We have a mobile Ipad cart and several middle school students bring their own 4th Generation Ipod Touches and Iphones to school, which affords me a lot of freedom when it comes to integrating technology into my middle school science labs. With such great access to apple products, I have spent some time this year investigating useful science apps for labs. Some apps have been invaluable, as they are much cheaper than purchasing a science instrument from a supply store all on it's own. In addition, students will often go home and use the same apps we use in school at home on their own personal devices, thus extending their learning time. Science fair projects are much easier now that we have apps. Here are a few of the science apps I have used:
1. Tinkerbox (free)- this physics type game allows you to build complex machines from simple parts. It is very similar to an old game called "The Incredible Machine". You learn about simple machines, mechanical engineering principles and problem solving. After some free play time, I will usually give the students some guiding questions to help them with steer them in certain directions regarding their learning.
2. Instant Heart Rate Monitor ($0.99)- In middle school science we investigate many questions regarding what might affect our heart rate. Students often come up with some very interesting questions which require more precise measurement than your feeling your pulse with your fingers on your hand. For example, one student wanted to test whether chewing gum affected our heart rate. With an Ipod Touch 4th Generation or an Iphone, you can put your finger over the camera and the device will record your pulse rate.
3. Decibel Reader ($1.99)- Our school does have more sophisticated and accurate decibel reader, but this one works fine for the simple sound experiments we do in middle school science. The more accurate one is used mostly by the high school physics classes. Again, I love the portability of this device. Students that are dong experiments at home can download this app on their own personal devices at home and continue to experiment, which many do!!
I recently was reading the December issue on Educational Leadership, December 2010 | Volume 68 | Number 4
(Pages 74-93 ) on "What Makes a Great Teacher?". In this article the authors describe several characteristics of a great teacher. One quality listed that resonated most with me was the willingness to grow and be reflective. However, it is this important quality that often gets put on the "back burner" when teachers are busy accomplishing the multitude of task they need to ensure their day is running smoothly. When faced with the question of whether I should finish marking student reports or read an informative and thought provoking educational blog, most would finish the reports because it is more utilitarian. How can busy educators grow professionally, stay connected and learn with little time? My answer came in the form of Twitter. Although I am a newbie to Twitter, with only a few weeks of usage. I have learnt more in these few weeks than I have through several years of school professional development. What makes Twitter so effective as a Professional learning tool?
1. 140 characters- twitter only allows you to type in 140 characters, which enables people to be concise regarding what they need to say or share. If someone wants to dig deeper into the topic, most tweets offer a link to an article, blog or video.
2. Choice- you can follow and search for different "topic/chats" (ex. Elementary Chat, Science Chat, Social Studies Chat) and you can follow people who tweet based on similar interests all around the world or even local.
3. Synchronous and Asynchronous Functionality- twitter can can as an instant tool for immediate discussion or you can post a problem or question and end up checking the result later. 4. A large Scope of Topics- Twitter is a smorgasbord of topics whether it be related to education or something else. You can use the hashtag symbol followed by the topic "#topic" (ex. #elementary, #science, #caned, #assessment) to find people tweeting about and sharing information.
Here is a screen cast on my experiences using twitter:
Traditionally, professional development for teachers in most schools can be costly and sometimes frustrating. Often schools only provided partial funding for teachers to attend a conference that requires travel, food and hotel costs. Or, we fly several hours to attend a conference only to be disappointed about the learning that occurred. Have you considered EdCamp?
EdCamp is a growing phenomenon in the field of education. It is very much like an an unconference. As definded on the Edcamp wiki, "Edcamp isfree (or very cheap), democratic, participant-driven professional development for teachers." Here is a video clip with a brief explanation of Edcamps:
After reading blogs by Louis Phinney and Keri-lee Beasley about their work with QR codes at their school in Singapore, I was inspired to use this technology in my teaching class.
QR-codes can help bridge the world of paper and pencil with hand held technology devices like Ipod Touch, Iphones and Smart Phones. In our science area, we often generate screen casts of our lessons and upload them to our LMS. However, students who are on the go, would rather access this information quickly and easily. So, we are starting to create
QR codes that link the students directly to these screen casts. Here is a short video on one way we use QR-codes for science.
The university of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, developed some free software to allow teachers to create interactive assessments for students. As it says on their website, "The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is freeware, and you may use it for any purpose or project you like." You can access the hot potatoes software here.
I have developed several Hot Potatoes activities and love the simplicity of use. Once you have created an activity, you can upload it into your course management system, like moodle, for student use or email the htm file to the student directly. Hot Potatoes software is most often used as formative e-assessment tool.It is considered Freeware.
Here is a short video of what a Hot Potatoes crossword puzzle looks like on my LMS, Moodle.
I remember my schooling days, filled with worksheets and memorization. This funny video clip from a Saturday Nigh Live Episode captures what my schooling experience was like;
Thankfully, k-12 schools today are putting a greater emphasis on transferable skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and problem solving. I recently read a book called, Curriculum 21, edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. The book talks about 21st century learning and what that might look like in schools. Each chapter is writing by a different author, however the theme is the same. The book challenges educators to enable students to enhance learning beyond the walls of the school through the use of technology.
One way I get my students to question and think beyond the walls of the school without physically going there is through the use of Google Street View. Here is a screen cast of how Google Street View might be used.
In 2007, the joint information committee on e-learning published a document that outlined best practiced related to e-assessment. They advocate that there are many benefits to using e-assessment for both teachers and students. Some of these benefits include: immediate and instant feedback for the student and teacher, the ability to take e-assessments more than once, and opportunities for further learning.
It is my belief that E-Assessment (computer based assessment) might prove beneficial because it would enable teachers to manage a very demanding daily schedule and still be able to use assessment information formatively to maximize student achievement and subject mastery.
Here is a screen cast of how a teacher might use a Learning Management System, like Moodle, to facilitate formative E-assessment.
