Using Technology to Make Student Thinking Visible

Purpose & objective

Technology integration in education can be seen as either a daunting task involving a drastic change in curriculum, or as something that distracts from the learning of students. In this session, participants will learn that technology integration does not have to be either. Participants will see that technology can be integrated into the classroom without large curriculum rewrites, and as a tool, can allow teachers to uncover deep-seated misconceptions and students to achieve a level of understanding in a topic they would not otherwise be able to achieve.

Challenges with integrating technology into the classroom include cost of apps, and accessibility. Participants of this session will be introduced to four apps chosen based on their ability to overcome both potential barriers. For each app, Book Creator, Explain Everything, Stop Motion Studio, and Flip, participants will see the same lesson plan before and after technology integration, as well as samples of student work. For each lesson, the objective and assessment rubrics were mostly unchanged, except for the addition of categories related to the modality of the final product. Participants will have access to a digital resource that explains each app in more detail and provides starter ideas in Biology, Chemistry and Physics; although all disciplines are welcome to attend.

The apps showcased in this session represent a sample of those that are accessible across a wide variety of devices including iOS, Windows and Chrome, and that can be used with a free account. The work presented here started in a 1:1 iPad learning environment which moved to BYOD policy after 4 years. In Book Creator, students were tasked with demonstrating their knowledge of natural selection by creating a character-driven comic book that would be read by middle school students. In Explain Everything, student teams had to design and illustrate a method to support astronauts on mars for extended periods of time, explaining the flow of energy and cycling of matter within a closed system. In Stop Motion Studio students had to create their own explanatory video of how cells divide, explaining the way chromosomes move during the process and why. In Flip, students app-smashed several apps, Stop Motion Studio, Apple iMovie and Flip, to explain how DNA makes copies of itself through replication. Participants will be able to view student-produced samples in each case to see how they accomplished each task.

Outline

1. The right tools allow you to go farther than you thought you could (5 min)
a. Why is technology integration important?
b. What can incorporating technology allow you to do as a teacher?
2. Lessons and apps
a. Natural Selection with Book Creator (10 min)
i. Lesson structure before technology was integrated
ii. Lesson structure after technology was integrated
iii. Student misconceptions uncovered through use of technology
iv. Student outcomes
b. Mission to Mars with Explain Everything (10 min)
i. Lesson structure before technology was integrated
ii. Lesson structure after technology was integrated
iii. Student misconceptions uncovered through use of technology
iv. Student outcomes
c. Cell Division with Stop Motion Studio (10 min)
i. Lesson structure before technology was integrated
ii. Lesson structure after technology was integrated
iii. Student misconceptions uncovered through use of technology
iv. Student outcomes
d. DNA Replication with Flip (10 min)
i. Lesson structure before technology was integrated
ii. Lesson structure after technology was integrated
iii. Student misconceptions uncovered through use of technology
iv. Student outcomes
3. Getting started (15 min)
a. Time to look through resources and brainstorm ideas to try in your classroom (peer-to-peer interaction)

Supporting research

Windschitl, M. and Thompson, J., 2013. The modeling toolkit: Making student thinking visible with public representations. The Science Teacher, 80(6), pp.63-69.

Ritchhart, R., Church, M. and Morrison, K., 2011. Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. John Wiley & Sons.

Halasa, S., Abusalim, N., Rayyan, M., Constantino, R.E., Nassar, O., Amre, H., Sharab, M. and Qadri, I., 2020. Comparing student achievement in traditional learning with a combination of blended and flipped learning. Nursing Open, 7(4), pp.1129-1138.

Kay, D. and Pasarica, M., 2019. Using technology to increase student (and faculty satisfaction with) engagement in medical education. Advances in physiology education, 43(3), pp.408-413.

Kolb, L. (2020). Keynote: The Triple E Framework: Using Research-Based Strategies for Technology Integration. In L. Elizabeth Langran (Ed.), Proceedings of SITE - Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2020. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/216133/.