Digital technologies and the future of science education

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I’ve been thinking recently about how science education has changed since I was at primary school in the eighties. With the high speed pace of technological change, are we as teachers keeping up or are we making do with what we’ve always done? What are the opportunities that digital technologies provide? Do we need to change the way we teach science?

How do we teach science effectively?

According to Prime Minister John Key, “International studies show that we are not keeping pace with achievement in other countries, particularly in maths and science. In fact, we have been on a gradual downward slide since the early 2000s.” This is a strong mandate to change the way we are teaching science.

To teach science effectively we need to understand the fundamental principles on which science is based – the nature of science. It’s not about being a scientist as such, but about “ensuring that young New Zealanders are enthused by science and able to participate fully in a smart country where knowledge and innovation are at the heart of economic growth and social development” (The Gluckman Report, 2011).

According to Pulitzer Prize winner, Carl Sagan, in his final interview, ‘Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge’. So, as teachers, we don’t have to have a huge bank of scientific knowledge to teach science well. This is particularly true in the context of the modern, connected classroom where information and, indeed, scientists are just a mouse click away. What can be more challenging is to make science relevant to the individual students we teach, and give science a human face.  We need to recapture the awe and wonder of science and be innovative in the way we approach science.

We don't have to be experts

I’ve always been interested in science, and as a science graduate it is not a subject I struggle to grasp. I willingly admit, however, that my most memorable and successful moments of science teaching have been those where I have not played the role of an expert; moments where I have allowed my students to follow their own inquiries and connect with people outside the classroom. Technology and social media not only allows these connections, it encourages them.

Since joining the LEARNZ team I have been lucky enough to facilitate many such connections between experts and students. Field trips take students virtually to places they may never otherwise get to go, and introduces them to experts they are not likely to ever meet.

The value of virtual fieldtrips

It always amazes me just how much I learn within the three days of a field trip. Being fully immersed in a topic, on location, and in the presence of a variety of experts is incredibly engaging. Feedback from teachers using LEARNZ has also reflected this with comments such as, ‘my students learnt a huge amount during the trip and were able to teach their peers about what they have learned’. The power of LEARNZ is that it covers relevant topics by utilising different media in real-life contexts. Students can talk directly to scientists and ask them questions during audioconferences, then watch videos that follow their work. To see an example of this, watch the video ‘Life of a Scientist’ recorded during the Wandering Whales field trip.

Humpback Whale skin biopsy
Seeing science in action: This is a humpback whale skin biopsy collected during the LEARNZ Wandering Whales field trip. Students were able to see scientists shoot a dart at a whale from a boat out on Cook Strait and then watch as the sample was processed. The scientist also explained how the DNA analysis of the sample fitted into a bigger picture — contributing to a global database of whale migration that all scientists can use.

Students can learn about the nature of science through the virtual reality of a field trip; seeing scientists in action in awe-inspiring environments including Antarctica, offshore island sanctuaries, wetlands, or on board a boat involved in the Cook Strait Whale Project. They can see how science comes alive in a variety of New Zealand contexts, and use the language of science in an authentic way as they navigate their way through a field trip website.

The readiness of young minds to suspend reality for the virtual

When I was teaching, it always impressed me just how readily students suspended reality and excitedly took part in field trips. Comments like ‘I’m going snorkelling tomorrow on the Marine Reserves field trip’ were common. It was a little more challenging explaining this to parents who were concerned that their child did not have flippers and a snorkel, and why had they not seen a permission slip. But parents too can be a part of field trips, as students can log in to the site from home and share their learning.

Virtual field trips engender personal science enquiry

My most rewarding moments as a LEARNZ field trip teacher haven’t just come from exploring amazing places, but also from hearing how students take what they have learnt to equip themselves that they might embark on their own science inquiries. Often classes get involved in their own local investigations and community projects as a result of their involvement in a virtual field trip.

Marine biologist Sven Uthicke
Shelley along with ambassadors from a variety of New Zealand schools shares the work of Sven Uthicke, a marine biologist, as he works down in Antarctica during the LEARNZ Ocean Acidification field trip.

