Group 4 technologies:

Animations and Simulations:

In a science course last year we found this website.

1. Playing with ecosystems.

This is an interesting simulation where you can play 'God' or (intervening human) and change an ecosystem.  It took me a while to learn how to use it, which buttons to press and to take it seriously. At first I just wanted to 'play' with it and add more meat-eaters or take away the plants, then after I began to act like the adult learner that I am... I realised that this interactive 'toy' was actually very clever.

As with many of these simulations, these types of learning tools allows a student to experiment with something that would usually be virtually impossible. Studying a landscape over many years in real life would take ...many years. Here students can become researchers as they manipulate the layers of lifeforms and attempt to find a balance that supports all life. 



http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/ecology/ecology.htm

In my first simulation I introduced plant A and plant B,  Plant A was obviously aggressive and went wild and plant B quickly died out. Perhaps Plant B needed something in order to survive? Maybe it required fertilizer from a herbivore's droppings? Or perhaps the Pant A grew some fast it blocked out the sunlight that plant B may require? I played with this some more and found that each time I changed an element, introduced another animal or plant, I was left with more questions.

Using this tool in a classroom would ask students to use higher order thinking and questioning as they attempted to find a balanced ecosystem. Students could also work collaboratively as they share ideas and discoveries as they 'twig'their ecosystems. Another thing I loved about this and any simulation is that students could take this work home if they had access to the site and the internet. Both of these simulations allowed for a various scale of academic ability, with a base model to start with and extension for gifted students. Playing interactive games will always engage and inspire children to learn. I know these have engaged me and getting the children interested in learning is the biggest step in educating a child.

http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/ecology/ecology.html

This type of tool would appeal to most learning styles and is visually engaging. The time line simulation projects data in a format that is easily understood and a graph that most children would be able to decipher. This activity could not be undertaken with just pen and paper. It is also learner friendly as all students should be able to succeed if they follow the prompts closely. 

2. Building a roller coaster:

I attempted to find the link which we used last year and was unable. I did find this one, which looks the same, however I had to pay if I wanted to do the simulation.
There were other links to these ICT simuations but all required money in order to build your own coaster. 

In this simulation students would learn about kinetic energy and friction as they 'build and create roller coasters that stay on the track and work really well. This digital learning tool is an engaging way to teach students about these elements as they adjust the levels and slope of their roller coasters. I found it fun and interesting as well as very informative. Students could also learn about selecting materials and how to put these together (engineering), stability and balance would also affect a successful coaster. Again, this simulation allows students to interact with something that they could not do in a real life situation as they use investigation skills, work collaboratively or individually, test and re-test, made valued judgments, develop inquiry skills and think deeply as they puzzle together and 'nut-out' problems. 

Using an animation tool to build a 3D roller coaster would bring this learning to whole new level. In upper primary grades this project would appeal to most learning styles and both boys and girls. It is visually attractive and the audio enhances the real life feeling to this simulation. Great fun!  



Google Maps:

Here is a snap shot of two places where I have lived or visited in Australia...the most northern residence was in Weipa, Queensland and the furthest south was near Hobart in Tasmania

These are the directions that Google maps provided to show you how to get from one to the other. 

In a classroom students can use Google maps for many reasons. I have taught a mapping lesson with this as a hook in year 7 where students firstly estimated how many kilometers it would be from two selected positions in Australia then they went on to Google maps and using the get directions they found the exact kilometers. They used different methods of estimation, from measuring with rulers to even guessing. Students love to look at their homes with this and explore the world. It brings the world to our fingertips. 

Museum Box:

This virtual box of treasures sounded amazing and I wanted to create one to put on this blog however I was unable to access this. If I had been able to I would have made a box of my favorite art treasures. I am an artist and have photos of many of my pieces that I have created over the years...right from when I was a little girl, so I would have enjoyed making a box of these with information about each. In a class room students could utilize this tool on many ways. I see it as a way to display creativity and or investigative processes. 

1. Creativity: Students could make a box for a mother/father. Int this box they could place photos, drawings or illustrations, with text describing that special moment or a poem they write to represent this. 

For example: (if it was me) a photo of a gardenia flower with the text describing how these flowers make me feel loved as my mum always picked the first flower of the season and put t in a vase next to my bed because she knew I loved the smell of them. 

2. Investigation: What a fabulous way to ask students to gather information about an explorer such as in the example provided!! Again, a much more engaging way to present information. 

I am not sure how easy these activities would be or what ages these would suit as I was unable to have a play with making my own without paying for the privilege. 

Zoo Burst:

Here is a pop up book I created with Zoo Burst. This interactive tool is very easy to use and would be a fun way to engage students in the writing short stories or poems. Students could design and create story books for younger students. I tried to embed this into this blog but was unable to.

Adobe Flash: Needing a little break I had fun with flash... You can see the little animations here:  http://deejaycqu.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/flash.html

Investigating more goodies on this page: 

http://deejaycqu.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/engagement-activity-5-learning-objects_6578.html

To sum it up:

These interactive tools are engaging and it is wonderful to know that they are out there just waiting for us as teacher s to discover them and the many learning opportunities they can provide. I feel the only danger is that there are so many...and finding the one that is perfect is difficult. They are wonderful when they work, but extremely frustrating when they are complicated. They last problem is lack of funds. It would be wonderful to be able to afford all the gizmos and gadgets not just for myself but also for each student I work with.