Chapter 14Teachable Agents and

Direct Manipulation Environments

Teachable AgentsThere are several

teachable agents out there. We are going to list a few and give websites that tell you how to get it and how to use it.

Teachable AgentsBetty’s Brain“Betty's Brain, implements the

learning by teaching paradigm. It involves an intelligent software agent, Betty, that students teach using concept map representations with a visual interface. Betty is intelligent not because she learns on her own, but because she can apply qualitative-reasoning techniques to answer questions that are directly related to what she has been taught.”

http://www.teachableagents.org/research/bettysbrain.php

Kidspiration"Kidspiration helps young

students see, organize and develop their great ideas. Using the proven principles of visual learning, kids build their confidence in creating stories, organizing information, understanding concepts and expressing and sharing their thoughts.“

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/movie/684/play_window?type=Tutorial&sid=1020

Direct Manipulation EnvironmentsDME’s engage students in constructing specific

phenomena that are included within the environment. This manipulation creates a sense of reality for the students having them feel that they are working with the real object itself.

GenScope- is a computer-based manipulative that allows students and teachers to manipulate the processes of inheritance of imaginary creatures on six levels: DNA, chromosome, cell, organism, pedigree, and population. Allows students not only to read about genetics, but actually observe and manipulate processes

Direct Manipulation EnvironmentsMathematicaWith its full symbolic

computation capability, support for traditional mathematical notation, 2D and 3D graphics and animation, gamepad control, immediate access to real-world data, and unique ability to integrate interactive elements into documents.

http://www.wolfram.com/broadcast/screencasts/makingmodels/

TuxPaint“Tux Paint is a free drawing

program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

Kids are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help them be creative.”

http://tuxpaint.org/

Interactive Physics- Develops students active learning and allows them to explore their physical world through simulations, visualize the abstract scientific concepts taught in the classroom, test hypotheses and investigate 'what if' scenarios, and learn school-to-career job skills with real-world motion tools

RoboLab- RCX computer is software created by Lego Corporation; it is a manipulative program where students get to program with actions and directions with the use of sensors and the collection of data through environment programming. This is done with a set of Lego’s build into a robot (manually) and has it follow directions applied by the students to the software.

Modeling tools help students to learn by teaching an agent or the environment how to investigate some report, however not only does it help students academically it also allows them to incorporate technology in their learning and to become familiar with the use of new technology software's.

Here are two recent studies showing the effectiveness of Tools in a pre-school and kindergarten setting:

Educational Effectiveness of a Vygotskian Approach to Preschool Education: A Randomized Trial. Barnett, W., Jung, K., Yarosz, D., Thomas, J., Hornbeck, A.

In a double-randomized design study of preschool Tools compared to a control group using a high-quality ECE program with no emphasis on self-regulation, children in Tools were found to have higher rates of self-regulation. (The study was conducted by the NIEER, National Institute for Early Education Research.) In addition to student gains, teachers trained in Tools scored higher in classroom management measures, used classroom time more productively, and had a higher rate of appropriate and cognitively challenging interactions, as measured by the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale and the CLASS.

Tools of the mind: A case study of implementing the Vygotskian approach in American Early Childhood and Primary Classrooms. Bodrova and Leong (2001)

Several quasi-experimental research studies of kindergarten children found significant gains in literacy skills in comparison to a control group. Children had higher levels of sound-to-symbol correspondence, better voice-to-print match, and better understanding of the concept of a sentence. In addition, they were able to write more words outside of a controlled vocabulary taught in the textbook series, and had more accurate spelling and better phonemic encoding of words. Reference:

Metropolitan State College of Denver,http://www.mscd.edu/extendedcampus/toolsofthemind/about/

effectiveness.shtml

All of these software programs

offer great opportunities for learning and we

hope you take the time to look at them