ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Even though I wanted to address this note to Bethany directly, I decided
to send this to all science educators in this network.

1.  I am not sure which author Bethany is talking about.  Did that
author (she) conduct a longitudinal study?  Or was it her perception
about technology?  If the study was qualitative, I will question her
qualitative variables.

2.  Impact of technology use in classroom has always found to be
positive if there has been integration of technology in content and if
it is inquiry-based; in your case, you have focused on inquiry skills
with the probeware and it is content based.

3.  Negative impact of technology -- when technology is used for
technology-sake, students do not see long term benefits (powerpointing
with transition as animation; unnecessary addition of audio and images
when those objects have no relevance to the project are a few examples).
If the integration of technology in instruction is product-based rather
than process-oriented, the value of use of technology is questionable.

3.  Please read http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf for an impact study
(not specific to science)
But you should find a number of impact studies specific to science
instruction either at TERC or at Concord sites.
www.terc.edu
www.concord.org

4.  Another tool that the Science Museum of Virginia encourages
elementary teachers to use:  affordable QX3 microscope (used to be
manufactured by Intel, but now by Prime Entertainment -- Digital Blue
QX3 microscope)

If I can answer any additional questions, please email me.  I will be
happy to share with you how Central Virginia's science educators are
trained to INTEGRATE Inspiration, Project-based learning, Palm and
probeware, Pocket PCs and probeware, digital video, global
telecollaborative projects, and spreadsheets in K-12 classrooms.

Mano
Dr. Manorama (Mano) Talaiver
Director
Learning Technologies
Science Museum of Virginia
2500 West Broad St
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 864-1416 (voice)
(804) 864-1560 (fax)
http://www.smv.org
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Swiston, Bethany L
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 8:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: technology in science


ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
*****

I am a fifth grade science teacher at an elementary school in Baltimore
County,  and this year I have been provided with laptop computers and a
variety of different scientific probes for use in the classroom.  The
students have been really motivated by using temperature probes, light
sensors, and motion detectors in order to apply scientific concepts to
real world problems.
 
I was completely psyched about how the technology was impacting my
instructional program, but I've recently read an article in which the
author perceived technology in a negative light.  She saw that using
technology that is enjoyable promotes the perception that education
should always be entertaining, although learning is sometimes a
difficult and taxing process.  She also thought that sometimes
technology is used before students really have a grasp on the
foundational concepts that are necessary in order to apply it.  What are
your thoughts on the positive and negative impacts of technology use in
science?
 
 

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