Chapter 12 - Science Teacher Talk - The Internet: Moving Toward Web-Based Learning Environments
How do you use technology (including the Internet) in your science lessons? Why do you, and what do you see as the benefits for your students.
Bill Blythe
I frequently use websites such as NASA, NOAA and those suggested by NSTA and other sources to enhance my teaching. This may come in the form of research to enhance lessons or actual on-line activities that give the students the opportunity to accomplish real-time science activities. When available, students are able to research and to participate in simulations that allow them to get a different view of the science concepts. I have recently added programs that will allow students to do more simulations and also monitor experimental data electronically. I also have created a blog that is usually updated daily that has classroom activity information, homework and student links. I am concerned about the amount of students that actually access this site but I will continue to use it. I strongly believe that these students are exposed to so much in their world through technology that we must adjust ourselves to the more digital world to engage them where they are.
Ben Boza (Botswana)
The use of technology in the teaching of sciences in my school has become more prominent at present times, unlike the case just a few years ago. The rapid developments taking place in diverse areas of technology generally, and more specifically in the digital front, have availed new ways of incorporating some of the appropriate technology in the teaching of science. The most significant utilization has come from the Internet technology, through which a collaborative approach to teaching and learning that facilitates both research and reference has been made more convenient.
In using the Internet, I allow students the opportunity to sample scientific works of relevant lessons we deal in, access chat boards that discuss scientific topics that we cover in our syllabi and most importantly, have them be part of the wider scientific body outside our school enclosure. This has enabled them to carve an identity for themselves and cultivate a sense of belonging to the scientific community. As such, not only do they benefit from the resourcefulness of this technology, but it also triggers inquisitiveness in them, which is so important in an inquiry approach to teaching.
The other area of technology that I so frequently make use of in teaching is the use of CD materials on computers. With their multimedia capability, this provides for textual, audio and visual presentation to students, and at their own pace, they are able to learn and understand scientific concepts in a manageable way. On the same line, I make use of projected videos on a big screen to allow for illustrative and visual presentation on selected topics as well as use of projected transparencies.
One interesting use of technological utilization that we have begun using recently has been to collaborate with a local TV station together with five other local schools for a unique teaching setup whereby lessons, conducted by respected scientists, are beamed into science classrooms from the neighboring country (South Africa) through a cable-like TV feeding at arranged times. Students are able to participate in the lessons through use of a call-in line to ask questions and make comments pertaining to the day’s lessons. This approach has generated a high level of interest in students, thus capturing their attention and creating more liking of the science subjects. With such a positive attitude towards science subjects being created, it has become easier for students to become readily receptive of new scientific knowledge revealed with each lesson.
Generally, the utilization of technology in the teaching of sciences has had a significant impact in the improvement of the effectiveness of the teaching process. This has been so through, most importantly, stimulating student interest in science subjects. In a society like ours whereby most students have traditionally shied off science subjects as being difficult and boring, the new approach has become successful in making students realize that learning science can be exciting, and much fun as well. With this new way that my students have started perceiving science lessons, there has been an agreeable improvement in their performances of the science subjects. The quality of the learning process has been raised tangibly and the objectives of incorporating the technology in these science lessons as I had envisioned them from the onset are being met.
;Carol Myronuk (Canada)
Technology & science lessons consist of a mix of technologies including: Optical: hand lens, microscopes, overhead projector, SLR & digital cameras; Audio: tape recorder, C-Ds; Multimedia: Videos, Verbal-Visual displays, C-D ROMs; Computer: CAI, templates, key visuals, data bases, spreadsheets, data analysis displays; and the Internet: web site searches, real-time communication, virtual labs/explorations/museums.
These allow our students to develop practical skills in using tools of science, data management & communication systems during the process of inquiry. Acquiring skills builds students' confidence in their problem-solving abilities and nurtures social responsibility in ethical research and practice as global citizens contributing to the world's scientific knowledge.
Michael O’Brien
Since 60 – 65% of my classroom activities are labs and most of them use computer interfaces to function - I am using technology every day. I also construct Internet-based lessons. In using the computer-based labs, the students do have more time for exploring concepts and ideas since a lot of the data capture is automated. Since most of my students are computer literate, they often find creative and effective ways of manipulate the data for presentation purposes. In other words, it gives the student more time to be creative in presenting their results without the extra time required if they used manual manipulation techniques.
The students use the Internet for research on projects I assign during the year. They find this useful but I also require them to use materials other than Internet resources for their projects. Internet-based lessons are useful in a number of ways. They are easily constructed and easily edited. The students enjoy doing the lessons either as a group or individually.
Rachel Zgonc (USA)
I am fortunate to have had the opportunity this year to teach both high school and middle school students. At the beginning of the school year, I spent quite a bit of time considering how I could incorporate technology into my high school classroom, but neglected my middle school students on the technology front. I am not sure if I thought that the middle school students were not ready for technology or if I thought it would be too much of a challenge my first year, but whatever my reasoning, I was wrong. The one technology based project that I did with them this year was a Power Point presentation on an extinct species. Each student was required to research their species using the Internet, create a Power Point presentation on their species, and present their information to the class. The students absolutely loved this project! It took such little effort on my part and they got so much out of it. In order to introduce them to Power Point, I had one of the computer teachers give them a brief introduction and that is all they needed. They were off and running. Needless to say, many of the students did not even need that introduction and some of the students were way ahead of me technologically. I often have to remind myself that these students have been using computers since they were babies. While I may not be completely comfortable with technology yet, most of them are and I need to take advantage of their aptitude and learn from them. The presentations turned out beautifully. The students presented their presentations on a Smart Board Interactive White Board, which was a new piece of technology for all of them. The project was such a success that I will never hesitate to incorporate technology into my middle school classroom again.
As for my high school class, I have incorporated technology into the classroom in several ways, but not nearly as much as I could have in an A.P. environmental science classroom. This is one of my main goals for next year. This year, we sampled Nancy Creek, which runs through our campus, using dissolved oxygen and pH probes. It is my opinion that when students use technology for this purpose, they should also be required to learn how to collect these measurements using traditional means. I believe that technology can sometimes hinder learning when used independently of traditional methods. For example, whenever I ask my students to graph something, they immediately whip out their TI-80 graphing calculators. While I do not discourage the use of such tools (because I do think they are invaluable tools that can enable them to do much more than they could do by hand), I do require that they demonstrate their graphing skills and not rely solely on this technology for the answer. Technology can be an amazing tool. It can allow teachers, especially science teaches, to do more than they could ever dream of doing without technology. However, one of my university professors pointed out to me a philosophy that I try to always follow and that is that technology is only an invaluable tool if used appropriately. I believe this should be the cardinal rule in the classroom when deciding how and when to use technology.