Prior to the field trip, the classroom teacher will move the students into Stage 2 of the Research Process, to consider the sources of information that they'll be gathering. The students will learn about the differences between primary sources and secondary sources of information. (See the related link in the blog menu.) Their interviews of the scientists will be their work with primary sources. Their involvement in the auditorium program and their visit to the exhibits will be their work with secondary sources.
The field trip to the Ontario Science Centre will involve a 45 minute program in the auditorium, focused interviews with related scientists and a visit to related exhibits. All the while, the trios will be recording interviews and their own oral commentary, capturing images of the exhibits and written exhibit descriptions and recording the sequence of both on the storyboard. The teachers, Teacher-Librarian, Instructional Leader and Media Services instructor will all be in attendance to supervise and support their work.
Following the day of the field trip, the students will work in the lab to create a slide show. The Media Services instructor will help them to upload the audio recordings and the visual images. He will then teach them how to use the slide show software. With his support and that of the teachers and Instructional Leader, the students will create their slide shows and burn them to a CD. This step represents Stage3 & 4 of the Research Process, as they organize the information gathered in order to create a final product of their learning.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
student learning
Based on the planning by the classroom teachers, Teacher-Librarian and the Instructional Leader, the students will be involved in a 3-4 week process surrounding the iPod Digital Field Trip.
Initially, the classroom teacher will lead the students through Stage 1 of the Research Process. (See the related link on the left hand menu of the blog.) They will develop questions for the field trip, based on their in-class knowledge development in the area of study. The foundation questions for the field trips should be focused on ‘big idea’ questions. It is the intention to focus on big idea questions in order to elevate the field trip experience and the information gathering required for nonfiction article writing. For example, for the Ontario Science Centre Rainforest section, students could develop questions such as: “What is the rainforest environment like?”, which will lead to “What would we do if we were put in charge of taking care of rain forests? ”. The former question can be used as a question for students to gather base information and the latter as a question to develop a perspective for their article.
Next will be the technology skills lessons, to teach the correct use of the iPod and microphone and effective use of a digital camera for this task. These lessons will be conducted by an instructor from the Media Services department. Following this, the students and teachers will have time to practise the use of the technology and to rehearse oral recordings. The students will be expected to accurately pronounce and use the related scientific terminology. A lesson on storyboarding, as a tool for documentation of the audio and visual components, will be conducted. These three elements will be the responsibility of a trio group during the field trip, for use during interviews and exhibit visits.
Initially, the classroom teacher will lead the students through Stage 1 of the Research Process. (See the related link on the left hand menu of the blog.) They will develop questions for the field trip, based on their in-class knowledge development in the area of study. The foundation questions for the field trips should be focused on ‘big idea’ questions. It is the intention to focus on big idea questions in order to elevate the field trip experience and the information gathering required for nonfiction article writing. For example, for the Ontario Science Centre Rainforest section, students could develop questions such as: “What is the rainforest environment like?”, which will lead to “What would we do if we were put in charge of taking care of rain forests? ”. The former question can be used as a question for students to gather base information and the latter as a question to develop a perspective for their article.
Next will be the technology skills lessons, to teach the correct use of the iPod and microphone and effective use of a digital camera for this task. These lessons will be conducted by an instructor from the Media Services department. Following this, the students and teachers will have time to practise the use of the technology and to rehearse oral recordings. The students will be expected to accurately pronounce and use the related scientific terminology. A lesson on storyboarding, as a tool for documentation of the audio and visual components, will be conducted. These three elements will be the responsibility of a trio group during the field trip, for use during interviews and exhibit visits.
iPod Digital Field Trips pilot program
The goal of this learning activity is to engage students and teachers in hands-on activities before, during and after a field trip in order to heighten their learning with the use of both primary and secondary sources. The use of iPods allows for the capture of first-hand testimony from experts in the field, such as scientists at the Ontario Science Centre. The use of digitial cameras allows for the capture of images of exhibits, experiments and exhibit descriptions. The final product for students will be a slide show of their audiovisual documentation, a ‘Guided Tour’ saved on CD. Students will be expected to compose a nonfiction article (expository, explanatory or report) to document their learning and to complement the technological product.
The timeline for this year’s pilot includes a January trip to the Ontario Science Centre with two Junior classes, the classroom teachers and the Teacher-Librarian. The focus for these groups will be an explicit infusion of the Research Process, an emphasis on technical skill development and oral rehearsal (particularly scientific terminology) beforehand. The field trip follow-up will include lab time for the slide show construction and supplemental non-fiction writing.
In order to assess the success of our goal, we propose to engage in a survey and/or informal interview of the classroom teachers, Teacher-Librarian and random students. We will assess their report of learning engagement, understanding of primary and secondary sources, preparedness for nonfiction writing and confidence to replicate the process on their own. This will be completed in June.
The timeline for this year’s pilot includes a January trip to the Ontario Science Centre with two Junior classes, the classroom teachers and the Teacher-Librarian. The focus for these groups will be an explicit infusion of the Research Process, an emphasis on technical skill development and oral rehearsal (particularly scientific terminology) beforehand. The field trip follow-up will include lab time for the slide show construction and supplemental non-fiction writing.
In order to assess the success of our goal, we propose to engage in a survey and/or informal interview of the classroom teachers, Teacher-Librarian and random students. We will assess their report of learning engagement, understanding of primary and secondary sources, preparedness for nonfiction writing and confidence to replicate the process on their own. This will be completed in June.
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