So much of schooling involves filling kids up with the knowledge adults want them to have. But what if instead students learned because they genuinely needed to know?

That's where project-based learning comes in.

" "Project-based learning always starts with a driving question," " said education consultant and technology integration expert Michael Gorman. By pursuing the answer to their driving question, students learn what they need to know along the way — all while developing Common Core skills such as creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

" "The project does the teaching," " he said. " "So many times what we do as teachers is: We front load, we front load, we front load, and then we suddenly do a project in the end. Project-based learning really is doing the learning through the project." "

Below, Gorman outlines the eight essential elements for true project-based learning.

Want more ideas for using technology to achieve deeper learning? Get more than 90 recorded sessions from ISTE 2014 on topics ranging from 1:1 to flipped learning.

Nicole Krueger is ISTE's inbound content strategist and lead blogger for the ISTE Connects blog. A former journalist, she has more than a decade of experience as a news reporter and professional blogger.