The future of science education lies beyond the four walls of a classroom

LEARNZ Virtual field trips are just one of the vehicles by which we can engage students in effective and innovative science learning. Experiences such as those offered by LEARNZ are changing the way we are able to access and learn science. I believe the future of science education lies in our ability to utilise digital technology to go beyond the four walls of our classroom, and allow our students to access the wealth of global knowledge now freely available. So, rather than needing to be experts in science, we need to teach our students how to find, interpret, and productively engage with online networks and digital resources. For students to be successful in this digital environment they need a teacher’s wisdom and high level of literacy skills to guide them.

To develop the skills and attitudes that make up the Nature of Science, we need to remember that science is more than test tubes, white coats, and Bunsen burners. Students need to see the reality of science, and LEARNZ field trips show this because they involve real people doing real science in their daily work.

Future-focused science education resources

LEARNZ and other digital technologies allow students to connect globally, share their voice, and act locally. You may like to check out these resources to support future oriented science education:

Help create a future generation of scientists…

It is all about inspiring awe and wonder, and getting our students to look at their world with a questioning mind, arm them with the strategies to test their own theories, and further their learning. Luckily, technology is making this both possible and free to access. As Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. LEARNZ and other online initiatives can capture our students’ imaginations, inspire a greater interest in science, and help create a future generation of scientists.

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What’s in a name? Supporting Learning with Digital Technologies

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LwTD Group discussion

For the past year we have had the privilege to work as part of the BeL (Blended e-Learning) team. This allows us to work alongside teachers, leaders, and students as they explore learning, teaching, and technology.

This year our project has changed its name to LwDT (Learning with Digital Technologies)*. This change was to reflect the deepening understanding that learning and learners must be at the centre and that technology is a way to enhance this learning. Building the understandings and capabilities of teachers is at the heart of improving outcomes for our students.

As we discussed this name change as a team we reflected on what we had learned as we worked in schools to support teachers to strengthen their understandings and capabilities.

Here are ten ideas:

  1. In the short term schools and teachers might want you to just do the work for them. But, by helping them upskill, in the long term they will thank you that you enabled them to do it themselves.
  2. Be responsive to the needs of the school, learners, and community, and remember that a powerful approach can be to help them see that they might need something different.
  3. Facilitate in a way that respects the skills and knowledge that each person brings. Listening is the key.
  4. Provide opportunities for people to tell you what they hope to get out of the session first and what they will take away from it at the end.
  5. You don’t need to know everything. You have the time to find out where to direct and support people to find things for themselves.
  6. Always consider Universal Design for Learning principles, catering for all learners — adult learners included. Plan for the margins and extend to everyone.
  7. Be prepared: So that you can make the most of the opportunity find out as much as you can about the school, the community, iwi, hapu, and participants before your session(s) — using whatever ways you can.
  8. Make resources available afterwards to enable the rewinding of the learning or and for the participants to carry on learning and trialling approaches in own time.
  9. Be mindful and considerate of how busy our teachers and principals are — you are one of MANY visitors to their schools.
  10. Provide the opportunity to “lurk”.  Sometimes we all need to have time to feel comfortable before we engage.

I and my colleague Greg Carroll collated this list from suggestions put forward by the LwDT South Team.

*  The Learning with Digital Technologies project also includes the Virtual Professional Learning and Development (VPLD) initiative, and the Future Focus Inquiry (FFI) initiative. These aspects of the LwDT mean that, as well as the support offered to whole schools, there are also opportunities for  individual and group professional development.

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Ten Trends 2014: Learner Agency

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Ten Trends 2014: Agency from EDtalks on Vimeo.

CORE's Ten Trends for 2014 have been published. This post considers the first of these trends: Learning Agency. We shall be publishing posts on one of the trends approximately each month. You are encouraged to comment or provide supporting links.

The concept of agency has been central to educational thinking and practice for centuries. The idea that education is the process through which learners become capable of independent thought which, in turn, forms the basis for autonomous action, has had a profound impact on modern educational theory and practice.

One way of thinking of learner agency is when learners have “the power to act”. When learners move from being passive recipients to being much more active in the learning process, actively involved in the decisions about the learning, then they have greater agency.

