This hook up allows them to interact with a partner classroom in the Mission district of San Francisco. Students in these two classrooms interview one another and construct joint writing projects. According to one instructor, the videoconferencing arrangement not only expands students' knowledge of other cultures, but also improves students' listening and presentation skills. At many schools, Project Based Learning has developed in order to introduce students to particular technological tools. Students at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, CA learn how to produce video and multimedia computer applications in their English and social studies classes.
Students write, present, and record a reenactment of a controversial historical event.
Some projects are defined and carried out with little or no teacher guidance or supervision. This project has become an active and influential after-school and weekend project known as The Shrimp Club. The Club is run entirely by students. Club members have testified at the state level, secured grant moneys to conduct field work, and developed a newsletter which has a wide circulation in the larger community. Students at Wood Middle School in Menlo Park, CA participate in a project to design a research station in which scientists will spend two years working in Antarctica.