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.