Three core features of learning agency

There are three things that I think are core features of our understanding of learner agency. The first is that agency involves the initiative or self-regulation of the learner. Before a learner can exercise agency in their particular learning context they must have a belief that their behaviour and their approach to learning is actually going to make a difference for them in the learning in that setting – in other words, a personal sense of agency. The notion of agency involves a far greater tapestry of intentionality on the part of schools and teachers to create that context and environment where the learners are actively involved in the moment by moment learning and well being.

Second, agency is interdependent. It mediates and is mediated by the sociocultural context of the classroom. It’s not just about a learner in isolation doing their own thing and what suits them. Learners must develop an awareness that there are consequences for the decisions they make and actions they take, and will take account of that in the way(s) they exercise their agency in learning.

And thirdly, agency includes an awareness of the responsibility of ones own actions on the environment and on others. So there’s a social connectedness kind of dimension to that. Every decision a learner makes, and action she or he takes, will impact on the thinking, behaviour or decisions of others – and vice versa. You can’t just act selfishly and call that acting with agency.

Implications

We could start by adopting the use of individualised education plans (IEPs) as a way of personalising the approach to learning, not just in terms of the delivery, but in terms of the learners’ ownership of that learning – the direction, content, process, and assessment of that learning.

It is critical to consider the pedagogical approaches that are adopted by teachers and schools, and to question and challenge those that are overtly teacher-centric, with an emphasis on delivery and curriculum coverage. Learner agency will develop when learners are involved in the whole learning process – including decisions about the curriculum itself, involving learners a lot more in the choices about the what as well as the how and the why of what is being learned.

We need to consider student voice is that reflected in the day to day decisions that are made around school – not simply in order to satisfy ourselves that we’ve heard what students have to say, but in more engaged and authentic ways that are about their learning.

Challenges

  1. What use is made of IEPs in your school to enable the development of a personalized approach to teaching and learning?
  2. Who designs these? Who has access to them?
  3. How is student voice reflected in all aspects of school life?
  4. What safeguards do you have for ensuring no students ‘fall through the cracks’?

Examples and links:

For more about the Ten Trends:

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Low budget explorations in Virtual Reality

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Stereoscopy old and new pic Stephen Lowe

It is nearly a quarter century since Neal Stephenson wrote Snow Crash, and exactly thirty years since William Gibson gave us Neuromancer. These two cyberpunk novels, along with the films Blade Runner and The Matrix, triggered the consensual dream that reality would merge seamlessly with a computer generated virtual reality in which our avatars had superhuman powers. Riding this wave, many educators were drawn to Second Life. But Second Life is resource-hungry, and it kind of coincided with the move away from desktops towards laptops. So, firewalls, capped data accounts, slow networks, inadequate processing power, and smaller screens caused interest to wane. While games and virtual worlds engage us deeply, our experience is still constrained to a flat screen; true immersion continues to elude us.

But there is a change coming, and it is being brought about by faster processing, better screen resolutions, cheaper hardware, and the sheer genius of a generation of young entrepreneurs.

Key to this change is the re-discovery of a 100-year-old technology — stereoscopy. The device we all know and love is the View-Master. The red binocular viewer with the lever on the side for advancing the circular disc never ceases to give pleasure. I dug out ours, and looked through Muppet Treasure Island, and Thunderbirds. The View-Master is a useful object to think with, but all it delivers is a still image with an illusion of depth. It’s interesting, but it doesn’t go far enough.

I searched around and found the FOV2GO system from University of Southern California, also the Hasbro MY3D system. Both slot an iPhone into a binocular viewer. I acquired the Hasbro MY3D viewer because it was easily available on Fishpond at a cost of just $25. When I couldn’t find the advertised apps for the Hasbro I tried the Tales from the Minus Lab app from USC. The result is a powerful illusion of moving around inside a 3D world. I have to say that the first few minutes caused me to go, “Wow!” and, “This is incredible!” Then I started to feel a little motion sick, which is common in virtual reality environments.

