What an incredible whirlwind of a trip NSTA 2016 was! I have taken so many notes during the concurrent sessions, I really do feel like I need a "brain break" to process it all, especially before I share everything with my department members at our upcoming retreat! The two sessions I am sharing today relate to online or educational technology (edtech) resources that can be used in the classroom.
Model Approaches to 3D Learning
This session was put on by the folks at Baylor University School of Medicine and centered around the BioEd Online website and their latest project-based curriculum, Operation Rescue. The unit is based around the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, a real life event that caused significant loss of life and property in the Philippines. The goal of the project is to design a plan that will deliver rescue supplies to the victims; students are charged with determining what supplies are needed, how to load the supplies on the cargo plane, and the flight path the cargo plane will have to take to get to the Philippines. Each step of the project is riddled with real-life restrictions and parameters, as well as the option to throw in travel advisories that might put a kink in students' best laid plans. I really liked the built-in scaffolding options, as well as options to increase rigor, that the project was based around an authentic problem, and that students participating in the project are assigned roles based around real world STEM careers rather than just generic roles like "Equipment Manager," "Time Keeper," "Recorder," etc. It seems like the project aligns with the spirit of NGSS, but it will take some digging to see if it aligns directly to any of the performance expectations (the project is however, aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science). One additional thought I had about this particular curriculum would be that it would be a great fit for a STEM summer camp environment - the group at Baylor originally piloted the curriculum in this way to much success and it has since been adopted for use in the classroom.
Puzzling Phenomena, NGSS, and Technology-Based Learning for Diverse Learners
One of the huge take-away's from my time in Nashville is the importance of starting learning progressions with a phenomenon. Phenomena serve as the hook to get students interested in the topic because they are normally a discrepant event - things don't work the way we expect them too - but they also serve as the framework for learning. From their observations students can model WHY they think the phenomena occurs as it does; with each lesson students can revise their model until they are able to explain the phenomenon using their understanding of science. When selecting a phenomenon to use in the class, it is important to make sure that the phenomena: fits the standards, captures student attention, is observable, is explorable using the science and engineering practices (SEPs), can be modeled, does not have an obvious answer, and can be easily repeated so students have access to multiple views. The presenter of this session really emphasized the importance of having students generate questions about the phenomenon and not limiting the questions initially. She then has the class break the student generated questions into two groups: those that will help answer the unit question or explain the phenomena, and those that will not necessarily help, but that they still want to know the answer to (these questions are divided up and answered during a single class period research session). One of the things that I would like to implement in my classroom is having students keep a three columned chart in their notebook where they log what they have learned, how it relates to the phenomenon they observed, and how they would tweak their model based on this new information. I could see this being a great formative checkpoint to use in the classroom to make sure students are understanding the material and seeing the connection to the unit question/phenomenon. Two of the technology resources shared during the session that I am interested in checking out further are Sophia and Blendspace (which also looks like it has a Chrome extension). Both of these sites allow for the creation of differentiated, digital lessons, to help reach diverse learners, but I have not had a chance to deeply explore either resource yet.
What edtech do you use to help you differentiate your instruction? Do you have experience with Sophia or Blendspace? In today's digital age, it's hard to keep up with all of the offerings that are out there for teachers to use with students, and it's even more difficult to determine what will work in your classroom without talking to people who actually use it on a regular basis. I'd love to hear about what's working (and what's not) in your classrooms!
Model Approaches to 3D Learning
This session was put on by the folks at Baylor University School of Medicine and centered around the BioEd Online website and their latest project-based curriculum, Operation Rescue. The unit is based around the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, a real life event that caused significant loss of life and property in the Philippines. The goal of the project is to design a plan that will deliver rescue supplies to the victims; students are charged with determining what supplies are needed, how to load the supplies on the cargo plane, and the flight path the cargo plane will have to take to get to the Philippines. Each step of the project is riddled with real-life restrictions and parameters, as well as the option to throw in travel advisories that might put a kink in students' best laid plans. I really liked the built-in scaffolding options, as well as options to increase rigor, that the project was based around an authentic problem, and that students participating in the project are assigned roles based around real world STEM careers rather than just generic roles like "Equipment Manager," "Time Keeper," "Recorder," etc. It seems like the project aligns with the spirit of NGSS, but it will take some digging to see if it aligns directly to any of the performance expectations (the project is however, aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science). One additional thought I had about this particular curriculum would be that it would be a great fit for a STEM summer camp environment - the group at Baylor originally piloted the curriculum in this way to much success and it has since been adopted for use in the classroom.
Puzzling Phenomena, NGSS, and Technology-Based Learning for Diverse Learners
One of the huge take-away's from my time in Nashville is the importance of starting learning progressions with a phenomenon. Phenomena serve as the hook to get students interested in the topic because they are normally a discrepant event - things don't work the way we expect them too - but they also serve as the framework for learning. From their observations students can model WHY they think the phenomena occurs as it does; with each lesson students can revise their model until they are able to explain the phenomenon using their understanding of science. When selecting a phenomenon to use in the class, it is important to make sure that the phenomena: fits the standards, captures student attention, is observable, is explorable using the science and engineering practices (SEPs), can be modeled, does not have an obvious answer, and can be easily repeated so students have access to multiple views. The presenter of this session really emphasized the importance of having students generate questions about the phenomenon and not limiting the questions initially. She then has the class break the student generated questions into two groups: those that will help answer the unit question or explain the phenomena, and those that will not necessarily help, but that they still want to know the answer to (these questions are divided up and answered during a single class period research session). One of the things that I would like to implement in my classroom is having students keep a three columned chart in their notebook where they log what they have learned, how it relates to the phenomenon they observed, and how they would tweak their model based on this new information. I could see this being a great formative checkpoint to use in the classroom to make sure students are understanding the material and seeing the connection to the unit question/phenomenon. Two of the technology resources shared during the session that I am interested in checking out further are Sophia and Blendspace (which also looks like it has a Chrome extension). Both of these sites allow for the creation of differentiated, digital lessons, to help reach diverse learners, but I have not had a chance to deeply explore either resource yet.
What edtech do you use to help you differentiate your instruction? Do you have experience with Sophia or Blendspace? In today's digital age, it's hard to keep up with all of the offerings that are out there for teachers to use with students, and it's even more difficult to determine what will work in your classroom without talking to people who actually use it on a regular basis. I'd love to hear about what's working (and what's not) in your classrooms!