2. Pressing Need
According to the latest TIMSS study,
American 8th-grade students score lower
than their counterparts in Japan, Canada,
England, and the Russian federation.
--Comparative Indicators of
Education in the United States
and Other G-8 Countries: 2002
3. Why Integrate
Science and Technology?
Technology tools enhance
science learning.
Science and technology
integration address 21st century
skills.
Science and technology
integration are powerful
partners in meeting standards.
4. The Future is Now
“Beyond the world of global finance,
mathematics and science will also supply the
core forms of knowledge that the next
generation of innovators, producers, and
workers in every country will need if they are to
solve the unforeseen problems and dream the
dream that will define America’s future.”
--Glenn Commission
5. 21st Century Skills
“The definition of student achievement
must be broadened to include the 21st
century skills that will be required for
students to thrive in the future.”
--CEO Forum on Education
and Technology (2001)
6. 21st Century Skills
Personal and social responsibility
Planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and
creativity
Strong communication skills
Cross-cultural understanding
Visualization and decision-making
Knowing how and when to use technology
7. Generation YES (Youth and
Educators Succeeding
“We see K-12 students
as change agents,
infusing technology to
improve learning.”
--GenYES
8. Teaching and Learning
Teachers need ongoing,
comprehensive professional
development.
Teachers need opportunities for
sharing best practices with peers
worldwide.
Teachers need up-to-date tools and
time to understand how they fit into the
curriculum.
9. What is the Question?
“Questioning may be the
most powerful technology
we have ever invented and
can give to our students.”
--Jamie McKenzie, Ed.D.
10. NSTA
“In the vision of science education portrayed
by the Standards, effective teachers of
science create an environment in which
they and students work together as active
learners.”
--NSTA standards
11. What is Science and Technology
Integration?
Day-to-day instruction
Student competitions
Online challenges and
collaborations
12. Activities
Watch “Newsome Park”
Watch “West Hawaii Explorations Academy”
Read More Fun Than a Barrel of … Worms?!
Read Classrooms Without Boundaries
In these segments, how was science integrated
with technology?
What were some other ways science and
technology could have been integrated?
13. Activities
What evidence did you see or read that
standards were being addressed and met?
How would you adapt what you saw or read to
your own classroom?
What ways do you already integrate science
and technology?
What other ways would you like to integrate
science and technology? What will it take to
do so?
Notas del editor
Current technology tools allow students to experience learning in new and exciting ways, and prepare them to be competitive with other students globally.
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) looks at student achievement for primary and secondary students. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiles the findings and makes them available at http://nces.ed.gov/timss.
Research shows that engaging students of all ages in interactive, hands-on work encourages understanding and deepens learning. Being able to use technology tools to problem-solve will continue to be required of knowledge workers in all fields, especially math and science. And more and more national, state, and regional curriculum standards are including mastery of technology tools as part of the charge to teachers and students.
The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching in the 21st Century, chaired by John Glenn, was charged with reviewing the state of teaching and learning with regard to math and science in today’s classrooms with an eye to the future. Their work raised great concerns: “We are failing to capture the interest of our youth for scientific and mathematical ideas. We are not instructing them to the level of competence they will need to live their lives and work at their jobs productively. Perhaps worst of all, we are not challenging their imaginations deeply enough.”
(The Executive Summary of the Glenn Commission report can be found at http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math/glenn/toolate-execsum.html)
Other groups, such as the CEO Forum, NCREL (North Central Regional Educational Lab) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, have explored what students need to know and be able to do to succeed in school, work, and life. Along with content knowledge, students need an array of other skills, too.
A variety of skills beyond the traditional “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic” are necessary for students to participate fully in the world of today, and the world of their future. These skills include:
Personal and social responsibility
Planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity
Strong communication skills
Cross-cultural understanding
Visualization and decision-making
Knowing how and when to use technology
Ask participants to prioritize these skills, and share how they incorporate them into their science instruction.
In the most stimulating classrooms, teachers have changed their role from one of absolute and only authority to a shared experience in which teachers are learners as well. And since students often know more about the new technology tools than adults, allowing them to teach their teachers as well as their peers provides a powerful model of lifelong learning.
Research shows that a well-informed and caring teacher is the most important part of a student’s learning environment. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is currently engaged in a initiative called “Building a Presence for Science” that includes the development of a teacher network for the purpose of “strengthen(ing) the quality of science teaching by ending teacher isolation and promoting standards-based science teaching and learning.” Ask participants to share their ideas of ongoing growth in their own learning.
In his book, Beyond Technology: Questioning, Research and the Information Literate School, Dr. McKenzie makes a strong case for the power of learning to ask good questions. If students can figure out what they want to know and clearly articulate it, they are far down the path to answering their question. In science, knowing what needs to be figured out is key to finding a good answer. The NSTA Standards include the idea that “inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science.”
The National Science Teachers Association has developed comprehensive standards for preschool through 12th grade (http://www.nsta.org/standardsd) that broaden traditional mastery of skills as the sole requirement for scientific competency in K-12.
Science and technology can be integrated in a variety of ways. The most important factor is being convinced that technology can help the student or teacher do something that couldn’t be done better in other ways and with other tools. Examples abound.
Have participants share how they integrate science and technology in day-to-day instruction (probe use? Data collection and analysis using a computer?); through student competitions (ThinkQuest (http://www.thinkquest.org) challenges students to collaborate with others to create Web sites to teach other students; Global SchoolNet Foundation (http://www.gsn.org) provides a Project Registry where teachers can locate projects in which their classes can participate, or ask other classes to join their project); online challenges and collaborations, such as Journey North (http://www.www.learner.org/jnorth), encourage students to provide local information with regard to particular animals, birds, or insects. Ask participants to share other examples.
Participants can be asked to read the two articles ahead of time, and come ready to discuss them.
Ask participants to view the segments with the two questions in mind:
In these segments, how was math integrated with technology?
What were some other ways math and technology could have been integrated?
After viewing the segments, have the participants work in groups of 4 to explore their ideas about what they read in the articles and saw on the screen. (You may want to leave the slide up so participants are reminded of the questions.)
