
presentation)

“When we listen to music, we feel relaxed”(Group 1 with their project
and presentation)

13

“Music helps me express ideas, thoughts and feelings”( (Group 2 with
their project and presentation)

“Music conveys our hopes and dreams” (Group 3 with their project and
presentation)
2.3.6. Step 6: Reflecting on the Process and Evaluating the Process.
In this step, the students discussed what they enjoyed about working in
their groups, and how one student's idea would spawn another student's idea.
They discussed what they liked about the materials and what they found to be
frustrating. Students shared their reflections to note what they had in common
14


and what was special to each group or to each individual personally. They
reviewed the criteria of assessment and discussed how well they met them.
The teacher assessed students’ presentation on the power point software
basing on the criteria discussed before. I used my assessment rubric(see
Appendix 6), combining with students’ self assessment rubric and peer
assessment rubric(see Appendix 4 ans 6), to evaluate student’s work, gave them
comments as well as compliments.

(Students assessed peer’s work)

(Teacher evaluated, commented, and gave marks)
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2.4. Results of combining technology and PBL in teaching unit 12,
English text book 10, Education publishing house.

(Students at class 10B2 school year 2013-2014 with traditional method)
I have compared my work with many classes (10 B2, 10 B3, 10 B7 school
year 2013-2014, 10 A1, 10 A2, 10 A11 school year 2016-2017) for many years
in order to assess the effectiveness of applying this method to teaching unit 12 Music. Before using this method, most of my students could traditionally
complete all the taks in the text book, with the help of their teacher. However,
they easily forgot the vocabularies, the topic as well as the contents of the unit.
To a certain extent, after each lesson, students seemed to know the floating part
in an “ice berg”, not really understand the deeply sinked part in the unit, in other
words, it is the core value of the lesson.
It is a matter of fact that when applying PBL and technology in teaching in
general and teaching unit 12 in particular, my students enjoyed working together
to create their groups’ outcomes, they seemed to be very eager for each unit
because they want to deal with new challenges.

16


Here, I felt the sense that schoolwork is more meaningful when it is not
done only for the teacher or the test. When students presented their work to real
audience, they cared more about its quality. Moreover, all the students could find
out the core value of their projects; that is: “Music plays an important roles in
our lives”.
3. CONCLUSION
3.1. Conclusion
Teaching method is a product connecting theory and practice in order to
help students acquire knowledge, practice their skills and solve the problems.
Changing teaching method, in my opinion, firstly is changing the phylosophy of
teaching. By the end of the lesson, students can find out the core value of the
problem and apply them in to their real life. Besides, changes are also shown as
the role of the teacher from the provider into a consultant; students will fulfil the

demand of knowledge themselves.
It is clearly that in my class, with combining technology and PBL, each
unit indeed is appealling to students because they are solving their real-problem
in their life. When students practice decision - making and deductive reasoning
and are exposed to examples from real life, they are able to expand their skills,
evaluate their options, and think critically. The activities in this section help
students visualize how events actually unfold by having students conduct
research, discuss, use technology to collect and design illustrations, and reflect
on their work. Students learn from each other by analyzing and synthesizing
material, reinforcing main points, and moving information from short- to longterm memory. Most importantly, students content- basedly talk and write for a
purpose, because their work is often presented in front of their peers.
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I myself find it is relaxing to be a facilitator, an adviser, an observer, a colearner instead of being a translator and a leader , for all the activities in the
classroom.
Combining technology and PBL is a dynamic approach to teaching in
which students explore real- world problems and challenges. With this type of
active and engaged learning, students are insprired to obtain a deeper knowledge
of the subjects they’re studying. When designing or planning projects the work
or task is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria. First, students must perceive the
work as personally meaningful, as a task that they want to do well. Second, a
meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose.
3.2. Suggestion.
Basing on practical teaching English textbook 10, 11, 12 Education
Publishing House, I suggest that there should be a projector and a computer or a
laptop in each classroom in order to motivate students in learning English and
help them prepare projects better.
This is my little experience in finding methods to help students find
learning is acquiring actively by themselves. I hope that you will use these

hands-on, interactive strategies to motivate and engage your students, and to
foster an environment that makes learning fun. I hope to receive your reading
and comments as well as contribution to make this theme more perfect so that it
can be applied widely.
Thanks for your reading!
THE CONFIRMATION OF
THE HEAD MASTER

Thanh Hoa, May 31st 2017.
I, the undersigned, certify my
authority of the experiential initiative
entitled “Combining technology and
PBL in teaching unit 12, English
textbook 10”. Except where the
references are indicated, no other
person’s piece of work has been used
without due acknowledgements in the
text of initiative.
Author

Nguyễn Thị Hoa

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REFERENCES
Webliography:
[1] What is PBL? Buck Institute for Education. Retrieved 2016-03-15
[2] Project-Based Learning, Edutopia, March 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-15
[3] />Bibliography:

[4] Kolb,D.A.(1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of
Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[5] Silberman,M.(2007). The Handbook of Experiental Learning. San Fransisco: Pfeiffer.


APPENDIX 1 : PROJECT TEAM WORK PLAN
Project name
Team members
Product:
What need to be
done?

Due:
Who will do this
part?

By when?

Where?


APPENDIX 2: GUIDELINES FOR POWER POINT LAYOUT
Your PROJECT POWER POINT may follow the layout below (or may
creat your own layout)
Slide 1:

Slide 2:

NAME OF PROJECT:…………

APPENDIX 3: GUIDELINES FOR ORAL PRESENTATION
Name of the project:……………………………..
Names of the Group Members:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
I1.
2.
3.
II1.
2.
3.
IIIIV-

INTRODUCTION
Group members
Introducing name of project
Reasons for choosing these types of music and its good points.
CONTENTS
Topic
Supporting ideas
proofs
CONCLUTION
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

APPENDIX 4: CHECK LISTS FOR POSTER
MARKING CRITERIA
NAME OF THE Do you choose the name of
PROJECT
your project?
Have you had a group leader?
Have your leader assign tasks to
the members?
Have
you
searched
the
PREPARATION information from magazines,
newspapers, the Internet, and
libraries?
Have you used many songs in
your project?
Have you complied, evaluated,
and synthesized the relevant
information?
Have you discuss an aspects of
DISCUSSION
music in terms of:
OF
THE
Kinds of music?
ASPECTS
Advantages of music?

RELATED TO
Famous songs ?
WOMEN
Famous musicians?
Have you found some songs/
photos to illustrate the aspects
of music in terms of:
Kinds of music?
Advantages of music?
ILLUSTRATION
Famous songs ?
Famous musicians?
Have you had a clear, beautiful
and understandable illustration
of each aspects.
Have you made a power point
presentation including the following:
Title of project
DESIGN
Name of group
Main contents with each aspects
Have you presented your
contents in a logical and
understandable way?

YES(V)/
COMMENTS
NO(X)

APPENDIX 5 : ASSESSMENT FOR GROUPWORK SKILL
Group:…………………………………………………….
Class:……………………………………………………..
Skills
What we did
Always
Sometimes Never
Our group discussed
the same content, each
Discussing
member proved their
own answer.
We made dicision
Deciding
together.
We voted for each
Voting
decision.
We agreed with this
Agreeing
voting
We listened to each
Listening
members.
We shared
ideas
Sharing ideas
together.
Working
We worked in group

together
We concentrated on
Concentrating
our task.
Solving
We solved our groups’
problem
problem.
We encouraged one
Encouraging
another
We proved our answer
Proving
by concrete supporting
ideas.