Module 3 Reflection

I have personally used probeware in my own learning experiences in college and various professional development opportunities. I know we have probeware available to us at my school. However, it is housed in the AP and AICE specific labs for use with the labs included in their curriculum. Though I could request it to use in my class, I have not found it necessary. I teach Physical Science (a mixture of basic chemistry and physics). The textbook we adopted a few years ago came with all of the materials we needed to complete every inquiry lab in the book. I have thought about using the probeware at the end of the school year to give my students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with them. It all depends on how much time we have available at that point in regards to our curriculum.

Though many of the geotechnologies mentioned in chapter 5 pertain to biology/environmental science applications, I could utilize the GPS/GIS technologies to measure motion (perhaps a vehicle, or person) as a life application aspect of my curriculum. Most of our introduction to physics incorporates driving and the forces involved in acceleration (positive and negative) and stopping distance, etc. I could easily incorporate GPS/GIS into a project that has my students measuring and graphing motion of an object faster than what we can use in a lab.

I have used the www.chemicool.com website in my classroom as part of the introduction to chemistry and the periodic table that we complete in the first few weeks of school. I have given my students a project to use the web and "adopt" an element in which they find various related facts and information (melting point, boiling point, uses, price, etc.) and present their information to the class. We then "build" our own class periodic table with the information they gather. It's a great website to use for this application and any others that involve learning about the periodic table. Students often refer back to this website in further applications because they like the ease of use, especially within the lab.

Topic 02 Reading Assignment and Journal Reflection

Reflect on your student experience using the WISE system.

My experience using the student portion of the WISE system was both positive and negative in different ways. 

Pros: The inquiry process that occurs within the WISE learning system is logical and flows in a manner that is intuitive. The information covered in the WISE system was vital to the student's understanding on cancer and cellular reproduction in order for the student to make the necessary connections. 

Cons: The interface within the WISE system is slightly difficult at certain times. Some of the links within the text don't work. When posting a discussion item, other posts don't show up until after you have posted. This can make the student user believe that the system isn't working properly. 

Describe the WISE projects that you've found (or didn't find) that could be used with your students.

When searching for WISE projects to use with my students, I found a very limited selection for physical science. The topics to choose from were ones that I have either already covered or are not part of my curriculum. I did find some nice projects that could be incorporated next year, with regards to chemical reactions. I wish I had known about this resource when I was teaching my students about chemical reactions as it would have given them a more concrete grasp of the concepts.

Provide a review of two of the sites that are described in chapter 7 of the textbook.

1) http://www.pathfinderscience.net/?maps=1

I chose this website based on the description in the textbook. I love the idea of having a web-based area for students to be able to submit and display their own research work. However, the website has a few broken links (i.e. links to specific projects), making it seem a little unreliable. 

2) http://ciese.org/materials/k12/technology/online-collaboration/

I chose this website again for the ability of students to use it for publishing their own work. Even though the majority of the projects are environmental in nature, the interface is fairly user friendly. 

Make Thinking Visible

Visible thinking is a difficult concept to truly embrace, as it can be the toughest part of learning at times. We can see "the wheels turning" so to speak, but getting students to put their thinking into a form that proves what they are learning can prove to be the hardest struggle in the classroom. Students are not always comfortable with proving themselves and defending their stance on an idea. Teachers must do everything in their power to elicit the proof of our students' learning as often as possible.

In order for teachers and students to strive to show higher order thinking, technology can be a useful tool and can sometimes be a crutch as well. If a teacher is not necessarily "tech savvy", it can be an overwhelming task at times. Once the teacher has embraced technology, it is then that we must take it a step further and get that technology into the hands of our students as tools for learning rather than just as a check box on our evaluations. I firmly believe that technology is our future and we need to embrace it as a tool for teaching as well as a tool for learning. 

Throughout the reading portion for this module, the book discusses how technology can be a tool for instruction as well as for student inquiry. Many times, we fail on the most important aspect of technology in the classroom: finding opportunities for our students to USE it, not just view it.