Chapter 14: Facilitating Social Justice Inquiry Through Project-Based Learning and Technology

Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching strategy that promotes learning based on critical thinking projects. It encourages students to use creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication to approach an inquiry-based issue (Thomas, 2000). Although the question or issue is often defined in advance, the solutions are complex; one right or easy answer cannot solve it. PBL puts students in charge of asking questions, discovering and interpreting answers, and constructing their own solutions (Boss, 2014).

The use of educational technology, such as Web 2.0 tools, can augment PBL, enhancing students’ ability to construct new understandings and allowing their inquiries to lead them to new places. With technology, the PBL approach is elevated as students are able to not only conduct research more effectively, but also experience greater opportunities to learn skills that will help them in all future research. In both K–12 and higher education contexts, technology tools can be utilized in PBL to expand the depth and breadth of any inquiry. Moreover, students can use technological platforms to promote issues and solutions they are passionate about through blogs, Prezi presentations, YouTube uploads, and other web-based communication methods. The use of technology in PBL allows students to not only collaborate, conduct research, analyze, and create, but also to communicate and publish their work for authentic audiences (Boss, 2014).