Author Archives: vibhu vashisht

Ideal Space

The introduction to Module B defines technology as tools that are means to an end, the end being thinking in students, thinking by doing activities that are designed using those said tools.  Technology-enhanced spaces are defined as classrooms that make use of tools to help design interesting activities for students so they can think, understand, create, and learn.

An ideal pedagogical design then is one where:

  1. tools meant to be used to design activities are easy to use, easy to access, and easy to afford
  2. activities using these tools that are engaging, interesting, and thought provoking
  3. the goals of the design are for students to perform activities by co-operation and teamwork; fostering skills necessary for success after school.

Keywords: Independent Learning, Choice, Interactivity

Ms. A from the Wapaskwa Virtual Collegiate (WVC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba was interviewed on her views of technology use.  Her educational background is B.Sc, B.Ed, PBDE, and currently she is taking the CACE program at the University of Manitoba while working as an Instructor/Curriculum Developer at the WVC.  She is involved in teaching both math and science courses using D2L and Adobe Connect in synchronous and independent classes.  She responded to the following questions in an email interview:

  1. How do you use technology in your science and math classroom?
  2. What are the main goals of using these technologies?
  3.  In your opinion, what are the effects of using these technologies on your students’ learning?

Following are three summary points based on the responses given by Ms. A.

Supporting Independent Learning:

Ms. A uses various technologies in her classroom “…to enhance and support student learning (hopefully independent learning also) and [chooses] technologies because they are simple and easy for learners to utilize…”.  This is probably the most important point to be made about independent learning: that the technology being used by the teacher must be easy to use.  If there is difficulty in use; learners become disengaged.  The technologies used regularly in her classroom include Youtube Videos, Website Links for activities, and explorelearning.com “…which [allow] learners to complete mini labs that support what they are learning in the course”. Adobe Connect is used to meet with learners online to “…talk about content [as well as] give [learners] guidance on their progress”. Moreover, “Geogebra to help with showing learners graphs for math and physics…” and “…a computer graphing calculator…to show learners how to complete calculations…[and] graph on their own personal graphing calculators”.  In an attempt to increase student independence, Ms. A also utilizes “…Camtasia to make videos for learners when they require additional information [like] introductions, lessons and video solutions”.

Giving Choice:

One of Ms. A’s main purpose of using a variety of technologies in her classroom is to “…support different learning styles…”.  She provides this choice in each lesson as “the pattern in each lesson provides learners the opportunity to choose which technologies to use for their learning”.  She suggested use of different activities via website links, different source of youtube videos allowed learners to “…have the opportunity to choose their own path which [she feels] is important. She does however at the same time, make “…assignments and labs…mandatory components…” in her classes.

Effective interaction with learners:

Ms. A suggested a goal of  using technology was to “promote more effective communication [and] interactivity [between] the learner and teacher”.  She uses YouTube Videos to “support the content that learners are reading…”, website activities and explorelearning.com to allow “[learners] to expand their learning and explore beyond the content presented in D2L”, video solutions via Camtasia to “…provide the learner the opportunity to to check their work as they go to ensure understanding”, Geogebra and digital graphic calculator to allow “…learner to make connections between equations and graphs”.

Thus it is logical to conclude Ms. A’s classes are thoroughly enhanced by using these different technologies in their own capacities to provide ease of use leading to independent learning, choice to support different learning styles, and provide effective interaction with learners.

Thanks,
Vibhu

Transferable Skills

One of the key components of using technology in classroom from my post on Lesson 2.1 was that using technology allows for collaboration and corporation.

In most (if not all) video cases, group work was consistent no matter the type of technology being used.  May that have been the “shop” class, graphing calculators, using motion tracking software, making podcasts, or even slomations.

For me, it was the transferable skills that really emerged from the video cases like being literate in technology, being comfortable with using technology, working together to solve problems: skills that professionals use every day.

The interesting point made by some of the teachers was the difference in how male and female students used technology that I didn’t really expect.

How might these differences in use of technology impact student learning?  It would be great to have some feedback from my peers.

Thanks

Vibhu

 

Classcraft

Classcraft is a good use of digital technology in a math or science classroom for the following reasons:

  1. it increases motivation for individual students
  2. it increases the value of working together in groups
  3. it turns the classroom into an adventure, something different than a regular classroom

It is important for students to be motivated and learn to work and socialize with peers in academic contexts. This helps students become more open to working with others as professionals since in the real world, successful collaboration is vital to success. Classcraft bring such value to the classroom.

The classroom experience would be that of engagement, of dire importance to do the best in class activities in order to grow individual avatars as well as the prosperity of groups created in the adventure world of Classcraft.

