COSEE - Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence

I have finally arrived.  After driving and playing at being the tourist for several days across the USA, I am finally at the Horn Point Laboratory, (HPL), in Cambridge, Maryland.  This is my first visit and I'll be here for six weeks for research and developing an educational module to go with the others already on the COSEE Coastal Trends website.  It has been an exciting week here, but, unfortunately, a rather disconnected week.  I am just recently again connected to the internet.  So I have quite a bit of catching up to do in Web Tools and my chemistry course, as well as get up to speed on all the interesting things going on in my PI's lab.  Next week, I'll be in the Chesapeake Bay, on a "cruise" helping to gather samples and data on what is going on with plankton and bacteria in the Bay.  As in the gulf, there has been quite a rise in the hypoxic area in the Bay and this has lead to some interesting observations, such as bacteria using sulfur instead of oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor.  In other words, using sulfur instead of oxygen to respire.

I'm working with Jamie Pierson, the Principle Investigator, and a graduate student and an undergraduate student. Together, we will be writing an educational module using a content management system that the IT people have written here at HPL.  So I think, in a way, it fits in a bit with the Web Tools class.  I'll be using Inkscape to bring together diagrams using pictures we take and pictures developed by the group Integration and Application Network, (IAN).  I've already learned the difference between a roster or bit map image and a vector image and how much more versatile vector images are. 

I'm excited about the coming weeks, but a bit anxious about the intermittent internet.  I'm sure it will all work out as most things do: a lot of worry over problems that don't really happen.

Reflection on Science and Literacy.

I have always insisted on students writing coherently on everything they turn in to me.  I've been accused of holding English class as well as Science.  I remind them, even the most creative and intelligent scientist is of little value if he or she cannot communicate clearly.  Therefore, I am in agreement with literacy being an intricate part of the science classroom. 

Performance expectations are always written on the board before the lesson starts, but I need to go over them to be sure students understand what is expected of them.  I like the idea of empowering them by making sure they know what expectation looks like. 

I was a bit frustrated by some of the "Write as You Read Science: Guidelines for students".  Although I agree with them, the first six are useless since students are unable to write in their school-owned books.  I really like 7 through 11, and plan to incorporate them into the notes I have students write at the start of each new chapter/unit.  

I did have an interesting experience one year when I was part of a pilot program.  We were given paper-bound single chapters or units and my students loved them.  Mostly because they were easy to carry and they could write on them.  Some of them really took advantage of that and had well-worn, very colorful "books".  At the end of the year, when I asked them to help me evaluate the program, being able to write and highlight in their book was the most frequent comment.

I think metacognition is the most difficult process for me to teach.  I understand its importance, but it takes a lot of time to grade a series of essays on every lab report.  I admit, I tend to cut corners here.  Perhaps a solution would be to only focus on one aspect at a time.

iPad2 and using web tools woes....

I have an iPad2 that I earned through my Region's science collaborative this past year. I also have a netbook. The screen on the netbook can be tiresome to read after a while, so I was very happy to get the iPad with its larger screen. Sweet, I thought, this will replace the netbook...wrong. Apple doesn't support Flash. This is more of a problem than I thought. Either there are a lot of sites using Flash, or the iPad has other issues as well.

For instance, it will not let me read any of the blogs on the netvibes dashboard. I can see that they are there and that there are updates to read, but other than one or two lines, I can't see them. Yes, clicking on them will give me a few more lines, but not the complete blog. It's sort of like a teaser. Single taps, double taps, a soft-shoe to the left, nothing works. I have to go back to my google reader or the original site to read them.

I tried signing up for the Collaborative Classroom to try it out. Another teaser, I can register and fill out info for my class and then it sends me back to login and everything starts over. Sigh....

I tried to pull up and read about the core Standards, but I can only get the first page to come up. And from other blogs, I can tell, there is more to it than that one page. I think the problem here, again, may go beyond Flash.

