Presentation for Science Teachers Association of Victoria conference 2012

1. Digital Toolbox for Science
Teachers and Learners

2. Britt Gow
Hawkesdale P12 College
brittgow@gmail.com
Twitter: @brittgow

3. “A decade ago, a
review of Australian
science
education, revealed
many students were
disappointed with
their high school
science. Today, this
disenchantment
continues, as
evidenced by the
declining number of
students choosing to
study science in
senior secondary
school.” Prof. S. Cory

4. Created online with “Create-A-Graph”
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/index.asp

6. 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

7. • 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

8. “If our kids are going to live longer than us, they need to
have a passion for learning to sustain them. Not content
knowledge, but learning to learn. One eighth of the 21st
century is gone already – get cracking with 21st century
learning” Stephen Heppell

9. “Teaching is an art form not
a delivery system.”
“A tool is only as powerful
as the creativity of the
person who uses it.”
“A cupboard full of
instruments does not
produce music – a suitcase
of web tools does not lead
to creativity on it’s own.”
Sir Ken Robinson

12. Wordle for word clouds

13. Tagxedo for word clouds

14. Word clouds
• Brainstorming at the beginning of a unit
• As a check that students have understood all
the terms used in a topic
• A summary of a unit of work

15. Wallwisher

16. Linoit for student feedback
http://linoit.com/users/brittgow/canvases/Web2.0%20tools%20I%20have%20used

17. Notice boards and sticky notes
• Brainstorming
• Exit slips – what have you learnt?
• Questions students have about a topic
• Surveys – what do you want to learn?
• Reminders

18. Bubbl.us for concept maps

21. Concept maps
• At the beginning of a unit to outline the scope
• Student-created to demonstrate
understanding of a topic

23. Voicethread
• Voice
• Text
• Annotations with colour
• Can be embedded in blogs, wikis etc.
• Multiple people can comment on images
• Can upload photos or videos from files, Flickr
• Searchable
• Assessment tool

24. Quizlet

25. Quiz revolution

26. Quizzes
• Terms and definitions
• Student created for peer assessment
• Quizlet has options (flashcards, study, test)
• Can add images with Quiz Revolution
• Saved online and searchable

27. Google Drive

28. Google Drive
• Shared documents
• Shared presentations
• Create forms (for student surveys)
• Embed into blogs and wikis

29. 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.

31. QR codes
• Treasure hunts
• Mystery organs/systems/animals/plants
• Link to student-created quizzes, videos, wiki
pages

32. Comics and cartoons

35. "Pivot" is software that allows creation
of stick figure animations that can be
converted to video.

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

37. Products for Assessment
• Blogs > global2 or edublogs
• Slideshows > Slideshare
• Animations > ToonDo
• Cartoons > ComicLife
• E-Posters > Glogster
• Digital stories > Photostory
• Team work > Wikispaces
• Mash-ups > Windows Movie Maker; iMovie
• Videos > You-Tube; Vimeo

38. Practical considerations
• Technology does not replace experiments
• Does every student have access to devices?
• Does every student have internet access?
• Preferred learning styles?
• Concentration span – mix it up!
• Plan B and Plan C
• Best tool for the job of learning

39. Thank you!
• Brittgow@gmail.com
• Twitter - @brittgow
• Technoscience blog -
http://technoscience.global2.vic.gov.au