I began my teaching career during the era of computer-aided instructions. After 25 years of teaching, 15 years in the Philippines and 10 years in New York City, I have come to realize that technologies have come along way in defining the way students learn in class. Computer-aided instruction favors the teachers, as programmed teaching materials provide the ease, comfort and the tools to teach in the classroom. At present, classroom technologies favor the students, as students themselves use the technologies in the classroom, whether they be as tools for learning or tools for sharing knowledge.
Defining technology is sometimes difficult, as the world would likely to view it primarily as gadgets. That is why, technology in the past had been used in education as an effective teaching tool. Technology, in reality, goes beyond gadgets. Technology can also be a product or a process. In my personal opinion, product technologies in education are results of what students created in the classroom based on what they have learned, be they learning models, experimental set-ups, presentations, reports, among others. Process technology in education, on the other hand, involves the very experiences of students in the use of technology in order to transform what they learned into something that can benefit others. With these three classifications of technology as used in the classroom, I have grown to know the use of information and communication technologies in my Science class.
What are information and communications technologies (ICTs)? How can they be used in the classroom? How did I use them in my Science class?
ICTs cover any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form (Riley, 2012). I operationally define ICTs as hardwares, softwares and applications that allow the users to access, retrieve, process, and exchange information. My best definition yet is that these technologies can be used in the classroom in facilitating student learning.
One might wonder what hardwares do I used in the classrooms to facilitate student learnings. Well, almost all classrooms in New York city have computers and laptop carts, as well as smartboards and LCD projectors. Almost everyone, both students and teachers have iPads and tablets and smartphones. Most families have a still camera, a video camera, a web camera, sound blasters, among others. These are the hardwares that helped me in facilitating student learning through the use of ICTs.
We basically use Microsoft Word, Google Docs and Pages, as well as some editing tools, like Paint, as softwares in the classroom. We also employ the internet, multimedia, social media, and numerous iPad applications in learning.
Social Media. The use of social media has been very useful to the students in my Science class for the past two school years. Using Edmodo as our class page, students can access classroom learning materials, turn in their homework assignment, post their project outputs, comment on their classmates' projects, communicate with each other, answer online tests, participate in online polls, and carry learning materials anywhere through their virtual backpacks! One big thing about Edmodo is, aside from being allowed in the New York city classrooms, its providing the students the feeling that they are on Facebook while attending school!
Google Docs. The use of Google Docs serves as an effective means for student collaboration. It is a virtual backpack, and saves the students the burden of carrying books, charts, display boards, paper reports, etc. Students learned the use of Google Docs as a word processor that allows them to work on the same writing assignment collaboratively while staying at home at a common time. Embedded in the capability is the ability to research and cite ideas for proper referencing, as well as provide comments for each other's work. Google Docs also provides students the capability to insert links and upload images or videos into their writing outputs. Google spreadsheets allow students not only to present and organize their research or experimental data but comfortably convert these numerical data into graphs and charts. Practically, students can carry their assignments, reports, projects, etc., through their Google Drive as their online backpack.
Interactive websites. The use of interactive websites has proven to be an effective tool in flipping my Science class. Students who went on a trip or a track meet, those who were absent, and those who did not have the chance to attend the class can easily access the lesson at home through interactive websites, or teacher created videos or learning materials that are shared on our social media classpage. The most popular websites in my class are Brain Pop, Study Jams, PBS Learning Media, DNAi, BioServers, among others. The teacher created instructional videos and shared these with students through his Show Me and Youtube accounts.
iPad applications. The use of the iPad has become an emerging technology in the classroom. Allowing the students to bring in their iPads and tablets into the classroom has proven to be a rewarding experience for both the students and the teacher. There are numerous iPad applications that we have used in the classroom. Some of their are free, while the others can be purchased for a very minimal price. I used Teacher Kit to organize my student's seating arrangement and record down student observations and behaviors. NeuAnnotate is super helpful in editing documents in pdf. Any powerpoint presentation can be automatically be converted and accommodated in Keynotes. I can easily illustrate my lesson through Absolute Board and remind myself through Sticky Notes. I have realized that students love Pocket Penguins so much when I used it for my lesson on observation and scientific inquiry. Students began to download on their own iPads the iCell, Molecules, Elementals, EarthViewer, Nuclear apps, among others, which they used to enhance their independent learning.
Cyberdatabases. My 6th grade classes do not have the luxury of the use of the school laboratory as they are scheduled for both the middle school and high school Regents classes. I realized that I can still provide my students the opportunity to gather authentic scientific information through the use of cyberdatabases. Students have gathered a month-long water quality data through MYSound, and used the data to write their laboratory report on the water quality of the Long Island Sound. Using the Bioserver, students had the chance to compare mitochondrial DNAs of Anastasia Romanov's family and compare these with the self-proclaimed Anastasia, and use these data to determine relatedness and decide whether Anna Anderson is the real Anastasia as she professed. Google Earth provided my students an authentic location of their study sites, while we are about to use ARKive to gather important information about the world's endangered species. I am in constant search for other databases, and soon, we will use NOAA's databases and EarthKAM.
One might wonder how these ICTs can be very important tools in the classroom. In my 6th grade Science class, we use these ICTs to achieve two important skills among the students. They develop my students' scientific inquiry skills and enhance their new literacy skills. The National Science Standards defines scientific inquiry as the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanation based on the evidence derived from their work. New literacies, on the other hand, is classified by Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, and Leu (2008) as internet literacy, digital literacy, new media literacy, multiliteracy, information literacy, ICT literacy, computer literacy, among others. My students practice new literacy and scientific inquiry combined, though these five simple steps incorporated into their writing outputs: (1) identify the problem, (2) locate pertinent information, (3) evaluate these information, (4) synthesize these information in order to answer the problem, and (5) communicate the big ideas to others.
With these components of the literacy and scientific inquiry synergy, students were able to write laboratory reports that describe either a demonstration lesson or an open-inquiry science fair project, where they incorporate their background and literature research, provide evidences through Google spreadsheet data and charts, incorporate images of the set-up as well as screenshots of the study location, and provide reputable references to their report. Students were able to create project reports on their simple investigations like microecosystems or the city recyling, among others using video camera or still images enhanced by editing tools for labeling, captioning and descriptions. Students were able to create teaching lessons ranging from simple powerpoint presentation to various models to stop-animations. For more student projects, I invite you to visit my class website.
