I am learning that when it comes to web 2.0 there is a range of responses from "early adopter" to Luddite. I don't blog, tweet, facebook/myspace. I barely text. I'm do not social network online. Nor would I call myself a Luddite. Having said that, I'm still not convinced that my students need a graphing calculator in my chemisty class, nor do they need a N-spire calculator/compuer with its magical "solve" button. I have however enjoyed the progression from chalk to overhead to LCD. I do occasionally miss simple pleasure of washing and drying 200 transparencies.
Looking back on the readings, I will try to summarizes my thoughts. I do believe that the technology & pedagological strategy must support the content. I have seen a lot of technology for technology sake. At school I do use WebAssign, Moodle, and LabQuest. Ultimately, as one of the readings said, we're doing old things in new ways. I suppose I am still looking for "New Things in New Ways' that will make sense in my chemistry classroom.
I firmly believe that there is a new set 21st-century skills that we must seek to teach. I think the "New Challenge" article did a very nice job with its list of five: Adaptability, complex communications/social skills, nonroutine problem solving, self-management/self-development, and systems thinking. I especially appreciate how those skills fit in a science framework.
But I come back to the issue of low threshold, high ceiling. We have, for the most part, stopped using LabQuests and probes with our regular students because the learning curve was just to high and we spend more time on the tool than on the concept.
I'm taking this class, in part, to learn what the Web 2.0 classroom looks and see if I can implement some of these tools and practices because I do beleive firmly in the need to address those 21st-century skills.
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteYou've laid out a really thoughtful explanation of what works and what doesn't in your class. And my first thought is that you don't necessarily need technology to help your students DO the chem or physics -- scientific method, and the process of using observations and testing hypotheses aren't outdated (not that you were suggesting that they are). But I think that the tech pieces that will truly have those "low threshold, high ceiling" outcomes are the ones that help to teach the 21st C skills you mention. And one of the biggest ways I see that in my classroom (Biology) is simply the connectivity aspect of technology. Can those tech pieces help students communicate internally (help each other understand the content; an updated, real-time, digital version of the study group), or can it help them share what they find with the wider world? All of the other parts (graphing software, molecular modeling, etc) are cool and shiny (and they DO make things easier to understand), but that's still "old things in new ways" (which is fine).
You hit the nail right on the head here, and I think you speak for all of us in a way when you write: "I suppose I am still looking for 'New Things in New Ways' that will make sense in my chemistry classroom."
Cheers. Scott