Answer to Question 1
D. Wide area network
Answer to Question 2
Answers will vary, but should include some of the points below.
Involve learners in gaining and organizing knowledge of content Inspiration and other concept-mapping software is useful for this.
Help learners link school activities to life, providing the why for doing the activity
Give students control of their learning
Have built in and just-in-time scaffolding to help students tutorials are available all over the Web for content, language, and technology help.
Are fun/interesting
Contain specific objectives for students to meet along the way to a larger goal
Have guidance for the use of tools, especially computer technologies
Include communication and collaboration tools to support these goals are described in chapter 3.
Emphasize the process and the content
Are central to the curriculum, not peripheral or time-fillers
Lead to additional content learning
Have a measurable, although not necessarily correct, outcome.
More specifically, PBL tasks:
Use a problem that appeals to human desire for resolution/stasis/harmony and sets up need for and context of learning which follows (IMSA, 2005, p2)
Help students understand the range of problem-solving mechanisms available
Focus on the merits of the question, the concepts involved, and student research plans
Provide opportunities for students to examine the process of getting the answer (for example, looking back at the arguments)
Lead to additional, transfer problems that use the knowledge gained in a different context
Not every task will necessarily exhibit all of these characteristics completely, but these lists can serve as guidelines for creating and evaluating tasks.