Group items tagged

Thank you for posting this. As an old science teacher, what I am seeing is the Scientific Process being expanded upon in this article. As teachers, teaching students to be thinkers and not regurgitators of facts is very important. I would much rather a student understand the process of "if I do A to B and C happens, but I wanted D to happen, what do I need to adjust to A and B to get the result I want." Rather than spitting out D happens when you do a to B. It is also interesting to see him mentioning at the top that the arts make STEM "sizzle" when you see what is happening at UVA.

It is interesting to see how STEM is being looked at in other places. One thing in the article, that I haven't heard someone else stress, is the importance of empathy. I think that empathy would ensure that the students would maintain interest in a topic. However, the article makes me wonder what curriculum will look like in the future if we make these changes. Certainly, different children in different places will have different interests and will want to learn about different things, which is fine, but will be difficult with the current system of standards. I also think that teaching and learning will be done in different "teams" rather than traditional classes where all subjects are compartmentalized and divided. Another interesting point, in one of the videos, was how the students should do the investigation and research rather than the teacher. I think this is a fundamental part of project based learning.

One of the newest and greatest innovations continues to be video games. In the past, educational games have never quite met expectations, but with grants and contests such as this one, hopefully the games improve and students can learn something while playing video games.

This looks like a great tool for kids today- especially considering how attached some kids are to games. Children need to know how they get sick and what is going on inside of them when they are sick. One concern I have is that the game may be giving the message that all bacteria are bad and will make them sick. This is a common misconception that has led to the over use of antibiotics and hand sanitizer. Children should be taught that although some bacteria are pathogens, most are not, and they actually help other animals (ie. Humans) carry out every day functions. Bacteria ≠ Pathogen.

About four years ago, I went to a facility planners conference and they said the most improperly used space in the school is the library. It should not be filled with stacks of books, but it should look more like a media center where you have gaming centers, areas for public wi-fi access and a small section for books, but it would not be the dominant feature of the media center. It would also not close with the school, but be an area that would be open to the general public after hours. We will probably not build another school in Spotsylvania in the next decade, but it will be interesting to see if divisions will be starting to convert what we currently see as a library into something else.

A I just read an article about an innovation that will be awesome for military and national security. This invention will guide bullets, using lasers, to targets at a distance of almost 2 km. I know this isn't education related, but the students of today will be developing the innovations of tomorrow. I'm sure this bullet technology was engineered with a wealth of mathematics, physics, and earth space R&D.

Great video that explains the concepts of TPACK in a more simplistic manner. I think is does a great job of showing how not integrating such a model could harm our current/future learners- learners of the 21st century.

This is a beautiful presentation, and I know it's purpose is not to teach you everything about TPACK, but you also don't want to dishearten learners or veteran teachers with overloading them with what they should be doing. If I told everyone right now that by next Friday you all should be playing golf and be good at it, most of you would look at me and say no way or I cannot. If I said I want to show you how to putt a golf ball one day, then the next day we are going to work on chipping a golf ball... I am slowly building the foundation of playing golf. For TPACK to work with teachers who are not tech savvy, you have to slowly build the foundation. Maybe designate one piece of technology, and for some it might be something as simple as a digital camera, and properly work that into a lesson. If you want all teachers to be successful using the TPACK model, baby steps might be needed for some, just like some of our students need baby steps and others hit the classroom running in full stride.

The video "TPACK Framework" definitely portrays the most important message of TPACK which is successful implementation of TPACK is not an easy process; rather it is a process that will require creativity from teachers. I really like what Stephen stated with his golf analogy and I feel like the video is great for teachers who are new to the framework by explaining TPACK in a very simple format: you need to have knowledge of the content you are teaching, knowledge of how to effectively teach as well as creative ideas of how you will use technology to tie in the content effectively. Through this video, I can see how the subject being taught can be considered as a resistant force to the framework. It is absolutely possible to apply TPACK in every content area however I feel that it is easier or more obvious to apply it in science curriculum as oppose to language arts (I am in no way saying that it is impossible). In order to make TPACK successful introducing teachers to this framework and ensuring them that is okay if they run into a brick wall because this not a 1-2-3 fix and it will require creative solutions.

there is also a pdf version, but the diigolet will not highlight pdfs so I bookmarked the html page.

there is also a pdf version, but the diigolet will not highlight pdfs so I bookmarked the html page.

