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The In Time site is a tool that has come along just in time. As I learn to use new forms of technology to enhance my teaching practices, In Time has given me a model for how PBL (Problem Based Learning) can be enhanced by technology and what it would look like. I was able to search out videos by grade level and content area to view teachers in action as they taught lessons using the PBL method. These teachers demonstrated how guiding students through the process might look in an actual classroom, not just in theory.
I was able to see how students developed strategies for cooperative learning, problem solving and collaboration. This site was very helpful because it gave me a window inside the practices of other educators and their students. In chapter 7 of Supporting Learning with Technology: Essentials of Classroom Practice the author mentions that some educators struggle with relinquishing control or functioning in a noisy classroom. Admittedly, I am one of those educators.
As I grow as a teacher, I attempt to let go of the old model of what an effective learning environment looks and sounds like. The videos I found on In Time has helped me to realize and feel a little more comfortable with this concept. The new way of teaching does now always center around a quiet group of students listening to the lecture of a teacher, but combines the students and teachers interacting together on a journey of exploration including structured content based conversations with student centered activities.
I also felt the the InTime videos were very helpful in giving examples of what PBL looks like. The demonstration of a skill makes it much easier to incorporate into our own classrooms versus just reading about the skill.
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