Category Archives: Module B

In Module B we examined four foundational technology-enhanced learning environments. The environments presented by the Jasper video series, Wise project, MyWorld GIS, and Chemland have many similarities in their use as instructional tools.  What I feel is of greater importance is the focus on creative and effective pedagogy when using any TELE. The four learning environments we explored are nothing spectacular or transformative as a standalone application. Technology proficiency and the integration of technology in the classroom in today’s schools is critical. However, in order to maximize positive results, the pedagogical approach of technology integration should be encouraging students to make the activity and content personally meaningful. (Barab, 2000)

The concept behind the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series is rooted in this idea of providing a relevant context for seemingly abstract mathematical concepts. Jasper is also designed to set the stage for subsequent project-based learning. I think these videos can be a great way of solving the problem of visualizing abstract problems. In this particular TELE I felt like I was taking a nostalgic trip back to the 90’s and felt the environment to be a little dated in terms of relating to students today. What is more interesting to observe is that the pedagogy, known as anchored instruction, is employed (as the research shows a) with Jasper, b) with other digital tools, and c) without digital tools altogether), the pedagogy can support powerful learning in math. (Bottege et al., 2002)

WISE is a great utilization of education technology for teachers and students. It offers a personalized learning management system (LMS) for the teacher that is super easy to learn but more importantly as more teachers use it to post and generate content it creates a repository of lessons that any teacher can access, use, edit, and create for use in their own classroom. In this way WISE not only applies the SKI model for students interacting with science lessons but it applies the SKI model for teachers learning new practices and sharing and generating lessons and content. In the SKI framework, learners are viewed as adding to their repertoire of ideas and reorganizing their knowledge web about science. Students sort out their ideas as a result of instruction, experience, observation, and reflection (Linn & Hsi, 2000)

When looking at MyWorld GIS we experienced an interactive and challenging software tool directed with activities that were designed to develop ‘useful knowledge’.   Using the MyWorld GIS  software took some curiosity and exploration before I figured out how to use the program successfully. Once I started experience the activities I could see how using this program could easily apply constructivists learning strategies. This type of learning is defined as “the process of constructing new knowledge structures and forging new connections between knowledge structures in an interconnected web”. (Edelson, 2001) Regardless of what the learning environment is, the focus of the learning activities needs to: foster engagement and ensure that learners develop knowledge that they can access and apply when it is relevant.  No matter what the nature of the learning activities that students participate in, if they are not sufficiently and appropriately engaged, they will not attend to those activities in ways that will foster learning.  Likewise, if students do not construct knowledge in a manner that supports subsequent re-use of that knowledge, it remains inert . (Edelson et al., 2002)

Exploring Chemland shows that proper instruction combined with fairly simple online simulations can make abstract chemistry concepts relevant and more easily understood by students. Again, in exploring other activities that I could apply the pedagogy of GEM to, I found that Chemland was in no way transformative on it’s own. I actually discovered with a few Google searches, I could find activities that personally better suited my preferences as a teacher to apply GEM model pedagogy.

The greatest fact I have learned about the design of technology-enhanced learning environments is that no matter what technology I choose to use as an enhancement to learning, my pedagogical approach is the most important factor. The incorporation of TELE is something that all math and science teachers can benefit from and it is also vital to keep educational institutions up with the demand of the industry and world economy. What educators, administrators, and curriculum designers need to focus on is designing activities that apply effective constructivist learning strategies. Pedagogy matters most when it comes to any instructional tool, which is why it is critical for technology enhancement to be rooted in effective teaching strategies.

References:

Barab,S.A. K. E. Hay & T.M. Duffy (2000), Grounded Constructions and How Technology Can Help, CRLT Technical Report No. 12-00, The Center for Research on Learning and Technology, Indiana University.

Bottge, BA, Heinrichs M, Mehta, ZD, Hung, Y. (2002). Weighing the benefits of anchored math instruction for students with disabilities in general education classes. Journal of Special Education, 35, 186-200.

Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program description and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27, 291-315.

Edelson, D. C., Salierno, C., Matese, G., Pitts, V., & Sherin, B. (2002, April). Learning-for-Use in Earth science: Kids as climate modelers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

Linn, M. C., & Hsi, S. (2000).Computers, teachers, peers: Science learning partners. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

I chose to incorporate the Gem Model with students understanding the molecular structure of atoms and more importantly understanding what makes a positive or negative ion as well as understanding how an atom can be stable or unstable. To enhance the GEM model with technology integration I chose to use a simulation from the PhET website. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/htmlI have used similar simulations like this before. PhET provides fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena for free. The research-based approach enables students to make connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the physical world. To help students visually comprehend concepts, PhET simulations animate what is invisible to the eye through the use of graphics and intuitive controls such as click-and-drag manipulation, sliders and radio buttons. These simulations are particularly helpful when teaching abstract science since they facilitate using modeling and inquiry together in an activity. Both modeling and inquiry facilitate the development and revision of abstract concepts and, as such, can be considered as a joint educational endeavor. (Khan, 2007)

The TELE I chose to use is an activity called ‘build an atom’. https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/build-an-atom/latest/build-an-atom_en.html

Adapted from the models in research literature (Khan, 2010), I chose to apply the gem model for this activity below:

Khan, S. (2007). Model-based inquiries in chemistry. Science Education, 91(6), 877-905.

Khan, S. (2010). New pedagogies for teaching with computer simulations. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20(3), 215-232.

Using the MyWorld GIS  software took some curiosity and exploration before I figured out how to use the program successfully. Once I started experience the activities I could see how using this program could easily apply constructivist learning strategies. This type of learning is defined as “the process of constructing new knowledge structures and forging new connections between knowledge structures in an interconnected web” (Edelson, 2001). The initial activity of loading maps and layer different information overtop of them quickly connected to my understanding and knowledge of using image-editing software like Photoshop. I also needed to apply my knowledge of geography.

I decided to apply the activities I completed in MyWorld GIS by apply the LfU model used in the research paper. (Edelson, 2001)

I performed 2 separate calculations using MyWorld GIS. The first was regarding World rivers near Detroit MI. The other was regarding World Lakes near Detroit MI. The activities were a great inquiry based learning experience. I was able to add new map layers and see the information visually and then make the calculations and collect the data. The information I collected is posted below.

References:

Edelson, D.C. (2001). Learning-for-use: A framework for the design of technology-supported inquiry activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,38(3), 355-385.

Stylinski, C. & Smith, D. (2006, August). Connecting classrooms to real-world GIS-based watershed investigations. Paper presented at the ESRI Education User Conference, San Diego, CA.

For this discussion I chose to edit the WISE project, Designing a Detergent to Clean Marine Pollution.  I chose this project because it is a great challenge and inquiry based science activity and it has a lot of environmental information related to oil spill dangers. The content I edited or rather added to the lesson was a section relating to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Project. This Northern Gateway Project was of particular interest where I taught last year since I was teaching on an island south of Prince Rupert that would be directly impacted by the proposed project. The science taught in the lesson is rich in chemistry and talks about covalent bonds and intermolecular attractions. It explains why oil and water don’t mix and how detergents work. It also teaches students to write a mock, or if they wished, a real proposal to the NOAA for thier own detergent design.

I felt the WISE Project was really well developed and did not want to change or delete too much of the information. What I did want to do is add some content related to Northern Gateway to make the content more relevant to those living in BC or elsewhere in Canada. This is a great way to utilize someone else’s content and make it fit the needs of your students. In the SKI framework, learners are viewed as adding to their repertoire of ideas and reorganizing their knowledge web about science. Students sort out their ideas as a result of instruction, experience, observation, and reflection (Linn & Hsi, 2000). I felt that the particular Chemistry lesson relating to cleaning oil spills contained a vast amount of instruction that could connect the science to personally relevant problems and prior knowledge.

