Inquiry Learning & ICT Jan-Marie Kellow ROTORUA 2011

“When schools put the cart before the horse - buying technology for the sake of technology without asking critical questions about purpose, use and the classroom impact of such tools - they are inviting disappointment.” Jamie McKenzie

Research Results ICTs supported inquiry in many ways:   Obtaining, recording, sorting and presenting information   Prompt access to primary information sources   Information on current topics   Decision-making   Home-school partnerships (KnowledgeNET)   Understanding complex concepts   Medium to communicate findings eg. & KnowledgeNET

Main uses of ICTs for inquiry: Bringing in and recording ideas Sorting and linking ideas Taking linked ideas beyond the subject Source: Pam Hook & Julie Mills

Bringing in and recording ideas Inquiry stages: Setting the Scene, Task Definition, Planning, Find & Gather, Locate & Access etc. Activities: define, describe, list, name, label

Modelling and Demonstrating Data Projector Interactive Whiteboard Questions

 Video – Wimp  Video – Wimp  Youtube Youtube  TeacherTube TeacherTube  YouTube Downloader YouTube Downloader YouTube Downloader

Brainstorming

Traditional Information Sources   Fax   Telephone   School library

National Library Searchable online cataloguesSearchable online catalogues Online Collections

  Discover Discover - visual arts and music resources   Index New Zealand Index New Zealand - magazine and newspaper articles   Alexander Turnbull Research Library Alexander Turnbull Research Library   Timeframes Timeframes - images

Direct Sources

Online Encyclopedias Encyclopaedia Britannica via EPIC passwordedEPIC Fact Monster Wikipedia for Schools

  Google Earth Google Earth   Google Maps Google Maps   Panoramio Panoramio –add photos

  Learning Objects Learning Objects   nt/begin/tour/ nt/begin/tour/   Any Questions Any Questions

Kid-friendly search engines   Yahoo Kids This is the remake of the ‘Yahooligans’ site. Search results are kid safe. Yahoo Kids   Kids Click! Searches about 5,000 kid-friendly websites selected by librarians Kids Click!   Ask for Kids This replaces ‘Ask Jeeves for Kids’. Searches result in a list of keywords. Choose the keyword that best matches the information needed Ask for Kids   Cybersleuth Works in a similar way to Kids Click Cybersleuth   Ithaki for Kids This is a meta search engine which searches several kid-friendly search engines at once Ithaki for Kids

Google Search Results “Unless students are trained to use the advanced features of search engines like Google, they tend to gather huge piles of pages that contribute little to understanding. Some have likened these piles of information to a landfill.” Jamie McKenzie (fno.org)fno.org

“ “ You’ve got to go in there and have a look at the sites that mainly you’re going to be using. I liken it to taking the kids down to Te Papa and saying “Okay guys go for it.” They might know what they’re looking for, but do you want them to meander their whole day looking for the information, or do you want to point them in the right direction?”(Teacher)

"Children who are in this concrete- operational stage seek information that exactly matches their own search terms or the terminology used by the teacher or in the assignment. In other words, they are concrete thinkers and have trouble with anything that is not an exact fit with their understanding of the question." Hirsch, 1999

(Public pages, Welcome, Webquests) z/dinosaur_pet.htm

Wikis Examples: Transformation Transformation

Blogs Pt England School St Pious X R6 Creative Voice Waikino School

G-Chat - Gmail.com Gmail.com Skype

Google Docs Google Docs 31 Interesting Ways to Use Google Docs

Wordle Playtime

Sorting & Linking Ideas Inquiry stage: Sort, sift and analyse Activities: sequence, classify, compare and contrast, cause, parts-whole, analogy

Mind Mapping Used for:  Prior Knowledge  Subsidiary Questions  Note taking  Sorting/Sifting/Analysing  Reporting findings Eg. Inspiration, Mindomo, XmindInspirationMindomoXmind

Graphic Organisers   Graphic Organisers Graphic Organisers   More Graphic Organisers More Graphic Organisers   Yet More Graphic Organisers Yet More Graphic Organisers   ‘Infusing the teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction’ By Robert Swartz & Sandra Parks (The Critical Thinking Co.) $ available from Learning Network NZLearning Network NZ

Taking linked ideas beyond the subject Inquiry stages: Create & Communicate, Synthesis, Evaluate Activities: generalise, reflect, predict, create, judge, justify, evaluate

  Powerpoint   Voicethreads   Photostory3   Video   Documentaries   Letters/ s   Reports   Plays/Skits etc.   News desk   Brochures Communication/Action  Glogs  Podcasts (Garageband/Audacity)  Artwork (Paint/Artrage)  3D designs (SketchUp)  Posters  Songs  Wikis  Blogs  Etc etc.

Free Software Software for Learning Waihi Wired Wiki

Voicethread     Teachers Overseas wanting to collaborate:   sroom+Partners sroom+Partners

Examples   01.i i   Wonderings and observations on trout Wonderings and observations on trout Playtime

Glogster Education version

Wikis, Blogs & LMS Wired Waihi Wiki

Marineland Cloning The Future The Future Letters Username: KNGuest Password: Teacher1

Self- Assessment Assessment

Rubrics

Inquiring Mind Waihi Wired Wiki

"....Computers are not rescuing the school from a weak curriculum, any more than putting pianos in every classroom would rescue a flawed music program. Wonderful learning can occur without computers or even paper. But once the teachers and children are enfranchised as explorers, computers, like pianos, can serve as powerful amplifiers, extending the reach and depth of the learners." Alan Kay