The one instance where I see Classcraft may fall short is with challenging concepts.  As it is designed to work along side regular class activities, it may not necessarily lend itself to provide authentic and different ways of teaching phases of the moon for example in order to rid of students’ misconceptions.

Classcraft is a good use of technology primarily because it supports good values and helps students with motivation and collaboration.  It has been used in classrooms in the United States already so I see it being viable with a positive vision.  Challenges to implement could be with budgets regarding hardware in the classroom like computers, projectors, smartboards etc.

Thanks,
Vibhu

 

Electrifying misconceptions

It was intriguing to compare the misconceptions between Harvard graduates and grade 9 students. Interestingly, the misconceptions between the two demographics were similar.  When Heather was pressed on how she acquired these theories, she either wasn’t sure, or suggested confusing ideas based on how they were depicted in textbooks from earlier grades.  It is likely that most common sources of misconceptions are lack of clear explanations, misunderstandings from reading and visual materials, and lack of hands on learning. Without having the Sun, the earth and the moon in your hands, it becomes difficult to understand clearly the reasons why we have phases of the moon.

The study by Turgut, Gurbuz, and Turgut (2011) focused on gaining an understanding of misconceptions harbored by grade 10 students on electricity.  A three part multiple choice test was conducted with 10 questions, part one: a normal content knowledge multiple choice question, part two: a multiple choice question where the student would pick the best option supporting why they chose the answer they chose in part one, and part three: how sure they were of their choice in part one.  This was a clever way of determining any misconceptions as if the student was sure of the wrong answer with a reason given, a misconception would become clear.  If the student got a wrong answer and wasn’t sure of the answer, that wouldn’t count as a misconception.  The researchers found around 25 or so different misconceptions related to electricity among 96 grade 10 students.  A few of these misconceptions included: current is consumed in the circuit; current decreases when it passes through the bulb; and bulbs in the parallel are always brighter in series.  The researchers strongly recommended designing classroom experiences that addressed these misconceptions so that students could have better learning experiences regarding electricity.

There were some parallels between the Turgut, Gurbuz, and Turgut (2011) and Driver, Guesne, and Tiberghien (1985), one of the required readings.  Both studies highlighted the sheer difficulty of getting rid of misconceptions that children develop as they go through different grades learning science.  Both articles also suggested students are not empty vessels when they come to class, that they have their own set of ideas, something that was also a fact stated in the required video about Heather.

From the readings I have discovered that multiple activities are required so that students get various opportunities to compare the scientific view of a concept to their own.  To allow students to be rid of a misconception, it first needs to be recognized by the teacher.  Furthermore, it needs to be confronted directly by the teacher in multiple ways so that students have a better chance of letting go of their misconception.  To that end, there are a variety of interactive simulations and high quality video content that teachers could use to provide these multiple ways of teaching a single concept.  There are a number of science related channels like TEDEd, CrashCourse, The Sci Guys etc. that produce very engaging and inviting video content, along with simulations like Phet can go a long way in helping students understand concepts.

References

Driver, R., Guesne, E., & Tiberghien, A. (1985). Children’s ideas and the learning of science. Children’s ideas in science, 1-9. Available online: search the title using any engine.

Turgut, U., Gurbuz, F., & Turgut, G. (2011).  An investigation 10th grade students’ misconceptions about electric current. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 1956-1971.

Encounter with Windows 98

My first encounter with digital technology came in a computer lab in grade 6.  There was a strange scent in the computer lab very likely coming from the computer hardware at the time.  At first it was discovery of solitaire, then the struggle of focusing between learning windows, office etc and playing solitaire.

It is memorable simply because it was something different from the ho-hum of a regular classroom.  Computer Lab day was exciting as it meant learning something different, on a device where there is a screen at my finger tips, a mouse and a keyboard that let me do whatever I wanted, until of course the teacher scolded to get on task.

The question this raises is: how should a new technology be best managed from a teacher’s perspective so that the students exposed to that technology make the best out of the technology’s intended use?

Thanks

Vibhu

Hi from Winnipeg!

Hi everyone!

My name is Vibhu and I’m from Winnipeg.  This is my 4th term with MET where I’m taking my 7th and 8th course.  I’m taking ETEC 530 along with this one and I am excited to be nearing the end of my MET journey!

I teach high school science courses for Wapaskwa Virtual Collegiate, a program part of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC).  Naturally, with a science major I have been eager to learn how educational technology and science learning exist in the web 2.0 space.

Looking forward to working with everyone!

Vibhu