New technology is constantly being developed and pushed at schools as the next great thing for students. But navigating all the coding devices, apps, programs, and tech tools can be overwhelming. How do we, as teachers, know what technology will really help our students to create new understandings and move their thinking forward, and which are just the "gadget of the day"? I have been very deliberate in the technology I have brought into the elementary science labs. I didn't want the technology to be a stand alone experience that wasn't connecting learning, but that the kids thought was super cool!
George Couros, author of Innovator's Mindset, wrote, "We need to learn more about learning with technology, not learning technology." GeorgeCourosBlog
This quote struck a chord with me, as THIS is what I wanted my students doing. Time is the greatest commodity we have as educators, and I wanted students immersed in the technology as they were learning. And, I didn't have a lot of time to devote to learning the technology so we could use it. So, this year the elementary science labs teamed up with our district technology coaches, Paul Szymendera and Brent Peterson, to bring technology into the science labs in meaningful ways.
Google Virtual Reality Expedition was one experience we wanted to bring to the labs. We wanted students to share common experiences, whether it was climbing Mount Everest or diving into the ocean. In developing our new 4th grade unit on The Changing Earth, we decided to kick off the unit with a VR Tour of Earth. The students took a World Tour on Google Expeditions . During this tour students had common experiences viewing coastlines, the ocean from above, Mount Everest, and Canyonlands National Park. Through this experience all students had "visited" common places and had a shared experience. It provided common points of discussion through the rest of unit. Fifth graders took a dive into the ocean with World Ocean Tour. We had been studying human impact on the Earth and its oceans. We looked at the amount of plastics entering the ocean and used climatekids.nasa.gov to learn how climate change is affecting our planet. Midway through the unit, we knew the students had to see the ocean to really understand what we were learning. The students began by diving into the ocean, and swimming along side a humpback whale. They then journeyed to two different coral reefs to see how beautiful our planet is. After reflecting on what they saw and what they had learned about the ocean, the tour continued. Students saw ocean pollution and the effects of coral bleaching first hand. This experience took them to the ocean, and created a lasting impact on their understanding!
Student also had the chance to use AR Google Expedition experiences to learn about the structure of Earth. Earth's Geology allowed students to explore and manipulate a model of the Earth's layers, and tectonic plates. These abstract concepts were made concrete for students, and allowed them a view into Earth they otherwise would not have. To think we use to spend hours building model Earths out of clay for students to core sample and cut open!
There was also technology that helped us create and check student meaning making. We used THiNK Tech Solutions as a platform to build word clouds, take polls, do concept sorts, sketch one of the places we visited, and share our thinking! Students were highly engaged and using it along side the VR Tours allowed for moments of reflection on learning. This platform allowed me to search for or create my own tasks for students, while sharing the work with my colleagues, and the THiNK Tech community!
I will also be looking for ways to incorporate new technology in our science labs, and continue helping our program to evolve!
Special thanks to Paul Szymendera and Brent Peterson for all their help during this unit!