One of the ways I use technology to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity is through online demos and labs @ http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics.This website provides opportunities to present interactive problems that require creative and predictive thinking that can be tested in online real-world simulations. This encourages students to develop their own thinking model and ideas before any answers or solutions are presented. For instance, I give students two paths for a marble to follow and ask them which marble will reach the end first. Although this question at first appears simple, it is much more complex and often results in an incorrect prediction. This unexpected result perturbs students thinking and motivates discussion and subsequent accommodation of the learned knowledge into their understanding of the world. Better utilization of online communication tools such as chat, blog, and forums within the simulations would increase students’ opportunities to share and discuss knowledge and negotiate meaning.
One of the most valuable suggestions, to me, on the IMET site was “modelling and facilitating effective use of digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate and use info resources to support learning and research”. Although this is lacking in my current practice, I believe it is essential that we teach students these skills in this current age of information explosion and growing number of questionable sources. During this course I hope to develop effective strategies to teach research and evaluation strategies of online information.
Within the ETEC 565 course, I plan to begin developing a Moodle conference/meeting space that will bring together teachers of similar interests for shared study of practices within the framework of lesson study. Through the evaluation of the various learning technologies I hope to determine the most appropriate learning tools to create an effective and successful online lesson study community, from Moodle platform to multimedia. Key skills in these areas, including etiquette, ethics, and communication will be particularly important in creating a safe, collaborative, and constructive environment where teachers can share and learn together.
Cheers, Steve
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