Speculate on how such networked communities could be embedded in the design of authentic learning experiences in a math or science classroom setting or at home. Elaborate with an illustrative example of an activity, taking care to consider the off-line activities as well.
In the article, Mathematics in the Streets and in Schools, the researchers argue that students are not able to take the skills that they learn in school and apply them to real life situations or vice versa. Although this study was based on five children with varying levels of education, these children did much better solving informal test questions (problems that are related to their daily life) than informal test questions (paper and pencil). Even though I have a few issues with this study (it’s from 1985, only looks at 5 children, some of the children don’t attend school anymore, etc.), I wonder how we can continue to improve the way that we teach our students so that they are able to easily apply these skills to daily life? Even though this study was just looking at math, I would argue that this applies to all subject areas in school.
BC’s new curriculum has shifted away from focusing on memorization of content and more towards learning the skills of the 21st century. So maybe it’s experiences that are more important than reading about facts from a textbook. Students always seems to remember the experiences that have them “doing” and “seeing.” How do we find ways to give the students the experiences that they need to learn these skills? Some of my most vivid memories are of field trips that I took with my class. One in particular was to a local river during the salmon run. I remember seeing thousands of red fish trying to make the journey upstream. I remember the horrific smell of the fish that didn’t survive and lined the river beds. At the end, we did a tour through the fish hatchery! The problem arises when there is very little funding to get our students out of the classroom. Even though I firmly believe that a field trip OUT of the classroom is the most rewarding and educational experience that we can provide our students, this is not always possible for a variety of reasons. For example, some schools are very rural and it would be time consuming and expensive, and some topics make it impossible (Ancient Civilizations in the grade 7 curriculum is one of these). Thankfully for technology, virtual field trips are a new exciting option. We do need to be careful though not to start replacing our existing field trips with virtual ones just because it is simpler and requires less planning. “Students perceive that using VFT (or at the very least this particular hypermedia approach) is a good and enjoyable way to learn. Many of them were genuinely excited and engaged by the possibilities opened up by the new technology” (Spicer and Stratford, 2001, p. 350). Despite this, according to Spicer and Stratford (2001), although students really enjoy virtual field trips, they do not think they should be a substitute for field trips (keep in mind that this study looked at a field trip course and not just regular classrooms or courses).
In my grade 7 classroom, at the beginning of the year, we studied a few different ancient civilizations. As a class, we learned about Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Israel. Together we created an interactive notebook about some of the landmarks, important dates, vocabulary and lifestyle of each of these civilizations. This got my students excited about creating their own presentation on a civilization of their choice (they could choose between India, Rome, Greece, or China). They were also allowed to display the information in any way they chose (some chose a PowerPoint, poster, research paper). Once this was completed, small groups of students created STEM projects for each of the civilizations (pyramids, chariots, ziggurats, etc.). At around this time, we received a class set of google cardboard viewers, so we decided to try and find some ways for us to explore these civilizations virtually. Since we were running out of time (the holidays were approaching), all we found were some VR videos on YouTube that the students could view (Roman Colosseum, Egyptian pyramids). Now that I have completed this unit for the first time, I would make quite a few changes to it. First, the Nova PBS website has some amazing resources and articles, including “Who Built the Pyramids?” and a 360 degree walk around the pyramids. I have also found an Ancient Egypt app and a Civilization app developed by the BBC. These apps are much better than using YouTube videos as they allow students to guide their own tour and focus on what they think is interesting.
References:
BBC Media Applications Technologies Limited. (2018, February 28). Civilisations AR on the App Store. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/civilisations-ar/id1350792208?mt=8
Carraher, T. N., Carraher, D. W., & Schliemann, A. D. (1985). Mathematics in the streets and in schools. British journal of developmental psychology, 3(1), 21-29.
Inspyro Ltd. (2016, September 20). Ancient Egypt VR on the App Store. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ancient-egypt-vr/id1154044814?mt=8
K. (2011, August 09). Virtual Tour of the Great Pyramid. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmxWHjfoTqU
Spicer, J., & Stratford, J. (2001). Student perceptions of a virtual field trip to replace a real field trip. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 17, 345-354.
Tyson, L. C. (2011, June 23). Explore Ancient Egypt. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/explore-ancient-egypt.html
I think you make some good points about the plusses and minuses of taking part in off-site field trips. With ever-shrinking budgets it is harder and harder to take students out of the classroom for learning and virtual reality does offer some interesting possibilities and definitely allows for what would otherwise be impossible trips like ancient Egypt.
I do worry about the impact of dissociating our senses. When students can see what it looks like collecting water samples not hear or feel the impact of being on the site then there is a loss. But access to data through a project like GLOBE allows them to learn in a community and share their learning with others. In the same sense, I think it’s better to explore via virtual reality than to look at pictures online, for example, where all of the child’s senses are engaged in the classroom rather than on site.
I wonder how students might be engaged in creating content for this type of off-site learning?
Hi Tracy,
You make a good point about dissociating our senses when students are not able to actually experience the learning.
Wouldn’t it be nice for there to eventually be VR experiences that some how include smells and sounds? Would this make the situation more realistic for students?
I also wonder how we could get students to create some of these VR experiences for other students. For example, is there a way for them to go on a field trip to a historical site and video tape their experience? They could present it to other classes when they return to school.
Nicole
Hi Nicole!
VR field trips are certainly providing fantastic learning opportunities. I think a number of progressions that educators are hoping for include:
1. AR enhanced VR: Super-imposing 3D images from a specified era to give students a look at structures and environments of the past and/or future.
2. VR communities: Adding the ability to interact with people around the world in a virtual environment.
In terms of Tracy’s question, some schools are starting to acquire 360 degree cameras and incorporating 3D design of both objects and environments into their curriculum. These technologies do require relatively powerful computers so some schools may find it difficult to implement them.
Hi Gordon,
I appreciate the information. I really like the idea of students being able to interact with people around the world. I wonder how long it will take for sounds and smells to be added to the VR experiences?
Nicole