WISE is a great utilization of education technology for teachers and students. It offers a personalized learning management system(LMS) for the teacher that is super easy to learn but more importantly as more teachers use it to post and generate content it creates a repository of lessons that any teacher can access, use, edit, and create for use in their own classroom. In this way WISE not only applies the SKI model for students interacting with science lessons but it applies the SKI model for teachers learning new practices and sharing and generating lessons and content.

Keith

http://wise.berkeley.edu/preview.html?projectId=5914

Anchored instruction “refers to instruction in which the material to be learned is presented in the context of an authentic event that serves to anchor or situate the material and, further, allows it to be examined from multiple perspectives.” (Barab, 2000)

The concept behind the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series is rooted in this idea of providing a relevant context for seemingly abstract mathematical concepts. Jasper is also designed to set the stage for subsequent project-based learning. I think these videos can be a great way of solving the problem of visualizing abstract problems. Essentially what I gathered form watching the videos though is that they were identical to most math textbooks I have seen only put in the form of a video. In my experience presenting math problems such as the headwind and tailwind problems to students the struggle isn’t with visualization but more rooted in the inability to think critically behind the information. Many students or educators have an intuitive critical thinking skill set but there are a large number of students who need to be encouraged and taught explicitly to use critical thinking skills. This in my opinion is something that is missing from the Jasper series.

My question would be: Is Jasper just the same type of problem in a textbook presented in a different form of media or is there something educationally transforming about these videos?

References:

Barab,S.A. K. E. Hay & T.M. Duffy (2000), Grounded Constructions and How Technology Can Help, CRLT Technical Report No. 12-00, The Center for Research on Learning and Technologyn, Indiana University.

Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program description and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27, 291-315.

I don’t see why there needs to be a distinction between pedagogical content knowledge and TPCK? The knowledge part of PCK is not a simple concrete factual knowledge of textbook-like information. This knowledge includes knowing what teaching approaches fit the content, and likewise, knowing how elements of the content can be arranged for better teaching. This should include incorporating new technologies and applying them to learning.

PCK stands on a careful balance of content and pedagogy. It certainly shouldn’t be a simple consideration of both content and pedagogy used together but standing in isolation. The balance is rather an amalgamation of content and pedagogy thus enabling transformation of factual content into relevant teachable forms. PCK represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted, and represented for instruction.  Different subject areas in particular STEM education might put a higher emphasis on content than for example teaching children how to read which would have more emphasis on pedagogy. Regardless of the area pedagogy and content need to join together to create something that students can experience and grow from.

Keith

I really think that design of technology enhanced learning environments (TELEs) needs to encourage active learning and respect students’ diverse talents and ways of learning.
I couldn’t agree more with the statement made “Learning is not a spectator sport.” (Bates & Poole, 2003) I find that all too often teachers get the wrong idea in that they think it is their duty to expel the information that they have acquired. In my experiences and observations students take in very little by receiving information from someone else as the truth. This also sets them up for failure by not encouraging them to become self-directed and inquisitive learners. My favorite observation and moment I like to observe when teaching is what I refer to as the “ah-ha” moment. This is when a student figures out a process using their own understanding and often in children they will blurt out “Now I get it!” This is why I think if I were to design a TELE it would encourage self-directed and self-paced learning endeavors.
I also feel that proper use of technology should promote students to become self -directed, work at their own pace, and track progress over time. Today, it is much more feasible to provide each student a personalized experience based on a particular need. If a student struggles with a concept then more practice and explanation should be provided. If they have acquired or mastered a skill, they should be able to move on to the next concept or receive an engaging activity that enriches their knowledge. This would ensure that students are remediated or enriched as needed and create a differentiated learning experience that meets the needs and interests of a diverse population of individuals.

Resources:
Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: a Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. (pp. 77-105). San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Chickering, A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 49(2), 3-6.