"What's Worth Learning?" is Key Question for PBL Worldwide | Edutopia

"What's Worth Learning?" is Key Question for PBL Worldwide | Edutopia:

Suzie Boss (@suzieboss on Twitter) is a journalist and author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age. She's also a regular blogger on Edutopia.

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Editor's note: Today is the second in a series of posts from PBL World, a global gathering of educators interested in project-based learning. Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtag #pblworld.

When Claudia Urrea was growing up in Colombia, her family made a point of doing projects together. Whether they were focused on fun -- "building the coolest kite" -- or more practical household matters, projects taught her the value of learning by doing.

Today, as director of learning for the One Laptop per Child initiative and a member of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, Urrea is an advocate of project-based learning as a strategy to improve education throughout the developing world. With 2.5 million kid-friendly laptops now in the hands of children across Latin America and Africa, One Laptop per Child is disseminating not only affordable technology but also the pedagogy of student-centered, connected learning. "Projects move students from being told what to do to owning their learning," says Urrea.