Blogging in Science

My "Guest Blogger" today is K. Phillips @Phillipskerri, a Phy Ed Teacher and Science teacher who really took an interest in the iPads.  The following is her story:

I think that the biggest challenge was not knowing if my ideas would work on the classroom scale.  I found that I could try something on my iPad or laptop and it would work and then in the bustle of the classroom with 30 kids trying to produce something there were inevitable problems.  Essentially, the iPads are not meant to be a shared device, and we had many problems with students logging onto apps and not being able to log off.  Scary, when they are then shared with another class the next block, and there is someone's blogger or twitter account ready to be posted from.  Yikes.

We also had problems once the work was completed, not being able to access that work from outside the iPad since the students were not able to email or tweet their work to me.  We all started blogs and were able to post work to our blogs from the iPads (thanks to the open wireless at our school) even as drafts that could be published later.  We also had trouble posting video - and thanks to some help from the students, were able to upload video to our own YouTube channel.  Pretty cool.

I think that the biggest learning experience in this process was to trust the students.  They were very patient and helpful in troubleshooting and problem solving.  Even though not all grade 12 students are digital natives, we were given the opportunity and freedom to create solutions together - collaborating with each other, trying things, failing at things until we found ways to make it work.  It is hard as the teacher not being completely "in charge" of what is happening - things not going to plan, changing on the fly.  It makes it very easy to quit a project or assignment that is not turning out the way that you think that it should or taking way longer than you think that it should to complete.  But I don't think the failures should be a reason to quit - if we think like scientists, we learn from all of our experiences, and it brings us closer to finding something that will work.  If I had tried to work all the bugs out before implementing the iPads in the classroom, I would still be waiting.  

Okay - some of the apps that I would recommend:

SHOW ME - it was very cool - I have been using video as assessment, having students explain concepts with manipulatives, white boards etc., and this app takes that to the next level.  You record voice and writing on a white board simultaneously (like that guy with the brown marker).  You need to create an account and these are posted directly online - either public or private with a web address as a link that some students then posted to their blogs.  It was especially good for students who aren't as comfortable in front of the camera - this is just voice and drawing/labelling etc.  Lots of possibilities.

http://johnrondina.files.wordpress.com

SKITCH - basically drawing/typing over a picture (either taken with iPad or downloaded).  Can also draw shapes and labels on white background (we did RNA/DNA with labels).  The jpeg is then saved to the camera roll of the iPad and we posted them to our blogs.

BLOGGER - a good app that allows students to sign in and out (and is free).  Simple to add posts or drafts and easy to post photos from the camera roll - students with iPhones can use the app and post pictures from labs and classroom activities with a short description really easily.  Students couldn't find a similar free app for android/blackberry.

I have lots to say about the use of blogging in Biology as well - just need to think about it a bit more first...

Ms. Phillips was my biggest blogger with students.  In another post we'll put up some of her student examplars.  

From a Science Teacher Department Head.

Guest blogger:  Mr. Edwards - Science Department Head.

Positives:

• The kids seemed to really excited about working with the gizmos.  This helped increase the enjoyment of discovery learning, and/or the re-enforcement of what was already taught.  (ie the students were truly engaged).
• The level of difficulty of the different gizmos was in some cases challenging, but students were still able to work through the activities with some guidence.  Thus this tool is as effective as long as the teacher is prepared and has done the work in advance as well.
• The instant feedback of the five follow up questions both for the teacher and the students was nice to have, provided the students did it themselves and not copy what their partner had as their responses.
• The student worksheets provided had insightful questions, and followed a logical order in investigating the activity.
• The gizmos are versatile for either review, or discovery learning.

Drawbacks:

• Some students could not complete the online assessment at home if they did not finish in the time provided.
• Some students simply saw what the other students answered in correctly, and thus had an advantage, making the formal and informal assessment questionable to whether they understand it.
• We could not get the gizmos to work on our iPads, due to unavailable software, thus we were limited to the laptops, which were not always available.
• There are no gizmos written specifically for the Earth Science 11 curriculum here in BC. 
• Some gizmos are more useful than others, and are too simple.  They would ber better as a demo, than as an activity.

Suggestions to the district coordinator:

• Different versions of the questions to help minimize copying.
• Try and get the software for iPads, or make them compatible with the existing software.
• Try and get gizmos for both Science and Tech 11 and Earth Science 11, as these courses could really use an engaging means of learning. 

There will be contunued use of the gizmos for next year, provided we get accounts by the district.