In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy about their brand new book titled Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers. How to Unpack PBL an Inquiry. If there’s one thing that teaching during a pandemic has emphasized it’s the need for inquiry and better student involvement. So many teachers have reported lack of engagement in remote learning. I think project-based learning is the future of school and a method of instruction that every educator should explore and apply. No matter where you are on the spectrum with project-based learning, you will appreciate and benefit from hearing from Ross and Erin.
Click here to listen to Episode 195 of The Wired Educator Podcast.
Ross Cooper is currently an administrator in the Chappaqua Central School District. Previously, he was an Elementary School Principal, 
K-12 curriculum supervisor, Elementary Assistant Principal, and fourth grade teacher. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator. As a nationally recognized leader in project based learning, he has worked with thousands of educators across the country to implement PBL, and in 2016 he coauthored Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom. While his day job is his first professional priority, he finds time to conduct workshops and speak on project based learning, inquiry-based learning, student-centered learning, instructional leadership, his professional experiences, and more. When he is not working, he enjoys eating steak and pizza and provoking his four beautiful nephews and niece. He blogs at rosscoop31.com, and you can connect with him via email, [email protected], and on Twitter @RossCoops31.
Erin Murphy currently has the pleasure of serving as the Supervisor of Teaching & Learning for the Humanities subjects in the East Penn School District. She spent four years as a Middle School Assistant Principal and has classroom experiences ranging from kindergarten through fifth grade. She is a proud graduate of Penn State University’s Professional Development School, where she was trained in inquiry-based instructional approaches. Erin is coauthor of Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom (2016), and she consults internationally with leaders and learners regarding literacy, learning, and leadership. Erin, her husband, and her two daughters reside in Pennsylvania, and the family enjoys spending time gardening, watching football, and playing board games. You can connect with Erin through her blog, psumurphette.com, via email at [email protected], and on Twitter @MurphysMusings5.
Mentioned in this episode:Â
Ross and Erin’s book: Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.
Follow Erin and Ross on Twitter @MurphysMusings5 Â and @RossCoops31.
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In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, I have an amazing conversation with Apple Distinguished Educator and STEM/Art teacher, Jon Jarc about teaching in a remote environment. How can you teach an essential class with so many hands-on tools and supplies like STEM and Art while completely remote? Well, Jon did, and he did it amazingly well. He is an amazing educator. We go in many directions in this interview. You are going to love this episode. 
In short, I have been feeling the need to step back from publishing episodes of The Wired Educator Podcast in order to reflect on all that is going on in the world around me and to adjust and become more intentional in providing solutions.
Dr. William Rankin is a learning-experience and learning-frameworks designer and educational theorist who served as worldwide Director of Learning at Apple from 2013 through 2016. An academic with more than 25 years of classroom experience, Rankin helped design the world’s first smartphone-based one-to-one learning program for higher education, for which he was named Campus Technology magazine’s Innovator of the Year for mobile learning in 2008. In 2009, he was named an Apple Distinguished Educator, and in 2010, he began a three-year tenure on the US Board of Apple’s Distinguished Educators program.
Stephanie Castle is a good friend of mine and a fellow Apple Distinguished Educator. I’ve had the good pleasure to travel with her to different parts of the world through the Apple Distinguished Educator Program. She’s a wonderful human and an incredible teacher. She is the first person from whom I ever heard
I am so proud of educators around the world helping their students, community, and colleagues. Like you, I have been working extra hours with teachers in and outside my district with remote learning and instruction. Like you, I have been helping my family and community in this time of uncertainty and hardship. Like you, I am concerned about our students and what is coming next. This episode is more than just a check-in. It’s more than just an episode on remote learning. This episode attempts to connect all of us together and make some sense of what is going on and offer a little insight on how to prepare.
Dr. Matthew X. Joseph has collected incredible insights on how best to support teaching and learning, and his work has led to nationally published articles and opportunities to speak at multiple state and national events. He has been a school and district leader in many capacities in public education over his twenty-five years in the field, with experiences such as being the director of digital learning and innovation, an elementary school principal, a classroom teacher, and a district professional development specialist. Matt currently serves as the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Leicester Public Schools. He earned a master’s degree in special education and administration and has his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Boston College. Matt holds licenses in teaching, school administration, and MA superintendent.
Jakob was one of the leading forces behind FlowFactory, Denmarks’ first High School that was 100% based on Challenge Based Learning and cross-curricula, Real World projects, together with both local and international corporations and organizations (like LEGO Education, SamLabs and Danfoss). His mission is to inspire us to reinvent education … to dare to think differently about learning and to aim higher and to see new creative possibilities for learning that are based on future trends instead of historical traditions.
Dr. Monica Burns is a Curriculum and EdTech Consultant, Apple Distinguished Educator and Founder of ClassTechTips.com. Monica was part of her school’s leadership team and was a vocal advocate for bringing one-to-one technology into her classroom. As a classroom teacher, Monica used iPads to create an engaging, differentiated learning experience to meet the unique needs of her students. Realizing the power of digital tools in the classroom, Monica started ClassTechTips.com to provide a resource for educators.
