The use of technology in the science classroom is something that we are all familiar with and have experienced in our own schooling. The use of microscopes, projectors screens and computers are familiar to most of us, however, the technology I’m going to be speaking about is more innovative: Inspiration software, smartboards, keynote, blogging, flip video cameras, and labquest probes. All of these various pieces of technology were seamlessly integrated into our daily plans during the GRS camp and we as teachers, as well as our students, were extremely lucky to have access to such technology. However, in many traditional classroom settings, these tools aren’t readily available or the teacher doesn’t know how to use or access them.
Fortunately, we do know how to use and access these technologies and I think that the role of technology should be a main but not over-bearing feature in science classrooms. Like any successful routine or strategy used in a classroom, the use of technology should not be distracting or take away from the actual learning that is going on in conjunction with the use of said technology. By integrating various pieces of technology into everyday instruction, teachers can allow their students to expand their learning beyond the borders of traditional resources, such as books and other forms of print. This lends itself extremely well to inquiry-based science teaching because technology can be used to exponentially expand students access to new information, ideas and questions that can help them develop and revise their own investigations. Also, teachers can model the safe and appropriate use of technology such as the internet or delicate probes or microscopes. Additionally, by integrating technology into the classroom, teachers can allow their students to participate in authentic practices that real scientists would carry out in their everyday lives. For example, our students during camp this past week often felt “most like a scientist” when they were using actual technology, such as the probes, microscopes or Microsoft excel software. This shows how by letting students use technology to aid them in the scientific process, they can develop a more meaningful scientific identity in conjunction with their understanding of scientific content.
This is all well and good as long as two interrelated ideas are taken into consideration; first, technology should be used to enhance learning, not simply just to be used “for technology’s sake” and second, teachers need to use technology to its full potential and utilize it in new and innovative ways. Both of these ideas are discussed in depth by Flick & Bell (2000) when they describe how technology can be mis-used in a classroom setting. Specifically, “…taking advantage of technology does not mean using technology to teach the same scientific topics in fundamentally the same ways as they are taught without technology” (Flick & Bell, 2000, p. 44).
Although I still consider myself to be a relative novice with many different types of technology, I don’t think that will discourage my use of it in my own classroom. I think that many teachers shy away from using technology they aren’t familiar with, but I think that by taking a risk and incorporating new and innovative technologies in the classroom, teachers can take advantage of their students’ prior knowledge and develop a strong learning community. Disclaimer: Of course, I’m not encouraging teachers to use technology that they have never tried before! Make sure to try everything multiple times before using it with your students (a valuable lesson we all learned from camp!) but still be open to learning right along side of them.
This course has definitely deepened my understanding of various types of educational technologies and how to use them in my own classroom. With everything that we’ve learned from our mini professional development sessions as well as the lessons we learned from camp in regards to technology, I’m confident that I will be able to bring new and exciting ideas into my classroom this fall!
