This presentation was created for the Australian Science Teacher's Association conference in Adelaide in July, 2014.

1. Digital Toolbox for Science
Teaching and Learning
Britt Gow, Hawkesdale P12 College
Monday 7th July, 2.35 – 4.40pm

2. Science and Maths teacher
Hawkesdale P12 College
SW Victoria
Technoscience blog since 2008
Twitter @brittgow
brittgow@gmail.com

3. “Science is the foundation of our future and it’s very
important that we remember that.” ~ Megan Clark, CEO
of CSIRO and recipient of the Order of Australia this year.

5. 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

6. • 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

9. Over 50,000 views
and 1,200
downloads on
Slidesharehttp://www.slideshare.net/brittgow/malaria-powerpoint

10. http://www.slideshare.net/brittgow/year-7-minecraft-maths

11. https://www.youtube.com/user/brittgow/videos

14. Polycom with Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne

15. http://moourl.com/

16. How can I find out what my students
already know about a topic?
Try creating a group word cloud using
Google Docs and Wordle or Tagxedo.

17. https://drive.google.com/
For collaborative presentations
and documents.

19. http://www.tagxedo.com/

20. How can you encourage students to
connect different concepts or show their
understanding of how ideas are related?
Inspiration (edustar), Bubbl.us (online) and
Freemind (download) are free digital mind
mapping tools that are easy to use and
display on blogs.

22. https://bubbl.us/

23. How can students demonstrate their
understanding of a topic?
Create a website or blog – Smore is
especially easy to use!

24. https://www.smore.com/app
https://www.smore.com/pd5eg

25. http://www.weebly.com/

26. http://www.heliohost.org/home/
http://sbs.heliohost.org/obp/

27. How can I get to know my students better
at the beginning of the school year?
Try using Survey Monkey or
Google Drive to create a
student survey about their
strengths, interests and concerns.

28. How can I introduce a new
topic with web2.0 tools?
You can use Flickr and PowerPoint to
create slideshow of interesting images
around your topic.

30. How can I connect with
experts using web2.0 tools?
Use Skype or Blackboard Collaborate to
participate in presentations, ask
questions and connect with scientists.

31. We use Skype and Blackboard Collaborate to
connect with our Scientist in Schools partner,
Melissa Toifl, from CSIRO Land and Water
Technologies, in Highett and Clayton.

32. Connecting with experts in the field increases motivation
and engagement by allowing students to ask questions and
actively participate in presentations.
Peter Barnett, Geologist
from Hot Rocks Ltd.

33. Participation in web conferences with ActWild,
facilitated by the Melbourne Zoo, develops student
knowledge and empathy for our wildlife.

34. Students collect data
about tree growth to
upload to the
Smithsonian Institute
website, where
scientists use the data
for climate change
research.

35. Since 2011 I have used
Blackboard Collaborate to teach
Unit 3 and 4 VCE Environmental
Science to students from
different schools around the
state. We connected for 90
minutes each week
synchronously and used my
blog, email and Facebook
asynchronously.
We have met at Ecolinc, Bacchus
Marsh in term 1, Grampians in
term 2 and at EcoBeach Apollo
Bay YHA during term 3 holidays.

36. How can mobile devices be used effectively to
enhance science learning?
Use mobile phones to scan QR codes, take
pictures or record data during excursions
and trips outside into the school garden.

37. 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.

39. How can you encourage students to work together,
collaborate on projects and share their results?
Google Drive and Wikispaces are free tools
that allow students to work together online.

40. International Energy Challenge
150 students, five schools, three
countries and 12 energy sources.
http://energychallenge.wikispaces.com/

41. How can students describe experiments or work
together to explain the results of investigations?
Voicethread is a simply wonderful way
to use images with audio and text.

42. My students have difficulty remembering
definitions of scientific terms – how can I help?
Quizlet is an online tools where students can
create digital Flashcards, which can be used
online or printed out. There is a similar app for
iPods and iPads called Flashcardlet.

43. How can I help my students
revise effectively for tests?
Quiz Revolution and Quizlet are free tools for creating
online quizzes. It is simple for students to create their
own quizzes and send a link by email to their friends and
teacher or embed the quiz into a blog.

45. How can students demonstrate their
understanding of a topic?
Ask students to create a digital story
using Animoto, Slideshare,
Photostory, Windows Movie Maker
or iMovie.

46. Your students can enter the 60 second science
competition by explaining a scientific concept.
http://www.60secondscience.net/

47. How can students ask questions or
give you feedback about lessons?
Use student, teacher or class blogs to
connect, communicate, collaborate and
learn collectively.

48. http://www.nearpod.com/ for
creating classes and quizzes.

49. How can you get feedback about what
your students have learned?
Students can post comments on your
Blog (or theirs!) or add ‘sticky notes’
to a Padlet wall.

50. • What did you learn about cells today?
• How could you get a magnification of x400?
• What is the difference between a light
microscope and a stereo microscope?
http://padlet.com

51. Present your Learning
• Create a digital poster (Wix)
• Make a slideshow (Haiku Deck, PowerPoint,
Keynote or Prezi)
• Create a web page (Heliohost, Smore, Tumblr,
Weebly, Wikispaces)
• Produce a video (Windows Moviemaker,
ReelDirector, iMovie)

52. http://www.edpuzzle.com/