WISE

Key concepts in WISE:

Inquiry practices - engaging students in the intentional process of diagnosing problems, critiquing experiments, distinguishing alternatives, planning investigations, revising views, researching conjectures, searching for information, constructing models, debating with peers, communicating to diverse audiences, and forming cohernet arguments.

Knowledge integration - learners hold multiple conflicting ideas about virtually any scientific phenomenon, and at the same time deliberately develop their repertoire of views concerning a given scientific phenomenon. What is needed is that students develop a cohesive, coherent, and thoughtful account of scientific phenomena.

Pattern - used to elicit the repertoire of student ideas, add promising normative ideas to the mix, and support the process of combining, sorting, organizing, creating, and reflecting to improve understanding. E.g. make a conjecture, review an evidence, reflect on ideas.

Inquiry map - used to communicate the pattern to the students to investigate a topic. This cannot be too detailed, otherwise the students will fail to engage in inquiry. If it is too broad, students will flounder and become distracted.

Context - the context of problems must be immediate and accessible to the students. Students do not have connections to issues outside their immediate surroundings. Designer make sure students have access to information relevant to the problems / topics they are studying.

Pivotal cases - use of natural experiment to illustrate an important comparison. E.g. compare objects in a hot car and cold room to illustrate why they feel different even their temperature are the same.

Argument representation - student understanding of scientific material can be enhanced if they have a way to represent arguments. E.g. SenseMaker in collaboration with evidence pages (e.g. web resources or pages provided by designers) allows students to represent arguments.

Modeling and simulation - E.g. Causal Modeler allows students to represent the relationships among factors influencing water quality.

Making Thinking Visible!

Other features: students work in pairs and learn from one another (Vygotsky zone of proximal development), show and tell by students to other students, branching pattern: allow students to specialize in one of several topics, use of mobile device like Palm to "beam" malaria to each other, lifelong learning instill into students, continual review with teachers and designers.

Reference:

Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science Education, 87(4), 517-538.

Second Impression of Jasper Series

The Jasper Series promotes a number of concepts in teaching and learning that are worthwhile to be considered:

Anchored instruction - situate learning using a real life problem or authentic context

Complex problem - problems to be solved are not trivial but may take several classes where students collaborate in the process

Generative learning - design of subgoals to solve problems

Span multiple subjects - problem solving that requires the use of knowledge from more than one subject domain

Technology based - use of multimedia to present the problem, use of AI to allow students to teach a similar problem to help them learn even more

The videos should be updated though since they look dated. New technologies such as Flash and other multimedia special effects may allow different problems to be posed and more interactivity by the students.

First Impression of Jasper Series

The Jasper Series is a series of video that situates a problem in a real life context. Students watches the adventures and solve mathematical problems. In the process, students have to problem solve, reason, communicate with their team members and integrate what they know from different areas, such as science, social studies, literature and history. The instructional design is based on anchored instruction which situates learning in a real life context, and also generative learning where students have to generate subgoals to solve a problem.

What questions does this TELE (Technology-Enhanced Learning Experience) raise for me as an instructor or as a potential TELE designer?

When was this series made and whether it is still being used in the classroom nowadays? How can I adapt the features of this TELE in my own teaching? What is the learning curve for teachers using this TELE?

Pedagogical Design of a Technology-Enhanced Learning Experience

Kozma recommends that, "Designers should provide students with environments that restructure the discourse of …classrooms around collaborative knowledge building and the social construction of meaning" (Kozma, 2003, p.9).

What do you think designers of learning experiences should do? How would you design a technology-enhanced learning experience?

When I think of design, I think mostly in terms of the artistic dimension that contrast with form and function. So in learning experience design, I think of the aesthetic effects on the learners, and how they will appreciate that experience. Kozma seems to concentrate on the collaborative social constructive type of learning in his design but I think that there may be other types of design that may be more appropriate for different sets of students. As an example, I think of design in light of a story teller. I think students may appreciate learning through a similar process of listening and interacting with characters in a story. In that case, design means constructing a well formed story rather than creating a collaborative environment for students to learn. However, I believe designs can have multiple dimensions. It is possible to combine a collaborative learning environment with a story. Students can learn to interact with a story in a collaborative setting.

In any case, to design such an experience with technology, I would think of the students starting off on a journey. That's where the story will begin. I will think of the destination or final chapter of this story where it ends, and then think of how the story unfolds to allow learners to learn with the use of technology. It will be like creating a storyboard. Within this storyboard, I would include different emotions that I like the students to experience such as identification of themselves with the characters, such as surprises, disappointments, puzzled, lost, enlightenment, etc. I will think of the lesson plan in terms of the affectives to be experienced by the learners. The lesson to be learned will be embedded in the story, and the lesson will be decorated with how these affectives will be experienced through the story telling.

Technology - what does it mean?

I like Muffoletto's (1994) definition of technology ... "Technology is commonly thought of in terms of gadgets, instruments, machines, and devices ..." but that it "[I]s not a collection of machines and devices, but a way of acting." This is similar to the definition used by Ursula Franklin's book titled "The Real World of Technology." She suggests that technology as "ways of doing someting," (p6) and technology as "practice" (p2). "Technology is a system. It entails far more than its individual material components. Technology involves organization, procedures, symbols, new words, equations, and, most of all, a mindset." (p3)

As such the way a classroom is organized, the procedure to apply for a passport, the way we communicate whether via letters, emails, phone, MSN chat, etc. are all technologies. Of course, gadgets and machines are both material technologies as well as "practice" technologies, for each material technology comes with a way of doing things. The GPS constrains us to a certain way of living, or more specifically, finding our directions. Similarly, the toaster oven or vacuum cleaner also influence how we have a breakfast or keep our house. So I like to think of technologies as more than just gadgets, but also the systems of living and doing things.

Reference:

Franklin, U. (1999). The Real World of TEchnology. House of Anansi Press.

Reflection

Ok ... time to reflect

The issue I like to consider is the following: what kind of technology appeals more for girls than boys especially in the areas of math and science?

Some guiding questions:

How is your understanding of this issue changing?

That boys and girls both like technology, but there are different aspects of technologies that appeal specifically to boys and others for girls.

What more would you like to learn or know?

The different aspects of technologies that may not be explicit in their use and features. E.g. what are the differences between playing computer games and using facebook? Does one appeal more to girls than the other? Why?

In what ways was your interview unique or similar to others?

From the interview summaries of other classmates, boys and girls both approach technology similarly. However, in reality, there are a lot fewer girls than boys who register in computing programs. I am not sure exactly the reasons and would like to explore further.

What does this say about the context/place or the issue?

The environment in which we find these technologies and the interaction with others through the use of these technologies may play a significant role.

Which issue do you want to explore further and why?

I may focus in on the relational aspect of the use of specific technologies and how this affects the adoption of these technologies by boys and girls. There is definitely a difference in playing internet games and using facebook. Both are relational in some sense, but what are the differences in their use between boys and girls. And how do our current technologies for teaching math and science can be adapted for their use?