I may have to give up and get a real laptop, which can't happen until late August. Budgetary issues. Guess it will be squinting at the netbook 'till then. Woe is me, Apple, lighten up and give me Flash, or my iPad may be trash....

Setting the Stage: a reflection.
The reasons I signed up for the Webtools course was two-fold. I needed another summer class that would apply towards my master's and I wanted to be more "plugged in". I really had no idea how unplugged I was. What has me even more concerned is that my students are not as connected as they think they are. Yes, most of them are on Facebook and some even twitter. But they are only coasting on the waves of the Internet when perhaps they should be diving. I am only just learning what web 2.0 has to offer and I think it is going to take me some time to assimilate all it has to offer. My students probably won't take nearly as long, once it is presented to them.

But that brings me to another thought: there is a lot of information out there on the web. Some of it is reliable and accurate and useful. Much of it is not. Part of what I need to do as an educator is help my students become discerning web users.

My guiding principles in teaching using technology-
I love teaching science. I don't think it is easy, but I really enjoy it. And ever since I first started, I have tried to use technology in my classroom to enhance my teaching and give students a more realistic view of what the science lab will be like in college or even industry. It hasn't been easy and I've had many setbacks, but overall, I think I've been relatively successful in using technology in my classroom.

That said, I do want to point out that, just like demonstrations, I think technology use just because it's fun or cool is a waste of my time and my students' time. If it doesn't add to their overall science understanding or problem-solving skills, it is a waste of students' time. If it doesn't help me be more efficient in my job, whether it is teaching or administrative tasks, it is a waste of my time. I think each technological opportunity must be carefully evaluated as to whether or not it is really an enhancement for effective teaching or just cool new thing to play with in the classroom.

Of course, the cool new thing in the classroom can become a useful tool with the appropriate training and support.

A bit of a rant...

It is difficult, no unnerving, to create content lessons that depend heavily or even exclusively on a computer or access to the internet.  More than once, I have found myself standing miserably at the front of the room, desperately pulling together "Plan B" when the internet connection has failed or the computer delivered the BSOD (blue screen of death).  Or the program that worked fine previously, suddenly has a major glitch, locks up completely or decides to go places unknown.

It's not just the internet that is the only technological reliability challenge.  Data gathering plans with probeware have had to be scratched when too many devices failed to operate or instructions for operation were so vague or so confusing no one could figure them out, including me.

Granted, my students have been entertained somewhat, watching me frantically try various solutions to no avail.  The running joke among the IT people has been, "computers come to Mrs. Smith's room to die."

After several times finding myself in that place I call "Techno-purgatory", I try to always have a backup plan that can quickly be pulled in to replace the technology-based lesson.  It usually consists of my zero-tech notes or activities.  I've used these for years so I can wing-it pretty easily.  I don't like it,  but I can do it.

I like using my document reader, smartboard, projector and student response system and I had great plans to put together some awesome lessons.  I know I'm blessed to have access to all this technology and want to use it to its fullest extent.  So why haven't I?  What is holding me back?  Am I so overloaded at school I can't find the time?  Somewhat, but that's not the main reason.

It's the frustration that holds me back.  My lack of knowledge of how to fix what are probably small problems to a computer-savy individual.  My document reader doesn't "talk" to my smartboard-they have totally different software.  My room is apparently a random dead zone for the wireless internet, so it just cuts out...whenever.  I have so many different devices connected to the laptop with completely different software, I think that may be why it crashed. I ended the year with a laptop that only occasionally worked with internet that was randomly available, a student response system that would not recognize the clickers and a projector that completely died-not the bulb-the projector, died.

I was devastated by the last week of school.  I had become so dependent upon the projector and the document reader, pulling that overhead out of the corner of the room and clicking it on felt like a huge failure on my part.  I failed to make it all work.  In fact, I failed to make any of it work by the end.

Reliability and ease of use will make the biggest difference for me realizing my technological potential.  So here I am, trying to educate myself in the language of technology, in hopes that one less obstacle will be in my way.