Technology Education through Inquiry Based Projects

This course has opened my eyes to using technology as a vehicle to meet other objectives instead of just as the objective itself. I was inspired through this course to begin to look at my curriculum and see when and were I can use and incorporate technology as a tool to aid and assist in the learning process instead of just learning about the technology. I know David Warlick (Laureate Education Inc., 2009) states that technology should be a way of connectivity and offers the opportunities to bring the world to them in the classroom, but my personal experience triggered by this course did not bring my students the world but rather brought the use of technology to aid in their learning and understanding curriculum concepts in the current course I was teaching.

Currently my students are in Pre Algebra in 6th grade and they are working on percent proportions and equations and within this content circle graphs were part of the material. Typically the students do these circle graphs with protractors and rulers and calculators and they do a great job of learning the formula and necessary concepts to make a correct circle graph. However, after reading and writing the materials for week five of this course, I tried something new and it was a success. The students were not involved in inquiry based projects really but we kind of turned this circle lesson into an inquiry based exploration using spreadsheets. Students have seen Excel spreadsheets before but did not have much experience, so I brought them to the lab and we explored spreadsheets using the concepts and formulas for circle graphs.

The students were each at a computer and we just took a survey about their favorite type of Valentine. We used textbooks and discussion to figure out how to write up the formula to figure out the percentage of each category and then the degrees to make the angle in their circle graph. I had no way of knowing which way this lesson would turn out, it was a spontaneous “let’s just do it” activity and it worked out fabulously. The students were motivated and excited, especially when they figured out that the spreadsheet would make the graph for them, which I learned as well! I was ready to look at a website that made circle graphs and thought I would include a discussion on searching the web for resources but was surprised when one of my normally “wallflower” type students got up in front of the room and taught us all how to simply insert a graph with this data. The class was engaged, the material was learned and the students have since asked would I accept their homework on spreadsheets if they can figure out the formulas to make the spreadsheet work. Of course, I said yes and have been amazed at the results. Through these formulas the students must manipulate the numbers and truly must understand the concept so my curriculum is being learned and applied in a real world aspect. This to me is more of a thorough understanding than following several examples I have done in class and just memorizing the procedures. This is “real” learning and is very inspiring to me and my students.

One specific area of interest I want to help my students develop at this stage is their ability to navigate a search on the web. This is very possible through many areas of my curriculum and I would be able to model the procedures often in class as I look for interactive lessons and activities on the topics we are covering. As stated in our text, Reading the Web (Eagleton and Dobler, 2007) modeling is still one of the best techniques for our students to learn. Even though the content may have changed that tried and true strategy still is a successful way for students to learn.

This has all been a result of this course and this program. I am not afraid to just try it and I have been reaching out to technology in ways I have never thought about. The lesson that we have created for this course is being adopted by my whole sixth grade and will be our week long project for all the teachers to work on during our week of standardized testing. Since our schedule is usually cut short and crazy we try not to overload the kids any more than the testing already makes them, therefore, the teachers in my team have decided that this would fit our curriculum and we would all work towards a common goal and a miniature museum. My excitement just keeps rolling on!!!

With all of this in mind and my excitement taking over … I would like to continue by assisting my colleagues with professional development opportunities so they can use and experience technology in a non threatening way. I would like for us as a team to work on another project or activity to incorporate many of the sixth grade standards and will allow our students to succeed and move forward with their twenty-first century skills. Although much of what I learned can be useful to me in my curriculum, I see so many opportunities for the social studies and language art teachers to develop inquiry based projects using the QUEST model (Eagleton and Dobler, 2007) that I just want to share all of these ideas. My goal is to look forward to helping my students and opening these doors for my students but more importantly assist my colleagues so they can also provide these opportunities for more students. By working with my colleagues not only do my students benefit but it provides opportunities for many more students in the end. This to me is exciting and as our excitement grows so will the students experiences with the world wide web and all of its possibilities.

References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: author.