This simulation allows students to provide dimensions, angle of release, speed, and mass of an object. The simulation will calculate how far the object will travel, its range of motion, and height achieved. Students could be given a desired end result and be tasked with finding the right combination of size, speed, mass, and angle to get the correct outcome.

my favorite is the human.

Good science teachers capitalize on the "aha" moments and work hard to help students not only understand science, but also foster a lifelong learning in science. Why is this so important? Because science is the one subject that encompasses everything in life and helps students be curious, ask questions, and make connections as to why the world exists as it does. It is the backdrop for understanding our world, and helps us to explain and appreciate it in new ways. 1 Science is the "S' in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. We define STEM education as the preparation of students in competencies and skills in the four disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math). A successful STEM education provides students with science, math, and engineering/technology in sequences that build upon each other and can be used with real-world applications. STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. Innovation leads to new products and processes that sustain our economy. This innovation and science literacy depends on a solid knowledge base in the STEM areas. It is clear that most jobs of the future will require a basic understanding of math and science-10-year employment projections by the U.S. Department of Labor show that of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant mathematics or science preparation. - See more at: https://www.isa.org/standards-and-publications/isa-publications/intech-magazine/2010/september/why-stem-education-is-important/#sthash.WOLuwEXC.dpuf

As always, you delivered a good definition.

In this lesson students learn the equation needed to calculate bone mineral density. This is a calculation that biomedical engineers make a lot. The student will be motivated to learn more about the use of logarithms.

How 3D printing is becoming more accessible to teachers; includes a link to the Smithsonian about a release of some of their data sets which will allow students to recreate artifacts for study in their classrooms.

Children engineer a bird's nest out of a paper bag to see which one will hold the most eggs.

I don't have too many go to sites yet (I hope that improves in the near future) but I did run across this compilation of youtube videos related to science that I think will be helpful in the future. Given some of them are way too basic to use, but there used to be really cool look inside the cell type stuff. The original site shut down so I had to find where someone else posted the links on their blog so my apologizes if you can not access it at this time.

Hey Eric- Thanks for posting this website- I was looking through the videos and happen to come across some that I think might be useful for me when I start teaching very soon!

This site provides lessons on a wide array of earth science topics that kids can access at home which includes interactive videos, games, activities and lessons. It also provides great resources for teachers that can help foster creative lessons with the content. The website is a little confusing at first because each link (topic) will redirect you to another website (i.e. National Geographic) but it exposes you to different approaches to teaching the content.

Wow! There is a lot of information on this link directly related to Earth Science. I am currently going through each link and writing down notes to help me with some of my future lectures. Thanks so much for the link that brings it all together so that I don't have to have a search overload for some of these great resources!

This site provides educational movies for K-3 students. Homework Help, leveled quizzes, games and activities for kids. Exceptional resource for teachers and homeschools. I use this site very often.

After I wrote the comment, I saw the brainpop.com site and was impressed with it none the less.

I like Brainpop for starting conversation in my AP classes.

TPACK Venn Diagram in 3 minutes describing the 7 categories seen on the model.

Keith's video "TPACK in 3 minutes" did a lovely job of summing up the TPACK framework in a few words with great examples. The speaker makes it a point to explain "context" within the TPACK model and how it is implemented. He states that the model will look very different depending on the perspective (corporate vs. teacher) and grade level (elementary vs high school/college). I think one of the driving forces is the realization and understanding by many teachers that implementing useful technology - in the context of what their teaching- is necessary to accommodate the students' needs regardless of if the teacher is technology smart or not. However, this is where I think the resistant force sets in as well. Even though TPACK is a package where each of the 3 domains work together, I think that teachers find it overwhelming or very "sudden" and big of a change that it makes some of them feel uneasy to fully adopt it. This goes with what Stephen had stated in a previous post- that maybe the best way to approach this framework is to have teachers take baby steps.

Thank you very much for sharing this link. The creator of this video does a very good job of explaining what TPACK is and demonstrating the dotted line for context was a nice addition to the TPACK model. A few other things I am taking from this video is that it shows the power of the internet. I think this teacher did this video in one take, which means he did not spend time editing or retaking what he was doing. I have a feeling this was created in about 15 minutes after setting up the camera, gathering materials and planning in his mind what he would say. This 15 minutes of effort has been watched over 5,000 times since its upload a little over one year ago. In this day and age, 5,000 views on Youtube might not seem like that much, but twenty years ago speaking to 5,000 people on a subject would almost be unimaginable. The power of online video is something I am taking from this course.