Digital Toolbox for Science Teachers and Learners

Britt GowScience, Maths and VCE Environmental Science Online teacher atHawkesdale P12 CollegeSW Victoria

Technoscience blog since 2008

Twitter @brittgow brittgow@gmail.comSkype: britt.gow

“A decade ago, a review of Australian science education, revealed many students were disappointed with their high school science. Today, this disenchantment continues, as evidenced by the declining number of students choosing to study science in senior secondary school.” Prof. S. Cory

Created online with “Create-A-Graph”http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/index.asp

Today’s learner’s are:• Multi-taskers• Digitally literate• Mobile and connected 24/7• Experiential and Social• Visual / spatial learners with • Fast response times & short attention spans

What Effective Teachers do…

• Clear Learning Intentions• Challenging success criteria• Range of learning strategies• Know when students are not progresing• Providing feedback• Visibly learns themselves

~ Prof. John Hattie

So that students…

• Understand learning intentions• Are challenged by success criteria• Develop a range of learning strategies• Know when they are not progressing• Seek feedback• Visibly teach tehmselves~ Prof John Hattie

• The Power to Engage• Students use technology already • It's not going to go away...it will only grow• Professional development• Employers want their workers to use internet tools

“If our kids are going to live longer than us, they need to have a passion for learning to sustain them. Not content knowledge, but learning to learn. One eighth of the 21st century is gone already – get cracking with 21st century

learning” Stephen Heppell

“Teaching is an art form not a delivery system.”

“A tool is only as powerful as the creativity of the person who uses it.”

“A cupboard full of instruments does not produce music – a suitcase of web tools does not lead to creativity on it’s own.” Sir Ken Robinson

Word clouds

• Brainstorming at the beginning of a unit• As a check that students have understood all

the terms used in a topic• A summary of a unit of work

Wordle for word clouds

Tagxedo for word clouds

Notice boards and sticky notes

• Brainstorming• Exit slips – what have you learnt?• Questions students have about a topic• Surveys – what do you want to learn?• Reminders

www.padlet.com

Linoit for student feedback

http://linoit.com/users/brittgow/canvases/Web2.0%20tools%20I%20have%20used

Concept maps

• At the beginning of a unit to outline the scope• Student-created to demonstrate

understanding of a topic

https://bubbl.us

Digital Buckets

• Collate a range of different digital sites – videos, web sites, images

• One URL where students can access multiple resources

• Use for direct instruction or project based learning

www.thinglink.com

https://www.blendspace.com

Voicethread

• Voice• Text • Annotations with colour• Can be embedded in blogs, wikis etc.• Multiple people can comment on images• Can upload photos or videos from files, Flickr• Searchable • Assessment tool

http://quizlet.com

http://www.quizrevolution.com

Quizzes

• Terms and definitions• Student created for peer assessment• Quizlet has options (flashcards, study, test)• Can add images with Quiz Revolution• Saved online and searchable

Google Drive

Google Drive

• Shared documents • Shared presentations• Create forms (for student surveys)• Embed into blogs and wikis

Students can create their own webpage in a wiki and use the URL to create a QR (quick response) code that

directs the user to the information in their webpage.

QR codes

• Treasure hunts• Mystery organs/systems/animals/plants• Link to student-created quizzes, videos, wiki

pages

Comics and cartoons

"Pivot" is software that allows creation of stick figure animations that can be

converted to video.

Your students can enter the 60 second science competition by explaining a scientific concept.

http://www.60secondscience.net/

Products for Assessment

• Blogs > global2 or edublogs• Slideshows > Slideshare• Animations > ToonDo• Cartoons > ComicLife• E-Posters > Glogster• Digital stories > Photostory• Team work > Wikispaces• Mash-ups > Windows Movie Maker; iMovie• Videos > You-Tube; Vimeo

Practical considerations

• Technology does not replace experiments• Does every student have access to devices?• Does every student have internet access?• Preferred learning styles?• Concentration span – mix it up!• Plan B and Plan C• Best tool for the job of learning

Thank you!

• Brittgow@gmail.com

• Twitter - @brittgow

• Technoscience blog - http://technoscience.global2.vic.gov.au