Many science teachers struggle to with lessons surrounding Earth Sciences. Explaining the planetary motions that give rise to day, night, seasons, differences in insolation and tides are not simple, concrete topics that students can easily grasp. I have struggled with teaching lessons surrounding these and similar ideas in my own Science 10 classes. I believe these topics are difficult for students to learn because they involve processes which are difficult to explain and visualize. In addition planetary motion, gravity and weather systems are topics rife with misconceptions especially in younger children.
Jasper Series Impressions – 2
I must say after discussing the Jasper project with my colleagues and classmates we all agree that there is a lot to admire in the Jasper approach. To really integrate real worl learning into a classroom is hard to do and the group at CTGV have created a great resource in the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series.
Despite their efforts, however, my classmates and I see certain issues with their resources that would leave us hesitant to use the complete series or something like it in our classrooms.
Aviary – Free online graphics editing
A common problem for teachers and professionals on the go is having the software you need when you need it. As the Internet gets speedier and programmers get more creative we are beginning to see software move into the “cloud” of computers and servers.
Cloudware is one of many terms used to describe software that does not reside on the user’s computer but on a central system that does most of the work and storage for your computer. This means that as long as you have a computer with a browser you can visit these sites, edit your images and save them to your computer without installing anything. These types of applications offer a lot to teachers who may not have access to the software they need to truly integrate technology into their classroom projects.
Aviary provides free online access to four exceptional pieces of software.
Jasper Series Impressions
Teachers often labour to anchor learning in a realistic and applicable context and with firsthand experience I must say it is no easy task. In an effort to develop material to cater to the instructional needs of teachers and learning needs of students the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV) developed the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series which focused on constructivist and emphasizes generative learning in mathematics.
Pedagogical Design in Math and Science Education
As part of my ETEC 533 course, which focuses on technology in the science and math classroom, we were given the following quote:
Kozma recommends that, “Designers should provide students with environments that restructure the discourse of …classrooms around collaborative knowledge building and the social construction of meaning” (Kozma, 2003, p.9).
What do you think designers of learning experiences should do? How would you design a technology-enhanced learning experience?
The following is my response as I paint a picture of how technology enhanced learning environments can be developed and supported.
What is Technology?
As part of my ETEC 533 course, which focuses on technology in the science and math classroom, we were given a list of metaphors and descriptors used to define technology. From these descriptions we were asked to identify which we identify with most and why.
Print What You like
This website allows you to select exactly what you want to print by simply pasting the URL and electing the areas. Here is a video of it in action:
This is an especially handy digital tool for those having students do research and seeing that they are printing way too much. Ideally any notes could be made and summarized on the computer but many people find hardcopy easier to work with.
Visit Print What You Like and give it a try.
The Technology Behind Trebek (and His Awesome HD Mustache)
Anyone who knows me knows that I have always appreciated a quality mustache. I have gone out of my way for an excuse to sport “the stache” in the past and have always admired fellow Canadian and trivia host extraordinaire Alex Trebek for his classic facial hair.
In a very interesting article and video from WIRED Trebek explains some of the technology behind the show and how he looks so dashing in HD. Jeopardy is indeed a great show and I am glad to see they are keeping it fresh with some very functional technology.
Google Earth 5.0
Google Earth 5.0 was released last week and I have been meaning to post about it for some time now. A new feature added to Google’s already acclaimed software is the ability to step forward and backward through all available satellite imagery with a feature called “Historical Data”. This relates to research in my ETEC 533 class where we are looking at web tools and information visualization technologies such as these to supplement and support classroom teaching.
This new feature opens up a new world of educational opportunities as teachers can explore how our world, or certain geographical areas, has changed over the past 5-60 years. Satellite and topographical data dates back to the 1942 for some areas but most city level views contain images from the last 10 years or so. This new feature gives teachers the ability to explore local and global changes in water-level, urban sprawl, forest area and even enhanced layers like ocean chlorophyll levels and temperature patterns.
Other features added in previous releases but expanded on in the current version are:
- Ability to overlay wide-ranging resources ranging from Wikipedia and YouTube videos to UNESCO Heritage Sites and Discovery Channel news items.
- NASA Satellite imagery of the Galaxy and Mars.
- A flight simulator.
- Recording video of tours and exporting.
- Adding paths and user-made overlays to maps to publish and share.
The software has always been a must for the social studies classroom but I feel this and many of the other new features make it an interesting free pieces of software for science and math classrooms as well. The levels of information visualization that are offered here enable deeper understanding of complex concepts on a global scale.
Check out the video below for a look at this and the other cool new features.
ETEC 533 Module A Reflection
The first module of my ETEC 533 class has been very interesting thus far. In this module we have engaged in a variety of activities in this module including:
- A discussion of what it mean to use technology in an effective manner.
- Analyzing and discussing video case studies depicting student and teacher responses to technology.
- Writing a short autobiography discussing our personal and professional experiences with technology.
- Continued to build our case for technology in the classroom by interviewing a colleague and analyzing the results.
- Researched educational technology and shared our findings in in a Framing Issues essay.
I must say I have learned a lot thus far in the course. Although at times it can be difficult to apply what we have learned or what the research reveals to our specific educational context but I think the effort is well worth it. I am excited to see what the course holds in future units and I am interested to see how I can bring it all back to my classroom.