I’m into pretotyping (pretotyping refers to the art and science of faking it then making it), in the way taught by Alberto Savoia. While I do my discovery, my early thinking, I’m going to pretend I’ve got the real deal. Then I can make mistakes and take wrong turns quickly and cheaply until I have found my way. Once I have a design that can be expressed as a clear brief, and raised enough money to partner with a games designer, then I’ll acquire the $300 developer kit for Palmer Luckey’s Oculus Rift. It’s reported in this month’s IEEE Spectrum magazine that the U.S. Navy just bought one, so it’s considered to be serious kit. I know what I’m looking for: a compelling virtual world in which students — instead of reading a text book, or perhaps in conjunction with reading a textbook — can run simulations of learning episodes. In these spaces they can change the parameters and learn by going, “What if?”

Ten years from now I’m sure such things will be commonplace; teachers will work with learning technicians to create authentic scenarios, and the $100 headsets will just be lying around in the modern learning environments the students inhabit. No-one will give it a second thought, but right now it’s still one of the challenging frontiers of ed-tech. And the challenge I'm putting forward here is not to seek funding for some behemoth project that will take a year and either succeed or more probably fail in some spectacular way, but to spend a little time seeing what Alberto Savoia has to say about pretotyping, and kicking off with some light, agile, low-stakes thing. And then sneak it up on your students and just see what they make of it. This is a community of practice, and we love to share. Please tell us about your experiments and how they go.

Links:

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Government will spend $359m on education – could this lead to a more collaborative approach for us all?

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$359M to education

A $359m education initiative announced by the Prime Minister last week has a direct focus on raising student achievement. It involves recognising excellent educators by creating four new management roles for schools – change principals, executive principals, expert teachers and lead teachers. A major tenet of the plan will be a focus on collaboration between schools.

If National wins the election, it plans to introduce the four new roles from next year.

Change principals: tasked with turning around a struggling school. Twenty positions nationwide, each receiving a $50,000 allowance per year on top of their base salary.

Executive principals: ‘highly capable principals’ with a proven track record who will lead and mentor other principals in their community. Two hundred and fifty positions nationwide, $20,000 allowance per year.

Expert teachers: will work with the executive principals in specific areas like maths, science, technology and literacy. One thousand positions nationwide, $20,000 allowance per year.

Lead teachers: ‘highly capable’ teachers with a proven track record who will act as a role model for teachers in the wider community. They will have an open classroom to allow other teachers to observe and learn. Five thousand nationwide, $10,000 allowance per year.
 
The commitment of such a large sum of money to support what is effectively a 'culture-change' strategy for New Zealand education heralds the most significant change since the 1989 reforms of Tomorrow’s Schools which sent us along the pathway of school autonomy and competition.

PPTA President Angela Roberts says that the $359m investment, while not being a silver bullet, is a positive step and she believes that the new roles will lead to more collaborative approaches. She says that enabling schools to support each other rather than compete against each other is a good response.

Gail Gillon, pro-vice chancellor at the College of Education, University of Canterbury also welcomes the more collaborative approach and says that the government has accurately identified one of the key challenges in the schooling system.

It appears that most public response to the initiative has been cautiously optimistic. While this is a good start, as educators, we can’t afford to be uninvolved, standing back to see if it will work. Real transformation of schooling needs to involve everyone. To bridge the gap between good ideas and effective action we will need to act collectively, each one of us personally stepping outside our ‘autonomy bubbles’ and starting to make a bigger space for collaboration in our professional lives.

So how do we shift our mind frames from acting as working groups – as people acting alongside each other, to functioning as teams where collective action contributes to a whole result? History has shown that events where large numbers of people have made a powerful move together have usually been born out of an experience of difficulty or injustice. Maybe education’s current disparate impact on a large percentage of New Zealand children makes this one of those important times.

However with the best will in the world, we can’t all be executive principals and lead teachers. So where to begin? Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher is about small, sustainable acts and appropriate technologies. His notion of ‘smallness within bigness’ is useful in determining the value of our individual input. We can start small.

So, in partnership  with National’s initiative, what if several thousand acts of real collaboration and teamwork by New Zealand teachers were equally as powerful as an investment of $359m? Working together, could we exponentially increase this investment in our future?

Let’s not just stand back to see what happens, let’s lean in, operate within Schumacher’s ‘smallness within bigness’ notion and function as a team with this initiative. An opportunity for a ‘leg up’ has appeared – let’s take it.

For all of the officially released documentation about the initiative see http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/EducationInitiatives/InvestingInEducationalSuccess/KeyInformation.aspx

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