We are living in the midst of a technological revolution courtesy of the Internet, and research suggests that embracing new technologies has numerous benefits in terms of education. These benefits include making topics more relevant, promoting collaboration, encouraging inquiry and high-level thinking, and fostering a research-rich environment (McLaughlin, 2015). The Maryland Technology Literacy Standards highlighted by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) list the outcomes we expect students to achieve from using technology in school. These standards can be seamlessly be integrated into any STEM classroom if teachers are willing to acknowledge these new technologies and adapt their teaching to better prepare students for the 21st Century workforce.
Throughout our MAT program, we’ve discussed the use of inquiry-based research projects in STEM classrooms. These projects are not only useful for developing domain-specific content knowledge; projects contribute to the development of important skills such as research, collaboration, presentation, and creative skills (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010). Furthermore, research projects provide an alternative mode of assessment that requires students to use higher-level cognitive processes such as application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (McMillan, 2008). Crucially, many of the MSDE’s technology standards can also be addressed using a well-constructed research project.
For example, Teacher Standard 1 requires teachers to help students “access, evaluate, process and apply information efficiently and effectively.” The corresponding Student Standard, number 1, involves using computers to benefit learning. These outcomes can be achieved by having students use the Internet to find relevant information for their research projects, evaluate the sources of information for bias, relevance, and accuracy, and apply what they’ve learned to solve a problem. Research can be done with books of course, but using technology to facilitate the research process is an outcome of Standard 5. Student Standard 3 deals with collaboration, while Standard 4 addresses communication. During a research project, students might use computers to collect, analyze, and share data with others. Additionally, there are many tools that students can use to collaborate with others and communicate their ideas including presentation tools such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Prezi. Therefore, a group project that involves a presentation addresses two more standards. Student Standard 2 asks students to practice responsible and ethical technology use. This can be achieved if students cite their sources and follow copyright laws. Finally, Student Standard 6 asks students to use technology to solve problems and make informed decisions. If the research project designed by the teacher is centered around a real-world issue, this standard will surely be addressed.
As you can see, teachers can easily meet the technological standards without sacrificing time or content-knowledge acquisition. Technology can also be integrated in ways unrelated to inquiry-based research projects. Various assessment technologies exist that help both students and teachers improve the learning process. Quizzing applications such as Kahoot and Quizlet provide an effective means of formative assessment. Blogs and learning logs encourage students to reflect on their understanding. Videos and virtual labs help students access material that is otherwise unavailable in a traditional classroom. Technology needn’t be forced into science curriculum. Rather, technology presents an avenue through which student learning can be maximized.
As mentioned previously, research projects involving technology address many standards, including content standards, literacy standards, and technology standards. McLaughlin (2015) describes four types of technology projects that help incorporate technology in meaningful ways: Internet Workshop, Internet Project, Internet Inquiry, and WebQuests.
Internet Workshop is useful for developing background knowledge at the start of a unit (McLaughlin, 2015). These workshops involve teachers bookmarking websites with reliable information relevant to class. Students use the website to complete an activity, answer questions, and/or exchange ideas with other students. Such an activity allows students to take a more active role in their learning and construct their own understanding of the material. Then, the students can engage in one of the other three technology projects (McLaughlin, 2015).
Internet Project involves collaboration between two or more classrooms (McLaughlin, 2015). Students in your class could use one of these projects to work with students from other schools or even other countries. One cool idea would be to have your students collaborate with students who live in a different region on a project about different ecosystems. Students could take pictures of the types of plants, animals, and other organisms that live in their biome, as well as document the abiotic factors such as temperature, precipitation, wind, sunlight, etc. I think students would enjoy teaching other students about the area in which they live, and learning from other students about their area.
Internet Inquiry involves students using the internet for research (McLaughlin, 2015). Students could research and write about famous scientists or scientific discoveries, different groups of organisms, or even technologies related to biology. This is the type of project I most commonly used when I was a student, and the possibilities for these projects are seemingly endless. Using the Internet allows students to find websites, journal articles, blog posts, books, and videos related to a topic. This flexibility means that learners with different needs can find information in sources that they find helpful. As long as teachers help students identify and use reliable sources, Internet Inquiry promotes student-centered learning (McLaughlin, 2015).
Lastly, WebQuests are online tools for learning constructed by teachers. They are scaffolded and involve authentic tasks that develop critical thinking skills (McLaughlin, 2015). McLaughlin, for example, provides a link to a WebQuest called Genes: The Building Blocks of Life, in which students learn about content related to genetics (2015). During this WebQuest, students research four different genetic issues and decide how hypothetical funds should be allocated to each. These authentic tasks allow students to research and apply what they’ve learned to a meaningful scenario, which students should enjoy.
Many of the literacy skills students must use to meet technology standards are the same skills they use to access printed material offline. For example, reading online requires students to access prior knowledge of content and text structure, which are also used in offline reading. However, reading online also requires students to access two additional sources of prior knowledge: knowledge of website structure and knowledge of search engines (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). When conducting research using the Internet, for instance, students must be familiar with choosing keywords for searches, quickly evaluating search results using titles and abstracts, and using various hyperlinks to find information that might be hidden. These skills certainly aren’t used when reading from a book, and students may need practice developing them (Coiro & Dobler, 2007).
Another literacy skill required when reading online is inferential reasoning. Regardless of the type of text, readers must make predictions, read between the lines, and use context clues to understand the text. When reading online, however, students have to make more predictions about where to find information, because it would be impossible to read all of the information on every available link (Coiro & Dobler, 2007).
Finally, the use of self-regulated reading strategies are necessary for students to succeed when reading any text. Students must always set goals, monitor comprehension, and reread texts in order to interpret them. When reading online, this process is also associated with physical reading actions such as typing, clicking, and dragging (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). Furthermore, the self-regulating process must occur much more quickly when reading online due to the sheer volume of information available (Coiro & Dobler, 2007). Lastly, the number of distractions present online could pose a problem for some students. If the tasks created by teachers are engaging, however, student motivation should offset most potential distractors.
The MSDE Technology Literacy Standards can be met without sacrificing content knowledge gains or time in a STEM classroom. In fact, well-constructed research projects and other technology-based activities can be used to simultaneously develop content knowledge, literacy skills, and technology skills. Of course, there are additional challenges associated with using technologies, particularly when students are accessing the Internet. However, I think the benefits of embracing technology ultimately offset the potential complications.
References
Bellanca, J. & Brandt, R. (2010). 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Coiro, J., and Dobler, E. (2007). Exploring the online reading comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade skilled readers to search and locate information on the Internet. Reading Research Quarterly, 42 (2), 214-257. doi:10.1598/RRQ.42.2.2
McLaughlin, M. (2015). Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness. Boston, MA: Pearson.
McMillan, J. H. (2008). Assessment essentials for standards-based education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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